Oh look another n00b that wants to get into filming

S

Spic-N-SpaN

Active member
Ok so I know its sort of a taboo thing asking "OMGZZZ wHitch camEra guYzzzzz?!1/?!?!?/1!" but I'm a little lost. Basically I got some money from graduation, and have always had a real appreciation for a good edit and cinematography, so I thought what the hay, lets use this money to start a new hobby. So basically I'm just looking for where to get started, because there is so much information out there its over whelming. I have very little experience with filming and editing, pretty much the only times Ive filmed where when friends wanted to hit a feature and had me hold the camera for them. My school offers a class on Final Cut, so I think Ill take that next semester. So if anyone want to help me take the plunge into filming, feel free. Heres the sticked questionnaire thing

1) What is your budget? How much money can you spend right away, and do you think you can get more money to invest in the future?

Right now I think that Id like to try to keep my budget down to under $600 I think, but what to I know, I'm the n00b here

2) What experience do you already have with cameras? Have you ever even used one before? Have you helped your friend out with his camera? Have you owned your own?

again they just have showed me the basics that I needed to know for the short time I needed to use it

2) What gear, if any, do you currently have? (tripod, old camera lenses, mics, etc)

theres an old tri-pod in my parents closet, so not really anything

4) What are you planning to shoot and how do you want to use your camera? Are you going to use this with the sole purpose of shooting skiing? or do you think you might try other stuff as well (movies, documentaries, short films, etc)

I will be using this to shoot snowboarding mostly, skiing, nature, wakeboarding, and those sort of things.

5) Do you want a camera that you can hand to your friends, that could or could not have film experience, and let them shoot you? or will you be doing all the filming?

They all have really nice cameras that they use on manual, so they will know how to use what ever I get Im sure. But back home none of my friend are into filming, so when I go home it would be good if they can use it. So I guess Id like to be point and shoot so I can learn the basics, but also have manual options so I can grow with it and learn the ropes

6) When filming skiing, how do you tend to shoot? (follow cams, leave it on record on a tripod and hike, film from a tripod, etc)

In snowboarding it seems like a lot of the shots are from down low from cameras with top handles, sort of a skating feel to it, and I kind of like that, so I would be looking to one that I can add one of those to I guess. But other then that yeah a tripod and just holding it.

7) What computer do you currently have/use to edit (if not currently editing, what would you most likely use)? If you can provide specifics, such as hard drive space, RAM, processor size, that would be great.

Mac Book Pro 13" with the 2.8 ghz processor

7) What program do you currently edit on? How familiar are you with it (1- just learning; 10- I can make tutorials and know the keyboard layout)

Final cut pro, just learning, going to take a class on it through my school.

Honestly now that I think about it might be a little premature to jump into this since I dont have a lot of experience, but still help me out so if I do decide I want to after using friends cameras and stuff I'll at least have this as a resource.
 
go for the T2i, u should be able to buy the body for 600 now. if u want to start filming right away, just grab a kit lens off here or ebay for cheap. after a little practice, dump that kit lens and invest in some decent glass like a 50mm 1.8 (perfect for wakeboarding), maybe a rokinon 8mm fisheye since u like low, skate style shots. also you'll need a standard zoom lens for everyday stuff. i just got a 17-40mm L, but it was $500. you cannot buy cheap gear for photography/dslr filming and expect good results! every christmas and birthday u can ask for a new piece, whether it be a tripod, glass, etc. im sure eheath will be in here shortly and give u a shopping list haha. good luck man and have a great season!
 
UGH UGH UGH don't recommend shit you don't know about. you CANNOT get a t2i set up you'll be very happy with for less than around 1.5k, which is like 3 times as much as he said he had. don't throw other peoples money around, its serious bills to have them waste at your direction. to the op, unless youve got the cash for a dslr and you know all the limitations of them, don't get one. and don't expect to give it to your friends, its a bit of a learning curve. I'm 1.5k and still unsatisfied with my t2i (for video) i use it mainly for photos. get an hf200 and a decent tripod, maybe a 501 and a decent set of legs.
 
what the hell man im recommending it because i have it and love it. ya youll have to put a lot of money into it, but its fun to save up and buy an awesome uprade (L glass or whatever).

To the OP, if this is just a camera u want to take to the mountain a few times, throw in ur pocket, take on the boat and just make a few edits to show the family, then the T2i is not for u. go with the hf200 as the.cheat said. however, if u are interested in getting into this awesome hobby/industry/lifestyle, and want to learn and progress for the rest of your life, invest in a quality camera like the T2i that can really take u places as u invest in it
 
because his budget is 600 bucks, he cant just take a t2i out with a shitty kit lens and film something worth the money, you get can a little handy cam HD camera for 600 bucks and its alot better than a t2i with a kit lens. you also wrote "ur" which means youre 15 and dont know shit.
 
Just because someone is 15, doesn't mean they don't know anything, but yes i do agree with disagreement on that guy's post..
 
good try im actually 20 and minoring in photography, filming, and CGI (small program my school does). My approach would be buy the best camera my money could buy and invest in it more in the future, others(seems like everyone else) would buy the complete set with the money they had
 
I get what your saying, but since I dont really have a background in DSLR s or anything I think that would be like taking a bigger bite then I can chew. Right now I want to try to stay at around 600-800 for right now, and if I love it I can upgrade, but for now I just want to learn the ropes.

some of the ones I had been looking at are

HF200 like cheat said

HV40 or finding an older hv30, but that was before I knew tape was a dying format, but it seems like a lot of people like it on skate and snow perspective, although not of the posts were old

Can you film pretty decently with these sort of cameras? or would it be the same as just some wealthy person went on a ski vacation and decided to film there time there
 
holy fuck you are stupid. so your saying get a body and kit lens for 600 and your just going to just go out and shoot? you need memory cards, extra battery or 2, a decent tripod, some type of follow cam stabilization and much more to even think about making this work. if you really really want a t2i, i think 1200 should be the least to work with. most people put 2k+ into their DSLR setup. go with an hv40 or something that would make sense for a 600 dollar budget.
 
wow so much shit for my opinion. if i had 600-800 to buy a new camera, i would buy a T2i in a second. if u dont agree with me, then post what u would do. dont say r u fucking stupid. its all personal opinion, and to the OP, u just gotta read these comments and see whats best for you
 
your opinions yours, but don't throw other peoples money around. please for the love of god do not get a t2i unless you've got more money, i can tell you now you will not be happy.
 
Then you'd have a camera and one mediocre lens and be like fuck, I need a bag, memory cards, batteries, and a tripod and/or glidecam. There goes your $800 budget. Not very efficient allocation of funds if you ask me.
 
i understand that. my mentality was just buy the best camera u can buy and add stuff in the future. i guess that wouldnt be the best path for the op to take
 
lol minor consists of 6 classes. Spending 600-800 dollars on a t2i is fucking stupid. Sure, you can save money up and buy new things but if you only have 600-800 dollars to start, you're probably not gonna have enough money to buy something for months and its almost ski season. I think the minimum setup for a t2i would be body + kit lens/tamron 17-50 + 200 dollar tripod + 30 dollar grip + memory card/batts (100 bucks) which would be around 1000 bucks and thats barely enough IMO.
 
i have to agree with the 99% of everyone in here saying to go cheap, personally i started with a gopro and started filming and making edits with that, real cheap and it was a way to see if i was really gonna be into the whole filming biz. thats just what i did tho so i am with everyone in here when they say get a full set-up within your budget because you can get started, test it out and if you find its not for you, then you aren't at a total loss but if you think you want to get into it more you can then do your own research on cameras that fit your style of shooting and decide where to upgrade from there. and if you want to go with the dslr path after that then you already have some experience shooting and you can save up for a nicer model then the entry level ones imo.

..damn sorry for the length but hope it helps
 
Ok so I don't really want to dive into the shit storm this thread is becoming, but I do recommend one thing.
DO NOT waste your time and money with a full semester of learning how to use FCP. I learned everything I need to know about it online through NS and other websites, you can pretty much learn anything on the internet these days if you know where to look. (of course there is all kinds of history and theory that the internet may not be able to teach you, but that is getting away from the basics).
 
Ok so Ive been doing a lot more research online and realized you cant really get to into filming for the 600-800 dollar range.

what about buying an old vx2100 or something like that? or would that also be something I couldnt really handle?
 
Get the fuck out of M&A if you are going to say shit that you don't know about and insist your right after being corrected
 
wow fuck you man. thought you were a cool guy after we had our conversation. guess not....
 
Sorry man, but you don't really know what you're talking about and you're spitting game like you're the shit. Just because you're in some program doesn't mean anything, an hf200 will produce and image just as good as a t2i, budgeting 600-800 bucks for a t2i is a bad idea and you're wrong to recommend it. you are wrong, get over it.
 
No, for the price of a vx2100, you're better off getting a high end consumer camcorder. HF200, TM700, etc. You won't look as cool to the retards but you will produce much better footage, and that's what counts.
 
I'm not trying to "spit game", im not hating on anyone elses opinions on the issue, and yes i do know a good deal about photography. I will stop posting in this thread but will be a very active member of this part of the forum. i love photography/filming and love sharing ideas/edits with you guys. didnt mean to start such a shit storm. hope we can end this in peace. :)

To the op, i wish u the best
 
_SEA_ got a new name and icon, haha

and anyways, I think this is pretty simple. Get one of canon or panasonic's cheaper offerings in your price range. Flash memory is awesome, and they will be great for learning with. DSLRs won't be an option, so don't worry about those.
 
that camera is great, he might go down on his price if you show him one cheaper. but it comes with a grip which is nice.
 
I lol'd

"Invest" in a 600 digital camera...there's a few red flags here. First of all, $600 won't get you much, let alone anything that qualifies as an "investment." Second, digital camera technology changes so rapidly that the only way to "invest" in a camera is to buy a film rig or RED EPIC.

Third, DSLRs are far from beginner friendly (as I'm sure you know). I'm all for buying a camera with a steep learning curve that you can grow into, but DSLRs have negative hinderances, not positive ones like you'd get with a DVX/HVX/HPX.

Just to put things into perspective, my 7D rig with 3 lenses, (budget) slider, and basic accessories cost around $5000. With my tripod and glidecam I spent around $7,400. Granted, I buy nice glass, but that account for only around $3k of the package (ballpark $1k per lens). The point is, you're overlooking all the hidden startup costs. People are giving you shit simply because your "opinion" is wrong.
 
Or you could get a dvx for 600 or so, it may not be HD, but it produces nearly HD footage, and damn, i learned sooo much more with my dvx, then i did with my hf200 before i had the dvx.....
 
but as a first camera that to learn with thats in my price range...what do other people think?

or should I go for that TM700
 
what i would do with that bugit is the panasonic tm80 for like 400 then get a decent tripod to just start off with like thishttp://www.manfrotto.us/product/837.../_/Mini_Basic_Tripod_(Black)_with_700RC2_Head that would put you right up to 600 and the camera already has memory storage so no need for a memory card. after you got that if possible you should get like a stablizer type thing like thishttp://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/692449-REG/Opteka_XGRIPBK_X_Grip_Pro_Video_Stabilizing.html it wont be the best thing in the world but it will help and its no to much money.

but i half to say if you could get a litlle more into filming use a couple of your friends cameras like a dslr and really get use to them and be confident on them save up a little more and get like the t2i. but only get that if you are willing to put at minamium a little under a grand into it. it will have alot more features and more capabilites if used right it will come out AMAZING. but you half to be willing to put time into learning how to use one first and put that much money into it.

If you dont want to but that much money or time into it the go with the panasonic tm80, your videos will still come out great and it sounds like a good purchase for you from my point of view.

 
Yeah for sure, i mean im selling my dvx for super cheap, and the dvx is such a better camera than the fx1 in terms of everything imo
 
i dunno, the fx1 is a pretty nice camera, kevin steen did some great shit with his, he tweaked his color profiles and made it look really good. Id way rather shoot fx1 than dvx.
 
Agree to disagree I guess. I could get mediocre colors out of it at best, and I have yet to see FX1 footage that doesn't look awful. The Panasonics just have that "look" that you can't coax out of any other camera. The FX1 has a painful video look to it. But hey, if OP is into that kinda thing, it may be a good option.
 
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i disagree, but i guess you're not going to realize that HD tape is going to look better than SD tape.
 
HDV outputs an image that is bigger and sharper... but I don't see what either of those has to do with looking "better."

My biggest beef with the FX1 is how it handles motion. It just looks like pseudo-HD VX footage.
 
gonna have to agree...

i've always thought the FX1 looks like complete shit. i would rather shoot a DVX as well.
 
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