Which DSLR for film making? - General

Are there any good directional microphones like the RODE but less expensive and almost as good? thanks

Well last night I filmed a charity night dance show for which I used my 7d with a 24-105 f4 static on a tripod viewing the whole stage and my Canon 5d mk II with a Sigma 150-500 f5-6.3 on a monopod to film closeup. I also had a panasonic sd900 up on a balcony looking down on the stage. My findings from a video point of view. Bearing in mind the stage was well lit in the center, the edges and back were dim and the dancers were all over. The 5d was the best by far, picture was pretty much clear of noise and when focused correctly the image was sharp as anything, yes DoF becomes tricky with full frames but stopping the aperture down solves that problem, I only had it because shooting at 500mm from the back of a hall. The panasonic has a pretty good image for a £500 camcorder, it does show small amounts of noise even in good light and then a bit more in low light but the picture is still more than usable, the only downside is it struggles with DoF due to using 3 small sensors rather than 1 larger one. The 7d I was not too impressed with, the image looked a bit soft and I had to go to ISO 1600 which produced a lot of noise on the picture. Might I suggest however if you are considering a DSLR purely for videos and are not planning on taking photos then perhaps look more along the lines of a more pro level camcorder such as the Panasonic AG HVX200. They are around £1300 on ebay, which if you go DSLR by the time you've got a body and some decent lenses you'll be looking the same amount of money. But the camcorder has the advantage of being designed to shoot video, you can shoot for long periods of time continuous which you can't do with a DSLR as they are limited with file size and they start to overheat. Plus I am betting the sound quality will be better. Just a thought

I'm not sure should I make my own thread or not, but I have the same question. I currently have 600D with 75-300mm and 18-55mm lens, but I've been thinking of buying 5D Mark II as soon as I have money for it. I've been thinking of Mark II, because it's a really good camera for photography. Question is, is it as good or even better in film-making as 600D? I really need a camera which is a great camera both for photography and film-making. Also preferably costs less than 2000 euros. What do you guys think?

[QUOTE=SlayerFin;40636789]I'm not sure should I make my own thread or not, but I have the same question. I currently have 600D with 75-300mm and 18-55mm lens, but I've been thinking of buying 5D Mark II as soon as I have money for it. I've been thinking of Mark II, because it's a really good camera for photography. Question is, is it as good or even better in film-making as 600D? I really need a camera which is a great camera both for photography and film-making. Also preferably costs less than 2000 euros. What do you guys think?[/QUOTE] The T3i(600D) is a APS-C crop sensor while the 5Dmkii is a full frame. Full frame cameras get better low light performance because it accepts more light and the sensor is generally better. Although one major thing to remember is that you will not be able to use your EF-S lenses at all (such as your kit lens and probably your telephoto) because the mount is different.

[QUOTE=garychencool;40690082]The T3i(600D) is a APS-C crop sensor while the 5Dmkii is a full frame. Full frame cameras get better low light performance because it accepts more light and the sensor is generally better. Although one major thing to remember is that you will not be able to use your EF-S lenses at all (such as your kit lens and probably your telephoto) because the mount is different.[/QUOTE] The telephoto is an EF lens, aps-c zooms start at 55mm typically

also remember that the 5D Mark II will have even shallower depth of field, more so than super 35 film, so if you want to keep a "look" to your footage, bear that in mind

The 5dIII can shoot 30p 2k RAW, or 60p 720p RAW, debayered to 4:4:4, it's the best DSLR for video on the market right now, it's got IQ near the Sony f35, and fantastic low light performance. Throw an anamorphic lens on there and you can upscale to 2.5k at a cinema aspect ration with no loss in vertical resolution. [QUOTE=codenamecueball;40709737]also remember that the 5D Mark II will have even shallower depth of field, more so than super 35 film, so if you want to keep a "look" to your footage, bear that in mind[/QUOTE] Just shoot with a lens with a lower fstop. Your lighting should be done to match the camera settings anyway.