Good camera for low-budget movie - 650D – Conversation in Photography Chat

Conversation started Jul 6, 2012 at 10:25.

Meysam

Jul 6, 2012 10:25

Anybody here?

poking with stick

ElendilTheTall

@meysam yes

@rfusca What's this I hear about your photographs of the US Olympic athletes? ;)

Meysam

@ElendilTheTall Hey. I am sorry to wake you up. Do you think Canon 550D is a good choice for shooting movies?

ElendilTheTall

depends what kind of movies you want to shoot

Meysam

@ElendilTheTall It's not action. No fast moves.

ElendilTheTall

Should be fine then - the AF performance is the main drawback I believe

that's really the main factor for any DSLR-as-video-camera

they all do HD video, most now have a mic jack, it's just the focusing performance

RegDwight ΒВB

Jul 6, 2012 10:39

Wow. ElendilTheTall. I know that name.

Meysam

@ElendilTheTall Good point. Is it possible to maintain focus on a moving subject with this camera? like a person walking?

RegDwight ΒВB

Your gravatar used to be magenta, though.

ElendilTheTall

@meysam I'm not sure, never used it - depends on the lighting

It uses contrast detection to focus, so if the contrast is good, it will focus better - e.g. a person in dark clothing against a light bg

see dpreview.com/reviews/canoneos550d/20

@RegDwightB hello

Meysam

I have heard some cameras use phase detection for that purpose. Should be expensive though.

ElendilTheTall

avatar is dependent on e-mail address, I just input a string of random characters every so often when I get bored

@Meysam yes, much more

RegDwight ΒВB

Jul 6, 2012 10:41

So are you or are you not the ElendilTheTall?

ElendilTheTall

@RegDwightB ummmm, depends who the ElendilTheTall is...

I've been here on Photo SE for about 18 months

RegDwight ΒВB

Well there was that user on ELU. Always had quality answers on offer. Then one fine day he just vanished. Nobody knows what happened. The entire account went down in a ball of flames.

ElendilTheTall

ELU?

RegDwight ΒВB

I think that answers it.)))

ElendilTheTall

apparently

Meysam

Jul 6, 2012 10:43

@ElendilTheTall Canon 550D was released on 2010. Do you think there has been any other model released with the same price range and more capabilities after that?

ElendilTheTall

I think some of the mirrorless Sonys are supposed to be good video cameras

the A77 has phase detection AF

I have played with the 55, it's not bad

I'm not a huge fan of EVFs but it's the best I've seen

Meysam

@ElendilTheTall Seems expensive

ElendilTheTall

It's brand new

You get what you pay for - you want better performance, you pay more <shrug>

Meysam

@ElendilTheTall You are right. My budget is around $800 and that's what I can pay. So far I have come up with 550D for shooting videos. Just looking to see if I can buy something better with this budget.

ElendilTheTall

@meysam well, the Nikon D5100 is another, that's $649

brand new and very good AF performance for video

you could afford to get a better lens with the extra cash too

i use Nikon - the build quality of lower end Nikons is better than Canon, imo

had my heart set on a Canon, went to the store, held a Nikon, switched right there

Meysam

Jul 6, 2012 10:58

@ElendilTheTall Good suggestion. I will think of it.

Do you think 11 focus points makes significant difference vs. 9 FPs?

ElendilTheTall

not significant, but it's just that bit more convenient

Meysam

@ElendilTheTall How important do you think having a flip-out screen is?

ElendilTheTall

I love mine (D5000)

It's great for low angle stuff

it's just really useful

rfusca

Jul 6, 2012 11:48

@ElendilTheTall lol

3 hours later…

jrista

Jul 6, 2012 14:56

@Meysam: You should look into the Canon 650D/T4i. It has hybrid AF in video, uses focal-plane phase-shift detection AF for large discrepancies and contrast detection for small discrepancies. As far as new cameras that are great for video go, the Canon 650D is a hell of a lot better than the 550D, and barely more expensive. I think its $900, at most.

Meysam

Jul 6, 2012 15:47

@jrista Great advice! I may go for it. thank you!

rfusca

ya, for canon video, its silly not to go with the 650D in the sub 1k price range

i think it lacks a mic port though - for real work

oop, nevermind, it has one

Meysam

@rfusca Great

rfusca

@Meysam planning on doing a lot of video?

Meysam

@rfusca Planning to shoot short films

The first script is ready

rfusca

@Meysam oh fun!

you know there is avp.stackexchange.com for video

Meysam

Jul 6, 2012 15:55

@rfusca Yaaa! a lot of fun! I am aware of AVP. I asked my question there too: avp.stackexchange.com/q/4368/2350

jrista

@Meysam Sounds fun. :)

The 650D is a pretty nice video DSLR for the price.

rfusca

@jrista ya, for video

combine it with some actual video 'gear' - loupe, shoulder rig, focus puller, etc and you could shoot nicely with it

@Meysam make sure and keep us up, I'd love to see how its coming along

Meysam

@rfusca Very kind of you! I will sure have a lot of things to ask while working with it and will definitely come here several times for troubleshooting :) You know, I am just an amateur

ElendilTheTall

Jul 6, 2012 16:19

@rfusca do you egg wash your stromboli?

@rfusca rfusca rfusca rfusca rfusca!

rfusca

@ElendilTheTall yes

@Meysam everybody has to start somewhere

Conversation ended Jul 6, 2012 at 16:33.

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Good camera for low-budget movie - 650D

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