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General discussion

DSLR with HD video?

May 29, 2009 11:54AM PDT

So I've been looking at DSLRs lately and I'm not sure if I want to get one that shoots HD video OR a cheaper one that doesn't and also get a camcorder. I am an artist and I am going to be using both to mostly shoot my work. I need manual controls, really nice results, and low light quality is important but I would also be using it on vacation etc... So what do you guys think? I have been really looking at the Canon T1i, but I'm not sure. It sort of seems like its either the T1i or something a little older (D70?) and a Canon Vixia. However, I am a young artist so money is most definitely an issue, but I want to be getting something that will be serving me well for years to come.

Any opinions? Thanks in advance

Conor
www.conoronor.blogspot.com

Discussion is locked

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For the longer term ?
May 29, 2009 1:20PM PDT

How about the new Canon 500D? I'm not sure what's called in the US. It's an affordable DSLR with excellent video equipped. The benefits of DSLR with video is that you can change to the brighter lenses in the long term. Quite an investment, but worth trial.

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Canon 500D is called T1i in US
May 29, 2009 6:02PM PDT

Agree. The HD video looks good and is a nice bonus feature. Able to have interchangeable lenses for HD video used to be found only in high end prosumer and pro camcorders, but now it is available for entry level D-SLR. Interchangeable lens camcorder bodies alone costs $3000+(the lenses starts at $1000+, so a basic kit lens camcorder setup costs about $4000+). This makes the T1i looks like a bargin.

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Yes and no

For extremely good artsy video then the T1i will do a great job. For vacation, it will suffer. There's one caveat in doing nice "film style" videos with the entry level cameras, it's that it doesn't have an external mic input and the on-board mic isn't very good. To get good sound you'll have to have a separate recorded that is synced later to the video.

The problem with vacation is that the AF is either done manually or done by pushing a button. The AF doesn't change until you manually do it or hit the button again. That won't make it very easy to use for focusing on vacation.

DSLRs are not close to the ability of normal usage like in a nice video camera. I really doubt that Canon will really make that happen because it would eat up their video camera market, and they have to figure out how to get rid of the rolling shutter problem.

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agreed with the sound problem.
May 30, 2009 6:24PM PDT

DSLR camera with 1080 video seems to have a great deal problem with the microphone. My recent trip to Iran, I shot some landscape sceneries with my 5D mark II; the voice wasn't really so impressive. Unlike the video, the focus is slow and better manually achieved. But, the benefits lie upon more kind of lenses to shoot for, such as wide angle and telephoto lenses. So, you have to trade off whether it's the only motion picture you want or the real multivision video.

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Sound
Jun 3, 2009 6:41PM PDT

Even with the true camcorders, you need to use an external mic to get good sound. The built-in mics on the camcorders are better, but still not good by any stretch of the imagination.

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The problem is

The 5D MarkII is the only DSLR that has a jack for an external mic. The Panasonic GH1(EVIL not DSLR) has a jack for an external mic. It wouldn't be that much to buy an external mic to attach. The Panasonic one goes into the hotshoe. With all of the DSLR, excluding the MarkII, you are stuck with only the option of the included mic, unless you plan on recording separately, using a clip board, and syncing together later on. The camcorder mics are also easy to mount too.

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Nikon D300s
Jun 29, 2011 4:12PM PDT

My Nikon D300s has an external mic port...I haven't tried it yet but it's there....

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Digital Camera Advancement
Jun 30, 2011 12:26AM PDT

Thanks for the update.
The thread you respond to was concluded in the year of 2009.
Cameras continue to advance.
You will see even more DSLR cameras with external microphone ports in the future.
It costs very little for the camera maker to include that port on newer cameras.
The next goal for us is to have an improved automatic gain control.
The present one is "bare bones" and insufficient.

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