Choosing a camera. Help.

they will all produce the same video quality. gh1 is cheapest but its m4/3 mount which means you have to adapt for some decent lenses, the panasonic lumix G lenses are ok but not the best. If you're just doing video, out of those 3, get the t2i.


What is your budget? Have you considered the cost of a dslr setup? cause for the same price you can buy a decent video camera.

im willing to pay the price even if its really $$$. I want pictures as well should have mentioned that. thanks for the help. So what would you say is the best for video and stills? the T2i still?

although it looks like i may need 2 lens for video and pictures?? idk correct me if im wrong

2 lenses for video and stills? I don't understand..you don't need separate lenses for video and stills if that's what you're saying. But it's good to have a wide angle and telephoto. for telephoto shots you'll definitely need a tripod for video which you may or may not already have.

My understanding..and I don't do much on the video side or with Canon for that matter but 7D and T2i have the same video capabilities so I would go with the cheaper and buy a nicer lens and/or batteries cards etc.

If you're interested in photos, get the 60d or the 7d. Get a couple lenses, a nice mic, tripod and glidecam and you're good to go.

any recommendations on mics and glidecam?

yeah i wasnt sure. someone said that their 7D had a good lens for video but wasnt great for stills.

Well, for photos Auto Focus is more important, but alot of people that use DSLRs for video will buy cheaper manual focus lenses because AF on dslrs for video is useless. IS can be helpful for video at long focal lengths, but IMO at that point you should have it on a tripod so the IS is almost pointless.

In your case i would bail on the kit lens, it sucks. Maybe check out a tamron 17-50mm 2.8 and a canon 70-200 f4. You could probably get a sigma 10-20, tokina 10-17 or canon 15 for a fish and for a wide angle check out the tamron 10-24 or tokina 11-16mm. Try to stay away from inconsistant aperture (the simga 10-20 and the tokina 10-17 are small exceptions).

You could also check out some manual focus primes like a 50mm 1.4 (nikon ai/ais or pentax smc) and rokinon makes a great 14mm 2.8 and 85mm 1.4 and 35mm 1.4. The rokinon is great glass for the price, best bang for buck with primes (other than a nikon 50mm or pentax smc 50mm)

As for a glidecam, try to to get a used glidecam 2000 pro or 1000 HD. they're basically the same just the pro is the older version and the HD has some better fine tuning options.

As for a tripod, check out a manfrotto 701 head with some 190 legs. Cheap, not the best quality, but will be good enough for your purposes.

As for a mic, check out Rode, they make a dslr mic that hooks right into the 1/8" jack and has decent sound, worlds better than the internal mic. If you're serious about audio, check out a 24bit external recorder like the zoom h4n.

Options:

7D: 1500 (60d is what, 1200?)

tamron 17-50mm : 450

canon 70-200 f4: 550 (referb or used)

nikon or pentax 50mm: 100-150

if you want a fast tele prime, check out the canon 85mm 1.8 (390) or rokinon 85mm 1.4 ( 270) You might want one of these since the 70-200 is only f4.

if you want a wide angle:
tokina 11-16: 600 (most expensive, the other lenses i listed are cheaper but inferior)

if you want a fisheye:
rokinon 14mm 2.8 (best deal) 300ish
or canon 15 (much more) and the tokina 10-17 and simga 10-20 are cheaper like 300-400

rode mic: 150 (i think i could be wrong, too lazy to look up)

glide cam: 250-350

tripod system: 250-300

if only get the basics (body, wide-normal zoom, tele zoom and a 50mm, mic, tripod and gldecam) is about 3000 (2200ish with t2i, 2700 with 60d) bucks total. This is what i would recommend. If you don't have 3000, you could wait on the glide cam or mic and buy it later, but i recommend this setup as a minimum. You can invest in more glass as you go, remember, its not necessarily the body that creates a great image, its the glass. if going for a t2i helps you in the budget, id say go for it, thats another piece of glass or two if you get the referb body for like 550.

Good luck, if you have any more questions, shoot.

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Yo jake, If I were you I'd buy the T2i body, a tamron 17-50 non vc, and some decent stabilization (either tripod or glidecam). Just don't get the 7d unless you're doing like 60% photography. Even then you could save some cash and just get the 60d. 7d for video is honestly no different than the T2i video, so don't even think about the 7d unless you're more interested in photography.

you may hear people tell you that if you want to shoot outdoors, you need to get the 7D because of its more weather-resistant body, but don't listen to them. i have the T2i and i've shot in the rain and blizzards and it's always been fine.

^ exactly. i was just taking some photos at niagra falls. got right up to the railing about 30 feet from the falls on the underground tour and my t2i was getting soaked. held up fine.

thanks this really helps alot. think i might go with the T2i. where would the best place to buy be? im thinkin of just going into somewhere but i feel like i can get a better deal online somewhere...

also if i get the T2i i can still take decent pictures? im skeptical still i really want to take nice photos...

Bhphotovideo.com has everything you could possibly need. Also check my sig for some t2i photo samples

Please, please, PLEASE do some research before buying a camera. Don't just buy a t2i cause its the hip thing to do

have been for the past few days...

im liking the T2i with the tokina 11-16

i would get the tamron 17-50 f/2.8 before getting the tokina 11-16

THIS^^^.

Agreed. If you really are looking for weatherproofing, get a 1d. Mine's been through a lot more than a camera of it's range should have, and doesn't skip a beat.

link to rubber casing? interested in checking that out.

Seriously?

not really related to the thread but does anyone know how big the gh1/gh2 is compared to the t2i? specifically the grip?

i can't speak for the gh1, but the gh2 is a bit smaller than the t2i. the grip is virtually about the same size. i'd get an extended grip regardless though.

They make one for the gh2? I have been looking but can't find one

http://www.kenmorecamera.com/p-11855-panasonic-lumix-gh2-w14-42mm-black-kit.aspx

i bought mine from their ebay store, they usually have them in stock at a fair price. I also heard that b&h was in stock, but it may have only been a small shipment

very good! however I'd also recommend the canon 10-22 f/3.5-4.5 its a small exception to your inconsistent aperture rule again, and who needs a really fast wide angle as then you'd just have shallow dof.

I really, really, really want the rokinon 14mm f/2.8 as i'm just borrowing the canon 10-22 f/3.5-4.5

do you use your t2i for the videos you produce?