YES, I realise these are two very differant cameras. YES, I realise they vary greatly in price.
I am currently looking to upgrade from my Olympis EP2. I want something with 1080p, bigger dynamic range, 60fps in HD, better low light performance, zebra bars, nd filter. I was originally thinking about saving up and buying a used HD camcorder, but doing more research I started to consider HDSLRs as well. If I bought a DSLR, I would go with a canon so I could get magic lantern and cinestyles, and would most likely get a refurbished T2i body (T3i not worth the money, not shooting a ton of pictures so I dont think 60D is worth the extra money) and get a good kit lens, and maybe an older fast manuel prime. I am planning on keeping my EP2 for travelling and photos, so size and portability isnt a huge deal, as well as photography.
And as far as audio goes, will there be a huge differance between an HVX (or similar camcorders) built in audio, vs. say.. a rode videomic pro mounted on a T2i
Another note, not too interested in getting a steadycam or glide cam, so dont say get a T2i and use the extra money for those.
Not sure how much sense all of that made, but I guess the descision I have to make is whether I want to go the DSLR route or the Camcorder route.
Any advice would be very helpful, thanks NS!
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?
-If I bought the T2i, $1000ish now, another $500-1000 in 6 months-ish hopefully. HVX: $1-2000 now, not more for awhile. Basically I would get the T2i body+good kit lens+ND filter+rode videomic (most likely) vs. just the HVX.
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?
-I currently own an Olympus Pen EP-2 (Micro 4/3), I know this camera very well. Also used friends's DSLRs a little bit, as well as an old panasonic 3CCD MiniDV consumer camcorder for years, and spending a week using a DVX (I think?) daily.
2) What gear, if any, do you currently have? (tripod, old camera lenses, mics, etc)
-Fluid Head tripod, DIY shoulder rig and boom pole w/ shock mount.
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)
-Mostly movies and short films, not much skiing.
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?
-I will be doing all the filming.
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)
-Followcam or tripod, but filming skiing is not the priority.
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.
-iMac from about 5 years age, 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 1 GB memory 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM. (I dont know what any of those numbers mean I just copyed and pasted.
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)
-FCP 7: 8, After Effects: 4, Magic Bullet Looks: 3
1) Do you think you might consider using a DSLR? Yes.
2) Do you have any knowledge about the HDSLRS? Some.
3) Do you know the limitations to using HDSLRS? I know about Rolling Shutter, lack of functions like zebra bars, bad built-in mic.
4) Are you willing to take the time to learn about a DSLR, and how to shoot with manual lenses? Yes
5) Again, 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? Doesnt matter
Thanks guys!
