Nikon D5300, or Canon 60D?

not that i'm an expert, but is there any reason you're not just considering a t3i/t5i instead of the 60d? I mean it's a better price, and the only real differences i noted when I was doing my research were the weather sealing (which is pretty moot, unless you're planning to shoot in the rain), the top lcd, and the burst mode is faster on the 60d, but the sensor is essentially the same. The ISO on my t4i even goes up to 12.8k which is better than what you're saying on the 60d

anyway besides that i haven't used much of the nikon stuff. For me I wanted to be able to share lenses with my friends and i was planing on compressing my video anyways so 1080p wasn't as big of a deal. Good luck though

It's only underrated on NS, which doesn't matter because most of the kids shooting Canon here don't even know why they're shooting Canon. Here is where you should go to learn about this camera http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/forumdisplay.php?143-Nikon-HDSLR

You didn't specify but it looks like you're mainly interested in filming. I wouldn't bother with the 60D for video, but for photos I'd take it over the D5300. The D5300 will give you better image quality, hands down. Better ISO performance, higher resolution, way more dynamic range, more colour depth, the sensor in that thing is the same as the D7100, it's a beast. It also has the larger LCD screen which I'd actually care about for video. The price difference is made up for in that you get a free lens and the ability to borrow another one, and I'm sure you'll be able to find a used one after Christmas now.

Now, if I were you, I would honestly get the Panasonic GH2. You will still be able to use your dad's lenses (although technically you could with the 60D as well), but the GH2 is dirt cheap now which will give you some money to buy more lenses or stabilization. Along with the legendary image quality, I repeat when hacked this thing will blow the Canon or Nikon away, it actually has video features built in to the camera which for me is huge, things like focus peaking, zebras, etc are really nice to have.

Oh just a note on adapting the lenses, you're going to completely lose the autofocus, and on the Sigma you definitely won't be able to check what F-stop you're shooting at since it doesn't have an aperture ring. Since you said 28-85 instead of 24-85 I believe that lens is a D lens and will have an aperture ring, so adapting that lens will just lose the autofocus. It's definitely nice to have autofocus sometimes so that's another thing to consider for D5300 vs. GH2.

Thank you VERY VERY much for your reply. I really do appreciate your time. Yes, I'm really using this camera for video. Of course I would LOVE to be able to use it for photos too, as I enjoy both a lot, but I really need this to be a good video camera for all sorts of videos. If I can get it to be a solid and well preforming photo camera too that's a great bonus for me (preferably high ISO for night time photography as well as high FPS for sports/action photography).

Thank you for your reply, I appreciate it!

The D5300 will definitely be a great photo camera, the GH2 not so much. I'm not sure where you're seeing GH2's going for $800, if you do a quick search on the DVXuser b/s/t forum you should find one for like $500 pretty easily. Lens adapters can be had for pretty cheap too.

It's extremely unlikely or maybe impossible for the Nikon to get a hack like the GH2 has for the higher bitrate footage, but Magic Lantern might be able to develop something for exposure/focus assist like they have done so well for Canons. To compare image quality, I'd recommend just searching around for a comparison video done with the two cameras, there should be plenty by now. I'll again stress using DVXuser, those bastards really know how to geek out over camera comparisons etc, it might be worth making an account and asking a few questions, they'll be able to help much more than NS can.

Don't worry about the ratings they got too much, those reviews are based on the photo capabilities, instead look into written reviews focused on video use.

You might also want to look into the GH3, probably not much more expensive than the D5300, definitely the best of the three cameras. Just something to keep in mind.

I'm currently using a Nikon D5200, and would have to recommend the Nikon cameras. I'm looking at possibly upgrading to the D5300 from my current D5200 which I've been quite happy with.