I enjoy photography but I also want to film

Look into an HDSLR or a mirrorless camera that shoots well at both.

Here's some suggestions for setups.

Nikon: D5100 if you're cheep, D5200 if you have a little more. The D5200 has awesome video quality. D7100 would be a great option as well if you want to spend a bit more, and be able to use the older Nikon Autofocus lenses that have aperture rings.

Canon: T3i if you're cheap, 70D if you want a slightly better DSLR, and a 7Dmk2 if you're going to shoot a lot of sports.

Lenses? a Tokina 11-16 or 12-24, and either a 17-50 f2.8 from Tokina/Tamron or a 24-70 f2.8. Vintage lenses are awesome for both. Nikon can only really use Nikon and Leica R, Canon can use Nikon, Pentax, M42, Olympus, Yashica, Contax, etc.

Panasonic: GH2 if you're cheap, GH3 for the best value, GH4 if you want 4k video, and such. I'd recommend the GH3.

Caveat? the GH's are not the best for photography. They're definitely optimized for video. Pick up a cheap used Olympus E-Pen camera along with a GH# for 100-150 for something better for travel/street photography.

Olympus: OMD. Awesome Do-all Mirrorless camera. Not quite as awesome for video as the GH cameras, but far better for work with stills.

Lenses - 14mm f2.5, 20 f1.7, Vintage lenses - any old SLR/Rangefinder lens will be adaptable.

Sony. A7 series. They're all pretty amazing... They're a bit more pricy though, and not the greatest for stills in my opinion, but still better than the Panasonic GH IMO. They're full frame, so they will be harder to focus on your subject at wider apertures, but you can also get ridiculous depth of field, even with wide lenses.

Caveat: Sony E-mount full frame lenses are expensive. They're awesome, but they cost an assload because there's not much of a used market for them, and . I'd go with vintage lenses and focus on video if I went with the A7 route.

Recommendations: Vintage zooms: Nikon 35-70 f3.5 ais, 70-210 f4 series E or the 75-150 f3.5 series E. (you don't need one of the big 70-200 f2.8's they're huge, heavy, expensive, and not any much better in IQ when shooting video)

Otherwise, go with vintage primes. Konica and Minolta lenses are ridiculously cheap as well and are worth looking into adapting.


With any/all the rest of the money you save..

- Audio gear. A microphone is key.

- A stable video tripod (the Ravelli is a great option for not too expensive of a price) Add a photography ball-head so you may switch between the two heads whether you're shooting video or photo.

a glidecam would be pretty awesome for mobile stabilized shots, the HD2000 would work for pretty much all the aforementioned cameras - though the smaller DSLR's and the GH cameras might be a bit too light without larger lenses, so the HD1000 would work well.

Then get a quick release plate for the glidecam that would match best with what tripod you get.

From there, you should be good. I'll let the rest of the peanut gallery chime in from here.

^^ Really good info! I just got a dnikon 750 (4th camera lol) with a 50mm 1.4 and it hasn't left my hands this week. Its my first nikon and literally there isn't anything it can't do. i spent exactly 2000 for the body and lens. mind i already have glide cam, mics, ...etc. but if you want to take pictures, want full frame 1080x60 this is your go to. I started with a t3i when it first came out. really really good dslr to get started with videos and pictures, plus I'm sure you could find one cheap, probs get glasses and a glide cam or tripod for your price.

NOTE* GLASS MAKES A CAMERA*

DingoSeanLook into an HDSLR or a mirrorless camera that shoots well at both.

Here's some suggestions for setups.

Nikon: D5100 if you're cheep, D5200 if you have a little more. The D5200 has awesome video quality. D7100 would be a great option as well if you want to spend a bit more, and be able to use the older Nikon Autofocus lenses that have aperture rings.

Canon: T3i if you're cheap, 70D if you want a slightly better DSLR, and a 7Dmk2 if you're going to shoot a lot of sports.

Lenses? a Tokina 11-16 or 12-24, and either a 17-50 f2.8 from Tokina/Tamron or a 24-70 f2.8. Vintage lenses are awesome for both. Nikon can only really use Nikon and Leica R, Canon can use Nikon, Pentax, M42, Olympus, Yashica, Contax, etc.

Panasonic: GH2 if you're cheap, GH3 for the best value, GH4 if you want 4k video, and such. I'd recommend the GH3.

Caveat? the GH's are not the best for photography. They're definitely optimized for video. Pick up a cheap used Olympus E-Pen camera along with a GH# for 100-150 for something better for travel/street photography.

Olympus: OMD. Awesome Do-all Mirrorless camera. Not quite as awesome for video as the GH cameras, but far better for work with stills.

Lenses - 14mm f2.5, 20 f1.7, Vintage lenses - any old SLR/Rangefinder lens will be adaptable.

Sony. A7 series. They're all pretty amazing... They're a bit more pricy though, and not the greatest for stills in my opinion, but still better than the Panasonic GH IMO. They're full frame, so they will be harder to focus on your subject at wider apertures, but you can also get ridiculous depth of field, even with wide lenses.

Caveat: Sony E-mount full frame lenses are expensive. They're awesome, but they cost an assload because there's not much of a used market for them, and . I'd go with vintage lenses and focus on video if I went with the A7 route.

Recommendations: Vintage zooms: Nikon 35-70 f3.5 ais, 70-210 f4 series E or the 75-150 f3.5 series E. (you don't need one of the big 70-200 f2.8's they're huge, heavy, expensive, and not any much better in IQ when shooting video)

Otherwise, go with vintage primes. Konica and Minolta lenses are ridiculously cheap as well and are worth looking into adapting.


With any/all the rest of the money you save..

- Audio gear. A microphone is key.

- A stable video tripod (the Ravelli is a great option for not too expensive of a price) Add a photography ball-head so you may switch between the two heads whether you're shooting video or photo.

a glidecam would be pretty awesome for mobile stabilized shots, the HD2000 would work for pretty much all the aforementioned cameras - though the smaller DSLR's and the GH cameras might be a bit too light without larger lenses, so the HD1000 would work well.

Then get a quick release plate for the glidecam that would match best with what tripod you get.

From there, you should be good. I'll let the rest of the peanut gallery chime in from here.

Thank you so much, that really helps me out :)

I might also say this... Canon may be good and all, but their video is obnoxiously compressed, and their 1080 is just upscaled 720.. it's not true 1080p. Nikon is uncompressed as far as I know (if anyone else more adept at the technicalities between the two, please feel free to chime in), so it would be a better option from the standpoint of video quality if you want to go with a DSLR.

Canon is still very good, however. I used canon DSLR's for a long time after switching from an early Pentax DSLR years ago... they were all solid, and the video quality is just fine. the new nikon stuff would just be better for now.

the D750 is a great camera as well, however I'd argue that it's easier starting out with an APS-C or a m4/3 sensor camera when it comes to achieving focus. I shoot on full frame myself, but it's not for quality I'm going for, it's simply for the look and for stills purposes. For video, APSC is fantastic - although, you're probably going to be shooting with zooms instead of primes, due to there not being much in the way of wide primes for either nikon or Canon crop sensor cameras like the Rebels or the D3000/5000/7000 series cameras. Sony also makes good crop sensor video cams, but Sony's E-mount stuff tends to be more optimized for videography than photography... (their A-mount stuff on the other hand, is solid for both, although you lose a bit of light with the way their DSLR Pellicle mirrors work)

Awesome info! Gonna keep this one in my threads

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