RED cameras and cameras that compare

so what exactly is your budget and experience? what are you looking to film

LukasSchroederso what exactly is your budget and experience? what are you looking to film

right now im just taking my camera out and filming stuff with friends and making short videos and in the winter obv making a bunch of ski edits but im looking into either going to college for film or photography or going to boston or new york and trying to get an internship or job with a company and start filming maybe commercials or promo videos. A starting up skate company hmu and said they wanted me to film a promo vid for them but I dont really have any friends that skate so that kind of fell through. Im trying to find a camera that will just produce really nice looking film, i already know how to use a camera so i dont need something thats necessarily "easy" to use like i wouldnt need to flip it on auto or anything.

price range would be like the most and this is even a little high would prolly around 5000. if its something id like to take with me to a job or something id like to have a camera that i know could do what i want it to do depending on what im shooting.

It'll probably be worth it to invest in a higher end DSLR or mirrorless camera and some good glass so you can do photos and videos. I understand that you're interested in just video at this point, but (in my eyes) it's good to have some options. Camera like the Canon 7D2, 5D3, Sony A7Sii paired with some good glass will give you professional quality videos/ photos you're looking for.

Going from a t3i to shooting on a cine camera would be a huge learning curve, and might be more work in post than you'd like.

Stept didn't make it where they are now because they bought a nice camera, its because they spend the time putting in hard work learning the trade and excelling.

Worry less about your gear and more about what you are shooting and how you are shooting it. You could get a gh4 for $1000 and that would be a drastic improvement on your t3i and that would probably last you for years until you actually needed a new camera.

eheathStept didn't make it where they are now because they bought a nice camera, its because they spend the time putting in hard work learning the trade and excelling.

Worry less about your gear and more about what you are shooting and how you are shooting it. You could get a gh4 for $1000 and that would be a drastic improvement on your t3i and that would probably last you for years until you actually needed a new camera.

never said stept got to where they are cus of there nice camera. im just saying nick has a style and him having a nice camera probably helps him express that more because he can make better quality film. I dont doubt that stept would still be where they are if they had a different camera.

Lskier_never said stept got to where they are cus of there nice camera. im just saying nick has a style and him having a nice camera probably helps him express that more because he can make better quality film. I dont doubt that stept would still be where they are if they had a different camera.

Yeah I definitely dont know what im taking about ignore me, spend $10k on a camera and your videos will be better.

eheathYeah I definitely dont know what im taking about ignore me, spend $10k on a camera and your videos will be better.

hahahahahhaahha

eheathYeah I definitely dont know what im taking about ignore me, spend $10k on a camera and your videos will be better.

never said that either, no hate bruh i got mad respect for your vids just saying .. lol this is why i dont go on newschoolers a lot anymore

Lskier_never said that either, no hate bruh i got mad respect for your vids just saying .. lol this is why i dont go on newschoolers a lot anymore

You asked for advice and decided to shut my advice down, so why even ask?

eheathYou asked for advice and decided to shut my advice down, so why even ask?

thats exactly what im saying lol i never even shut your advice down, i looked up the gh4 and will put it on the list of cameras that im looking at to buy. I was just saying thats not what i meant about the stept thing, obv you need more than just a nice camera to start making commercials for big companys or else anyone could do it, not shutting down any advice or throwing any hate at all.

gdamn every response on here is just a troll or petty beef..im just not gunna even ask Q's on ns anymore

Lskier_thats exactly what im saying lol i never even shut your advice down, i looked up the gh4 and will put it on the list of cameras that im looking at to buy. I was just saying thats not what i meant about the stept thing, obv you need more than just a nice camera to start making commercials for big companys or else anyone could do it, not shutting down any advice or throwing any hate at all.

gdamn every response on here is just a troll or petty beef..im just not gunna even ask Q's on ns anymore

I was just trying to help you out, your whole premise of this thread was to buy a camera similar to a RED, which you won't find unless you wanna spend a shit ton of money on a camera, which I was saying you don't need to do.

As I said before, focus on your composition, movement, editing, not on buying a camera that will "look better".

Research these things and you will understand what makes cinema cameras like reds and arris better than lower end cameras

Capture codecs and write speeds to the media
Color bit depth the image is captured in
How different capture codecs work to compress the image.
Dynamic range of the sensor

What makes high end cameras image better than lower end is how the data from the sensor is processed, compressed and written to the card or media

Reds capture with a proprietary codec (r3d files) in 10, 12, or 16 bit color depth and raw compression at very high data rates, giving you more data to work in post.

You won't find a low end camera that is comparable to red or Alexa in all these areas.

I would look at the a7s mkII, Gh4, black magic pocket cinema camera and maybe the canon c series. It really depends on what you want to shoot, if you need high frame rates, want to color grade the image a lot, ect.

But like eheath said. A better camera will not make a better film. Amazing films have been shot with lower quality cameras and crap films have been shot with state of the art equipment.

Even if you were able to pick up a RED your footage would not be great straight out of the box. The guys shooting on REDs have a plethora of amazing rigs and lenses that aid in them getting that amazingly smooth well lit shot. These additional accessories are not cheap either and are basically required in order to shoot great footage. good stabilization, great audio, perhaps some nice lighting equipment, and nice glass are basically required in order to have what is considered a high quality video nowadays. A handheld shaky RED shot with a cheap lens isn't really going to impress anyone, especially when compared to a nice smooth shot from a higher end DSLR with good glass (or even a t3i).

There is quite a few steps between T3i and RED. Perhaps consider investing in better quality glass and high quality stabilization (Slider, dolly, crane etc...) before considering a professional cine camera. All of these items can still then be used later if you do decide you need something like a RED, but they can drastically improve your current video quality, even with the T3i.

Lots of videographers use the T3i and get great results. correct me if I'm wrong but Gavin Rudy uses/used a T_i for quite some time (if not still does) and produces some great high quality work. Its not the camera that makes the filmer good.

People shoot short films on Iphones now and make it look great. Just saying

eheathYeah I definitely dont know what im taking about ignore me, spend $10k on a camera and your videos will be better.

*15-20K after accessories, tripods, lenses that will actually do the resolution justice and, stabilizers

Don't spend your money on a camera when you are in high school. Buy lenses, stabilizers, a $500+ tripod and just learn and learn and learn. If you buy a camera you're gonna spend more time learning how to use it the best way that you won't have any time to learn how to make films the right way and practice

ben_collinsDon't spend your money on a camera when you are in high school. Buy lenses, stabilizers, a $500+ tripod and just learn and learn and learn. If you buy a camera you're gonna spend more time learning how to use it the best way that you won't have any time to learn how to make films the right way and practice

Haha sounds like a quote straight outta dslr guide but it's true, stop obsessing over your picture quality and make quality content.

ben_collinsDon't spend your money on a camera when you are in high school. Buy lenses, stabilizers, a $500+ tripod and just learn and learn and learn. If you buy a camera you're gonna spend more time learning how to use it the best way that you won't have any time to learn how to make films the right way and practice

Couldn't agree more! Also, I think obsessing over the product stops the learning process, better off turning out content to get some experience. Intern with some people that know how film the right way. It doesn't matter about gear, there's been movies made with 200 dollar handhelds that are masterpieces.

Firstly I agree to the responses in this thread. The camera you use is only a tiny fraction of the final image quality. You can get amazing results from an A7sii or gh4 that compare to higher end cameras.

To answer your question though, I was lucky to shoot with a RED and sony fs7 on a recent gig and the fs7 image holds up extremely well next to the RED even though its $10,000+ cheaper. On some dual camera shoots the fs7 stuff even came out better. If I were to buy any high end camera at this point it would probably be an fs7. I also love the fs7 body and find it extremely user friendly which I prefer over the RED system. Sony will probably come out with a new version of the fs7 soon and it will get a huge price drop.

I get your desire for a sick camera OP, because I was once a senior in high school craving a new camera, but do the magic lantern hack on your t3i and start filming some quality content. With that hack you'll learn how to use some of the features that make cinema cameras so useful and valuable. If you pick up one of those nice cameras right now, you'll most likely get frustrated with the workflow and new features you have no idea about.
Listen to Eheath, get a GH4 and buy some quality glass. That camera will be relevant for a few years and you'll be able to shoot 4K for $2000 instead of $20,000. The Gh4 has a ton of features like peaking, zebras, custom color temp, etc. that will help you get a quality image on all projects if you learn how to use it.
If you study film prod. in college, the program will most likely have some nice cameras to use. I'm taking a few film classes at a local community college, and the program has 2 RED cams, a black magic 4K, a couple c100's and my professor brought in his personal RED Weapon 6K. You don't need to own a RED to play with one.