camaroracer214
New member
I have a Canon XSi DSLR and a few lenses that I love to use, but I'm wanting to do some video shooting. Anyone using a particular video camera they love? Anything special to look out for when shopping around for one?
Video Cameras
- Thread starter camaroracer214
- Start date
camaroracer214
New member
yeah, i thought about that too. i want a t2i or something just a step above that. i had found a t2 locally that a guy was selling for cheap, but i was too slow to act.
if i do go that route, i would have to sell my xsi. it's about a year and a half old and in perfect condition if anyone's interested
camaroracer214
New member
any other thoughts? just curious if anyone's shooting with an actual video camera as opposed to a dslr.
If you want a camcorder, then nowadays it is obvious - you should look for full HD. But that is not the only thing that matters.
Yes - you can take videos with SLR but modern cameras use CMOS technology, which have rolling shutter technology - which means you will see smear and skew effects. If you don't know what it is - search for CMOS Jello effect or CMOS smear or CMOS Vs CCD (regarding video cameras). For SLRs this is very obvious. YES camcorders have CMOS technology as well but latest models somehow manage to control these frame distorting effects very well - still a little smear is present. Even on very expensive video cameras you will find rolling shutter. Filming aquarium involves sudden fast movements - some fishes are calm some are unpredictable so the good performance of capturing fast moving objects is essential - I am not saying that you cannot film with SLR - you can - you just have to fully understand how you equipment behaves.
Other thing is that going HD requires a very powerful PC and probably quite an investment in a decent video editing software. Almost all consumer and prosumer camcorders use tapeless formats and AVCHD compressen which usually requires at least dual core CPU and as much RAM as possible. Video editing also will take a lot of time - you will loose a lot of your valuable lifetime. Editing sometimes takes much more time than an actual filming.
About camcorders.
You will deal only with Rolling shutter cmos sensors (a global shutter cmos maybe will appear next year - maybe - those are only rumors). It is hard to find CCD camcorders (nowadays) - at least in consumer HD segment. So when choosing camcorder you should look at test footages to see how well the skew, jello and everything else that is connected with rolling shutter is controlled on a particular camcorder. Very important thing is the size of the sensor. Camcorders use very tiny sensors - 1/4'', 1/3'', 1/8'' - so it is important to look for a larger sensor. This will be useful in low light. Sony now starts to use their Exmor-r cmos technology - both in photo and video segments. They claim that this reverse technology improves light sensitivity by 100% when compared to a same size (pixel size) sensor. It is somewhat true. Panasonic also deals with noise by implementing 3 CMOS technology - only on prosumer camcorders. On cheapos you will find single cmos whic is not the exmor. So yes - low light performance is important because you will film you aquarium under night lighting and that is very low light.
Next is the lens - consumer/lower prosumer camcorders come with built in uber zoom lenses that start at wide angle with ~40mm (35mm equiv) and might go all the way to 400 or 600 mm, All of these uber zoome lenses usually have chromatic aberrations - so in your best interest is to look for one that controls this issue the best. What else? There are some wide angle camcorders that start with 25 or 30 mm but in home environment I think it is not so important - you can easily step back from your tank. Important thing is the macro feature or sometimes it is called telemacro - it is a "must have". Aperture on most camcorders is at least 1.8 so there is nothing you can do about this. It is great if you have at least some manual controls - not all of them have those plus they are not easy to use.
Don't expect National Geographic HD quality footage from your consumer $800 camcorder - won't happen. Yes you will have decent footage that is way better than SD but with built in optics and tiny sensors Discovery Chanel HD is unreachable.
What else?
Yes as usual - look for camcorder with good AF performance (accuracy and speed). For off-tripod shooting image stabilization is also very very very important.
A dedicated video tripod with good quality head is a must have. Also a self improvised rail system can help to improve the quality of your footage - it will add a more dynamical look.
Yes - you can take videos with SLR but modern cameras use CMOS technology, which have rolling shutter technology - which means you will see smear and skew effects. If you don't know what it is - search for CMOS Jello effect or CMOS smear or CMOS Vs CCD (regarding video cameras). For SLRs this is very obvious. YES camcorders have CMOS technology as well but latest models somehow manage to control these frame distorting effects very well - still a little smear is present. Even on very expensive video cameras you will find rolling shutter. Filming aquarium involves sudden fast movements - some fishes are calm some are unpredictable so the good performance of capturing fast moving objects is essential - I am not saying that you cannot film with SLR - you can - you just have to fully understand how you equipment behaves.
Other thing is that going HD requires a very powerful PC and probably quite an investment in a decent video editing software. Almost all consumer and prosumer camcorders use tapeless formats and AVCHD compressen which usually requires at least dual core CPU and as much RAM as possible. Video editing also will take a lot of time - you will loose a lot of your valuable lifetime. Editing sometimes takes much more time than an actual filming.
About camcorders.
You will deal only with Rolling shutter cmos sensors (a global shutter cmos maybe will appear next year - maybe - those are only rumors). It is hard to find CCD camcorders (nowadays) - at least in consumer HD segment. So when choosing camcorder you should look at test footages to see how well the skew, jello and everything else that is connected with rolling shutter is controlled on a particular camcorder. Very important thing is the size of the sensor. Camcorders use very tiny sensors - 1/4'', 1/3'', 1/8'' - so it is important to look for a larger sensor. This will be useful in low light. Sony now starts to use their Exmor-r cmos technology - both in photo and video segments. They claim that this reverse technology improves light sensitivity by 100% when compared to a same size (pixel size) sensor. It is somewhat true. Panasonic also deals with noise by implementing 3 CMOS technology - only on prosumer camcorders. On cheapos you will find single cmos whic is not the exmor. So yes - low light performance is important because you will film you aquarium under night lighting and that is very low light.
Next is the lens - consumer/lower prosumer camcorders come with built in uber zoom lenses that start at wide angle with ~40mm (35mm equiv) and might go all the way to 400 or 600 mm, All of these uber zoome lenses usually have chromatic aberrations - so in your best interest is to look for one that controls this issue the best. What else? There are some wide angle camcorders that start with 25 or 30 mm but in home environment I think it is not so important - you can easily step back from your tank. Important thing is the macro feature or sometimes it is called telemacro - it is a "must have". Aperture on most camcorders is at least 1.8 so there is nothing you can do about this. It is great if you have at least some manual controls - not all of them have those plus they are not easy to use.
Don't expect National Geographic HD quality footage from your consumer $800 camcorder - won't happen. Yes you will have decent footage that is way better than SD but with built in optics and tiny sensors Discovery Chanel HD is unreachable.
What else?
Yes as usual - look for camcorder with good AF performance (accuracy and speed). For off-tripod shooting image stabilization is also very very very important.
A dedicated video tripod with good quality head is a must have. Also a self improvised rail system can help to improve the quality of your footage - it will add a more dynamical look.
fijiblue
Active member
The rolling shutter is usually not noticeable unless you are panning the camera too fast or if the subject is moving extremely fast. I am a pro video shooter and editor and have adopted the 7D for much of my work. I can even pull clean keys off of it when transcoded. I agree with Misled - get a new body and try to salvage your lenses.
