Which camera should I buy for a first timer

[Salah Yousef]

Hello everyone. This is my first post here. I am a 22 year old student at a college majoring in electronics and communications. Soon as am done with college am moving to a film school to learn about filmmaking. However, right now am educating myself with filmography and video shots by reading books. The only thing left for me is buying a camera. Which camera do you guys recommend me buy for a first timer ? Same thing with accessories. My budget is 1500

Regards,
Salah

 

[kaihp]

I think the first thing you need to say is what currency you're talking about, since this is an international forum. So do you have 1500 Euros, Pound sterling, USD, HKD, RMB or something entirely different.

Since you're a first-timer, and going to film school soon, I would look to buy some second hand equipment.

There are a couple of assumptions behind this: first, that the film school has equipment for classes), and secondly, that you probably won't have much time (or much desire) to go filming on your own outside of class.

At least that would match my brother's experience when he went to photojournalism school.

 

[verysimplejason]

From my limited experience, since you're going for film-making, I'd recommend a second-hand 5D2 + 24-105L lens (or some other manual lens for film-making) or a 70D + 18-135 IS STM lens. 5D2, if you really want to go hardcore fast since image will be a lot better though you'll have to do everything in manual (you can learn and use ML to make your life a little bit easier) while 70D will give you AF. You can also read on some more in http://www.eoshd.com/. They can give you more insights on film-making and its rudiments.

 

[wjauch]

You're a student and I'm assuming your budget is $. I'd suggest a used T2i, or T3i, or T4i with kit lens. Then get used nikkor AI or AI-s lenses from ebay e.g 24mm, 35mm, 50mm 85mm with nikon-eos adapters. These are all manual lenses and preferred for filmmaking. You'll need a tripod. Home depot for a couple of worklights or other lights. Audio is half of filmmaking, an ebay AT875 mike, shockmount, painters pole as boompole (google it), a used external recorder (Zoom or Tascam), sync audio in post. Importantly you should be able to sell anything without too much loss in the future. Good luck

 

[blacksap]

You're a student and I'm assuming your budget is $. I'd suggest a used T2i, or T3i, or T4i with kit lens. Then get used nikkor AI or AI-s lenses from ebay e.g 24mm, 35mm, 50mm 85mm with nikon-eos adapters. These are all manual lenses and preferred for filmmaking. You'll need a tripod. Home depot for a couple of worklights or other lights. Audio is half of filmmaking, an ebay AT875 mike, shockmount, painters pole as boompole (google it), a used external recorder (Zoom or Tascam), sync audio in post. Importantly you should be able to sell anything without too much loss in the future. Good luck

Totally agree! Primes are the way to go for film making! and old lenses specially nikkor are pretty good, I would suggest T3i, according to this page snapsort.com it has better higher isos than t4i and t5i, and it is cheaper.

DONT BUY IT WITH THE KIT LENS 18-55 blind as Sh!7 lens, use that money for something better, like old primes.

Another option would be the g6 m 4/3 camera, it has some cool features that no canon has like 60fps for slow motion on 1080p and it is very easily paired with old lenses with adapters bought on ebay.

hope this helps.

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

The 70D looks very promising, especially for making films. However, I'd wait for two or three weeks to see more reviews.

Since you are going to school, its important that you find out from your instructors what their requirements are. Repeat this 1000 times


In our local school, the instructors first require a film camera and a 50mm lens. Then, in the 2nd semester, once you have learned about film photography and the basic underlying principles that are common to all photographers, they begin teaching digital.

They also have courses that teach the many other aspects, lighting, composition, processing (film and digital).

Video is a different ball game entirely, they might want you to have a camcorder or a DSLR, or let you use school equipment, you need to find out. The lenses and accessories you use for video can be mostly different too. Sound is 50% of the final product, so plan on a lot of emphasis on sound and lighting. Don't buy anything until the instructor tells you what is required. Craigslist is littered with castoffs that were not wanted or needed because a student jumped the gun and bought something that was perfectly good, but not what the course required.

 

[bycostello]

go cheap.. it will show you what is important to you and then revisit in a year or two....

 

[heptagon]

go cheap.. it will show you what is important to you and then revisit in a year or two....

This! If it has manual focusing and manual exposure you can start to learn with any camera.

 

[Etienne]

Canon T3i (can be upgraded when you have more money). This camera also has useful digital zoom in movie mode.
Install Magic Lantern
Buy some good lenses: Tokina 11-16 f/2.8 and a Canon 50 1.4 may be all you need.
Tiffen 77mm variable ND filter Must! Get a 58mm-77mm reducer so you can use the Tiffen on the 50 1.4 as well -this will get you all the shallow DOF you will ever need,even in daylight.
You will need Audio gear: Rode videomic pro, get a Zoom H4 or H6(better)
Tripod
Slider, if you can afford it.

 

[Salah Yousef]

I forgot to mention that my budget is in USD.

Sounds like am getting a T3i

Thank's everyone. I appreciate your replies. If I have any other questions I will ask here. I will let you guys know what my gear will be later.

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

I forgot to mention that my budget is in USD.

Sounds like am getting a T3i

Thank's everyone. I appreciate your replies. If I have any other questions I will ask here. I will let you guys know what my gear will be later.

I'd suggest you forgo a out of date T3i and consider a refurb t4i. Its compatible with Canons new STM lenses which have smoother focusing for video. The T3i is not optimized for a STM lens. All future Canon DSLR's will likely be optimized for STM lenses. The T4i and T5i are almost identical, so you don't need a T5i. The T3i will not autofocus for video and does not have the touch screen.
When you do video with a STM lens, touching a point on the screen will cause the camera to smoothly change focus to the new point.
You can trade in a worthless old Canon film slr or a broken power shot for a 15% percent discount off the refurb prices. They are like new and have the same 1 year warranty as new.

 

[Etienne]

I forgot to mention that my budget is in USD.

Sounds like am getting a T3i

Thank's everyone. I appreciate your replies. If I have any other questions I will ask here. I will let you guys know what my gear will be later.

I'd suggest you forgo a out of date T3i and consider a refurb t4i. Its compatible with Canons new STM lenses which have smoother focusing for video. The T3i is not optimized for a STM lens. All future Canon DSLR's will likely be optimized for STM lenses. The T4i and T5i are almost identical, so you don't need a T5i. The T3i will not autofocus for video and does not have the touch screen.
When you do video with a STM lens, touching a point on the screen will cause the camera to smoothly change focus to the new point.
You can trade in a worthless old Canon film slr or a broken power shot for a 15% percent discount off the refurb prices. They are like new and have the same 1 year warranty as new.

Autofocus on T4i and T5i are worthless for filmmaking, They will hunt and are unreliable.
The T3i has handy 1080p digital zoom, and is cheaper at the same IQ
There are no good STM lenses yet, and who knows when they will be available.

 

[jdramirez]

I forgot to mention that my budget is in USD.

Sounds like am getting a T3i

Thank's everyone. I appreciate your replies. If I have any other questions I will ask here. I will let you guys know what my gear will be later.

I'd suggest you forgo a out of date T3i and consider a refurb t4i. Its compatible with Canons new STM lenses which have smoother focusing for video. The T3i is not optimized for a STM lens. All future Canon DSLR's will likely be optimized for STM lenses. The T4i and T5i are almost identical, so you don't need a T5i. The T3i will not autofocus for video and does not have the touch screen.
When you do video with a STM lens, touching a point on the screen will cause the camera to smoothly change focus to the new point.
You can trade in a worthless old Canon film slr or a broken power shot for a 15% percent discount off the refurb prices. They are like new and have the same 1 year warranty as new.

Autofocus on T4i and T5i are worthless for filmmaking, They will hunt and are unreliable.
The T3i has handy 1080p digital zoom, and is cheaper at the same IQ
There are no good STM lenses yet, and who knows when they will be available.

Manual focus and practice are still the way to go.

I would ditto the t3i, same overall quality and performance as more expensive crop sensors... you can pick up a used one for around $450 or so, and if there is enough cash, the 24-105 is a very nice complement to it. The IS is excellent. I was shooting stills in a cave the other day and the IS really save my butt. Sure I had a 5D mkiii, but the lens really came through.

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

I forgot to mention that my budget is in USD.

Sounds like am getting a T3i

Thank's everyone. I appreciate your replies. If I have any other questions I will ask here. I will let you guys know what my gear will be later.

I'd suggest you forgo a out of date T3i and consider a refurb t4i. Its compatible with Canons new STM lenses which have smoother focusing for video. The T3i is not optimized for a STM lens. All future Canon DSLR's will likely be optimized for STM lenses. The T4i and T5i are almost identical, so you don't need a T5i. The T3i will not autofocus for video and does not have the touch screen.
When you do video with a STM lens, touching a point on the screen will cause the camera to smoothly change focus to the new point.
You can trade in a worthless old Canon film slr or a broken power shot for a 15% percent discount off the refurb prices. They are like new and have the same 1 year warranty as new.

Autofocus on T4i and T5i are worthless for filmmaking, They will hunt and are unreliable.
The T3i has handy 1080p digital zoom, and is cheaper at the same IQ
There are no good STM lenses yet, and who knows when they will be available.

Maybe you need to get yours repaired

The 18-135 and the 18-55 have good reputations for a low cost video lens. He does not have a $10k budget, so even if there were expensive STM L lenses available, they are out of his reach. There are other video lenses that have smooth AF, but they push him out of his budget as well.

Of course you can manually focus, and do it well once you add that $5-10K worth of accessories, external monitors, focus pullers, the list is almost infinite.

 

[Salah Yousef]

I can afford a T4i if that's what you guys suggest. Should I get it ? http://snapsort.com/compare/Canon-Rebel-T4i-vs-Canon-Rebel-T5i


I can't afford a CANON EOS 5D Mark III http://www.amazon.com/Canon-Frame-Full-HD-Digital-Camera/dp/B007FGYZFI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1376203569&sr=8-1&keywords=CANON+EOS+5D+Mark+III

I can afford T4i but in snapsort the T3i wins.

What do you guys think of this http://www.amazon.com/Canon-Digital-75-300mm-Telephoto-Accessory/dp/B004Q79BIA/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1376203770&sr=8-2&keywords=canon+t3i

http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Camera-55-250mm-Telephoto-Accessory/dp/B00A2ATBTO/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&qid=1376203806&sr=8-14&keywords=canon+t4i

Says in this video that the T4i cis not compatible with Magic Lantern http://www.magiclantern.fm/ unlike T3i

 

[scottkinfw]

I bought a t4i kit for my son similar to this and it worked great. Of course, you have to learn how to use it. In fact, he got some excellent shots with it, and we even did some video which turned out great- a cow elephant protecting her cub and charging me. No problems in the bush, and he took thousands of pics. The lenses are good but not "L". Not a problem for a beginner, as you will limit your growth, not the camera.

Happy shooting.

I forgot to mention that my budget is in USD.

Sounds like am getting a T3i

Thank's everyone. I appreciate your replies. If I have any other questions I will ask here. I will let you guys know what my gear will be later.

I'd suggest you forgo a out of date T3i and consider a refurb t4i. Its compatible with Canons new STM lenses which have smoother focusing for video. The T3i is not optimized for a STM lens. All future Canon DSLR's will likely be optimized for STM lenses. The T4i and T5i are almost identical, so you don't need a T5i. The T3i will not autofocus for video and does not have the touch screen.
When you do video with a STM lens, touching a point on the screen will cause the camera to smoothly change focus to the new point.
You can trade in a worthless old Canon film slr or a broken power shot for a 15% percent discount off the refurb prices. They are like new and have the same 1 year warranty as new.

Autofocus on T4i and T5i are worthless for filmmaking, They will hunt and are unreliable.
The T3i has handy 1080p digital zoom, and is cheaper at the same IQ
There are no good STM lenses yet, and who knows when they will be available.

Maybe you need to get yours repaired

The 18-135 and the 18-55 have good reputations for a low cost video lens. He does not have a $10k budget, so even if there were expensive STM L lenses available, they are out of his reach. There are other video lenses that have smooth AF, but they push him out of his budget as well.

Of course you can manually focus, and do it well once you add that $5-10K worth of accessories, external monitors, focus pullers, the list is almost infinite.

 

[heptagon]

T2i and T3i have the same sensor. T4i adds in mediocre live view phase detection focusing.

T3i has video zoom (1:1 pixel video instead of line skipping) which some people like to use.
T3i has better phase detection AF compared to the T2i (can't remember exactly what but i think center point is same but outer focus points are better).

I don't think you'll need any feature the T4i provides. The 70D could prove worthwile but it's not out yet.

Magic lantern could be useful for learning because it offers you deeper control of the camera.

I'd get the T4i with the two kit lenses. They are not very good but you have every focal length 18-250mm covered and can add a decent prime to that (31mm would be 50mm full frame equivalent).

 

[jdramirez]

I can afford a T4i if that's what you guys suggest. Should I get it ? http://snapsort.com/compare/Canon-Rebel-T4i-vs-Canon-Rebel-T5i


I can't afford a CANON EOS 5D Mark III http://www.amazon.com/Canon-Frame-Full-HD-Digital-Camera/dp/B007FGYZFI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1376203569&sr=8-1&keywords=CANON+EOS+5D+Mark+III

I can afford T4i but in snapsort the T3i wins.

What do you guys think of this http://www.amazon.com/Canon-Digital-75-300mm-Telephoto-Accessory/dp/B004Q79BIA/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1376203770&sr=8-2&keywords=canon+t3i

http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Camera-55-250mm-Telephoto-Accessory/dp/B00A2ATBTO/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&qid=1376203806&sr=8-14&keywords=canon+t4i

Says in this video that the T4i cis not compatible with Magic Lantern http://www.magiclantern.fm/ unlike T3i

Don't get the 75-300... it simply isn't a very good lens. Image quality is poor, no image stabilization... tons of chromatic aberration... the 55-250 is much better... but if you can wait a while, there are rebate deals periodically that will make a t3i and a 55-250 a much better value.

 

[distant.star]

.
If it were me, I'd do nothing until this guy weighs in:

paul13walnut5

He works in video and seems to have a penchant for economy.

You might send him a message also.

 

[Salah Yousef]

Thank's for your replies guys. You really are helpful. A friend of mine suggested I get a camcorder. Since I'll be shooting films most of the time. What do you guys think ?

http://www.usa.canon.com/cusa/consumer/products/camcorders/consumer_camcorders