DSLR Video

[Duke]

Does anyone on here shoot video with their DSLR?

I found it a bit complicated and haven't messed with it much....using other auto cameras instead until very recently. I have just started getting into it and regret having ignored it for so much time but am still very new and unskilled. I would love to hear how anyone got started or how you learned your skills.

I have a Canon 550D (T2i). I hear/read that more updated and advanced cameras, like the 70D, have a much better focus system. One problem I have with mine is changing focus....for example when shooting wide open and focusing on something in the foreground and then changing to the background. Watching the live view screen I just can't tell when it hits the new focus point.

 

[Thiel]

I do it a lot. Like a lot a lot.

Manual focus is required even with. 5d. I have a t2i and regularly shoot with a 5d mkiii and others and it's all the same.



Practice a lot. Get a magnifying hood for the live view screen. (Hoodman or Zacuto). Probably most important thing to realize is that you really shouldn't be changing focus that much. You're going to cut together short clips if you want your end product to be interesting. Pulling focus is very cool, but hard to execute and hard to use in a useful creative way with beginner video footage.

 

[DAA]

I don't use mine for video - haven't shot any video with it. But the autofocus on the 70D in video and Live View is totally different than the others. Each pixel on the sensor acts as an AF point. Supposed to AF while shooting video and even auto track movement in video pretty well . Doubt I'll ever find out, shot way too much video years ago and hope to live the rest of my life without editing another second of it.

- DAA

 

[andyjaggy]

The good news is image quality from SLR video is phenomenal, the first SLR I had that did video blew away my dedicated video camera in term of IQ.

Usability can be tricky, though things have really changed a lot in the past few years.

 

[Duke]

Thanks all. Good tips. It is still a complicated beast to me but I too have found the video quality such a step up from my handheld HD vid camera that I believe I will have to grapple with this beast until I get it.

 

[andyjaggy]

If you already have Canon lenses, you could upgrade to the 70D, that would give you really nice focusing abilities in liveview.

 

[steve]

I do it a lot. Like a lot a lot.

Manual focus is required even with. 5d.

x2

Practice a lot. Get a magnifying hood for the live view screen. (Hoodman or Zacuto). Probably most important thing to realize is that you really shouldn't be changing focus that much. You're going to cut together short clips if you want your end product to be interesting. Pulling focus is very cool, but hard to execute and hard to use in a useful creative way with beginner video footage.

lots of really good advice here.

 

[Thiel]

Thanks Steve. The other advantage if a magnifying hood is to provide a third point if stability when shooting handheld.

Honestly I'm confused by the comments about the 70d. Af points are af points and the 70d has 19 of them. Use autofocus only if you want it to hunt, pick the wrong focus point, hear the motor noise in your audio, and if you want your focus point to be the same location regardless of what you are shooting.

Much of the perceived quality improvement comes from two sources: 1-non interlaced video and 2- big apertures. If you want to keep using big apertures and you're outdoors, then you are going to want a variable neutral density filter. Worth it to buy a decent one.

Get a decent fluid head tripod, set your shutter speed at twice your frame rate, and resist the temptation to move the camera a lot and/or shoot clips that are hours long and you'll be on your way.

Good audio cures a multitude of video sins, so pick up a zoom h2 or at least a shotgun mic.

 

[DAA]

Honestly I'm confused by the comments about the 70d.

Canon calls it dual pixel CMOS AF. Each pixel on the sensor has two photodiodes so the pixels can be used for both phase detection AF and imaging simultaneously.

It's of no particular interest to me, but everyone says the 70D does AF in video mode quite well. You can even use the touch screen to select where in the frame it focuses - I do use that shooting stills in LV. I hear that it auto tracks moving subjects "not too bad" while shooting video and that the AF motors on the new STM (stepper motor) kit lenses are pretty much silent too.

I do know that LV w/the 70D is a completely different experience than the other Canon bodies without dual pixel CMOS sensors. AF is fast and sure, none of the super slow hunting around that the others all do in LV.

- DAA

 

[Duke]

Good audio cures a multitude of video sins, so pick up a zoom h2 or at least a shotgun mic.

Hmmmmm.....now this is something I think I need.

If staying on the cheap side.....how about this one

TAKSTAR SGC-598

 

[Thiel]

Ah. Didn't realize the 70d had the dual pixel af. Same system in the c100... It's amazingly fast but on the c100 only allows you to focus at centerpoint...which is rarely where I want to focus.

 

[Duke]

Hmmmmm.....now this is something I think I need.

If staying on the cheap side.....how about this one

TAKSTAR SGC-598

Just as a followup; Thiel's suggestions seem great and inspired me to search for a "shotgun" mic. I found and ordered the above named mic. It was a cheapo but I am still glad I got it. Its not so much that the quality of the sound is technically, far superior as it is that it is now not picking up all the noises that I make when shooting video. No parabolic mic but it still seems to focus on the subject and my breathing and throat clearing are no longer the center of the audio. And yea OK, ....the audio is better than the on board mic but not that much. The benefit is in the audio focus....or at least that is my take. Good suggestion @Thiel

 

[Thiel]

You are very welcome. A good shotgun is pretty essential. I'm so a fan of the Rode SmartLav if you are looking for a simple lapel mic setup.

For the shotgun you have to spend $150 or more for a good one.

I'm a big fan of the Zoom h2n for portable ambient audio.