What are SLRs like for shooting HD video?

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Soldato
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I've been commissioned to do some video work although I've been out the game for several years and my camera is an old 3CCD Panasonic MiniDV. Still takes fairly decent footage but in an era where everyone expects pin sharp HD footage, it's not up to the job.

I don't need anything of professional grade but I do need to shoot in HD so I started having a look for HD camcorders on my budget of around £500.

I suddenly remembered watching a film a few months back which was shot entirely on an SLR. It looked incredible and the footage was stunning due to the different lenses used. Bearing in mind I planned to buy a new SLR in the near future I'm toying with the idea of dropping the camcorder idea and just getting an SLR.

Question: Armed with a decent SLR and plenty of storage, could you easily shoot decent HD (1080p) footage to edit into a short film? Are there any major disadvantages? Is it do-able for £500?

Would really appreciate some answers chaps.

Cheers
 
Canon EOS 550D looks pretty good although I would want to avoid the standard 18-55 lens.

video mode – a critical feature for creative videographers. Quality was excellent, with crisp details, rich colours, barely any noise and no sign of compression artefacts, thanks to the AVC codec and massive 45Mbit/s bit rate. The resulting files are huge, though, and require a fast PC for playback and editing. It also means that the 4GB file limit equates to around 12 minutes of video at 24fps. There’s no countdown to warn when recording is about to stop.
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Wow, might be needing just a few SD cards then!
 
scott212 said:
Question: Armed with a decent SLR and plenty of storage, could you easily shoot decent HD (1080p) footage to edit into a short film? Are there any major disadvantages? Is it do-able for £500?
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You can do it but it can be a bit tricky. Ergonomically DSLRs are designed for shooting stills, for video the handling is a bit awkward. For example you can't use the viewfinder for framing (the mirror is up when shooting video) so you need to use the rear screen, that in turn means holding the camera in front of you which is a) tiring and b) leads to a fair amount of shake. With a tripod however that problem goes away.

Focussing is also a pain, while the Canon range does AF it's useless for anything other than setting up an initial focus before starting. Once you're going then manual is the only reasonable option.

I don't want to be totally negative though. The results you can get are astonishing for what is in effect a free add on to the camera. It just takes a bit of effort to get the best out of the kit.
 
If you're capable of manual focussing and are willing to use a shoulder mount, tripod or similar to steady it, plus an external mic a you won't find anything that offers the same level of quality at that kind of price.

Admittedly that's quite a few caveats, but the quality is worth it imo.
 
Thanks for the response guys. It actually sounds perfect for my needs. I shoot virtually everything with a tripod anyway and I prefer manual focus.

I'm assuming my MBP would be powerful enough to edit the videos. It's 2.66 GHz Dual Core Duo.
 
It might struggle depending on what program you use.

Premier Pro seems to run really well, idk how FCP runs. Test it out when you get it. 30fps 720p should definitely be very quick, 60fps 720p or 30fps 1080p might be a bit harder but you should be okay.
 
The 550D is absolutely capable of shooting excellent video. Bunches of my clients shoot weddings on the 5DmkII, and i regularly shoot backstage footage with them.

The trick is to keep it simple. You'll need one hand to focus, so there's not much hope for zooming. Prime lenses are absolutely the best for video, but will set you back a premium. Use the focus to your advantage, fill your foreground and transition between it and your subject.

If you can't load yourself up with equipment, dont be afraid to use the environment. Rocks, tables, cars, all make useful steadying tools! a lightweight tripod or monopod make great boom arms, and a skateboard will work as a short distance dolly on a smooth surface!

Practice, of course, but it's worth it. If you can rent the gear, do so if its just one job. Grab a glide track and fluid head tripod if you can. Personally, I wouldn't go back to using a fullsize camera for my work stuff, although i still use my XL1S a lot for personal :)
 
That's really helpful advice, thank you. Have any of you got any examples online of the sort of footage it is capable of?
 
Full details:


Edited in Sony Vegas 10.0 and Adobe After Effects
Color Correction using Magic Bullet Mojo
Canon T2i/550D
Canon 18-55mm IS
Canon 55-250mm IS
Canon 50mm f 1.8

So they only used 3 cheap lenses, the kit lens and the other two would cost around £210 for the pair. Not bad considering!
 

Even on entry level cameras the video quality is amazing, it's the audio you want to watch out for - either an external mic socket or just recording the audio separately to overlay later can make the difference between something that looks professional and something that's good. Not that it would matter if you just shot video then dubbed music over it later.

One thing to look out for, however, is 'rolling shutter', which certain CMOS cameras sometimes experience is some very specific situations.
 
At 720p the 550D shoots at 60fps, making it a favourite for people doing slow motion. Programs like Twixter can use the high frame rate the reduce the amount of morphing it does, making super-slowmo look much more fluid.

http://vimeo.com/16340475
 
Are you limited to 4mins only? Could I capture vieo directly to my macbook using remote software like DSLRassitant (or such like?)
 
DampCat said:
The trick is to keep it simple. You'll need one hand to focus, so there's not much hope for zooming. Prime lenses are absolutely the best for video, but will set you back a premium. Use the focus to your advantage, fill your foreground and transition between it and your subject.
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I'd challenge that...

Primes are great for IQ but they resolve far past the necessary 1080p used for video. The DOF, while nice, is incredibly hard to handle given you have to be in focus for long periods of time, without the viewfinder, without AF.

Cheaper zooms have sufficient image quality and aperture, while the zoom means you can get different perspective, and shift your pivot points etc. No point zooming during video, but zooming before video can give creative opportunities.

OP: Bear in mind that most of that Wedding Promo video was shot with the camera moving on a dolly, which is something which almost always looks good. Tripod shots look a bit too static a lot of the time so you'll inevitably have to move it sometimes, which is when camera holding technique and that lcd viewfinder I linked come in, as I assume you won't be spending hundreds if not thousands on dolly systems.
 
I believe the limit per clip is 12 or 14minutes. Which is fine, unless your planning on having takes last longer than that! :P

The other benifit of the 550D is that depending how far you want to go, the magic lantern firmware adds a whole lot more features! But since you are on this forum, im assuming you would have no problems testing it out. :)
http://magiclantern.wikia.com/wiki/Canon_EOS_500D/T1i#Features
 
Ksanti said:
I'd challenge that...

Primes are great for IQ but they resolve far past the necessary 1080p used for video. The DOF, while nice, is incredibly hard to handle given you have to be in focus for long periods of time, without the viewfinder, without AF.

Cheaper zooms have sufficient image quality and aperture, while the zoom means you can get different perspective, and shift your pivot points etc. No point zooming during video, but zooming before video can give creative opportunities.
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I wasn't writing off zoom lenses entirely, but it's far more difficult to handle manual focus and zoom than to deal with shallow DOF. The DOF you get from a wide open 50 1.2 or 85 1.2 or even the 1.8s might be shallow, but focussing with it becomes second nature with practice. If you're planning each shot in advance then you'll be focussing at either end of your movement anyway, so you'll have a rough idea of how far you're turning the focus ring.

I was originally suggesting that it takes two hands to zoom and focus, leaving you nothing to hold the camera with. If you have a should rig or steadycam, then quids in! But for a first time video on DSLR i'd suggest using a prime lens and practice smooth movements towards or away from the subject, rather than a zoom.

As with anything in photography, there's no "wrong" way to do it, i'm merely passing on things i've learned from doing it daily!
 
DampCat said:
I was originally suggesting that it takes two hands to zoom and focus, leaving you nothing to hold the camera with. If you have a should rig or steadycam, then quids in! But for a first time video on DSLR i'd suggest using a prime lens and practice smooth movements towards or away from the subject, rather than a zoom.
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Of course you can't zoom mid take, it looks horrible, but zooming between takes is what I meant.
 
All I can say is you've all been extremely helpful and I'm grateful for the advice.

I'm going to have a serious think about purchasing this kit. The problem is right now I can't afford to stretch past the standard 18-55 lens.

That slow-motion footage is incredible!
 
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