Video camera recommendation

whitecrook

whitecrook

whitecrook

Soldato
Joined
22 Aug 2005
Posts
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Location
Clydebank
Hi all

Wonder if there's a current 'go to' camera for the purposes of creating some mini promo films (about 5 mins each). ?

I had envisioned this project being shot with iphone 6 cameras as they are reasonably decent for my purposes in mind (and we have a couple - multicam?) , but have been given the option of purchasing a a 'decent' camera to do this on (budget maybe upto £500 including lighting etc)

I have some nikon lenses (11-16 tokina, 35 1.8, 50 1.8, 18-55) I could use, so thought maybe a d3xxx or d5xxx series might be nice ? (i have a D2 so no dslr video experience)

Or is there a nice compact-ish camera with a reasonably wide angle that does good video ? Maybe a Lumix or something ?

Would probably want to shoot HD, 1080p if possible. I have access to a mac with final cut pro so that would be the editing software.

Is a go pro a dumb idea ?

Any thoughts ? Thanks
 
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Personally I think GoPro looks very amateurish. I mean for what they're built for and in their type of cameras they're top of the class, but if you're talking about professional promo films, you can instantly tell when it's GoPro or similar footage because of the oversharpening and such. For example I distinctly remember certain shots in the second Hobbit movie, certain episodes of Sons of Anarchy and Breaking Bad. The footage just sticks out like a sore thumb.
 
Just a buy a used Nikon D5100 an external mic (Rode VideoMic-R Shotgun maybe?) and use the Nikon glass you have, its a very under rated camera for video and you'll still have £250 in your pocket for some lighting.
 
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D5100 sounds nice, less than £200 body only as well. I like that . While we are here, if I wanted a compact/all in one camera, what is the usual/a good recommendation ? Probably something a little better than an iphone camera. Point taken about the go pro, thanks for the info.
 
Columbo said:
Just a buy a used Nikon D5100 an external mic (Rode VideoMic-R Shotgun maybe?) and use the Nikon glass you have, its a very under rated camera for video and you'll still have £250 in your pocket for some lighting.
Click to expand...

Yep, the D5100 is pretty good for video.

Nikon doesn't market it well but in general they are excellent for video.
 
whitecrook said:
D5100 sounds nice, less than £200 body only as well. I like that . While we are here, if I wanted a compact/all in one camera, what is the usual/a good recommendation ? Probably something a little better than an iphone camera. Point taken about the go pro, thanks for the info.
Click to expand...

I don't think any of the compacts are really worth it and offer much more than the iPhone. There are some compacts with large sensors but they are more photography related.

an alternative to the Nikon would be one of the Panasonic m43 camera that are all highly rated for video. But you will need to buy lenses.

The Black Magic pocket cinema is one of the best go to dedicated vido camera on a budget:
https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/blackmagicpocketcinemacamera

But it is still going to be over your budget.

Since you already have Nikon lenses it is hard to find something that will match the performance for the same budget.
 
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