... that I sent to the head of the Peery Foundation (the people who sent Becky and I to Africa) that I wrote in response to him asking about DSLRs. Needless to say, I am a dork. There is WAY too much info here but I put it out there anyways. Since I sent it to him, I decided I might as well share it with everybody. So, here is my long, boring and technical blogpost about the world of DSLR filmmaking and equipment.
WARNING: If you are a techie, you might actually enjoy this. I sure did.
PLEASE READ FIRST!!: I started to write this email and I just kept going. If you want, you can read the whole thing, but if you want the overview (which is much shorter) scroll down until it says "summary" in bold letters. I am happy to share any info or research I have done over the past year as well.
So, DSLRs. There is a myriad of options that you have but I will try and keep it concise. I am glad you are a Canon man because Canon pioneered this technology and are at least 1 year ahead of the competition. The Canon Mark ii 5D was the first to offer video as a photojournalist tool but filmmakers recognized the power in the technology and used it. Now it is becoming a standard of sorts. Nikon was second, but them, along with Sony, Panasonic, and Olympus, are still a bit behind. They are good, but Canon is better in my opinion. Anyways, there are pretty much 3 different options (all Canons) when it comes to shooting video on a DSLR.
Canon Mark ii 5D- This is the original and is the best quality DSLR out of the 3. They all will shoot 1080p (1920x1080 being the resolution and p stands for progressive which means it is more "filmy" looking) but the 5D has a full frame sensor. This means that it is capturing more light on a larger sensor. This helps your lenses really perform with a shallow depth of field and correct optics (meaning a 35mm lens will act like a 35mm lens. More on this later with the 7D) This also helps the 5D perform really well in low-light. You can have the ISO (low light sensitivity option on the camera) really high (which makes it more sensitive) and you will still get a clear image without a lot of "noise" or pixelation. Another cool thing that they just changed was putting the 24 frames per second (fps) option on. Earlier this year the 5D would only shoot 30 fps and many filmmakers prefer the more "filmy" look of 24fps but now this camera can do both. This camera (with a lens) is usually $3000. If I had the money I would probably go with this option for general use (easy editing after you shoot, etc).
Canon 7D- This is the camera that I have. It came out last year (Oct?) and quickly became the workhorse of the DSLRs because it shot 24 fps and 30fps and also 60 fps (slow motion!). It is also very user friendly and I feel is a bit more simple to navigate than the 5D. It also shoots 1080p but it does not have a full-frame sensor. It has a 4/3 sensor or 1.6 crop factor. This means the the image projected onto the sensor is larger than the sensor. This has two consequences. One: it means that the lens that you are using is going to be modified a bit; for example, a 35mm lens will become more like a 50mm lens, putting your subject closer than they otherwise would have been. So a 24mm lens is more like a 35mm and a 35mm is more like a 50mm and a 50mm is more like an 80mm, etc. Second, it doesn't have the low light latitude that the 5D has. Don't get me wrong, it is still great, but after about ISO 1600 it starts to get a bit grainy. This camera is also only about $1800 with a lens so it is an absolute steal.
Canon Rebel 2Ti- This camera just came out this past spring (March?) and is also a great deal. It has all of the same features of the 7D but in a smaller, more economical body. It cannot take all of the lenses that the other two cameras take because it is part of the Rebel series, but it takes almost all of them. It is not as weather proof or as strong as the 5D or 7D which are professional cameras, but is a great deal still. It runs at about $900 with a lens and can shoot 1080p. 24fps, 30fps, 60fps, and everything. It is just lighter which is significant when doing the filming because with all of the DSLRs, there is a large shake factor. But this one is just a killer deal.
So that is the video rundown of each. There are photographic elements that play into this as well like the 7D shoots 8fps while the Rebel does 3 and other things like that. You can look into the specific cameras for those details. I feel that it is really an option between the 7D which is more user friendly, cheaper and has slow motion and the Mark ii 5D which has the full frame sensor and low light sensitivity. I have been absolutely satisfied with my 7D though in Africa, in the huts, I wished I had more low light sensitivity. But for me, the 7D has been great with shooting slow-motion stuff and general things. I was shooting the day I got it and it was really easy to use. When I get some money though, I am investing in a 5D.
About lenses, it depends on what you are using the camera for. If you are just using it for general stuff, there are some options. I will tell you what lenses I have and that will kind of illustrate what you might use them for and then you can choose different lengths that work for you. I also assume that you know about f-stops and basic lens/photography stuff. If not, let me know and I can explain it.
I have two zoom lenses, a 17mm-85mm f4-5.6 and a 28mm-135mm f3.5-5.6. I like the 17-85mm because it goes wider which is good for my 7D. It bends a bit around the corners which is fun for filming (I think) and is good and versitile. I use the 28-135mm for interviews because it is a f3.5 but can also zoom in and out pretty far. It makes for more dynamic interviews. A good zoom lens is always good to have. There are better zoom lenses that Canon makes that I can't get right now, but these work well. I would try to get the fastest lens (the lowest f-stop) with a good zoom. If I got the 7D I would get something wider like a 17mm or 20mm because of the 1.6 crop factor, but with the 5D it won't be as much of an issue because of the full frame sensor. A 24mm or 28mm would work great.
I also have a prime (or non-zoom) lens that is wider. It is a 30mm f1.4. This lens is new and I haven't used it too much yet, but it has a very shallow depth of field which makes it really nice and it operates more like an eye would. It does great in low light situations because it is a f1.4 so it is very versitile. I am planning on using this lens much more. It is good to have a good wide-angle lens that is fast.
I also have 50mm f1.8 which is great as well. This lens is a medium telephoto/standard lens. It is fast as well so great in low light and very versitile. On my 7D it operates more like a 80mm. I shot the short video of our trip to Africa pretty much all on this lens (http://vimeo.com/13208111).
It is also very good to have a Macro lens. This helps with those really up close moments that are super cool to film because it is like you are entering a new world. There are a ton of different Macro lenses, 50mm, 80mm, 100mm, etc but I would try to get the one that can get the closest to the subject. I have the 100mm 1.2 Macro and I can be 7 inches away from something and still focus on it. That is really close with the 100mm! It is fun.
Another good thing to know about lenses is that with the DSLRs you will get something called "rolling shutter". You can see how jiggly some of my footage is when I am walking or just from my hand shaking sometimes. Rolling shutter will make it even more jiggly and bad. Lenses with IS (Internal Stabilization) will help reduce this effect and make it smoother. IS is mostly on the Zoom lenses and Canon has the best lenses for that.
Though I prefer Canon lenses, there are other brands that are also very nice like Sigma and Zeiss, even Nikon with the right adapter, they are all good. When you buy a lens, it is always money well spent because they won't depreciate for years, while the bodies will be outdated in just a few short years.
Also if you are interested in DSLR info that is easy to understand and digest good sites are http://philipbloom.net/ and http://blog.planet5d.com/. They will have lots of opinions, solutions, forums, etc. DSLR shooting is revolutionizing filmmaking because it is now so inexpensive to shoot really high quality video but you should know that there are some problems with it as well. There is a capture limit on how much you can film at one time (it is 4GBs) and so on the 7D you can only film for about 12 mins before it will stop and you have to start another clip. On the 5D it is about 10 mins. The footage is pretty large. Like I said, 10-12 mins will be about 4GB which can turn an hour into about 25GB. I brought two 1TB harddrives with me and I filled them up. I have to now spend money on storing that footage, which can be fairly pricy. Also, the footage usually has to be converted or rendered if you are going to edit with it. If you are just using iMovie it will be pretty hard to edit things together. I use Final Cut Pro and I have to convert all of the footage to a different file type before I edit which can be tedious. Sound is also an issue. You can plug in a microphone but you can only plug in one and you have no way to monitor or adjust the sound volume. For just somebody shooting around, wanting to post something that looks good to the internet though, this is a plus because it is one thing that you don't have to worry about that much. Another thing is that other camera companies like Sony, Panasonic and RED are using this same technology and putting it into more "film friendly" bodies that will enable better sound and post production. Those are scheduled to come out within the next 6-10 months and will probably run about $5000. I am keeping that in mind for sure.
Anyways, this post has become HUGE with a ton of info. I hope I haven't overwhelmed you. I will summarize below.
SUMMARY-
The three best cameras right now are the Canons, the Mark ii 5D, the 7D and the Rebel 2Ti. They all shoot very high quality HD video. The 5D has the best sensor inside and is the best in low light but it can't shoot in slow-motion like the other two. The 7D and the Rebel can shoot slow-motion but there is an image crop, meaning that if you are shooting with a 35mm lens it will become more like a 50mm. If you are shooting with a 50mm it will look more like an 80mm. The difference between the 7D and the Rebel is the quality of build. The 7D is more weather proof and feels more stable in your hand while the Rebel is lighter and not quite as "tight".
I would suggest getting a few different lenses to your liking. A "wide-angle" lens (e.g. 24mm, 28mm, 35mm) all with the lowest number you can afford (f1.2 or f1.4 is very good). A good zoom lens that is versitile (e.g. 28-135mm, 17-85mm etc) that also has IS or Internal Stabalization. This will make you images smoother using the DSLR. And the last lens I would recommend is a Macro lens. They are usually longer (50mm, 80mm, 100mm, etc) and help you get really close to things. A must have also is a 50mm. A photographer's best friend.
DSLRs are great because they are relatively inexpensive and are very versitile. They take amazing looking video and can be taken most anywhere. They are (partially) the future of filmmaking. They do have their problems though. The footage is harder to edit with (iMovie is more or less a no-go with these) and the footage takes up a lot of computer space (1 hr = about 25 GB). This aside, I would encourage everybody that has an interest in filmmaking and photography or even just high quality homevideos, to seriously look into getting a DSLR. Businesses could take care of most of their own media needs, people can learn more about filmmaking, and the technology is only going to get easier and less expensive. Also if you are interested in DSLR info that is easy to understand and digest good sites are http://philipbloom.net/ and http://blog.planet5d.com. Overall, a DSLR is the most bang for your buck right now and what I would consider a good investment.
I am happy to expand on any topic or be any sort of help I can be. Let me know.
Thanks!
