Saturday, March 8, 2014

Best DSLR camera for film making and photography?

Q. I've decided to purchase my first dslr camera. I'm a amateur film maker so I need a camera that can handle that, with excellent video. But I also do a lot of photography, especially sports.
I'm not too concerned with costs. Basically, I want the best possible video and picture quality possible. With quality, I'm not really willing to sacrifice.
On a less important note, I have pretty small hands, so an especially large body might be a problem.


Answer
Film makers use 16 mm and 35 mm motion picture cameras and most of them rent them from a place like here

http://www.birnsandsawyer.com/_camera-rentals/35mm-cameras/

Some dSLR's have a video feature, but are NOT designed to be a primary video camera. For those you can rent them from Birns and Sawyer or buy something like those listed on this link

http://catalog2.panasonic.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ModelList?storeId=11201&catalogId=13051&catGroupId=34401&surfModel=AG-HPX370

The above cameras are designed to produce video projects and do an excellent job

ALL video, motion picture and digital still cameras have large camera bodies, but since all but a few shots needed to produce a film/video involve the camera being mounted on a tripod, this should NOT be a problem for you.

Here is a link to the type video camera used by one of my sports shooting colleagues.

http://pro.sony.com/bbsc/ssr/cat-broadcastcameras/cat-dvcam/product-DSR400PL/

The lens he has attached to is is a Fujinon ENG Style zoom designed for 1080p

http://www.fujifilmusa.com/products/optical_devices/broadcast-hd-sd/hdtv-lenses/2-3-eng/za-select/za22x76-berd/

While simple $300 P&S cameras shoot both stills and video, neither are what you would want to use if your goal is excellent stills or excellent video.

What is a good entry-level dSLR camera for an enthusiastic beginner photographer?




sellingkar


I'm trying to decide whether a bridge-camera will be fine OR whether I should go for a lower range of DSLR..please let me know from your experience. Thx


Answer
Definitely go for a DSLR.

No matter how advanced a so-called "bridge camera" may be it is severely limited by its tiny sensor and permanently attached lens.

The sensor of a compact digicam may measure 7.6mm x 5.7mm while the DSLR sensor measures 23.6mm x 15.8mm. A tiny sensor simply performs poorly at higher ISO settings and in low-light, non-flash photography. Manufacturers have made this worse by stuffing more and more pixels into this tiny sensor. If you have 14.7mp in a compact digicam sensor each individual pixel is very tiny. Place 10.2mp in a DSLR sensor and the individual pixels are comparatively huge. Larger individual pixels gather more detail and perform better at higher ISOs and in low-light, non-flash situations.

The second major advantage of the DSLR is its interchangeable lenses. With a compact digicam you're stuck with the permanently attached lens. If you want to shoot in low-light w/o a flash with a DSLR just attach a 50mm f1.4 and you're good to go. If a compact digicam has an f2.8-4.0 lens you're limited in low light. Your only option is a high ISO to get a shutter speed fast enough to avoid subject motion.

Suppose you're in a situation where a 50mm f1.4 lens at ISO 400 gives you a shutter speed of 1/60 sec. If your compact digicam has an f2.0 lens your shutter speed drops to 1/30 sec. At f2.8 it becomes 1/15 sec. and at f4 1/8 sec. At ISO 800 the f1.4 lens gives you a shutter speed of 1/125 sec., f2.0 1/60 sec., f2.8 1/30 sec. and f4 1/15 sec. At ISO 1600 the f1.4 gives a shutter speed of 1/250 sec., the f2 1/125 sec., f2.8 1/60 sec. and f4 1/30 sec. As you can easily see, a fast f1.4 lens is all but mandatory for successful low-light, non-flash photography. (Yes, IS will help with camera movement but IS does nothing for subject movement. A fast shutter speed is needed to avoid subject movement.)

The DSLR also allows you to use a true macro lens or an ultra wide angle lens or a super telephoto. In other words, with interchangeable lenses you can choose a lens to suit a particular situation.

Although the Pavlovian response in here is almost always "Nikon!" "Canon!" do not ignore the Sony and Pentax DSLR line.

Both Sony and Pentax have their versions of Image Stabilization (IS) in the camera body. Any lens used thus becomes an IS lens. Nikon and Canon have their versions of IS in some of their lenses but not all. Plus you get to pay for the IS every time you buy one of their IS lenses.

The Sony A230 is 10.2mp and is $549.95 w/18-55mm lens at B&H.

The Pentax K2000 is 10.2mp and is $599.95 w/18-55mm lens and AF-200FG flash at B&H.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com

Since Sony uses the same lens mount as the Minolta Maxxum auto focus 35mm camera introduced in 1985, you can use every Maxxum AF lens made since then. Sony also has (at last count) 26 branded lenses in their catalog plus the Carl Zeiss "ZA" lenses. I doubt you'll ever lack for lenses. Plus, with in-camera IS, a 20 year old Maxxum AF lens becomes an IS lenses. Nikon and canon can't say that.

The Pentax DSLR cameras still use the K-mount forst introduced in 1975. Any K-mount lens can be used (with limitations) so, again, you won't lack for lenses. The Pentax in-camera IS offers the same benefit as the Sony in-camera IS. Just think - a 30 year old lens using technology that wasn't even a dream when that lens was made.

So go for a DSLR and you'll never be sorry.




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