rebel vs hv30
 

I did some identical shoots with the rebel (with stock lens) and the hv30, in a sunny envirenmont.
It's like a a budgetcamcorder vs a procamcorder .
How to set the rebel for some decent results?
Do i need another lens?
Or?

Were you shooting the T2i on auto or manual? Did you use an ND filter?

Perhaps you were expecting the t2i to autofocus during shot? Maybe the moire/aliasing showed up?

Could you let us know what lens you were using and what were the differences you identified?

Even better, upload some clips to Vimeo and post back, then we can all have a look and try to see what's wrong.

Don't give up on it yet!

The Canon HV30 does excel when there is plenty of sun. I was shocked at how good the quality was when we bought an HV30 as a backup for our Canon XH-A1s. Often even on auto-everything the footage could actually look better than that from the XH-A1. Very rich colours & good contrast. Having said that you should be able to get pretty decent video from the T2i/550D with the stock lens. As has been said you need to post some video or at least tell us what you actually find unsatisfactory about the footage.

auto & no nd filter

i use just the stock lens.
the differences are more artifacts on rebels footage.
no, i didn't expect autofocus, i bought the rebel to shoot dof-footage (with the proper lens to do so, that i do not have at the moment).

Post video for proper evaluation.

My results says different. The 550D has superior resolution and the image produced is far better in they eye. The only thing I find HV30 to be better is the low light even when 550D uses the 1.8.
But the image characteristics are a lot different. 550D looks more than film while HV30 looks less like this (compared to 550D) even when cinemode is used.

The three things most people on this board would look for in a "procamcorder" is DOF control, low light and dynamic range. Between the two cams, HV30 offers little in those three areas.
With 6.1mm sense HV30's is the largest among the consumers models. But at 2x you are still at 12mm on HV30. DOF at 12mm is almost infinity; everything on HV30 will be crystal clear. On T2i, a 2x focal is 56mm. So with your kit lens, your rebel is at about 2x at the max focal at 55mm. DOF at 55mm is pretty shallow--most of content is out of focus and appear fuzzy, except of couse the focal point, which will be very tight.
Another reason you may find kit lens fuzzy and noisy is that its aperture is 5.6 or less at 55mm, not much light for marginal outdoor condition at a low iso level.

A 550d does not even have the resolution a hv30 has, it may look that way but a resolutionchart will prove you otherwise.

Eventhough I have a 550d I see exactly the opposite, my 550d/nikon nikkor 50mm 1.4 combo trashes my xh-a1 in low light and the xh-a1 is a better low light perfomer then a hv30.

It's in the lens for sure and a part skill, the stock lenzes are not that good, I'm not a lens expert so I"m sure others will advice on that part. Untill now I only use 3 lenzes; a nikon nikkor 50mm 1.4, a nikon nikkor 28mm 2.8 and a 10-22 3.5 to 4.5 Canon lens.

The canon lens I can cut together with my xh-a1, just have to lower contrast and saturation and that gives me real wide angles, even with the cropfactor, I also plan to use that lens soon with a blackbird stabiliser.

The 2 nikons however don't cut well together with my canon as they have a totally different color pallet so I use them primary for reception shoots and very dark evening parties. And ofcourse the 50mm 1.4 for nice creative shallow dof shots. Also the 50mm needs to be operated from a tripod, it's very shakesensitive.

The 50mm nikon lens is my favorite, very difficult to focus but it gives a wonderfull image, not budgetcamcorder like as you state at all, only it's a specialist lens that is only usefull to me on very specific occasions. The 28mm is much more forgiving in terms of focusing and can be used handheld but you need a very steady hand. I did notice in terms of low light sensitivity that the difference between 2.8 and 1.4 is considerable.

Whitebalancing is also an important factor on these camera's that many people forget about, I have seen a lot of videos where the skin color is all wrong, often yellow or too red. Only white balancing on a photocamera requires more steps to perform then a "real" videocamera. there are some fixed presets that will help you along but nothing beats a real whitebalance.

Problem is that most people see video's from dslr gurus here and think that when they buy one they will get the same result right away but the major difference is often used lenzes and skill.

I said "in my eyes". Something you haven't quoted.

I also said that with 1.8 II the HV30 is better using low light.

HV30 vs T2i
 

ITs really an apples and oranges thing. The HDDSLR thing is really about lenses and without question low light. I have an HV30 and an HV20 and a T2i. When shooting in mood lighting situations there is no comparison, the T2i beats the crap out of the HVs. Also the DOF and the fact that video shot with the DSLR has a quality thats just plain different then the HV cameras. Having said that in full daylight the HV's will beat out just about any HDV SONY up to $3000 that Ive ever seen.

I posted a clip from my HV30 here, (CuTTY Dre) along with a clip from my T2i (Just a clip). Introducing CuTTY Dre By Clayton Moore On ExposureRoom

The T2i clip was using a 40 year old 50mm lens I got off bay. What you will find about the DSLRs is that its all about the lens.

So the conclusion to get better quality, i have to acquire an other lens.
To have a dof with nice bokeh, some lowlight capacity...a 50 mm f1.4?
grtz

Jan
 

It depends. Once you figure our just what kind of lens suits your needs, either a prime lens or a zoom, then yes its a matter of investing in a higher quality piece of glass. The faster the better. 1.8 at least. A quality zoom lens thats as fast as a 2.8 will cost you over $1,000. You can get a nifty 50mm canon lens at 1.8 that takes great pictures and video for $99.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/12142-USA/Canon_2514A002_Normal_EF_50mm_f_1_8.htmlOr you can get a 1.4
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/12140-USA/Canon_2515A003_50mm_f_1_4_USM_Autofocus.html
Start by seeing what Canon has on their web site, then go out from there. To get a used lens for a good price you'll need to know the ins and outs and get good tips from folks here ...