550d,60d,7d or still camera

[Steve Bleasdale]

I have filmed weddings for a couple of years and have now gone into wedding stills/photography and bought a decent second hand canon 20d which is excellent. I am keeping my camcorders as i feel running and gunning is easier for my films, weddings are hectic without any added problems!! but!!! like everyone under the sun im getting carried away with the dslr route as im now becoming familiar with my 20d for stills, now i need another dslr as a back up to the 20d or if not better than the 20d, im thinking 550d, 7d, 60d...if i get one of these i can use it for my filming days, b footage and creative for now, and then for my stills on the days im not filming.. should i just buy a another cheap 20d 30d 40d rather than getting a video dslr, am i getting carried away or should i take the plundge and get used to the video dslr as the future may just become everything to do with filming with a dslr... i have a 50mm 1.8 lens, a 17-55mm 2.8 lens and kit lens so not bad on that front... budget a little low at the moment so on a budget at moment.. steve

Sorry added on if i choose any off the video dslr, what is the difference between the kiss and the 550d or japanese imports?there are so many on e-bay cheaper than reptuable high street dealers!! am i making a mistake buying cheaper are they the same camera... steve

[Colin Rowe]

Steve, something like a 550D would fit the bill. I use a 550D for infills etc whilst using a Sony EX1 as my main cam. The 550D is excellent for infills, cutaways etc, with one added bonus, it takes great stills. With Magic Lantern installed it has many more usefull features than many professional video cameras. The 550D, T2i and Kiss are all the same camera. I would be very wary of importing a camera from abroad, it would probably come with no UK warranty.

[Steve Bleasdale]

Colin thats great, i was thinking that would be the reply, but i did not know what it was like for stills as i cant get any other sites telling me this...So if i went for say a kiss t2i/550d as they say on e-bay i will be ok? i dont want to get it from abroad but there are some on e-bay who are based in england with the warranty 12 months, bit cheaper than jessops, callumet, jacobs ect...Also i have prem elements 8, vegas pro 9, but can get the student prem pro cs5 cheaper, will the files from the 550d drop into my software or will i have to transcode? or plum for the cs5? Also the lens i have mentioned are they ok with the 50mm on 20d and the 17-55mm on the 550d. and save for a 70-200mm l 2.8 and i need a 11-16mm wide... steve

[Colin Rowe]

No problem with any of the cameras, check out "Digital rev", Hong Kong based, but they have a good reputation. Lens choice is good. The Tokina 11-16 2.8 is an amazing lens, its rarely off my camera. As for editing. I use Prem CS4, Edius 6 and Vegas 10. I convert to Cineform before editing, I have an older Core2Duo, but converting to Cineform gives me pretty useable footage, with the added benefit that it automatically performs the colour space and luma adjustment on the 550D clips.
CS5 would be no problem, check the forums for comments, but it seems to handle the Canon footage pretty well.
Hope this helps.
BTW, a very good long zoom is the Canon EF-S 55-250mm IS, amazing lens that can be picked up for about £135. Not partiularly fast at f4-5.6, but really useable, with amazing clarity and stunning detail

[Steve Bleasdale]

Colin thats great advice thank you...Ye ive seen digital rev on e-bay!! the 11-16mm you say is rarely of the cam? is that for both video and stills, would you use this for all the mornin prep indoors and all tight shots or?is it better than the 50mm 1.8?when you download your mov files is that the files to computor, then open up cineform and get media, does it then just drop into cineform then does its work, how and what does it say, does it just say transcode to h.264 or something else? sorry for being noobie on this one?Would you use the 55-200 is at the back of the church or for discreet where you dont want to be seen but want close?? thanks for your time by the way. steve

[Colin Rowe]

Hi Steve.
I use the 11-16 for both video and stills, have old Olympus Zuiko primes, 50mm 1.4, 28mm 2.8, which I use more than anything else for both video and stills. the 55-250 is rarely used indoors, its just not fast enough, and too long at the tele end. Its a wonderful lens for using outdoors, ie photoshoot etc, you can get crystal clear close ups, without the subject being aware, from a fair distance. 50 mm lenses, 1.4 or 1.8 are used mainly as emergency low light lenses. The 550D is always used as B Cam. All main shots, prep, service, speeches etc are shot on the EX1, but the 550D is invauable for infill, cutaways etc.
With Cineform Neoscene you just import the Canon clips into the programme and it converts them into the Cineform codec, the resulting files are much bigger than the originals, (something to bear in mind if you dont have much HDD space) When you install the programme, it adds Cineform presets, transitions and video fx into Premiere, so your good to go from the start.
Fully working demo here http://www.cineform.com/neoscene/

[Steve Bleasdale]

Thanks Colin your a star mate appreciatte thanks...steve

[Pierre Beranek]

Hi Steve, I would say go with a 60D, or newly announced t3i when available, for one big reason: the rotatable LCD screen. Unless you plan on keeping your DSLR paired up with an external monitor during your shoots or plan on doing little to no creative high/low-angle shots, getting a camera with a vari-angle LCD is truly worth it, and the only true differentiating factor between the cameras you mention as far as video recording is concerned since they all use the same sensors and video recording modes. Cheers.

[Steve Bleasdale]

Thank you Pierre will look at all possibles, even the 7d is great, oh i cant decide???

[Bruce Foreman]

Steve, I've had both the 7D and T2i, and this last weekend succumbed and ordered a 60D body. It came in a few hours ago and I think it's going to be the one I reach for first. The "articulating" LCD, manual audio levels, and some other features that filtered over from the 7D, plus I'm hearing the design seems not to be as susceptible to overheating as others.

You can't beat the 550D for a lightweight, easy to have with you cam that gets superb stills and outstanding video. And the 7D is built like a "tank".

But I'm very impressed with the 60D.

[Steve Bleasdale]

Thanks bruce, the 600d ex 550d is out soon also but i dont think there is much difference apart from guess what? an articulating screen!!! i suppose anyone will do but im edging toward the 7d for the build alone and the AF? also if i decide im really into the dslr and i upgrade to possibly the 5d markii/iii then the cf cards and batteries are the same as the 7d i think, correct me if im wrong? steve

[Matt Davis]

If you start with the 7D with a view to upgrade to the 5D, then your lens choices need to reflect that: you'll effectively be buying 5D lenses from the get-go, which will have the 1.6x zoom factor when attached to a cropped sensor camera like the 550D-7D family.

On the other hand, you may foresee a camcorder in your future that will take your crop factor lenses via an adaptor. The Jury's still out on whether the F3 with Berger adaptor will have any vignetting with APS-C lenses, and the AF101 has a smaller sensor than the 7D, so you'll get a crop factor with APS-C lenses.

The 550D has been out for a bit, is cheap as chips, has a stable release of Magic Lantern for it - which is wonderful - as is the Marvels FIlm gamma curve. +1 on the Tokina 11-16, as it does what no wide angle adaptor can do and gives you those expensive w-i-d-e shots that used to require a £12k Fujinon lens.

Does one 'need' ML? I shot a lot without ML, it's not obligatory, but just feels nicer to shoot with it. If ML is available for the 550 but not the 60, should you go for the 550? From conversations with friends who have the 60, the flip-out screen is worth more (to THEM) than 'immediate' ML compatibility.

Finally, there's the issue of media. SDHC is common in many camcorders, including Sony, Panasonic and JVC. CF cards tend to be 'legacy' items. I went with the 550D over the 7D so the DSLR could share the pool of SDHC cards I had with EX1s, the Zoom H4n and GoPro Heroes.

BTW, a friend's 7D overheated whilst shooting an interview (after about 45 minutes of shooting). Never really experienced that on my 550D though I don't really tax it that much, and reports are in that the 60D doesn't seem to get flustered at all.

[Steve Bleasdale]

Thanks Matt good points taken in cheers. steve