600D tips for newbie

[George Logothetis]

Hello people!

So I got my new 600D, played with it . shot photos and videos, but I would like some tips for the video part. What shall I look when filming with this little miracle? How can I custom white balance? And please add your own tips from your experience with this or the previous models.

Thanks!

[John Wiley]

Unfortunately the 600D is the only Canon camera that does not allow you to do a custom WB. All the others have it available either natively or via Magic Lantern.

The biggest thing to look out for (assuming you have focus & exposure set correctly) is aliasing/moire. It may appear as flickering on straight lines or a "shimmering" patch of green or purple colour on detailed objects, espesically patterns such as roof tiles or bricks, at certain focal lengths and magnifications.

[Tom Hardwick]

As John says, the aliasing and moiré do somewhat spoil DSLR video footage. It's very visible on roof tiles, bricks - in fact any fine detail, but you have to remember it's degrading your image all the time, not just when it slaps you across both cheeks.

[Ryan D.G. Stone]

I'd like to add a question to this thread as I too, am a 600D newbie.
This may be basic videography but I'd just like to check.

To achieve the best video without grain and noise, is it better to select the lowest ISO but increase the exposure wheel or vice versa? The guy who's currently operating it brings back footage with irregular light vs noise levels and so It would be great if there's some general rules around ISO and exposure I could pass on.

Many thanks in advance,

[Chris Westerstrom]

keep native ISO's for the least noise, like 160, 320, 640 and so on, only go above if absolutely necessary as lower ISO's will have the least noise.

as for exposing, with these cameras you can creatively expose moreso than with standard video cams, so that means, you might prefer a shot with say an 85mm with an appropriate DOF which you find at say f4, well then you should probably light to that if the light is low, or you should put some ND filters to chop some light out so you can expose that open.

But for run'n'gunning, it's best to keep your ISO's low, shutter at twice the framerate and adjust the Fstop to the right exposure

[Kin Lau]

Originally Posted by Chris Westerstrom

keep native ISO's for the least noise, like 160, 320, 640 and so on, only go above if absolutely necessary as lower ISO's will have the least noise.

This is about the 600D/T3i, there is _NO_ iso 160, 320 or 640.

[Bill Bruner]

Originally Posted by George Logothetis

Hello people!

So I got my new 600D, played with it . shot photos and videos, but I would like some tips for the video part. What shall I look when filming with this little miracle? How can I custom white balance? And please add your own tips from your experience with this or the previous models.

Thanks!

As a former T2i/550D guy, my caveats are:
1) don't expect it to maintain focus on moving objects
2) don't rely on it for long takes at school plays, speeches or other events
3) get something that allows you to see the LCD in bright sunlight -- because, as you've probably discovered, your viewfinder goes dark when you're shooting video. Since the 600D has a swivel screen, an inexpensive solution is something like this

$11 LCD hood from Amazon

 

$11 LCD hood from Amazon

or this

$20 Hoodman HD-300

 

$20 Hoodman HD-300

(which is what I use on my GH2). The more expensive solution is one of those fancy LCD viewfinders from Hoodman, Zacuto or others.

Good luck with your new 600D. I traded my 550D in for a GH2 because I was not skilled enough to maintain focus on moving objects without an autofocus -- but if I was ever to buy another mirror-box camera, it would be a 600D.

[Vishal Jadhav]

I got my 600d a few weeks back , mainly into wildlife the only reason i got this cam
1) the 3X sensor crop
2) the flip screen behind

here is a sample video

Canon 600D Video on Vimeo