Should I buy a Canon 550D?

roguey

(Posted this in the film production forum but thought i might get a response here too)

I currently have a Canon HV20 which I love, but the hassle of capturing the tapes ( I edit on my laptop, which unfortunatly doesnt have a firewire port, so therefore i have to capture on my very slow desktop, and then transfer over the files, which when the overall files are in the high GB's can be a slow process) and buying new tapes etc etc can be a pain. Which would mean with the 550D i could transfer the files straight to my laptop via USB, which would be much better. If I want to but the 550D I have to sell my HV20 to fund the purchase. And the bonus of being able to takes pictures with the 550D appeals to me greatly.

But I have heard that the 550D cant be quite hard to film with and to edit, any info on this?

Also where can I buy one in Ireland? And how much should I be looking to pay? I have seen some on eBay but they are Canon Kiss X4, which means they are from Japan which im a bit weary about, should i be? It seems like a good deal.http://cgi.ebay.ie/NEW-CANON-EOS-KIS...item45f5e0a3cf

Also what lenses should I be looking at buying? I dont know mucha bout DSLR lenses, but from the research i've done, the Canon 50mm f1.4 or f1.8 look excellent. Any recomendations?

All help appreciated!

Matthew

psycjay

Hi Matthew,

I just spotted your thread and then noticed you are from Castlebar. I happen to work in Sheridans and know that we can order in cannon DSLR's such as the 550D from one of our suppliers

I'm just wondering why you are considering a DSLR rather than a camcorder. Don't get me wrong DSLR's have excellent video quality due to larger sensor which helps a lot in low light situations. Plus you get the benefit of a large range of lenses such as wide angle, super zoom etc. That being said, it's an expensive option and more difficult than a dedicated camcorder.

Another consideration is that HD video requires a pretty good PC to handle. I just about manage on my own laptop (3 yo, 2gb ram, 1.9GHz dual core, vaio,) running win 7. If your laptop specs are below this then you prob will struggle with the playback and editing.

Jason

Wolf Club

I'd recommend a DSLR over a camcorder any day of the week. It may be more expensive (although not that much more, the 550D is pretty cheap, considering), but the quality makes it worth every penny). I don't think it's any harder to edit with, though if you're editing with FCP, you are better off transcoding to Pro Res (doesn't diminish quality and doesn't require rendering every few seconds, and dragging and dropping the files is so much handier than digitising in real time. If you're doing a lot of stuff, be sure to stock up on cards and get an external hard drive, as the footage takes up a lot of space, still better than tapes though IMO.

Delminuso007

I have a 550D, its a marvellous DSLR and the video quality is fantastic!

meep

I have a 550D which I use for both video & stills

I like it but if you are used to a video camera, it's a whole different ball of wax.

Biggest difference is the lens. On a video camera, you zoom in, focus and zoom out. Focus stays for the length of the zoom. Stills lens dos not work like that - you need to re-focus whenever you re-frame.

Next issue is audio - there really isn't any usable audio from built in mic and AGC (auto gain control) makes using even an external mic tricky and requires some additional hardware to get good results.

It's also lacking some niceties in the viewfinder such as peaking and other electronic aids.

It's difficult to use the LCD in daylight for anything but basic framing.

It's just different.

But there are positives:

It will make you a much better operator. You've got to think a lot more about exposure, focus etc. I've relearned so much about basic cmera operation since starting with mine.

It's also very discrete. You can shoot video in places you would be conspicuous with a video camera. It looks like your in photo mode. Really nice for observational documentary style shoots.

If I was going again, I'd probably go for the 60D as it has the tilt & swivel screen which is a major imrpovement.

Get he fastest lens you can, preferable one with fixed aperature along the length of the zoom - it's frustrating to have to adjust exposure just because you reframe on the zoom.

In terms of editing, I use Final Cut Pro on a Mac and the files edit just fine.

Good luck.

Peter

BlastedGlute

get a 60D

I shot this with my 60D, without the swivvle screen i wouldnt have been able to maintin some of the shots at all, either way both are killer cameras!

http://vimeo.com/19911426

Average-Ro

I'd say it depends on what you use it for.

I have personally stayed away from the DSLR bandwagon since it began. Not saying you should too mind, it just didn't appeal to me. Yes, they give you a great looking picture, but at the expense of a lot of other things:

1) Audio has to be recorded seperately and then synced in post, which can take a lot of time.

2) Shallow focus can look gorgous, but can also be extremely awkward to work with if there's more than one thing you want in focus in a shot, or if you're doing a "run and gun" type shoot like event videos.

3) You're only allowed 12 minute takes, which again would be a problem for event videographers.

4) Camera overheats and you have to wait for it to cool down.

6) Jello effect.

These are some of the reasons I didn't get a DSLR when they first started becoming popular. Some improvements have probably been made since and these problems might be no more.

One good thing about the DSLRs is that it moved Sony and Panasonic into producing a camera to rival the DSLR; the Sony F3 and Panasonic AF101.

I have a Sony Z5 at the moment and I love it as a camera, I hope to get an AF101 (or it's newest equivlent) in a year or two to add to my arsenal of equipment.

What do you plan on using the camera for? That should answer whether you should get a DSLR or not.

pandaboy

I'm getting a 550D myself. I've been waiting a whole year for this (being unemployed doesn't help aid the cause of saving up for a camera). Tbh, if you're on a budget then go down the DSLR route. It works out cheaper than your average camera ie Z5, Z1 and so forth. Though there are restrictions on the camera such as lack of audio peak levels, recording times etc. you can get the new Magic Lantern hack (which if installed properly will not jb your 550D). It can be removed easily as the hack remains on the SD card.

There are a crap load of extras with this such as audio peak level metre, the ability to increase your bit-rate (though I wouldn't recommend going at the highest level - it will eat up your card and would probably cause the camera to reboot) and quite a few other extras.

If you're looking to get into film or even making your own documentaries then this is a fairly cheap and easy option. Get a few paid jobs with the camera and soon enough you'll have money to upgrade to a better video camera.

There are a lot of pros and cons but having tried out this camera and researching cheaper alternatives and so forth I really have to say the pros outweigh the cons (from my perspective).

Best of luck with your decision though mate.