How is the 7d as a handheld camera?

G

grantw

Well-known member
I've been looking for a first camera to get. I'd really be using it to mess around with and began creating things for my reel, shorts, learning on it, and making a little money off of gigs I get by word of mouth.

I was trying to keep the camera under $2,000 considering this is my first one and I didn't want to spend a whole lot. Plus I figure in a few years I'll have a better understanding of what I want and upgrade.

I was going to settle for a DVX. Whats really important to me is to be able to learn on it also. However this camera has enough manual controls, lens, etc to learn and looks great.

How does this work as a handheld camera though? Most of the rigs are $1,000+. I almost feel like I might as well get a prosumer HD camera for that.

Any thoughts? Can I get away using this is a handheld w/o the rig? Doesn't seem like its easy to do. Is it worth still getting this camera and spending the money on a setup...or make more sense to just get a regular video camera.
 
If you have steady hands it's workable, but that decreases as your focal length gets more telephoto. The worst part are the micro jitters. That's when you get the little shakes that makes the image look epileptic. I can pretty much instantly tell when stuff has been shot on these cameras just from those shakes.
 
put the neckstrap around your neck then push out on the cam creating tension between your arms and neck. this puts the cam at the perfect distance to view the lcd and makes it really steady.
 
Using a lens with stabilization helps a lot. You don't really need a $1000 shoulder mount. Anything that makes the rig bigger, heavier, and has wide handles will work just fine.

It takes a fair amount of extra gear to make a setup that will work in most videography situations, ie: Sound, lenses, ND filters. If you need an all-in-one solution, a dslr is not really it. It will produce great images with cinematic DOF though. As a main cam for event videography, no.
But it's a great cam for indie shorts on a budget.
 
If you are not using any rig then I suggest a z-finder or something similar, you will have a much more stable shot when your eyes are pressed againts the z-finder with 30mm lens or wider, anything tighter will have micro jitter like Isaac said, or IS lens would be great.
This camera is better at low light if you have fast lens and great for shallow dof, if this is not what you are looking for then you will be better off with a normal video camera.
 
But you look really stupid doing this too!! I'd rather just buy something to rest it on my shoulder


cheezweezl said:
put the neckstrap around your neck then push out on the cam creating tension between your arms and neck. this puts the cam at the perfect distance to view the lcd and makes it really steady.
Click to expand...
 
I use the neckstrap trick all the time and get really good, smooth handheld shots. Lots of skateboarding stuff. Just make the neckstrap as short as possible (while still being comfortable).

I could get a shoulder rig, etc.... for handheld, but the neckstrap thing works really well and that the beauty of the 7D is that its small and low-profile. Great for stealth and when you start adding all this other stuff for handheld shots, you lose the stealth factor and just start getting a lot of gear. Also, I do a lot of travel and bringing all this other stuff would just kill me on trips.
 
cheezweezl said:
put the neckstrap around your neck then push out on the cam creating tension between your arms and neck. this puts the cam at the perfect distance to view the lcd and makes it really steady.
Click to expand...
Do this, but also jam your elbows into your chest to hold it up better. Add a battery grip and your right hand will have better palm support.
 
I usually throw it on the ground as hard as I can and start jumping on it screaming: "Stupid, stupid, stupid!". It doesn't make the shots in the nearly destroyed CF card any better, but it does make me feel better.
 
Let's just say the 7d is not as good handheld as I was expecting... but then again on my first try I was just using my bare hands while holding a prism in front of the 100mm lens... :)
Definitely try and get it as secure as u can, I learned my lesson.
 
If you have a z-finder and steady hands you can go up to 50mm without image stabilization and no one will notice a thing. Beyond that though, you have to be careful.
 
You can always increase the shutter speed, untill you get better at shooting hand held.
I shot some snow boarders sliding down a hill, and it turned out how I would expect any camera hand held to be, no better, no worse.

I think most just don't realize what hand held looks like, and or, forget about it being video and are not intentionally trying to be steady.

You have to make an effort to be steady, or yeah, it will look bad.
 
I just made this topic yesterday showing a shoulder rig I built for about $20 in PVC material. Weights, camera mount w/plate, paint (if you want it), adds up to being about $70 in total for the whole rig.

There are also a couple of sample shots, one with 28-135 with IS on, and one with 50mm (normally a shaky jello mess). I'm really surprised with how will this works and I'm really happy with the shots I'm getting from it.

http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=200808
 
I agree with Green Hornet. If you try and make it look hand held it will look horrible. If you hold it as steady as you can then it will have a nice hand held feel to it. People make this mistake all the time and it drives my nuts.
 
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