small stills camera with best video

T

torero21

New member
Hey guys
I'm looking to buy a small camera with interchangable lenses with good video quality.
I know I need to compromise something but ideally I'd like to have all of the below
aps-c sensor
smaller than DSLR
Hotshoe to attach external mic - critical factor
interchangable lens
1080/24p/(60p)
Timelapse function built in
$800 or less

Overall size is king since I'm really looking for a camer that I can have with me at ALL times that beats my smartphone
Recomendations would be very helpfull
 
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That would probably be the D5200... if we can confirm that the video is as good as the initial samples suggest
(it's not "smaller than a DSLR", but it's a small DSLR)
 
I'll present the budget dark horse in this race - Pentax K-01. $369 with a very nice $249 lens included. So essentially $129 for the award winning (Nikon D7000,Sony NEX APS C sensor) time lapse, 1080 24p, full manual control, built very solid and small. Why is it so cheap - It's quirky looking! lol.

http://www.adorama.com/IPXK01K40.html

They are selling out fast! They had a lot of these just a week ago
 
Yeah the NEX looks good but apparently it as no audio in which kind of a dealbreaker

So does the K-01 have the same sensor as the D7000/NEX or is it just the same size?
 
Same sensor, and it has an internal mic input. You can also adjust the audio levels. It will also create a time lapse video in camera for you if you so desire, and you can do regular time lapse as well and edit on your computer. Nice options there.
The K5 was noted for it's photos, which is also that same sensor...but the video was not full manual and was motion jpeg. Pentax went with h.264 in the K-01.

Here is a short film done with it. Some odd choices in exposure and color in this film, but in other shots you can see what it is capable of

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=p67Ts6bqrR0 Make sure to watch in 1080P, lol
 
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Thanks for that info - I would've probably ignored that camera due to it's price point. But is there really no catch to it other than the design?
It seems the menu/handling might be a bit cumbersome
 
I really think the main catch is the design...many people were like: "It's ugly, it's too big for a mirrorless camera, it has no viewfinder, etc." It's still a small camera overall, but big for its design...which I think is actually better for handling.
The handling/menus would be no different than any other mirrorless camera, or really any DSLR (in video mode). The AF on early firmware was slow, but Pentax did updates for that...you would just update to the latest firmware. That's a photo issue anyway, since AF for large sensor video DSLRs is not 100% reliable on most if not all models.
 
torero21 said:
Overall size is king since I'm really looking for a camer that I can have with me at ALL times that beats my smartphone
Recomendations would be very helpfull
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The problem is that ANY compact camera, no matter how pocketable, is going to be limited by the size of the lens you choose to put on it. I actually have been carrying around an Olympus E-PL3 as my always-on-me stills cam (meh at video, but excellent stills), but it will only fit in my pocket as long as keep a pancake prime on it (17mm f/2.8 Zuiko currently). Which, to say the least, is a lot more limiting than my wife's old Canon Powershot ELPH she carries around in her purse (which has a retractable lens that can zoom, etc, and records very decent video). Once you start throwing zoom lenses on it, you end up with this:
http://twitter.com/theRombus/status/224689733794664449
Ok, this is an extreme example, but you see where I'm going with this. Olympus' own zoom that comes with the camera protrudes too much to keep on me at all times.

The 17mm prime works for me and is worth the limitation due to the superior quality of the results, but that's usually because I can count on my wife being nearby with the zoomable point-and-shoot in case my wide-angle can't cut it.

I know I need to compromise something but ideally I'd like to have all of the below
aps-c sensor
smaller than DSLR
Hotshoe to attach external mic - critical factor
Timelapse function built in
interchangable lens
1080/24p/(60p)
$800 or less
Click to expand...

Perhaps you should prioritize this list- Put them in order of what you absolutely need (small body size) down to what you'd like to have all things being equal if available (60p). And where on the list is picture quality (gh2 has excellent resolution and can record for longer times, the Sony NEX has the APS-C sized sensor but suffers from moire and overheats)?

pulpfiction007 said:
I'll present the budget dark horse in this race - Pentax K-01. $369 with a very nice $249 lens included. So essentially $129 for the award winning (Nikon D7000,Sony NEX APS C sensor) time lapse, 1080 24p, full manual control, built very solid and small. Why is it so cheap - It's quirky looking! lol.

http://www.adorama.com/IPXK01K40.html

They are selling out fast! They had a lot of these just a week ago
Click to expand...

That's actually a really interesting option- comes with the pancake prime, which is sweet! But again, you are limited to that focal point. No wide shots for you. Also, I'm not very familiar with the video quality on this model- the sensor seems nice, but how is the codec and resampling down to HD video? Rolling shutter? Moire? I haven't heard much about this one, and it can't just be because of the quirky design!
 
Lol, Trust me - it is what is called a "flop" (because of the design not fitting the market) and they are getting rid of it, that's why the deep discount. It was announced at around $900, and Pentax doesn't have the popularity of Nikon/Canon/Sony. In the videos I've seen where the person knew what they were doing, the video is as good as a T2i/T3i, Nikon D5100/7000. The codec is similar to Nikons H.264 and the rolling shutter with "in body" VR switched on can be BAD, when it's off it looks much better.
 
IIRC it was an average performer when it came out, about on par with a T2i, for example. And it was a lot more expensive back then, so I moved along without paying a lot of attention.
 
Exactly, at $900 there are a TON of choices....at $120 bucks (essentially) lol....it's an insane value, esp with the time lapse options. Only the D7000 D5100/5200 has those. Only the D800/600 has the ability to create a timelapse video in body...other than the K-01
 
pulpfiction007 said:
Exactly, at $900 there are a TON of choices....at $120 bucks (essentially) lol....it's an insane value, esp with the time lapse options. Only the D7000 D5100/5200 has those. Only the D800/600 has the ability to create a timelapse video in body...other than the K-01
Click to expand...

Well... If you wanted to get technical, I actually keep my t2i around for in-body timelapses using Magic Lantern. To be honest, Magic Lantern is one of the only reasons I keep a Canon in my bag, but that's another story entirely.

I'm still skeptical about this K-01 (or JC-01, as the font appears on the unit- ha!) until I see what it can do in video mode, but it does seem like an excellent value for what it is! How it the lens mount as far as compatibility with other brands? I assume finding modern native lenses are going to be tough.
 
M. Gilden said:
Well... If you wanted to get technical, I actually keep my t2i around for in-body timelapses using Magic Lantern. To be honest, Magic Lantern is one of the only reasons I keep a Canon in my bag, but that's another story entirely.

I'm still skeptical about this K-01 (or JC-01, as the font appears on the unit- ha!) until I see what it can do in video mode, but it does seem like an excellent value for what it is! How it the lens mount as far as compatibility with other brands? I assume finding modern native lenses are going to be tough.
Click to expand...

All the modern pentax lenses will work and then one has the old cheap K-mount, A-mount lenses to choose from, plus modern alternatives from Sigma/Tamron. Then there is the adapter route. This is what it can do in video. Again, not crazy about the choices on some of the shots, unnecessarily overexposed in places- but with others the video looks quite good.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=p67Ts6bqrR0

and another one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=iBDbxychx9w
 
The wedding speech looks actually quite decent for the first couple interior shots but as soon as it goes outside you can see its weakness and what is with the bookeh?
Also it does seem much bulkier than other Mirrorless options.... I'm heading to B&H in a bit to look at my optionsT
The stil look quite nice tho
 
pulpfiction007 said:
Yeah, that is one of the choices I was talking about, that bokeh was horrid....and the outside, it looks like they had no ND filtering...they just kind of messed up IMO. This video shows more REAL kinds of shots, a bit of jello...but I'll bet that had in body stabilization on.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=iBDbxychx9w
Click to expand...

Yeah, I also noticed quite a bit of jello on the handheld outdoor shots, particularly towards the end (guy in tree). I don't understand, wouldn't stabilization help avoid that? Or is the stabilization digitally done after the cmos sensor has already captured it with rolling shutter baked in?

Either way, I know a guy who is looking for a decent budget cam to mount to a tripod for music studio recordings, and I think this would be perfect for that.
 
With the K-01, the in body stabilizer actually makes jello worse. I saw that on the Penatx forums, and another user here just confirmed that...I started a thread about the K-01 in the news section. Full manual control large sensor video for that cheap seemed like a news worthy item to me, lol
 
so after looking at a couple options in real I have to say the NEX 6 would be a really good fit but has no audio input and besides the price of the NEX7 it has an audio jack but the hot shoe is a different one so I couldn't put a roe on top either...
The K-01 as affordable as it is it's just plain ugly and big and boxy plus the video image quality is far from awesome so it's a no for me
The nikon D5100 and the GH2 seem like good options but are just a bit big to carry around at all times.
What really caught my attention is the Canon M tho - actually I'm surprised it didn't come up before. Any thoughts on that one?
 
Time-lapse looks like an issue on the EOS-M:

...there's no built-in intervalometer nor time-lapse features, and, disappointingly, the EOS M can't be controlled using the the EOS Utility, so it isn't possible to remote control it and enjoy deeper bracketing over USB via a computer or a sophisticated USB cable release.
Click to expand...
 
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