This or DSLR for indie filmmakers?

D

dominichicks

Active member
Hi guys
I'm so sorry for plaguing the boards with indecisive posts like this...
I'm looking to get the film-look, particularly in regard to Depth of Field. I'm also on a very limited budget. I have therefore begun to consider the GH1 or Canon 7D as a genuine alternative to the HMC150... The 7D footage has impressed me -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOptiprcTyo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3f83LuySGAg&feature=fvw

I can't see any artificing or aliasing or even rolling shutter problems in the above vids?

I'd go for a totally seperate audio set-up with XLR.
Any thoughts/warnings/chastising?
Thanks, Dom
 
Depends what you're trying to shoot. If you're doing just films then I would personally say go with the 7d. Just make sure you have enough money for additional lenses, follow focus, shoulder mount, extra batteries and cards.. etc. etc. Don't be fooled by just the cost of the body and think it's cheap.

If you plan on doing event videography or documentary type stuff like that then I would definitely go with the hmc

:bath:
 
Aliasing and moire are still apparent in the 7D. There are ways around this. I'm in the same position as you right now. My reasons being that I'm a one man band and I have a lot of stuff to carry and assemble by myself. Very time consuming. Philip just shot a short narrative. I would check out his blog to see how the 7D held up.
 
I'm going to be shooting pretty low-key short films for a show reel essentially... I write the screenplays and all of the stories (I feel) need that dreamy DOF that the 7D can deliver, along with the low light capabilities. I'm sort of chilled out about aliasing - I don't really feel that the problem is so great as to require a £1000 up in price, along with a 35mm adapter AND all that extra weight to lug around (on one man band shoots).
And the £1100 price tag on the 7D would leave me with about £1000 that I wouldn't have if i went for the HMC150 (which I can spend on lenses, shoulder mounts, and the all important sound equipment)

Any other comments?

What sort of sound rig are people using with the 7D?
 
The 2 main problems with the 7D (besides CMOS related issues) are:
1. Sound - AGC (automatic gain control) always on (need to wait for Magic lantern to fix it) and preamps don't sound too good. there are 2 setups right now for canon's VDSLR, connecting an external preamp with phantom or using the Zoom H4n and than sync the two on your favorite NLE.
2. 12 minute limit - The canon DSLRs only allow a 12 minute clip to be recorded in HD (due to stupidity and space limitation) but for indie that's not really important.

Of course there's battery issues since a battery can only operate this thing for 80 min. but you can get a stock of batteries in the price of one HMC150 battery.

Besides that you'll get insane low light performance that the HMC can only dream of , a much sharper image, much less noise, a great shallow DOF, an ultra lightweight camera, a small factor camera that you can shoot almost anywhere with and at half the price!

If you can deal with the audio issues (which are for me a deal breaker for now) than the 7D is an indie filmmaker's dream!

Don't forget that shooting with this camera hand held is not recommended and I suggest you get one of the stabilizers on the market right now that will give you better grip.
 
I was in the same position you are in a few months ago. I ended up going with the GH1 and will soon be selling my dvx+letus combo. The GH1/7D and the HMC150+letus have a very comparable image quality in my opinion. The dSLRs are also much lighter and there is much less setup involved. I'm very happy with my GH1 purchase although I wish I could have waited a few months as the price has now dropped a little over $200.
 
I'm thinking I'll go with the Canon 7D for the more reliable codec/compression.... will get a Zoom for the audio.

Can't believe a solution like this has come along for me - this is exactly the aesthetic I wanted for half the price I was getting ready to spend on an HMC150! AND a great stills camera too!
 
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