to Rent the 7D or to Buy the Pentax K-x

J

jrod81

Veteran
Hey guys,
I am a 3rd year grad student which means I have to shoot my film this semester and edit next semester. I have been really pushing the department to buy a couple 7d's for us to use but it is not going to happen. They are stuck on waiting on the Scarlet. So, my question is this...
I am way too poor to buy the 7d. It is a fact that has taken me a while to admit but I just can't get comfortable dropping that much money right now, especially since I do not work on jobs enough on the side to pay it off in any reasonable amount of time.
I have been looking at the Pentax K-X bc it shoots in 24fps and is under $650. So, would you guys recommend renting the 7d for $300-$400 (from lensrental.com in Memphis, which is close to me) or buying the KX and actually having a camera to walk away from the shoot with... is the pentax just going to be disappointing in the end?
thanks for the advice guys
jared
 
If you're poor, I'd definitely consider buying over renting, because you could always sell it afterwards and get most of your cash back.

The only thing about the Pentax that you really need to be aware of is that it has (as far as I know) no manual controls. At all.

If your dept. is stuck on waiting on the Scarlet, remind them that you folks need to shoot this semester, and we're not even going to get an announcement about what the Scarlet actually IS, much less WHEN it will ship, for another month. Scarlet could very easily be three months or six months or nine months away.
 
On the K-X? I thought it was all auto... if it has true manual aperture and focus, but no manual ISO, that's ... well, at 1/3 the price of the competition, that's not bad, right? How's the footage?
 
jrod81 said:
I have been really pushing the department to buy a couple 7d's for us to use but it is not going to happen. They are stuck on waiting on the Scarlet.
Click to expand...

Huh. Well, in another month they'll be able to actually budget and schedule for it (I was a bit disappointed at the lack of related information in yesterday's 'big reveal'...)

I am way too poor to buy the 7d. It is a fact that has taken me a while to admit but I just can't get comfortable dropping that much money right now, especially since I do not work on jobs enough on the side to pay it off in any reasonable amount of time.
Click to expand...

Don't worry about it. I can easily understand your feelings of embarrassment from first-hand experience. Let me give you a piece of life advice: with few exceptions, most of whom are better avoided, people don't care much about how much money you have, they only care about how you handle the fact. Furthermore, all filmmakers are broke, insofar as few have the means to finance a movie themselves and it's generally advised that you don't do so anyway, since you'll lack perspective on your budget if you're spending your own money.

So, I'm not saying you should go around broadcasting the fact that you're broke (not least, because you'll be offered less money whenever you're trying to deal with someone) but it's not a badge of shame either.

I have been looking at the Pentax K-X bc it shoots in 24fps and is under $650.
Click to expand...

I would say buy it, but do so with a return policy option. Get yourself onto another student's set to shoot BTS or take stills, and find out how it behaves in both real-world conditions and controlled ones with lights. By all accounts it's very well engineered for the price, so it should hold its value pretty well. I like what I've seen of it so far.

Barry_Green said:
]If your dept. is stuck on waiting on the Scarlet, remind them that you folks need to shoot this semester, and we're not even going to get an announcement about what the Scarlet actually IS, much less WHEN it will ship, for another month. Scarlet could very easily be three months or six months or nine months away.
Click to expand...

My experience of equipment rooms is they don't much care. The employees and faculty are fairly poorly paid and view film/art school as a bit of a rich kids' luxury...so the ones with generous parents will shoot on film anyway and create their little 'masterpiece' (I've seen students spend ~$35k on a graduating short) and don't much care about the students on a tight budget.
 
our faculty is pretty student driven actually. the reason they don't want to buy is because only 2 years ago or so they bought 4 JVC GY-HD200U cameras. i could use those cameras but honestly i am not pleased with the look. everything is very video and i am hoping a DSLR would give better DOF...

one of the faculty members actually bought a Pentax last week but he is taking his time letting me look at it. i think he is scared that if he lets me look at it he will have to let everyone play with it (rightfully so)...
 
Buy A Pentax -- You get your money back or at least some of it if you return it. A good return policy is a must, as Eddy mentions. Dunno about the quality, though. From what I've seen I'd rather shoot with the HD100 your school has for free? Or do you have to pay for those too?

Rent a 7D -- Good quality for what you're doing. But that money is history. 400.00 toward a short film is a lot of money to not put in FRONT of the camera, or behind it.

Shoot with what's Available for free -- Well, free is quite nice. Is it worth the sac?


Jrod, post in the Jobs section on DVXUser for someone in your area with a DSLR what shoots video. See if someone's up for coming to help you out for a few dollars since you're on a budget.

In the end, I think it just depends on what you're shooting for your thesis.
 
The K-x does have aperture control like the K-7 but it apparently suffers from worse color aliasing issues. The K-7 doesn't have ISO control but it's pretty consistent on how it chooses its settings: it will stay at ISO 100 as long as the shutter speed is above 1/30 to 1/40 sec. When it would have to drop below that it then starts gaining the ISO. So basically low ISO has priority over shutter speed. I assume the K-x works in the same way.
 
another thought

another thought

Buy a 7d on the cheap on ebay or the like. Shoot your short. Flip the 7d for most of if not all of the $ you paid for it.

Highest quality value of options listed.

Just don't drop the camera
 
bwwd said:
http://vimeo.com/7395416

look at the noisy footage there is plenty of light ,ive seen this noise on vids from exteriors ,its terriible.Watch in hd fullscreen.
Click to expand...

the lowlight seems pretty good in these two clips here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lo7C3mjZknM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGCDLIv0tDA

that's assuming the scene was lit only with those candles (albeit a lot of them).

here are a couple more vids:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oc87UtYdL4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTFA151svJs

amazon had a deal about a week or two ago for the two lens kit with the 55-300mm at $750. newegg has a deal now I think for the 50-200mm kit (with bag) for $650 but are sold out.
 
Maybe ISO was too high on video with the cup,i only taking this cam into consideration because of its frame rate ,and depth of field of course.
So how is it with its video ,sensor is 3:2 but its cropped anyway to 16:9 for video ? so its cropped on bottom and top like canon but has slightly bigger sensor ,almost 24mm.
 
Last edited:
How about the Canon EOS (Rebel XTi)? Does anyone know if it shoots video? And if so how does the visual look? Saw one on Craiglist for a good price.
 
You mean t1i/500d ? It shoots 20p and only tripod wil help you with all this jello ,20fps is very strobey not really useable on pans and when you move on the straight line on the screen from left to right,but looks more filmic than ugly 30p in 720p ,20p is in full HD 1080p so quality is better and moire is less noticeable in 1080p than in 720p.
Theres no firmware update to 500D yet ,come on Canon only 4 frames ,damn you!

Some close up example of 20p:
http://vimeo.com/6492051
And some better vids:
http://vimeo.com/5464797
http://vimeo.com/4741596
 
Last edited:
New_Zealand said:
How about the Canon EOS (Rebel XTi)? Does anyone know if it shoots video? And if so how does the visual look? Saw one on Craiglist for a good price.
Click to expand...

I don't think the XTi shoots video at all. If you meant the T1i I think it only shoots 30 and 20 fps.

here's another vimeo clip of the K-x by the way
 
> here are a couple more vids: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oc87UtYdL4

Eggs boiling? Seriously? For 2 minutes?!?


I'm intrigued by this camera (moderately) considering the price point, but not intrigued enough to watch eggs boiling for two minutes. Curious if anyone watched the whole thing at normal speed, or just skipped straight to the dramatic ending like I did.

If you like that, then go here:
http://www.adultswim.com/shows/aquateenhungerforce/extras/movie/index.html
and click on "worst game ever". It's actually kind of fun.
 
Last edited:
j said:
> here are a couple more vids: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oc87UtYdL4

Eggs boiling? Seriously? For 2 minutes?!?


I'm intrigued by this camera (moderately) considering the price point, but not intrigued enough to watch eggs boiling for two minutes. Curious if anyone watched the whole thing at normal speed, or just skipped straight to the dramatic ending like I did.

If you like that, then go here:
http://www.adultswim.com/shows/aquateenhungerforce/extras/movie/index.html
and click on "worst game ever". It's actually kind of fun.
Click to expand...

lol. there are so few videos out there though so I couldn't be picky. I guess it must have been just as entertaining as watching water boil. or is it grass grow, I forget.
 
FYI i got my d90 refurb for $650 shipped.

I love it

Yes id like to upgrade to a 7D, but for under $1000 id still pick it as teh best mix of video and still and lens selection.

jon!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top