Why a DSLR Won’t Make You a Good Filmmaker

[Postmaster]

Buying a DSLR wont`t make you a better filmmaker, but it will make your films look a ton better, even if you are a bad filmmaker.

Sure you can build a cabinet with a brad knife on a kitchen table and if you are a true artist (sic) it will be ...umh... somehow beautiful artsy. But if you have a complete carpenter workshop with all the tools, it will be a fine crafted cabinet that looks a ton better - if you know your tools, which brings me back to square one - Buying a DSLR wont`t make you a better filmmaker, but it will make your films look a ton better.

Contrary to what a lot of people say, I think there is no substitute for production value.
Production value comes with a lot of things, one of them is DOF.
And NO, tricky lighting and long lenses can´t do the same. That´s why everyone want´s it so bad.
They realize it instantly gives you a better, bigger picture. Until it is way overused, and that´s the moment where the "better" filmmaker comes to play.

Frank

 

[william boehm]

To ben b and the unprofessional answer. i was hoping for a more unbiased approach about dslrs. i am not a basher of dslr's, just throwing out there what might be the best tool to capture movement and fine detail of landscaptes and dwildlife while saving weight carrying it in. I agree with the one comment Vimeo vacation shots might not show the aliasing that happens, or artificial detail these cmos sensors create, information that is not there. look at the following..and this is vimeo:
1. XDCAM-USER.com alias.
2. DVXuser.com - Articles at the very bottom of the page. there are two shots taken on the beach..with a canon 5d, and another of a sunset backwash that demonstrated unacceptable color artifacts.

i can take stills, stitch them and play with them in vegas for pan and zoom etc, but much of my shooting is ie caribou in the high country of jasper, wind, movement of the animals, a slow pan, detailed alpine flowers...and sea otters off vancouver island close up in a kayak. i shot them with the xha1 thankfully, but it had potential for tapes (panasonic hd ) to drop out...thus my desire for a solid state.

believe me if i didnt have to contend with the aliasing i saw in the no. 2 example of beaches with water movement, i might have thought the canon 5d would be a good choice for the type of videography i desire to sell and distribute. i will wait until NAB and a possible card reading xha1 type.

again i dont download to u tube, or vimeo, but want to gain prospective clients with rare and well shot wildlife and landscape videos...many of them with water, falls, wave movement on the bc and se alaskan coast. my budget is somewhat limiited, but packing all the heavy gear is an issue. any other thoughts are appreciated. thanks again for everyones input. bill

 

[Ben_B]

To ben b and the unprofessional answer. i was hoping for a more unbiased approach about dslrs. i am not a basher of dslr's, just throwing out there what might be the best tool to capture movement and fine detail of landscaptes and dwildlife while saving weight carrying it in. I agree with the one comment Vimeo vacation shots might not show the aliasing that happens, or artificial detail these cmos sensors create, information that is not there. look at the following..and this is vimeo:
1. XDCAM-USER.com alias.
2. DVXuser.com - Articles at the very bottom of the page. there are two shots taken on the beach..with a canon 5d, and another of a sunset backwash that demonstrated unacceptable color artifacts.

i can take stills, stitch them and play with them in vegas for pan and zoom etc, but much of my shooting is ie caribou in the high country of jasper, wind, movement of the animals, a slow pan, detailed alpine flowers...and sea otters off vancouver island close up in a kayak. i shot them with the xha1 thankfully, but it had potential for tapes (panasonic hd ) to drop out...thus my desire for a solid state.

believe me if i didnt have to contend with the aliasing i saw in the no. 2 example of beaches with water movement, i might have thought the canon 5d would be a good choice for the type of videography i desire to sell and distribute. i will wait until NAB and a possible card reading xha1 type.

again i dont download to u tube, or vimeo, but want to gain prospective clients with rare and well shot wildlife and landscape videos...many of them with water, falls, wave movement on the bc and se alaskan coast. my budget is somewhat limiited, but packing all the heavy gear is an issue. any other thoughts are appreciated. thanks again for everyones input. bill

Consider an HMC-150. Great camera, low price. It shoots AVC-HD but I have not been able to break the codec on it, even thrashing wildly about on full telephoto on trees.

 

[MicroMacro]

Isn't the whole intention of video on DSLRs make the films of good film makers look even better? As creative tools they're great, so why all the negativity?

No camera in the history of the world will ever help a bad film maker produce a good film but I don't see what this has to do with the buzz around DLSR video and how it irrefutably improves production values on good films, regardless of what the codec does to degrade the image slightly and how many problems with moire there are.

 

[dalethompson]

I think it just comes down to using whatever equipment you are comfortable with, can afford and what style(s) you are using to film your work. Hey, a year ago, I would've laughed if someone told me I'd be filming half my documentary with a Canon DSLR (along with my Panny HVX200). I'm a believer now though. Sure, my Canon T2i gets tighter shots and allows a lot more flexibility, mobility and creativity but it doesn't singularly replace my HVX200. In fact, my HVX200 is the workhorse for my film, I can film up to a few hours at a time on it (on my Firestore and long lasting batteries) and I love it for that reason alone.

If people love shooting just on a DSLR and get good results from it (and more work) then it's all good. I think you are either a good director or not in whatever equipment you choose. A DSLR gives you more options now, that's all. It doesn't make you smarter, more imaginative, creative or better at managing a movie. It does, however, allow you to do scenes which were either too tricky or required lots of extra work to pull off.

I like to think of the new breed of DSLR's as a Leatherman tool or Swiss Army knife. It may not save your life every single time but with all the features it has, it will save your bacon on more than a few occasions.

 

[ydgmdlu]

i think it just comes down to using whatever equipment you are comfortable with, can afford and what style(s) you are using to film your work. Hey, a year ago, i would've laughed if someone told me i'd be filming half my documentary with a canon dslr (along with my panny hvx200). I'm a believer now though. Sure, my canon t2i gets tighter shots and allows a lot more flexibility, mobility and creativity but it doesn't singularly replace my hvx200. In fact, my hvx200 is the workhorse for my film, i can film up to a few hours at a time on it (on my firestore and long lasting batteries) and i love it for that reason alone.

If people love shooting just on a dslr and get good results from it (and more work) then it's all good. I think you are either a good director or not in whatever equipment you choose. A dslr gives you more options now, that's all. It doesn't make you smarter, more imaginative, creative or better at managing a movie. It does, however, allow you to do scenes which were either too tricky or required lots of extra work to pull off.

I like to think of the new breed of dslr's as a leatherman tool or swiss army knife. It may not save your life every single time but with all the features it has, it will save your bacon on more than a few occasions.

+1

 

[cyorkgo]

Well said .......