Camera suggestions

[Emowillcox]

If your doing stills I have had great luck with a panasonic lumix... around $400.. shoots in raw... close to 10 mega pixels and has a very wide angle lens and does not weight much. Video is a whole nother animal ... like Jes mentioned.. might be worth a different camera. I think when getting a camera.. you have to take into consideration what will you be shooting.. how much weight can you lift... and where will it be viewed... (Going to be video or still.. for the web, a tv, going to be blown up as a poster for your house). The go pro is also excellent because it shoots video.. yet can be put on a timelapse mode to shoot sills... and with good light the quality is not bad.

 

[DucktileMedia]

nice to know about the Nex 5N. I did not know this had 1080 60p. Yes, I am looking to do both video and stills in one camera if possible. I want to be able to get full hd in 60p not 60i or 30p. I also want a good camera for stills. I have always been a canon guy but I am thinking the Nex 5N might be worth returning my GH2 for. I seem to be a minority but I am not thrilled with this camera. I have done a few side by side tests with the 7d and I am not seeing that sharpness. Agreed that moire is not an issue with AP/AV but just something to add to the list. The most noticeable thing I dont like is the gradient banding I get with bright blue skies. This looks like compressed youtube video right out of the camera. My Canon does not do this anywhere as bad. I am not super picky but when something stands out at first glance like that it is bad. And as these are all pro-sumer Cmos chips, we are forced to use 60p to help eliminate rolling shutter or any other imperfection from imperfect flying. The gopro is great but it is the most likely to show errors, especially with my 6mm Ragecam lens in it.

My perfect camera would have a built in interval timer, take amazing photos, and do 1080 60p with good useable footage that does not require all 8 cores of my mac pro to burn at 170 deg for 5 minutes to convert before previewing.

 

[Stacky]

windhorny, do you use http://www.squared5.com/ (mpeg streamclip)?. I use it to convert all my video before editing. I was shown this by a film editor who is currently working on the Hobbit. I am a beginner to the video side of things so Im just passing on what I was pointed towards. I dont really know all its plus points but it is handy for batch processing. I wonder if it might help with your processing?

 

[CopterCam]

The current crop of DSLR's with their dual function certainly have an advantage over dedicated Video cameras, if the frame rates meets ones requirements. However, another major consideration is the availability of wide angle lenses which give superior image quality to the converters available for Video cameras. A wide angle is a big advantage when looking to capture stable AV footage.........

Sid

 

[Stacky]

Good point Sid and I think I may have got one thought wrong earlier in the thread. I mentioned that to switch from video to stills one would have to land and change settings. I think my 5d2 and t3i both will take a still shot during video mode without skipping a beat.

 

[Droider]

Just when you think you are happy with your set up new stuff comes along... bugger.. If the NEW NEX5N is as good as the NEX5 and has 60p then it will be the doggs jobber.. VERY happy with mine for video and stills.

Dave

 

[Macsgrafs]

Nice post Michael, I have downloaded that free programe. I hate having to try & get all these stabilisation programes to accept AVCHD, its so annoying.

Ross

 

[DucktileMedia]

Mpegstreamclip does just about everything EXCEPT convert .MTS (avchd from panasonic's gh2) to .MOV. The best converter from my research is Aunsoft's .MTS converter. This is only needed on Mac. At the same time if you normally dump your footage into a project it isnt needed either as imovie, FCP, Premiere pro, after effects will all accept the format and convert it. But it can be ugly in Premiere Pro as the previews are highly pixelated and messed up until you render it all out. I am on the fence between keeping my Gh2, getting the Nex 5n, or still going with the T2i. It's a bad time to buy a camera as there are a few goodies about to hit the market in the next 6 months. But i guess that's always the case. I just really want 1080 60p.

 

[Bartman]

so, the answer is?

 

[Bartman]

The current crop of DSLR's with their dual function certainly have an advantage over dedicated Video cameras, if the frame rates meets ones requirements. However, another major consideration is the availability of wide angle lenses which give superior image quality to the converters available for Video cameras. A wide angle is a big advantage when looking to capture stable AV footage.........

Sid

Sid,
Can you explain what you're talking about regarding video camera lenses please? Are you saying the dedicated video cameras don't have true wide angle lenses?
THanks,
Bart

 

[CopterCam]

Sid,
Can you explain what you're talking about regarding video camera lenses please? Are you saying the dedicated video cameras don't have true wide angle lenses?
THanks,
Bart

Take the Sony brand for example as the new Nex5 N has been mentioned. This is available with a 16mm lense, this gives an angle of view of view of 110* with a 24mm focal lenght(35mm equiv.) To gain a perspective of this field, the Gopro has a FOV of 130* in r5 and 170* in r3.

The great advantage to us for APV is the form factor and low weight of these new offerings. Panasonic offer a 14mm Pancake lense which is incredibly light for their Lumix range. In comparison an entry level Camcorder has a Zoom lense with a 30mm(35mm equiv.) at its widest. Of course it is possible to use these wide angle lenses on Video cameras but now we are lifting additional Form and weight, not to mention the extra $$$$$$ and the compromised still resolution of dedicated Video cameras.


Sid

 

[DucktileMedia]

I've decided to get in line for a pre-order for the Sony Nex 5n. looks great, it's half the weight of the Gh2. not that weight is an issue at this point. We will see. i will also get $300 back as the Sony is $700 and the GH2 was $1000. It is due to ship Sept. 7th.

 

[Bartman]

it's too bad they can't add live view. it makes a world of difference in getting shots set up quickly.

 

[DucktileMedia]

When you say live view, you mean the ability to output video to a downlink? All cmos cameras without an SLR mechanism are live view i think. And it does have hdmi out. So worse case scenario is i have to convert the hdmi to analog.

 

[ZAxis]

Our NEX-5 has been a superb camera so the NEX-5N should be also. It does lack an analog composite video out but we've just added a small video camera to the downlink transmitter mounted next to the camera lens. If someone can find a small, cheap HDMI to composite converter it will make thing simpler.

 

[DucktileMedia]

For those with the Sony Nex 5, how do you go about snapping photos? There does not seem to be a remote port. I see some using an IR remote signal. Only other way is a mechanical arm that pushes the shutter release.

 

[Droider]

I use the Gentled system.. cheap as chips and works everytime.. love the camera..

 

[Droider]

it's too bad they can't add live view. it makes a world of difference in getting shots set up quickly.

I will be trying live view by using a small camera looking at the screen on the Nex5 and transmitting that image..

Dave

 

[Efliernz]

I have been using the Panasonic LX3 for 20 month now, 7000 AP shots As it has a hotshoe mount, my shutter-servo setup slides in there.
It does have live-view, it just isn't mentioned that you hold the "delete" key in for 5 seconds! Once on, it stays on until pressed like that again, even after repower The LX3 also shoots 16:9 @ 720p. At 270g grams, we replaced the Canon DSLR 400D / spycam viewer combo for the LX3 to save 500g of payload.

The quality isn't as good as a GH2 (and you wouldn't expect it to) but it has been awesome for us for roading / contruction work and real-estate.

Pete

View attachment 841

 

[Bartman]

When you say live view, you mean the ability to output video to a downlink? All cmos cameras without an SLR mechanism are live view i think. And it does have hdmi out. So worse case scenario is i have to convert the hdmi to analog.

yuri,
live view is the ability for the camera to output a video signal while also functioning in photo or video mode. it allows you to put the video into a transmitter and send it to your ground station and see what the camera sees. with it i can do a six to eight minute flight and frame many different perspectives and take many many pictures without it just being a rough guess of what i'm shooting.
it sounds like it does live video but it's digital hence the mention of a converter.
bart