Hi all , this is my first post here , I have been lurking reading some of these incredibly informative posts .
Brief background : I have not done any photography in the last 15 years or so ...my last cameras were the Nikon F2 and the Penthax ME Super .I want to once again begin a passion I have always had with photography and now I'm also interested in learning how to edit....at home as a hobby a passion .

I want to purchase tha Canon D5 mark2 (or maybe the D7 ) with one lens ( yet to be determined ).
I also want to purchase a computer capable of handling the files from the Canon and ofcourse a software program or two to begin with .Forgive me for my lack of experience in this subject matter , Im reading and learning as much as I can on my own..as I don't have the budget to take any technical courses such a editing and digital photography classes .With my limited budget I will have to learn hands on and buy some books.

Can someone please advise what is possible to achieve with a 10k budget ?
Which computer shoud I buy and what software program ( s ) should I begin with to be able to do some basic editing ,rendering etc and be able to burn the final edit on a dvd .
I don't have Mac right now , but I'm familiar with it .
Is it possible or am I really underestimating what it would cost ? So , what would buy if you were in my situation ?
Thank -you for any advice / suggestions .

To get started…

What exactly is it you want to shoot? (Action? Nature? Narrative?)

How will you be delivering your final product? (Web videos? Discovery Channel? Blu-Ray?)


We need to know a bit more.

Hi Stephen , all of the above I guess....action , nature and narrative .

No way Im a thinking about Nat Geo or Blu -Ray...the best I would want to do is web videos .

Maybe one day , when I have enough experience . I would consider Nat Geo etc..unless a 10,000 $ system including the camera and lens can deliver a final product on Blu-Ray ?

Thanks .

Okay, here goes…

For web videos (and with an eye towards future growth), your budget is completely realistic, and then some. Since you've been a still shooter in the past, and specifically mentioned the 7D, my recommendations might be different than what I would give to others.

- Canon EOS 7D (Budget Choice: Panasonic GH1): I give the edge to the Canon as it's (to me) a much better choice for stills than the GH1. Also, as great as the 5D is, I find the 7D better as a hybrid stills/video camera, with it's additional framerate options. - $1700

- Lenses: You can spend as much or as little as you want here, but I think a good place to start would be with the Canon 24-105 f4L IS lens. It's a little bit slower than other lenses, but can be had for a good price, and the image stabilization will make your videos more stable. - $900

- MacBook Pro 15" (Refurbished from the Apple Store): Some like desktops for editing, and I certainly do, but on a budget, the 15" MBP is plenty powerful. - $2000

- Final Cut Studio: Great collection of apps for editing, graphics and color. - $1000

Now I haven't even touched on audio recording (very important) or a tripod (equally important) and there's certainly other things you'll want over time (Zacuto Z-Finder), but this would, at the very least, be enough to get you started.

Perhaps others can chime in with their suggestions.

That was indeed helpful info for a beginner like myself.I did forget to mention audio and i do plan on purchasing the beachtek adaptor , i already have the 48p shotgun mics.I also do have access to tripods so I don't need to purchase one.
Im also very keen in using the canon for its video capabilities as a primary reason,the photography aspect is a long lasting passion of mine.Im happy I was not underestimating the costs as you described .Read alot about the Zacuto will keep that in mind.
Thanks.

[QUOTE=Stephen Mick;1430767]Okay, here goes…

- MacBook Pro 15" (Refurbished from the Apple Store): Some like desktops for editing, and I certainly do, but on a budget, the 15" MBP is plenty powerful. - $2000

Hi again Stephen , from macworld I found this , is this the model you are talking about :?
Would I need the most powerful options of what is described below ....its the 2.8GHz model correct ?Thanks .

<<The new top-of-the-line 2.8GHz model with a 500GB hard drive goes for $2,299, as opposed to the previous $2,499 high-end model with a 320GB hard drive.

The 2.8GHz model ships with 6MB of shared L2 cache. All models retain the 1,066MHz frontside bus and built-in AirPort Extreme Wi-Fi with 3Mbps Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR. The 15-inchers come standard with Serial ATA 5,400 rpm hard drives of 250GB, 320GB, or 500GB respectively. Both of the higher end 15-inch models have the dual graphics setup with the Nvidia GeForce 9400M and GeForce 9600M GT, but the amount of video RAM for the 9600M GT differs-the 2.66GHz MacBook has 256MB, while the 2.8GHz has 512MB.

Another part of the increased value of these notebooks is their expandability. The new 15-inchers have more upgrade capacity than they did before and additional build-to-order options, including: a 3.06GHz processor; a maximum of 8GB of RAM; a 500GB 7,200 rpm hard drive; and a 256GB solid state drive.<<

I would get the most powerful machine you can that fits in your budget, period. Just determine how much money you have for the laptop and choose accordingly. You can't really go wrong with either the 15" or 17" MacBook Pros.