After much research and comparing different video shoot-outs, I've decided to get the 5D3. I have two questions has anybody heard of Galaxy Cameras.

Could someone recommended a lens for this kinda shooting.
Baracole by Alexandre Tansman played by Jason Mullen - YouTube

Never heard of that shop, but the kit 24-105 that comes with the 5D3 would have you covered in that shoot easily. I was really worried about the f4 aperture and it not being fast enough, but the ISO on the 5D3 is simply amazing. I have gone up to 3200 and it's better than 1250 on my 7D.

Thanks Jerry...... good to know. Galaxy Camera has a 5d3 for $2200 thought it might be too good to be true.

GalaxyCameras.com (http://www.galaxycameras.com/Canon_5260B002_4936.html?refid=Google&gclid=CJ2ysqj3wroCFY5AMgodeSIArA)

That's one of those things if it seems to be "to good to be true, it probably is" I buy at B&H and guaranteed to be worry free. They aren't the cheapest, but if somethings not right, they fix it FAST. Just to much money for me to gamble.

Moderator Note:

DVi advertisers and sponsors are top-tier companies that are individually vetted. Naturally, we recommend that you do business with them; and conversely we ask folks to avoid generating discussion of those who don't support us.

Here is a list of DVi sponsors:
Sponsors at DV Info Net (http://www.dvinfo.net/sponsors/)

Thanks for your understanding.

I sell cameras and am a DVinfo sponsor. I often send people this link when they ask about low prices that they see online:

Brooklyn Camera/Electronic Dealer StoreFronts (http://donwiss.com/pictures/BrooklynStores/)

The photographer went around taking photos of locations matching addresses connected to various websites.

Be safe.

Oh my God!

Oh and I bought my PMW-200's from Omega, Phil's company and was very happy with their service as well!!!

Don't buy from any dealer. Buy only from reputed ones so that you get the proper goods as well as service. And I see the good ones are sponsors of this site.

Even though I am based out of India, I do a lot of purchases from B&H every year, and have been doing it for many many years. Can't praise them enough. They are prompt and have been very helpful. I love their policies as well. In this age when people do anything for money, they maintain holidays according to their faith. I am very happy with them.

Oh and I bought my PMW-200's from Omega, Phil's company and was very happy with their service as well!!!

Dang, Phil should have provided a link to his business I would have bought it form him...... I feel a little bad now, I like to give business to the smaller companies.

I ended up getting it from B&H the body and lens kit. This has been a fun filled week of research.....

I do have one burning question about the 5dr iii....... can you zoom in and out in video mode?

Don't buy from any dealer. Buy only from reputed ones so that you get the proper goods as well as service. And I see the good ones are sponsors of this site.

Even though I am based out of India, I do a lot of purchases from B&H every year, and have been doing it for many many years. Can't praise them enough. They are prompt and have been very helpful. I love their policies as well. In this age when people do anything for money, they maintain holidays according to their faith. I am very happy with them.

Yea got it from B&H today. BTW, I go to India every year for the past 6 years,,,,,, I'll be there again this coming Febuary....... I love it there!

...... can you zoom in and out in video mode?

You can if you have a parfocal lens. The 24-105 is NOT parfocal. Do some research and you will find the ones that are. I don't worry about it as I rarely do that kind of move and if I need to I'm usually shooting with my PMW-200.

Regarding zooming: I don't do it very often because in my mind it tends to be distracting. But when I do I just use the Ken Burns feature in Final Cut Pro X, or the crop feature in Photoshop for stills. Those, combined with quality lenses like the 24-105L, are much smoother than mechanical video zooms, and I'm oftentimes amazed at how the images hold up in stills. Plus, if I need a little wider shot, I've still got it. Another lens that's awesome for this is the Canon 70-200mm L.

the 70-200 f4 L IS is my GO TO LENS. Don't need the 2.8 with the 5D3. ISO on this this is CRAZY good.

Regarding zooming: I don't do it very often because in my mind it tends to be distracting. But when I do I just use the Ken Burns feature in Final Cut Pro X, or the crop feature in Photoshop for stills. Those, combined with quality lenses like the 24-105L, are much smoother than mechanical video zooms, and I'm oftentimes amazed at how the images hold up in stills. Plus, if I need a little wider shot, I've still got it. Another lens that's awesome for this is the Canon 70-200mm L.

Charles that's an excellent idea thanks!

That's a very expensive lens! I need something more like a portrait lens as I what to shoot a guitarist with a good DOF, a friend mentioned I need a 50 mm lens. Also I want to film my workshop as I'm making guitars and the space is rather small. As good as that lens is I don't think I'll need a bigger zoom, unless I'm not understanding this. I'm very new to camera lens and photography beyond simple point and shoot.

I had justified this purchase by selling my beloved XH-A1/Letus but it looks like I should keep it around. Although it seems like it would be difficult integrating the 5d3 and the A1 in the same video.

Having two or three 5d3's is rather expensive...... although I guess I could sell the A1 and get a back up 5d2 on ebay or something.

The problem is shooting video from different angles in one live performance.

You don't need that lens, but I love mine. I do use the kit 24 to 105 most of the time though. the 70-200 is just SO pretty when I do get to use it. The 5d3 can go with the f4 version as well as the 5d2 can use the f2.8 version with better results because of the ISO performance. So that will save you half the cost. Don't sweat it now, but you will want one eventually.

the 70-200 f4 L IS is my GO TO LENS. Don't need the 2.8 with the 5D3. ISO on this this is CRAZY good.

Well yea that's what I was thinking. Since the 5d3 is so good in low light what's the point? Ha ha! I'm not shooting in candle light, even though it looks like the 5d3 could.

One of the reasons I decided to get the 5d3 is to shoot in natural light. The A1/Letus is really bad for this...... I'm still a bit traumatized from a few times I used the Letus and the video was way too dark once I imported it.

You don't need that lens, but I love mine. I do use the kit 24 to 105 most of the time though. the 70-200 is just SO pretty when I do get to use it. The 5d3 can go with the f4 version as well as the 5d2 can use the f2.8 version with better results because of the ISO performance. So that will save you half the cost. Don't sweat it now, but you will want one eventually.

Eventually? I want one now!

Michael:

I think the 50mm suggestion is a good one for what you do. But spend the extra $150.00 and get the f1.4. It's sharp as a tack and the images hold up really nice when you zoom/crop in edit.

I found one on Amazon for $120, that Ken Rockwell said was better than the more expensive Canon lens!

It's made of plastic, but after shelling out all my loot on the MK3 this might be a viable starting point?

Canon 50mm f/1.8 (http://www.kenrockwell.com/canon/lenses/50mm-f18.htm)

I do have a question that's been in the back of my mind since getting the MK3 (which will arrive next week)..... is my XH-A1 now a dinosaur? I don't care about the tape issues...... I kinda like it actually.

Since you guys all have much more experience than I do, will I ever want to use the A1 again after the MK3?

I'm not a professional and just shoot guitar related stuff at home, I have an HV-40/letus, that covers my video point and shoot stuff.

I guess what I'm asking is for shooting guitar video's am I better off selling my A1/letus rig and just buying another MK2 for a 1000 bucks on Ebay for a second angle camera?

I got rid of my xh-a1 for a 5dmkii. The xh-a1 was a great camera, but low light made me very sad!
I miss all the pro controls, but now use an xa10 on a tripod to cover all the essential aspects the xh used to handle, while I get creative with the dslr on a monopod. The xa10 covers audio and a wide (in-focus!) shot that I cut to while I'm finding an interesting angle with the 5d (magic lantern makes focusing possible on the 5d lcd, and i actually use the histogram to judge white balance for both cameras). I think the combination is great, though matching the shots can be a challenge in post (i shoot both cameras pretty flat with sharpening turned down in camera, sharpen in post). Some slight diffusion, vignette and edge blur on the xa10 can help. If you are filming guitar players, you can get pretty artful with the look...
I don't miss tape one bit, but transcoding to pro res takes a lot of time and disk space.

I found one on Amazon for $120, that Ken Rockwell said was better than the more expensive Canon lens!

It's made of plastic, but after shelling out all my loot on the MK3 this might be a viable starting point?

Canon 50mm f/1.8 (http://www.kenrockwell.com/canon/lenses/50mm-f18.htm)

Keep in mind that Ken Rockwell shoots photos, not video.

The 50/1.8 has excellent glass and makes beautiful images, but is built with a very inexpensive body and a very poor focus ring. The ring is very narrow and is right at the front edge of the body. It has a lot of play and only turns 77 degrees from near to far. That's fine for autofocus photos but not so good for manual focus video. With the ring at the edge, an ND filter or polarizer (especially if oversized) could prevent you from controlling focus at all.

The 50/1.4, on the other hand, has a wider focus ring that is comfortably located and turns 204 degrees, end to end. The ring also has some play, but with such a long throw, it's quite usable.

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Lens Specifications and Measurements (http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Lens-Specifications.aspx?Lens=105&LensComp=115&Units=E)

FWIW, here is a video I shot of my daughter playing guitar. She played the song twice, once where I concentrated on her face (that's the master track for the audio) and one time when I shot her hands and other b-roll. Here, I used the EF 85/1.8 wide open for a dreamy, shallow DOF look. (The DOF of an 85 at f/1.8 is probably about the same as a 50 at f/1.4.) Of course, you can always stop down if you want deeper focus. Obviously, it was shot handheld. What's not seen is the homemade shoulder rig I built out of about $50 of aluminum, screws, nuts, and BMX bike handle grips. The key was to turn the focus ring to roughly the right distance and then to fine tune focus with my feet. Still, the most amazing part of the video (to me) was Melissa's ability to nail the song in one take while playing outside with a camera in her face.

"High and Dry" Radiohead Cover - by Melissa Fairy on Vimeo

Jon - That video was from 3 years ago. You should shoot another with her.

Jon - That video was from 3 years ago. You should shoot another with her.

That's really up to her. :)

She's now in a band that performed publicly for the first time a month or so ago. I expect that my son and I will film them at some point...

Jon, beautiful video your daughter is very talented, and photogenic!

Thanks for the advice to step up from the cheaper 50 mm, that makes good sense. I'm learning a lot about camera lens, I've only been a point and shoot guy up until now, and only used a XH-A1 with a zoom lens so I'm looking forward to getting a little more creative and knowledgeable.

I like your idea of having her play it two times and using a different camera angle on both, rather than just one shot, nice and creamy, videos like yours were the primary reason I got the 5D iii...... I'll give that a try since I really can't see using the A1 in the same timeline as the MK3. I think I'll sell the A1 and just buy a used MK2 on Ebay. I actually love my A1 she was my first love but time to let her go, I have an HV-40/letus to get through the lonely nights.

I still haven't told my wife I bought the 5D iii, and it's scheduled to arrive tomorrow from B&H, I've lost a couple nights of sleep rehearsing my sales pitch, but I think selling off the other gear I have will fit nicely into the storyline.

Recording classical music is a bit challenging! I spent 4 hours recording my friend and got about 30 minutes of perfect takes. Editing music separate from video is easy, and editing video without music is easy but put them both together then is a bit more difficult.

It was a steep learning curve for me to learn the video stuff, now I'm learning the audio side of things and it's hard to edit audio ( I'm using Reaper) . Actually it was a difficult decision for me to get the 5D iii because I was also considering a pair of Scheops, but in the end the 5d iii won out.

Thanks for the advice!