Buying a 550d, please help......

[Gerald Webb]

Hi guys, Ive read through most of the posts on here and just thought it would be easier to come out and ask a few straight questions rather than reading between the lines of everything else.
It looks like Im settled on a 550d, I want it for 2 main uses.
Wife used to be a photography hobbyist, and wants to get back into it,
and, I shoot live music, bands, events etc and want one more cam to use in my multi cam projects.
Was going to get a Canon HFS20 and get her a DSLR as well, but Im thinking I can kill 2 birds with one stone.
I want to get the 550d because of the mic input and manual controls while shooting video.
So now for the questions......
Are they region specific? PAL or NTSC? Or do they all have 24,25,30p frame rates?
Can I use class 6 SDHC or do I need class 10 for 1080p video?
On a tripod, plugged in to power, will overheating be an issue? This cam would become my "safety" shot, no panning, no zooming, just a continuous shot at 1080p for 60-90min.
Is there mic attenuation on these?
Im looking at the twin lens kit,18-55, and 55-250. Is this a good start for both of us, ie, shooting a band 25m away, and for her, filming our baby son playing on the rug?
Any input would be greatly appreciated.
thanks in advance.
:)

[John Wiley]

The 550d is not a great camera to have for long events as it cannot record continuously for more than 12 minutes. At that point recording will stop and you have to restart it. Plus there is the overheating issue which may kick in after a few consecutive 12 minute clips.

They are not region specific, every model whether it's the Kiss (Japan), The t2i Rebel (USA) or 550d (Australia/Europe) will have 60p, 50p, 24p, 25p and 30p.

Class 6 card should work although some people recommend class 10 to be sure.

The camera has AGC which cannot be disabled so it is not ideal for recording sound.

If you really do want to get one camera to cover both bases then you should check out the GH1. It has no recording time limits (except in Europe), does not overheat and has continuous autofocus which would be perfect for filming the baby. And the kit lens is 14-140 with a 2x crop factor which covers almost the same lenghts as the combination of the 18-55 and 55-250.

[Gerald Webb]

thanks John,
just had a quick look at the GH1, its about a 1k more than the 550d, :(
if thats all thats on offer wouldnt I be better with a 7D?
Is the 12 min limit applicable to the current model? There was nothing in any of the reviews I read that mentioned it, I must say I would be dirty if thats the case and I had bought one.

[Bryan McCullough]

I don't know about other DSLRs but all the Canons have a 4GB (~12 minute) recording limit on HD video.

[Gerald Webb]

Looks like the GH1 is the go, a little bit more expensive( GULP!) but so much better for video. You can shoot as long as the card has space, in AVCHD, or MJPEG AVI which just drops straight on the timeline and edits like a dream.
Really disappointed in the Canons, I always buy Canon if I can, why would they do such a ridiculous thing as make video only go for 12 min, its just absurd.

[Ned Soltz]

I don't know how many times we need to repeat this-- don't blame Canon for the 12 minute limit. Blame the European Union. It all has to do with taxation obscurities.

I think you will find if you put Canon footage up against the GH1, the Canon footage will generally be superior to the Panasonic. Saw a presentation in NY this past week by Philip Bloom who compared film, Canon, Nikon and Panny. Canon is generally superior to Nikon and Panasonic.

[Gerald Webb]

So Ned just out of interest, why does Canon have to do it and Panasonic doesnt?
I dont suppose anyone knows of a firmware hack or update to get around it?

[John Wiley]

Gerald, I just noticed you are in Australia where, as always seems to be the case. The GH1 is far more expensive. While our dollar hangs around US$0.90, the GH1 retails for around 2300 here and 1200 in the US, and here the price gap between the GH1 and t2i is alot bigger. However I beleive it is worth the extra money over the T2i for video use. Remember too that the Price includes one seriously bad-ass lens which covers a huge zoom range and has great, continuous autofocus during video shooting. If you add one fast prime lens via an adaptor then you shoud be covered for most situations.

There are a few supposed reasons why the Canon's have the 4gb limit. One reason is that the FAT32 file stucture of SD cards has a 4gb limit. While video cameras work around this by recording multiple files then stictching them back together later, the Canon engineers didn't bother to do it on the DSLR's. Perhaps this is because of reason two - In Europe the Camera will attract an extra video camera tax if it can record video longer than 30 minutes.

[Gerald Webb]

thanks John, so the GH1 IS region specific, so getting one from the US is out of the question?
I'm really torn now,
Get the GH1 for $2300.00 - best price I can find in OZ.
or
Get 550d and twin lens kit for $1309.00 -and a HFS20 for $1500,00 = $2809.00
$500.00 more, but 2 very good items on there own.
gee, this is harder than choosing fri night pizza, lol.

[James Donnelly]

The nice thing about the GH1, or any 1080p micro four thirds camera is that it has even greater lens adaptability than the EOS range.

Anyone noticed the price of FD mount lenses going up? You can stick em on the GH1 with an optics free adapter.

Also means your long lenses get even longer, so lots of options.

[Manus Sweeney]

those twin kit lenses may not be useful for recording bands unless the venues are brightly lit, you could end up having to invest in faster lenses, in which case a body only would probably be a better way to go