550 (So Scared)

[Tariq Peter]

Hi Guys,

After a hell of a lot of thinking and reading I have decided to buy a 550D its around £250 cheaper than the 60D and I will put that money towards the additional items I need to use with it.

As is stands I use a XHA1 to shoot my weddings and I will continue to do so, as always I'Il arrive at the venue a few hours before to taken some preparation shots with the XHA1 but now I will also use the Glidetrack and 550D to capture some other cool footage. As time goes by and I become more comfortable with the DSLR I will phase the XHA1 out to just a backup camera. All I ever seem to get when I meet a client for the first time is we want it like "this" and they show me a reel of a company obviously using 7Ds and I simply can't offer that.

My question to you wonderful people is what are the most ESSENTIAL items I should buy for the 55D?

1) As above I am looking to first capture footage of things like the tables being set up, food arriving, the dance floor, stage, so I would need a lens for this. I love the fish eye effect also so I am guessing I would need a separate lens for that. If you could recommend which two lenses I should get that would be a great help.

2) What length of Glidetrack do you recommend I purchase (I will use it for the XHA1 aswell)?

3) How long do the batteries last?
4) How many memory cards do I need to capture around 4-5 hours of footage (I probably won’t have that much footage but just to be on the safer side of things)?
5) Can anybody recommend a decent bag?
I am not concered about audio just yet

I don't have a lot of money I would say £1000-£1500 Max for all of the above so any help would be gratefully appreciated.

I do hope that the 550D gives my business that extra boost it needs.

[Giroud Francois]

absolutely needed is a battery grip + 2 batteries (60$)
an additional charger (10$)
hand grip strap (model with 2 threads, many has only one) (6$)
filters (polarizing , ND, graduated ND (about 20$ each)
a flash grip with 2 accessorie shoes (15$)
a follow focus (RJ follow focus about 140$)
lenses (nothing above f2.8) , prefferably a zoom one like 17-50.
a 7" liliput monitor with HDMI in (200$) + hdmi-mini hdmi cable
a LCD loupe (20$)
a LCD foldable sunshade (15$)
an external sound recorder (zoom H1 , 100$)
a tall monopod ( 30$)
some 16 or 32ig SDHC cards (the Transcend class10 32gig is 50$)

[Nigel Barker]

Originally Posted by Tariq Peter

After a hell of a lot of thinking and reading I have decided to buy a 550D its around £250 cheaper than the 60D and I will put that money towards the additional items I need to use with it.

The 600D is a much better buy than the 550D. It has the articulated screen & manual audio level controls like the 60D but also the very useful 3X HD crop mode. It's only a little more expensive than the 550D (£580 vs. £510 for body only on Amazon UK)

[James Donnelly]

Originally Posted by Tariq Peter

Hi Guys,
I do hope that the 550D gives my business that extra boost it needs.

Don't take this the wrong way, but you would be mad to buy the 550d. The 3x zoom in the 600d is almost like an extra lens. Also, with care you should be able to use the built in audio on the 600d, whereas that is not a good idea on the 550d. Another factor is that you can bet the 550d will overheat at some point, whereas the 600d almost certainly won't.

Two lenses? On a budget, I would recommend the Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8, and the Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 (non vc). VC is nice to have, but not at the cost of IQ, where the VC version suffers. Stabilisation is progressively less critical as your focal length comes down, so shooting at the wide end of your 17-50, you won't miss it. If you want top IQ + stabilisation, you must buy the Canon 17-55 f/2.8 IS. You won't regret getting the Canon if you can afford it.

I would buy the Tokina and the 600d first. You might find with the 3x zoom, you don't need the 17-50mm, although Conversely, the reach you will get with the 3x on a 17-50 will allow some nice intimate candid shots without the camera being in the subject's personal space. The only caveat being using 3x compared to a physical lens effectively gives you a smaller sensor and correspondingly less shallow DOF.

If you still need fisheye, the Samyang 8mm will cost you a chunk of your budget, but will be quite a specialised piece of kit.

A lot of that other kit, you don't need it straight away. I would advise buying the camera and lens first, seeing how it handles. Get used to it and see how it will fit into your workflow before deciding what additional kit you need. People argue over what is 'essential' but there is no standard list.

Keep us posted.

[Donald McPherson]

Don't forget Magic Lantern. It's free and adds a lot to the camera. Check out this link. http://magiclantern.wikia.com/wiki/M..._Firmware_Wiki

[Tariq Peter]

Thank you so much for all your help, the 600D is 100% worth the extra money! My next job is to get the best deal possible (lets see If I can get a few things thrown in :))

[Tariq Peter]

Hi Guys,

Unfortunately my budget does not allow me to go for both the Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 and Tamron 17-50 f/2.8. If I had to choose one to start in the world of DSLR filming which would you suggest?

I will be filming Asian weddings which means lots of me running around without a tripod as things are constantly happining and I am also getting pulled from pillar to post

Many Thanks

[Giroud Francois]

take the 17-50, the 11-16 is really special wide shot, you can probably step back enough in a church to get the same filed of view with the 17

[Tariq Peter]

I held the 600D for the first time today and was amazed, filming a wedding with that is going to be so tricky. I need as much help as possible to make sure that whatever I shoot is steady, which brings me on to stabilization. The weddings last all day so I need a rig which will really help my movie making..again money is tight so I am looking for something around the £200-300 price range . Does anybody have any current rigs for that price which they could recommend?

[Giroud Francois]

the tall monopod (30$) listed above should be a good start.

[Buba Kastorski]

Originally Posted by Tariq Peter

I am looking for something around the £200-300 price range . Does anybody have any current rigs for that price which they could recommend?

this is good

deconstructing the story // a monopod tutorial on Vimeo

[Brian Wagner]

I don't know if you're considering a shoulder mount. But I just got one from Cavision, a Canadian company. I don't know what availability is over there. There are a few companies making these DSLR rigs with 15mm rods, and most are quite expensive. The model I got, 1580S, was under $200.

From the little I've played with it so far, it's a nice unit. Provides all the stability you don't have otherwise shooting video on DSLR. Add a viewfinder eyepiece, and I think it's the bare minimum to shoot video off a tripod.

I'm not a wedding shooter. But with a quick release on the shoulder mount, you should be able to pop off and remount or go handheld, if that would fit your workflow.

[Ben Giles]

My 2p worth:

Shooting weddings is like shooting an obs-doc where there's no way you'll get the subject to repeat a shot and you've got to be two steps ahead of what's going on. They're fraught with high emotions, unpredictable subjects and the clients are amateurs - so expectation management can be a World Of Pain.

So, on the brown trouser spectrum of jeopardy, weddings are proper high risk.

I personally would choose the XHA1 over any DSLR setup for weddings. Don't get me wrong, I generally shoot a lot of what I do with 2 60Ds and a 5D MkII - each with different lens setups - and, for much of what I'm doing, they're a good compromise between being a right royal PITA and producing some nice pics (most of the time.) However, I do a fair amount of multi-cam music events at the moment and I go for a live switched OB with regular video cameras for those - DSLRs represent too much risk for me for that style of shooting and workflow.

You will inevitably go through a painful learning curve. I guess you need to ask yourself, "can I afford to get this wrong a few times?"

I suggest you rent a DSLR and a couple of decent lenses from one of the several online rental companies and use them "in anger" at a wedding - but have a firm backup in place (ie use it as the "B" camera.) This will very quickly show you whether the DSLR route really works for you.

There's a lot of bollocks spouted about DSLRs and how they'll achieve a certain look etc. You can get great results - but you'll need very high quality glass and a meticulously-thought-through workflow and considered shooting style or they can trip you up.

And I'm sure many fellow forum lurkers will quietly admit that they've spent way too much money on "stuff" like shoulder rigs and monitors etc etc, only to find that it all just gets in the way.

My suggested minimal basic package, based on over a year of shooting with DSLRs (and I've got 24 more making high-end broadcast TV on pretty much every professional format you can name), is as follows:

Canon 60D (or maybe the 600 as others are suggesting - I'm not familiar with it though) with articulating screen.
LCDVF clip-on loupe - to which I add extra velcro straps when the screen is flipped out to keep it secure and to stop the screen snapping - cos it will do one day...
Tokina 11-16 2.8 (although this can be awfully soft when you open up beyond f8.)
Canon 17-55 2.8 (I'm very pleased with the quality of this.)
Sigma 70-200 2.8 DX with Optical Stabiliser (just over half the price of the Canon and a very equal peer in terms of image quality - I've tested them many times side by side.)
E-Image 5 stage fluid head tripod from Proactive - about half the price of anything from Vinten/Sachtler even approaching the quality that E-Image offers. Anything of lower quality will have a nasty habit of showing up in Post as camera shake (your camera screen is often too low res to resolve this kind of shake.)

Bear in mind that you'll either be constantly changing lenses or you'll need to fork out for another DSLR body or 2 to take the other lenses (as I inevitably did in the end.) Also, don't get a lens over 20mm without an Image Stabiliser for hand held work - unless you want vibrating shots.

That basic kit with one DSLR body will set you back at least £4K - you be the judge of whether it's worth it to you. Anything much less and you're doing two steps backward and only one forward, compared to your XHA1 (in my opinion.)

Oh, and I forgot to mention audio... reckon on another £300 for a Tascam DR100 or Zoom thingy (I'm assuming you've already got decent mics for use with your XHA1.) And then you've got to synch your rushes etc etc. Worth it? You be the judge...

Alternatively, it's highly possible that you could be getting a great deal more out of your current video camera. There are some useful de-interlacing plug-ins and simple to use grading software like Magic Bullet that might work wonders with your material. From the line of your questions, I'd strongly suggest you look at how these might transform what you do before leaping to the conclusion that a DSLR will significantly improve the look of your films. Very unsexy of me to say all of this in the 60D forum, but the upshot of being bald and wrinkly is learning a thing or two along the way... ;-)

Hope that helps in some way.

[Andy Graham]

Yep Ben you described every problem i have with doing weddings!, i avoid them like the plague unless i'm skint :). All the weddings i've done i used a JVC hd100 and a canon XL1s as a B camera and yes because the XL1s isn't HD and im not forking out thousands to update to HD the JVC just sits in SD mode and nobody has ever came to me and complained, to be honest i don't think the general population either care or can tell the diference.

I own a 60D myself and before i would even consider Promoting it to A cam status I would tag along at one of my friends weddings or a friend of a friends wedding or even a fellow videographer's job if he'll let you (we all need one or two videographer buddies) and id see if i could keep up the pace and get the shots i wanted with it (without getting in the actuall videographers way ofcourse). At least that would give you some form of cover and security while getting used to it and avoid being caught out with your pants down so to speak.

By doing that youd learn how many cards you need ,how many lens changes you need , any settings in the DSLR that need tweaking (that bloody 1 min auto power off for a start) , what the audio quality is like , wether your tripod is strong enough to avoid vibration etc etc personally i wouldn't use anything less than a manfrotto 501 head or simmilar, that extra weight really helps you out and lets you focus on more pressing matters.

Here's something to try out btw, i use my 60D for photography ,never shot a frame of video yet, i set the white balance to cloudy 98% of the time (exterior shots). It gives the image a nice warm look and you can use it at any time of the day, im not sure if it would do the same for video but its worth a try, the image is a lot more pleasing than the auto WB. I know you can filter it in FCP but why bother if you can capture it

Anyway weddings are like hangovers i've had one before and even though i've vowed never again I know its going to happen.

Andy.

[Tom Hardwick]

Originally Posted by Tariq Peter

I will be filming Asian weddings which means lots of me running around without a tripod as things are constantly happining and I am also getting pulled from pillar to post

You've nailed it Tariq - and so has Ben. Read his post again and digest every word - especially the first three paragraphs. I shoot weddings on a Sony NX5 and even if I get to the venue a couple of hours early and even if the breakfast room is finished and just waiting for me I need every single minute of those two hours to get my bearings, get my establishing shots, get the table details and oh-so-soon the arriving guests.

And that's with an ergonomically near-perfect camcorder, not a DSLR that just happens to shoot movies. If you're serious about shooting movies with an SLR it'll be loaded with enough add-ons to make people giggle. I love my 60D but it's no run 'n' gun camcorder. In the unfolding real-time scenario that's called a wedding my view is that you should not be playing with kit.

tom.