Video from SLR

Does anyone shoot their video with an SLR? I was thinking of upgrading my video camera but was wondering if the HD video from SLRs such as the Nikon 5100 is acceptable yet. It seems to me that the ability to control zoom rate more accurately would be of great benefit, but do video cameras have servo zoom control for a reason (shaking of image?). The benefit of only needing one device is great, even if it only stops you trying to take video and still as well and messing both up!

John

 

Hi John

I use a Nikon D5000 and the quality can be very good indeed, but it does have its limitations, if you use a zoom lens you definitely need a tripod and you have to grip the barrel of the lens before you start videoing otherwise when you pull back you will get serious wobble, also you have to make sure that you have focused the camera before you start filming as it will not auto focus and you only get 5 minutes recording time in HD or 20 minutes in standard, and it chews up memory on the card PDQ!

I'm not entirely sure what tweaks they made with the 5100, but I would suggest that you try and take one for a test drive before making your mind up.

Cheers

Dave

 

on paper the bigger chips on SLR sound good, but when look into how easy they are to handle and focus in perticular a good camcorder wins hands down. I know Tv has experimented with using a SLR in HD, I think house did one episode, but TV general nver pans or zooms in and out that often, they genarly take one focus point shot and then the next one, cutting them together in editing room.

 

The inability to refocus the lens when filming is what puts me off using my Canon 7D more for video. When I do use it, it's usually for just one shot, no panning, no zooming, while I use another camera for photos. Saying that, the quality is pretty good, though it does need an external microphone. It's also pretty good in low light conditions too.