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Standalone DSLR (or Camcorder) for Review/Unboxing Type Videos

Hey everyone!

 

For the past few months I've been trying to figure out what a good "standalone" camera for solo review/unboxing videos would be. I've got some experience using various DSLRs and SOME camcorders for video recording, however I've continuously run into the same problem when filming videos on my own. It's a huge pain in the butt to try and get decent shots of a video if you're recording it by yourself in a "one-shot" style take. Why? Because the auto-focus on most DSLR cameras I've tried is horrible. It takes way to long to actually focus on the spot requested, and while it's focusing it's making huge jarring movements to the picture.

 

I'm asking around here to know if anyone knows of a camera with not only good quality picture, but also above-average to extremely nice auto-focus capabilities. I'm starting to think that it's not really possible with a DSLR, and that I'll have to start looking into a prosumer style camcorder.

 

I'd also love a camera that can shoot 1080p at 60fps instead of 30fps. I haven't seen a DSLR capable of this, again, only camcorders.

 

Anyone have any thoughts on this?

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I know Sony's mirrorless cameras can do full time AF just fine and Canon's new Hybrid AF is supposed to work too.

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osu! profile

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I know Sony's mirrorless cameras can do full time AF just fine and Canon's new Hybrid AF is supposed to work too.

Hybrid AF: Not entirely sure what you're referring to. You don't mean what some of their newer DSLR bodies use in conjunction with STM lenses do you? Because I've tried that, and it left A LOT to be desired.

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Hybrid AF: Not entirely sure what you're referring to. You don't mean what some of their newer DSLR bodies use in conjunction with STM lenses do you? Because I've tried that, and it left A LOT to be desired.

There are 3 versions of their system so far:

Hybrid AF 1 = 650d, 700d, and EOS-M

Hybrid AF II = SL1 (100d) and EOS-M2

Dual Pixel AF = Canon 70D

(dug from a forum)

The HAF1 was slow and didn't really work, but since then (HAF2 and newer) it's apparently much improved

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osu! profile

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Interesting, it looks like Canon's new 7D Mk II does 1080p 60fps as well... Though it's a fair way outside of my budget considering it's $1800 for the body without lenses. I was kinda hoping to find something in the $800 - $1200 range all-in. Or suck it up and get a quality solution instead of a stop-gap... Hmm...

 

Well thanks for the information at least!

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My Panasonic GH2 has face tracking for auto-focus; it seems to do alright as long as people aren't jumping all over the place. Having said that, nearly everything I shoot is with manual focus; I hate being on camera, so I'm always the one shooting.

 

Do you REALLY need 1080p/60fps footage? What are you shooting? You're going to incur a lot of extra cost beyond the camera cost. SD/CF cards need to be fast, fast means expensive and you need plenty of hard drive space. I still shoot 720p/60fps, even upscaled to 1080p and mixed in with 1080p/24fps it's barely noticeable.

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@Cortexian I use a Canon EOS 550D, at 1080p 29.97 (and encoded to 24fps most of the time, 60 is unnecessary).

It's a cheapest camera, but has pretty amazing quality.

Best way to autofocus is to put something (such as pile of boxes) where your head will be and focus before you commence filming.

Here's an example of one of my videos. Considering its an entry level SLR it can do some amazing things:

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/197320-noctua-l9i-review/

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I'm thinking of going with a Panasonic ZR1000 intead of a digital SLR frame. I loose the ability to interchange lenses, but as I was looking into a Sony CX900 before, the ZR1000 looks like an amazing deal with many more video recording modes and a similar feature and specifications set.

 

I need 1080/60p or faster because there are a couple of projects that I'd like to implement slow motion shots into. The ZR1000 supports 1080/120p, so that's an added bonus.

 

Cost on the ZR1000 is much cheaper than the Sony CX900 or any DSLR setup, and it does what I want so I think I'll be going that route. I've still got my Canon T1i for photos!

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Why do you need 60p for unboxing and tech videos? @LinusTech and the LMG crew have been doing 30p since forever and it's perfectly fine. There's no real benefit of 60p videos (at least for the price) except for gaming and sports IMO.


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  • 2 weeks later...

SONY A6000, despite I hated sony for the longest time, when the A6000 came in, that is one beast camera, with should be still fastest autofocus  system with 179 focus points. :\

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  • 2 weeks later...

Why do you need 60p for unboxing and tech videos? @LinusTech and the LMG crew have been doing 30p since forever and it's perfectly fine. There's no real benefit of 60p videos (at least for the price) except for gaming and sports IMO.

Sorry if my previous post wasn't clear, but the 60p is for slowing down in post production. Final videos will likely still be rendered/encoded at 30p.

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