video camera recomendations under 500$

[Zihanouk]

so i just started to film my dance videos stuff and start posting it on youtube. im recording with a samsung s10 right now and its fine but i'm remaking my studio and i switched a lot of lighting stuff so its messing with the and also just want higher quality content in general. i am going to keep an uncompressed backup.

[ThePointblank]

Your best bet is a Canon EOS M100 with the kit lens. It will only do 1080p at 60fps, but Canon's video AF is among the best, and at the price point, not many cameras can compete. 

[Zihanouk]

3 hours ago, ThePointblank said:

Your best bet is a Canon EOS M100 with the kit lens. It will only do 1080p at 60fps, but Canon's video AF is among the best, and at the price point, not many cameras can compete. 

i was thinking bout a second hand blackmagic pocket 1 is that a good choice?

[ThePointblank]

18 hours ago, Zihanouk said:

i was thinking bout a second hand blackmagic pocket 1 is that a good choice?

Don't recommend it; if you don't know what you are doing, the Blackmagic has a very steep learning curve. Also, AF performance on the Blackmagic is spotty at best, and so is low light performance. 

[HeartyTinman]

I'm not overly familar with the camera personally, but I know LTT and many many others have praised it in the past. Panasonic Lumix GH4. I'd be tempted to get a 2nd hand one with a reasonable lens and do something with that - 

 

Otherwise, see what you can do in terms of borrowing people's cameras to try out or get a feel for one at a store, like the Canon EOS M100. Very versatile bit of kit, small and pocketable (ish) that could probably do what you need, just be wary of jumping into it and locking yourself to a lens mount that you'll have to get rid of later down the line...

 

[ThePointblank]

8 hours ago, HeartyTinman said:

I'm not overly familar with the camera personally, but I know LTT and many many others have praised it in the past. Panasonic Lumix GH4. I'd be tempted to get a 2nd hand one with a reasonable lens and do something with that - 

 

Otherwise, see what you can do in terms of borrowing people's cameras to try out or get a feel for one at a store, like the Canon EOS M100. Very versatile bit of kit, small and pocketable (ish) that could probably do what you need, just be wary of jumping into it and locking yourself to a lens mount that you'll have to get rid of later down the line...

 

For what he intends on doing, the EOS M100 kit with lens will suffice. It's only when he gets more serious and comfortable with video work (and has a bigger budget) would I recommend something else. 

[harryk]

On 9/7/2019 at 7:53 PM, Zihanouk said:

i was thinking bout a second hand blackmagic pocket 1 is that a good choice?

I have an original BMPCC. Here are all my gripes with it:

- No auto anything (there is auto-focus and auto-exposure with some expensive MFT lenses, but its not good).

- MFT lenses suck and are expensive. To use real lenses, add a Metabones speed booster.

- A variable ND filter is needed to control exposure since exposure can't be changed on the fly (true for most cameras anyway).

- It can be difficult to confirm focus on the built-in display. With practice I've gotten pretty good but an external monitor is highly recommended for critical work.

- The settings menu isn't the best for easily or quickly changing things.

- Its difficult to get steady shots because there is no image stabilization and the images are so sharp. Practice and experience help but a steadicam or gimbal makes it so much better.

- No high frame rate. 24 or 30fps; pick one.

- Battery life is atrocious. 20-30min on average. Luckily the batteries are cheap so you can buy and carry a dozen of them. Or better yet invest in a large external battery.

- The built-in mic sucks. It's really only there for audio syncing in post.

- The built-in mic input sucks. With a self-powered mic with amplifier boost its alright, but still notable noisy with low volume. You'll want an external audio recorder if you're serious about the sound quality.

- The data files are large. About 1-2GB per minute depending on settings. It requires big and fast SD cards and many large hard drives to store the footage.

- A good computer is needed to edit the high bit rate footage.

- To take full advantage of the images you'll need to learn how to color grade. Not hard to do, but it is hard to do well.

 

Now here are the reasons I love it:

- The images that it makes are phenomenal.

- The dynamic range is incredible and allows for so much more to be captured. It still is the only 'consumer' camera that does RAW.

- The low light performance is amazing especially with the Metabones speed booster. I'm more often attenuating over exposure than under exposure. There is some noise with the highest ISO setting but IMO it looks like film grain and can look good with the right shot.

- The images are crazy sharp. I had to up my game as a shooter to not get shaky footage.

- After grading, the colors are... well whatever you want them to be, that's the point of color grading. But you can push them without getting artifacts or ugliness.

 

If incredible images are what you're after and you're not afraid of the difficulties listed above, then absolutely go for it.

 

tldr; the BMPCC a fantastic imager, but terrible camera