Back in the day, I did some video editing for a large church. We had some great equipment at our disposal, like Canon GL1. You wanted good video? You had to pay for it, to the tune of $3900.
Since that time, we have seen the birth and death of the mini video camera (RIP, Flip) which offered the ability to film in HD at incredibly cheap prices (usually just a couple hundred).
However, there is one, not-so-secret tip to shooting better video than the next guy, and that is having a larger lens opening (called aperture). The bigger the aperture, the better the image. Of course, you also have to have an eye for shooting good video. This is why a Canon GL1 will always take better video than your iPhone 4, Xacti, or Flip.
Well, I was going through twitter the other day when I noticed an old friend, with whom I had done video editing with in the past and who currently lives in Hollywood while interning for a movie studio, had launched a video blog and Youtube Channel (I am not sharing the link here for a few reasons, one being he tends to be a bit vulgar).
I noticed the video quality was stupendous. I asked him what he was using to get such clean shots expecting to hear he was using a Canon GL3 or a cutting edge Red camera. His response shocked me;
I use a Canon EOS Rebel T3i with a stock lens for most of my vlogs and a little Canon Elf point-and-shoot when doing video capture on the street or when I do not feel like hauling my big camera around with me.
What? Wait a Second…
Instead of shelling out $4000 for a video camera, he spent under a grand for TWO video recording devices. Neither of which are specifically made for video (both are digital STILL cameras at heart). And the results are FANTASTIC! What is this world coming too!?!?! For full disclosure, he uses a copy of Final Cut Express for editing which cost him another $199.
After I came down from my shock and awe, I realized the world was changing. We no longer needed to produce using big and expensive equipment. No longer do you have to work at a church with a large budget to have nice recording and editing software. Your church could produce a video podcast (vodcast) for pretty cheap.
What do you use to record video? Have you found other digital still cameras to be a good replacement for expensive equipment?
Please, share with us in the comments.
Jason Cooper says
I wear a couple hats at my church, one of which is communications which includes most of our video production. For easter we filmed the testimony of one of our members. We did it all on our DSLR Canon 60D. This was our first project that we used the camera for and it worked great. It was, however, a learning experience. You need to do plenty of test shots to figure out the best aperture settings (for example) for the vignette you are using. The shot looked great on the camera screen, but a little graining on the computer – but still better than any of the video cameras we have used in the past.
The other downside, at least with a 60D, is that autofocus can’t work while recording. You have to set your focus before hitting record, so anything with a lot of motion would be tricky. You can focus manually during shooting, but you have to do so using the preview screen on the camera, which is more difficult.
Last summer we hired a videographer/production company to film a promo video for our capital campaign, and everything he filmed was done with a DSLR (a very NICE and expensive DSLR). We were so amazed by the end product! http://vimeo.com/15501140 He had this attachment over his preview screen that worked like a view finder and allowed him to adjust focus manually while filming, but with great precision.
Don Dudley says
Thanks for the tips, also, that video IS amazing to look at!
Eric J says
What you are most likely talking about is a z-finder http://store.zacuto.com/Z-Finder.html My wife and i are saving up for one.
Eric J says
Here is a video i shot on a 5dmkii http://vimeo.com/21002102 using a 50mm prime lense and a rode video mic. The pastor was probably 3ish feet from the lens.
don says
I love the depth of field in this shot!