S. S. Fleet
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The bottom line is this is a fantastic vlogging camera, which is the specific reason I bought it. If youre not interested in 4k, if youre a 1 man band, or just someone that wants to shoot a lot of great material and get it out to the world fast, this might be the camera for you. Already being the owner of a Canon 5D mark iii and mark iv, I am very familiar with the Canon brand. I do both still photography and videography, equally. I endeavored to help my wife start up a lifestyle vlog, and did a lot of research on cameras before picking this one. It made a lot of sense to me because I already own a lot of high-end Canon glass. However, owning full frame cameras, I dont have too many super wide angle lenses, that are better for this APC-S sized sensor. Please see below for a detailed analysis. VIDEOGRAPHY: Pros: -I love the articulating touch screen. To me, this is the main reason this camera beats the pants off of my 5Ds for shooting video. You can place this camera high or low, left or right, face it at you or behind you, and turn the screen to see it. You can tap on the screen to focus or adjust properties easily. -Facial auto focus works really great! I know there is an upgraded camera (80D) that makes this better. But honestly, if you are looking to save some money, just get this camera. Youre gonna be happy with the autofocus. Its fine. -Compared to my bigger cameras, this guy is really light weight -The menus are easy to navigate -the footage looks amazing -Shoots 24p -Sound is straightforward. You need an off camera mic, and you preferably want a powered mic so you can use the mic gain and not the cameras gain to get less hiss. -Can use any EF or EF-S lens.So you you are a canon shooter, youve got a head start -Takes pretty nice photos too! Since I didnt buy this for photos, admittedly I havent delved in. I would, truthfully, use my 5D Mark IV for a photo shoot. But for me, when I am out there shooting video, if I want to snap a few stills, this guy works great. Cons: -Not 4k (this is not a con for me, but if you want 4k, look elsewhere) -Not a high quality/high bit-depth format. (Again, this is not a huge deal for me. Im about story and speed over noodling with quality. I also own a BMPCC, and yes, shooting raw 10 or 12 bit is amazing... but you have to CC everything, do online/offline workflows, etc. so this is really more of a preference than a con. You have to know what you want to do. I think this camera wins for vlogging -Not as great with low light as other cameras. This camera caps off at ISO 6400. But realistically you wanna be at 800, 1600 max if you are good with seeing some noise. On my Mark IV I can shoot at 6400 and see no visible noise. But I mean, the Mark IV is like thousands of dollars more, so its not a great comparison. -Its not full frame. Not a huge problem, neither was the Alexa Ive shot TV shows on for years. But, if you want full frame, this aint it. So you need wider aperture lenses or to shoot really long lens if you want to get shallow depth of field. LENSES: On lenses, I did pick it up with the 18-55mm kit lens, then also bought the little 2.8 24mm pancake lens. Theyre both great lenses, actually... for the cost. The 18-55 has stabilization, so is better for hand held stuff, but needs more light. The 24mm makes the camera super light to carry, and also looks nice at 2.8. Both of these lenses autofocus great with the camera. So I disagree with some reviews out there that say dont get the kit lens. These days canon makes them pretty good and they are cheap in comparison to other lenses. So unless you have all the glass you need - get the kit lens. I usually get the short zoom kit lens because they are sharper and faster. Having used this camera for a few weeks, I really want to get something wider like the canon 10-22 or the sigma equivalent. I think there are times when being at a 10 to 14mm, especially out doors, would be helpful. I have not used either of these two lenses, my widest lens that is not a fisheye is the canon 15mm zoom. CONCLUSION: This camera may be on the older side right now, but I have to tell you I like it better for videography than my Mark IV. its just so much faster and easier to use, and doesnt make youre wrist feel like it is going to break off. And because it is older, you can get it cheaper. Dont let all the posts and videos about technical quality hold you back from just going out there and creating. At the end of the day, its about your talent and your stories. Tell them. Ive seen big TV shows with Alexas suck. Ive seem people do amazing things with iPhones. Its not the cameras, its you and how you use them. So if youre gonna go tell stories, and you have about $1200 bucks to do so, get this camera, the kit lens, and an on camera mic. Thats all you need. I promise you.