I've been shooting birds for 12 years now, almost to the exclusion of anything else. Yesterday I went birding, and on a lark, grabbed our little video camera on the way out the door. I came across the largest flock of Wilson's Phalaropes I've ever seen around here...at least 1,000...all doing their thing on the surface of the water, spinning around furiously as they fed. Fascinating to watch from very close range, and NOT something very amenable to being "captured" with a still photo. So...it became the firs time I've ever done any video of birds.
It got me to thinking about getting more into video, to capture bird behavior such as this. I have no idea where to start. I hardly even have ever touched that little video cam. Two basic questions I guess on where to start:
1) Note my main camera body is a Canon 50D. No video capability. How feasible is it to use a DSLR for video such as this, for birds? With long lenses needed for birds, I can certainly imagine sturdy tripod support would be necessary nearly all the time when shooting video. Is this even an option to consider, getting a newer Canon body with video, and using my regular lenses with it as a primary means of shooting video?
2) Option 2 - a dedicated video camera. NO idea even what's available, what could work for something like this, or what costs are. Keep in mind...I'm a government scientist! Unlike seemingly every other bird photographer out there, I "just" have a 400mm lens, as I just can't afford that 500mm 4.0L IS. The same kind of limitation would apply to any video camera to shoot birds. Is there any option with the "reach" to shoot birds, where I could expect high-quality video, at a reasonable cost?
Posted by Paul DeCesare on April 29, 2013 at 2:33 PM
Hi terry,
Huge question. The answer naturally is what you intend to do with the video afterwards. If you'd like to have some really nice footage to share on YT and other sites, spend a few hundred bucks on one of the HD cams with a decent zoom lens, such as this. But if you want to start considering shooting footage for stock or maybe even your own documentaries or just really want footage that doesn't look a consumer video cam, then DSLR is the way to go. DSLRs offer amazing low light imagery and narrow depth of field that can't be achieved with real video cams until you get into the $100K rage for a camera with no lenses. Here's a short made by Philip Bloom called Skywalker Ranch, which will give you and idea of what DSLR shooting can produce. Funny thing is, George Lucas flew Philip in from England and said to him "I'm considering using a DSLR for a film called Red Tails where I need a small camera for tight scenes, can you shoot some footage of my property so I can see what the 5D2 can do?". This guy Philip agreed and nervously started gathering footage, and on his MacBook Pro he edited this piece together and they watched it on George Lucas' 40' HD screen in his home.
I tell you all this because of how powerful this medium is and what it can do, but there is a downside: MONEY. Whatever youy spend on photography, multiply that x 10 if you get seriously into the video aspect. You can do it without spending a lot, but it's very easy to get caught up in it. It takes an investment in proper gear such as a tripod with a good video head (~$500), tons of fast memory cards and some serious PC power to edit. You're shooting a gigabyte of data every three minutes with DSLR video. I have 7 hard drives and with my backup drives over 15 terabytes of hard drive space on my desk and I'm starting to be concerned I'm going to run out of space soon. I built my PC with a 6 core processor and 24GB ram and dedicated RAID cards, another $3K plus the cost of the Adobe Production Premium suite. If I video a wedding I'm concerned that my 32GB 1000X cards ($125 a piece)won't be enough room, or that 5 batteries isn't enough. Trying to shoot video with the LCD is maddening, you'll want an attached EVF or a Marshall Field Monitor with a sun hood, there's another $400. A DSLR cannot be handheld for video, it has to be mounted in some sort of rig for stability if you don't use a tripod, so there's another $300-$1200. It also isn't a camcorder, it's like a cinematic camera (where you had 350' rolls of film that capture 10 minutes of footage, and now that's the scenario with CF cards), and you shoot all short clips with the intent on editing it together. So getting into any DSLR video in a serious manner can get costly and time consuming. You may LOVE that, I do... you have been warned, lol! The cinema bug bites hard and the passion never wanes once you cross the event horizon. But when I see what can be produced with these DSLR marvels (like that impromptu short above), it's addicting! BTW, it's a very slow, peaceful short, although he kicks in some timelapse at around 3:00. It was done about 3 years ago. Want to see some better DSLR action? Rent Act of Valor, 90% of the footage is the 5D Mark II. Look towards a 6D, FF sensors rule for video, especially low light imagery.
Posted by Paul DeCesare on April 29, 2013 at 11:30 PM
Terry, I should mention that what I wrote was an "opposite end of the spectrum" explanation, lol! There's nothing stopping you from getting a video-enable DSLR, throwing on a lens and shooting video on a ball head tripod. The results can be fantastic. You can;t smoothly pan a ball head easily but it can be done. But anyway, I realize I didn't want my tidal wave of a response to overwhelm your decision making process.
One thing to note if you do buy a Canon DSLR for video: the cleanest ISOs are 160, 320, 640 and 1250. Nobody knows why but that's how it is. ISO 1250 is arguably cleaner than 100, and we NEED that range of ISO settings, because your shutter speed is fixed at 1/50 second because you always want shutter speed for video at 2x the frames per second, and 24 FPS is that coveted film look. So in a very low light setting, 1/50, f/2.8 and ISO 1250 will gain you some gorgeous imagery.
Posted by Dennis Plank on April 30, 2013 at 8:14 AM
Terry:
I haven't shot any video to speak of, but looking at what Paul said and my recent experiences buying refurbished equipment, I think you can get into it for a somewhat reasonable amount of money, if you're careful. With the 5Diii on the market the 5Dii is fairly cheap, or a 6D as Paul mentions (check the Canon refurbished website and be patient-they change prices). Also, with tripods and fluid heads, the IS isn't as important, so you could go with older lenses from the used market. However, I would think a 400 would be pretty good for group activity and as you know, you can get amazingly close with patience and a blind.
I'm not worried about distance as much with the DSLR route, as I've had my 400mm for 10 years now and have definitely learned patience, and means of getting close. I do wonder about body though. I admit I've never had a full-frame sensor, as frankly, with "just" a 400mm, and a slow 400mm at that at f5.6, teleconverters aren't a great option, and I actually really appreciate the 1.6x crop factor of my 50D. Would a 60D work OK for video? Awfully "cheap", and keeps my 1.6x. Wouldn't be bad at all to get that and a good video head.
Dang Paul...I have a lot to learn. I really appreciate the specific tips on settings, as I know absolutely nothing about video. Certainly understand the issues of cost, and computer hardware needs though.
Discussion
4 replieshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=heEUPbxmYgQ&safety_mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1
It got me to thinking about getting more into video, to capture bird behavior such as this. I have no idea where to start. I hardly even have ever touched that little video cam. Two basic questions I guess on where to start:
1) Note my main camera body is a Canon 50D. No video capability. How feasible is it to use a DSLR for video such as this, for birds? With long lenses needed for birds, I can certainly imagine sturdy tripod support would be necessary nearly all the time when shooting video. Is this even an option to consider, getting a newer Canon body with video, and using my regular lenses with it as a primary means of shooting video?
2) Option 2 - a dedicated video camera. NO idea even what's available, what could work for something like this, or what costs are. Keep in mind...I'm a government scientist! Unlike seemingly every other bird photographer out there, I "just" have a 400mm lens, as I just can't afford that 500mm 4.0L IS. The same kind of limitation would apply to any video camera to shoot birds. Is there any option with the "reach" to shoot birds, where I could expect high-quality video, at a reasonable cost?
Huge question. The answer naturally is what you intend to do with the video afterwards. If you'd like to have some really nice footage to share on YT and other sites, spend a few hundred bucks on one of the HD cams with a decent zoom lens, such as this. But if you want to start considering shooting footage for stock or maybe even your own documentaries or just really want footage that doesn't look a consumer video cam, then DSLR is the way to go. DSLRs offer amazing low light imagery and narrow depth of field that can't be achieved with real video cams until you get into the $100K rage for a camera with no lenses. Here's a short made by Philip Bloom called Skywalker Ranch, which will give you and idea of what DSLR shooting can produce. Funny thing is, George Lucas flew Philip in from England and said to him "I'm considering using a DSLR for a film called Red Tails where I need a small camera for tight scenes, can you shoot some footage of my property so I can see what the 5D2 can do?". This guy Philip agreed and nervously started gathering footage, and on his MacBook Pro he edited this piece together and they watched it on George Lucas' 40' HD screen in his home.
I tell you all this because of how powerful this medium is and what it can do, but there is a downside: MONEY. Whatever youy spend on photography, multiply that x 10 if you get seriously into the video aspect. You can do it without spending a lot, but it's very easy to get caught up in it. It takes an investment in proper gear such as a tripod with a good video head (~$500), tons of fast memory cards and some serious PC power to edit. You're shooting a gigabyte of data every three minutes with DSLR video. I have 7 hard drives and with my backup drives over 15 terabytes of hard drive space on my desk and I'm starting to be concerned I'm going to run out of space soon. I built my PC with a 6 core processor and 24GB ram and dedicated RAID cards, another $3K plus the cost of the Adobe Production Premium suite. If I video a wedding I'm concerned that my 32GB 1000X cards ($125 a piece)won't be enough room, or that 5 batteries isn't enough. Trying to shoot video with the LCD is maddening, you'll want an attached EVF or a Marshall Field Monitor with a sun hood, there's another $400. A DSLR cannot be handheld for video, it has to be mounted in some sort of rig for stability if you don't use a tripod, so there's another $300-$1200. It also isn't a camcorder, it's like a cinematic camera (where you had 350' rolls of film that capture 10 minutes of footage, and now that's the scenario with CF cards), and you shoot all short clips with the intent on editing it together. So getting into any DSLR video in a serious manner can get costly and time consuming. You may LOVE that, I do... you have been warned, lol! The cinema bug bites hard and the passion never wanes once you cross the event horizon. But when I see what can be produced with these DSLR marvels (like that impromptu short above), it's addicting! BTW, it's a very slow, peaceful short, although he kicks in some timelapse at around 3:00. It was done about 3 years ago. Want to see some better DSLR action? Rent Act of Valor, 90% of the footage is the 5D Mark II. Look towards a 6D, FF sensors rule for video, especially low light imagery.
One thing to note if you do buy a Canon DSLR for video: the cleanest ISOs are 160, 320, 640 and 1250. Nobody knows why but that's how it is. ISO 1250 is arguably cleaner than 100, and we NEED that range of ISO settings, because your shutter speed is fixed at 1/50 second because you always want shutter speed for video at 2x the frames per second, and 24 FPS is that coveted film look. So in a very low light setting, 1/50, f/2.8 and ISO 1250 will gain you some gorgeous imagery.
I haven't shot any video to speak of, but looking at what Paul said and my recent experiences buying refurbished equipment, I think you can get into it for a somewhat reasonable amount of money, if you're careful. With the 5Diii on the market the 5Dii is fairly cheap, or a 6D as Paul mentions (check the Canon refurbished website and be patient-they change prices). Also, with tripods and fluid heads, the IS isn't as important, so you could go with older lenses from the used market. However, I would think a 400 would be pretty good for group activity and as you know, you can get amazingly close with patience and a blind.
Dang Paul...I have a lot to learn. I really appreciate the specific tips on settings, as I know absolutely nothing about video. Certainly understand the issues of cost, and computer hardware needs though.