Just added a Canon Rebel T5i to my arsenal to use as my main camera, this should be fun! Any self filming tips from our pros?
Gonna be pretty tough to self film with a DSLR, although there are plenty of people doing it. I tried it for a short time while I was waiting for Sony to release the camera I eventually purchased. I guest the best tip I can give you is to learn your camera inside and out. You will want to have a solid tree arm and quality fluid head to give you smooth footage. Don't use Auto Focus. You can probably get away with using the camera's auto function for Aperture and shutter speed and ISO. Although, you might want to control ISO manually as the higher the ISO goes, the grainier the image will be. If you are buying lenses, you will want to get a lens that lets in a lot of light since most of the time we are in low light situations. The F Stop number on the lens tells you how much light it lets in(or how FAST as it is referred to). The lower the number the more light it lets in. Some lenses have a fixed aperture and are usually very expensive, while others have an aperture that lets less light in the more the lens is zoom in. White balance is also a critical factor in getting good quality colors. I would suggest buying a white balance lens cap, they are cheap on Ebay or Amazon. Every time you set up, point the camera with the lens cap on at the light source and go through the custom white balance steps for that camera. That will help give you true colors. The cameras auto white balance is almost never correct. I could go on for days
Skywalker one of the main reasons I went with the DSLR after considering my options is because im only filming hunts 4 months or so out of the year, the rest of the year my main use for a camera is just taking pics Thanks for all the tips! I've been reading alot online and photography forums as well! Fortunately I have a few months to mess around with it before taking it with me to the tree Sent from my Galaxy S4 using Tapatalk 2
Let us no how that camera works out for you. I have always wondered about the DSLR cameras. Some of the questions have been answered now. Beefie
I completely understand and like I said there are people out there doing it, some of which are very good at it. Practice before the season and see what works for you. There's no doubt a DSLR give a great look to the video.
Will do bro! Im planning on posting at least a bit of my work with it on here True, I really liked the cinematic feel that DSLR cameras give... its much easier to get that type of shot with a DSLR than with a camcorder, and yes im planning on taking time over the summer to practice with it before hunting season Sent from my Galaxy S4 using Tapatalk 2
Your biggest issue will be lens control. You are going to have to zoom manually on the lens and depending on how the T5i will track in video you might have to do full focus control on the lens. But it can be done. As said others do it. The sensor size in the DSLR along with the lens speed will give you some nice bokeh to the footage. You will want to pick up a set of ND filters. You will need them when the sun is out so that you can keep your shutter speed down to 1-2x your frame rate while being able to open the aperture up to get that good bokeh that you are after on a DSLR. Remember, don't go over the 2x frame rate or you will get choppy "Saving Private Ryan" type of footage. Watch a lot of DSLR tutorials on youtube for shooting video. A lot of good tips and tricks to learn. I'd get a good tree arm and fluid head and set up on a tree in your back yard and film your dog or kids playing all summer long for practice. It won't be easy to do track and focus on all of that and then shoot your bow, but it can and is done. I have a lot of respect for guys who DSLR video hunts. I use my DSLR for documentary projects that I do in the off season, but when it comes to hunting (especially self video work), I grab my video camera.
Got my camera today! Here's some of my first messing around pics Sent from my Galaxy S4 using Tapatalk 2
