Opinions on my equipment?

Hey! I am just starting filmmaking and I have done some research and have decided on a list of things to but to get me into it. I am on a tight budget that is under $800 for everything to start. Right now my list is at 750 for everything. I am thinking of going with a Canon T3i. The link below will take you to a spread sheet with everything. If you have any thoughts are recommendations on this list please let me know. I will probably be making action shorts and possibly some sport videos. Thanks!

Josh

Link: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1qgjWw0hE1vVrRDKULiHLNKzNuOeTFdCNDGCfRWhdQ28/edit#gid=0
 
As Alcove suggested, you're looking a little short there on the audio department...

For the visuals though I can't say I'd suggest that lens as a particularly useful one in terms of your intended use, other than maybe for shooting sports from the sideline.

Typical commonly used lens range, in 35mm terms, is going to be somewhere in the 24-100mm range. The t3i is an APS-C sized sensor, so it gives you a 1.6x crop factor. So the lens you're looking at is equivalent to a 128mm - 320mm zoom. There's certainly plenty of uses for that, but for narrative work it's going to be very limiting.

f/4.5 is pretty slow and will require decent lighting for indoor or nighttime use - and I notice you haven't included any lights in your equipment list, so that's a concern. Also the lens looks like a push-pull zoom, which is not particularly good for videography use.

Honestly I'd say skip everything else on the list other than the body and then look for a decent old nikon or pentax prime in the 24-35mm range with an f/2 aperture or faster. Clean ones might be a couple hundred, but you'll be fine with one that's beat up but optically clear which you can probably get in the $100 range.
 
As Alcove suggested, you're looking a little short there on the audio department...

For the visuals though I can't say I'd suggest that lens as a particularly useful one in terms of your intended use, other than maybe for shooting sports from the sideline.

Typical commonly used lens range, in 35mm terms, is going to be somewhere in the 24-100mm range. The t3i is an APS-C sized sensor, so it gives you a 1.6x crop factor. So the lens you're looking at is equivalent to a 128mm - 320mm zoom. There's certainly plenty of uses for that, but for narrative work it's going to be very limiting.

f/4.5 is pretty slow and will require decent lighting for indoor or nighttime use - and I notice you haven't included any lights in your equipment list, so that's a concern. Also the lens looks like a push-pull zoom, which is not particularly good for videography use.

Honestly I'd say skip everything else on the list other than the body and then look for a decent old nikon or pentax prime in the 24-35mm range with an f/2 aperture or faster. Clean ones might be a couple hundred, but you'll be fine with one that's beat up but optically clear which you can probably get in the $100 range.

Nikon lenses don't work for Canon cameras without a lens adapter, correct?
 
You need a light kit and sound. The zoom h4n is solid with a shotgun mic and headphones. Some red head lights and a softbox kit are both good for lighting. Skip that f/4.5 lens and get a 50mm lens. Get a good cheap Ravelli tripod also. Get some small things like sandbags too. I'd say these are all essential for low budget filming equipment.
 
Nikon lenses don't work for Canon cameras without a lens adapter, correct?

Correct, you can get an adapter for $15-20.

Skip that f/4.5 lens and get a 50mm lens.

I'd consider 50mm to be a little too tight for general use on a crop sensor if it's your only lens. 50mm equivalent or wider would probably be more useful, which is why I suggest 24-30mm as a good target range. A true 50mm would make a great second lens.
 
you might want to invest in a Zoom H4N and shotgun mic + boom pole for some sound.

The zoom h4n is solid with a shotgun mic and headphones.

You may be much better off with a Tascam unit like the DR-100mkII or even the DR-40. I've found the preamps of the H4n to be noisy and the build to be quite flimsy.


Always remember that your film will only look as good as it sounds, because
"Sound is half of the experience."
 
Thanks for the advice! Regarding the sounds, I am looking into a mic, but I might postphone the purchase of one for a little while. The lense there is something that I was thinking of using for outdoor use. I forgot to mention that I have an 18-55mm kit lense that I have from an older purchase that I will use as my primary lense. I was looking at lighting, but I don't think I could justify the price for the limited use I will get out of them. Most of the shots will be shot outdoors and for those inside I might just have to make use of lamps and natural light. If anyone has reccomendations on a cheaper zoom lense for like <100 or just a little over that would be great. Ill have to do some more research!
 
If you're shooting outdoors, the lights you'd be able to afford are probably going to have nowhere near enough power to do anything against sunlight (and you wouldn't be able to get power to them easily), anyway.

However, look in to getting a 5-in-1 reflector - you'll get far more use from that outdoors on your budget, and they're really cheap. If you don't have someone to hold it, maybe get a stand and some sandbags (but that will add to your costs).

For indoor shots, you could look into DIY options and/or worklights. Both are far from ideal solutions, but you can learn about some pretty basic lighting principles using them, and they're very cheap. Be wary of how hot they get. Try to shoot in daylight hours, so you can use windows as a fill light.

You can do that for under $100.

I don't know your style, but I'd probably go for a tripod over a flycam. The flycam's are shoddy build quality at best (I know, I own one) and are quite limited in use. If you're creative, you can get some really nice shots with a tripod. pull one leg in, and tilt it to mimic a jib type shot. Pull the head back, chuck the legs on your shoulder, and you have a shoulder rig. Find the "middle" of the tripod, and hold it there, and you have a (very poor) steady cam. Etc.

As others have said, I'd get something a little wider, faster, and of fixed aperture for a second lens. Most people will tell that the 18-55 sucks. It does. But don't rush out to replace it, it's got a useful focal length range. I've seen some people get some impressive shots on it. I'd get something around 30mm as your "main" lens, then the 18-55 can cover the other focal lengths you might use.

I'm not sure if you really need filters at this point. A UV filter might be useful, but personally I barely use any of my filters (other people differ, of course).

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Sound. As others have said, this is a big area. If you're planning on shooting dialogue, it will be the biggest downfall of your film. If not, you better get a pretty good sound designer to help you in post.

However, contrary to their advice, it may not be a great decision to rush out and buy right away. It's hard enough learning all the visual stuff, as well as learning proper sound technique (note: you'll not be able to do both, and you won't be able to learn either very well). Try hook up with some local, new person who has an interest in sound. They may have their own gear. If not, come and do a search here - there are lots of threads about it. It may be a wiser decision to rent. You want to budget at least as much as you've spent on your camera and lenses etc for sound.
 
Sound. As others have said, this is a big area. If you're planning on shooting dialogue, it will be the biggest downfall of your film. If not, you better get a pretty good sound designer to help you in post.

GIGO - Garbage In, Garbage Out.

If the production sound sucks there isn't much anyone can do to fix it.

"I'm a genius, not a miracle worker!" - Randy Thom


If you screw up the production sound you are going to have to ADR the dialog. Doing ADR is hard. Doing ADR with inexperienced actors is really, really hard. Doing ADR with inexperienced actors and an inexperienced director is extremely difficult. Doing ADR with inexperienced actors, an inexperienced director and no budget is close to impossible. And, of course, if you do decide to go the ADR path you now have to Foley absolutely everything.

And that's the real issue for low/no/mini/micro budget filmmakers; overcoming poor production sound takes more time, more money and quite a few more skills than getting the production sound right in the first place.

Rule of thumb for low/no/mini/micro budget filmmakers - every dollar/minute you spend on production sound saves you ten dollars/minutes in audio post.
 
Ill definitely look for an affordable 30mm lens. As for sound, the first little bit (probably over the summer) will just be me getting the hang of camera settings, shooting angles, and trying to get the hang of the basics. As I progress I will of course be in the need for a half decent microphone. Thanks for all the help and Ill definitely use the advice when it comes time to utilize it.
 
This one?

http://www.amazon.com/Sigma-340101-35mm-Canon-Black/dp/B00A35X6NU

That's a pretty significant jump in budget. In that budget range you might want to check out the rokinon/samyang lenses - they have a 35mm f/1.4:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004X1SG12/ref=s9_al_bw_g421_i4

If you watch their facebook page and/or ebay you can often find them for under $400 new. It's an old school manual lens, and will have a more solid build quality and better focus ring than the sigma. I suspect the sigma will be sharper, but the difference isn't likely to show up on video. They also have a 'cine' version which runs about $50 more and has a de-clicked aperture and built-in follow focus gears:

http://www.amazon.com/Rokinon-CV35-C-Aspherical--Clicked-Fixed-Non-Zoom/dp/B008X1C1DC

Or stick with old nikon lenses, here's a 28mm f/2 for $339:

http://www.keh.com/camera/Nikon-Manual-Focus-Fixed-Focal-Length-Lenses/1/sku-NK064019056950?r=FE

Or a 35mm f/1.4 for $350:

http://www.keh.com/camera/Nikon-Manual-Focus-Fixed-Focal-Length-Lenses/1/sku-NK060000180000?r=FE

Or a 35mm f/2 that's beat up a little for $144:

http://www.keh.com/camera/Nikon-Manual-Focus-Fixed-Focal-Length-Lenses/1/sku-NK060102007490?r=FE

If you want a lens that can autofocus for still work and you're going to spend that much anyway, a better option from Sigma would be the 18-35mm f/1.8 zoom - if you can find it in stock at msrp:

http://www.amazon.com/Sigma-210101-18-35mm-Canon-APS-C/dp/B00DBL0NLQ

Right now it's being marked up there to $999, but if you watch for it to come in stock at the major retailers you should be able to pick it up for $799.
 
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If you don't want to get a lighting kit, a LED light to attach on top of your camera can be cheap and incredibly useful.

Maybe if you're shooting news reports - for narrative work this won't be of much use. For cheap lighting I'd say go to the hardware store and pick up a few clamp lights, then fill them with 45 watt bulbs from Alzo:

http://www.alzodigital.com/online_store/full_spectrum_light_bulbs_45w.htm

You're looking at < $25 per light. In addition to being cheap they run cool and are lightweight and easy to clamp wherever you need them. They're soft lighting, so it's hard to shape - but it's also very pleasant & flattering, and will have good color rendering. Get a roll of black wrap, some c47's and gaff, and you should be able to create some nice looking setups with a little creativity.
 
The alzo has been buzzy for me, with an odd cast. If you can stretch it, the GE Reveal cfls are pretty nice for their warmth and richness. I've had one that buzzed though. Nothing beats the kino flo cfls for us. I've been messing around with little halogen globes that they sell at the Home Depot lately... the light level is more than sufficient for modern digital, and they don't get too hot (color reproduction is perfect)

http://www.oscars.org/science-technology/council/projects/ssl/
 
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I recommend buying lens with extended warranties because accidents do happen. You will really feel depressed if an $800 lens slips out of your hands and goes smash on a hard floor.

Can anyone recommend good books on setting up lighting. Without a DP, I am lost in setting up lighting. What is a good one for the basics and most common shots.
 
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