I want to buy a Canon T6i. Is there any difference between SD cards for photos and videos? Which one would you recommend?
An SD card for video will usually be faster than one for photos. Both types will be usable for either purpose as long as they are large enough and fast enough.There are two main parameters for SD cards. The first is capacity, which is fairly obvious. A 64GB card can store more than a 32GB card. You would want at least 16GB to have enough space to store video, but realistically 32GB or more would be better. SD cards are cheap now, buy a couple of big ones.The second parameter is write speed. This is usually given as speed class. Cheaper cards are generally slower and unusable for video. You need a fast card for video and a much faster card for HD video recording. Confusingly, there are different scales for speed classes. You will need a Class 10 card (10MB/s) for standard video recording. This will have a circle with a 10 in it to show the speed class. A UHC class 1 card will also be enough for standard video. The symbol for this looks like a bucket with a 1 in it. For HD video, you want at least a UHC 3 card (30MB/s). This has a symbol like a bucket with a 3 in it. There are also cards marked with a Video speed class from 6 to 90. These have a V and then the number (V6, V10, etc). For standard video a V10 card is needed, for HD video a V30 card is required. Your T6i can’t shoot 4k or 8k video so you won’t need anything faster than that.
I want to shoot a time lapse video of a structure being constructed, over a period of 20 days. I want the end video to be around 30-40 seconds. What is the best way to approach and what are the pointers to be kept in mind?
James Pan has a great answer, but I'll cover some specifics for your project.First of all, you probably don't want to capture the entire night time. Activity only happens on the construction for about 10 hours a day anyway. So plan on editing out or highly condensing the lulls in the video. Especially important when you have only 40 seconds to show the whole construction, you don't want to waste it on dark imagery.So, your math for this project says:About 10 hours per day (unless there are two construction shifts!) over twenty days = 200 hours.I assume you are shooting for video, not movie production, so 30 frames per second for 40 seconds = 1200 frames.1200 frames / 200 hours = 6 photos per hour; one every ten minutes.(If there are two construction shifts, then you will need to shoot one every twenty minutes, covering about 16-18 hours of work per day. This means shooting in the dark with your manual exposure, so you will hopefully not be forced into this.)This will be a very jerky video. A construction crane moves pretty far in ten minutes. But the flow of the building lifting upward should be pretty good, so this might be alright.One way to mitigate the jerky action: a very long exposure. With a strong ND filter and a very tight aperture you can get the exposure time up to 30-60 seconds. More would be even better, but daylight would mean a LOT of ND filters stacked up. Might be worth it unless you have to shoot when the sun is not fully up thanks to a double shift.Anything that lets you shoot automatically, instead of manually taking photos for 20 days, is an intervalometer. The only option you have is what kind to get. (Well, a few cameras have one built in. But I assume you don't.) Get one that will last twenty days without changing batteries.Also, plan on changing the batteries on your camera everyday. Better would be to have a power adapter so you're camera has constant power, but this makes weather proofing harder when you have cables sticking out. And you should have a weather proofing plan. Heavy tripod, weights to hold it down, rain/wind proofing for the camera. (This is why James Pan suggests using housing.)Don't worry about sliders or pans or dollies for a twenty day shoot. Since you are editing out the nighttime the footage would not line up if the camera was moving.Good luck!
Canon T3i for movie making.?
fhotoace, You're incorrect in one of your statements regarding what dSLRs cannot handle. The Canon EOS-1Dx includes two methods of SMPTE-compliant timecode embedding, Rec Run and Free Run.
Is the Canon 7D too advanced for a newbie?
What does Canon 7D do more than their least expensive model? (mainly video). All their cameras (Nikon too if you want to think about it) can be used in auto mode--and manual as well. Instead of spending that much for a 7D, why not their $500 model, and get an extra (good) lens instead? --------------- KK said it on this board that if you can't swim, why jump into the deep end of the pool. Don't you know it's the user of a decent camera (and all dSLR cameras on the market now are "decent")--is in control of it, and if he or she knows how to use it, the photos will come out nicely. Hate to sound so harsh now. You can get yourself the most expensive Nikon or Canon ($8,000 without lens), you're not going to get good photos from it. You think having a good camera will automatically give you good photos--it doesn't work that way at all. You will be very disappointed and many times not knowing why some photos will come out well (some will), but the rest are not--and you will never know, until you take a photography course. Sorry to have to sound so blunt. This is a big mistake many beginners make. --------------------- Re: video mode. It's overrated. I have 5D Mark II. And to use video--you need expensive hardware (a steadicam costs a fortune) - http://www.steadicam.com/pilot.html - a good tripod is also expensive. External microphone isn't cheap either. Then you have to get good software to edit it. Adobe Premiere Pro CS5 plus a good (meaning work station graphic card) that supports mercury playback engine) costs more than 7D. (You can look at this in full screen, HD mode - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Nrx0gFx1... ) Without the support of the video card, it takes forever to go to another spot on the video (this file was 1.7 GB). This outfit allows you to edit in real time. Otherwise it's a long wait-for anything. Think about the total cost before you buy this camera. If you say you just want a camera to play with, then there is no need to get a Canon 7D at all. I am not trying to belittle you nor am I trying to discourage you from learning photography. But there is the right way of starting out v.s. getting more than you will need on your first day.
Should I get a Nikon D3200 or a Canon 5D Mark 1 to learn photography?
It doesn’t matter. Surprised?The real truth is, the camera is merely a tool. Nothing more!It’s easy to get focused (no pun intended) on equipment and forget that photography is as much art, as it is science. It’s easy to find information on the science aspect because almost all of it can be measured, for comparisons. You can’t measure art. YOU are what makes a photo “great”, not the camera.It is far more important for you to think about “why” you want to get into DSLR photography. What is it, that you want to photograph? What is an example of your favorite photographs and what do they have in common? Once you determine that, it will be easier to take the next steps. You will need to learn how camera settings (shutter speed, aperture, ISO) affect the photo and what you can do in editing software to adjust it to your liking. There are many, many videos on YouTube to learn about this _before_ you buy a camera, though having a camera to try things yourself might help. You’ll learn to get out of the automatic and semi-automatic modes to get into Manual.(I’ve shot over 162,000 photos on my Nikon D5300 and 99.99% in Aperture Priority: my work depends on shooting quickly, not fiddling with buttons-the camera decides and adjusts FAR more quickly than I could. I did _all_ Manual during my 35mm film days but that was as a hobby.)To answer your question more directly; it depends. These are two very different cameras, meant for different purposes. Here is a website I use for comparing cameras and I’ve Copied/Pasted their comparison between your two possibilities: Compare the Canon EOS 5D vs the Nikon D3200 and here is a more detailed comparison between the two, from Snapsort (dot) com: Compare the Canon EOS 5D vs the Nikon D3200For what it’s worth, you will likely find more lenses, for less money for the Nikon DX crop body than the Canon’s full frame BUT you don’t need a lot of lenses to start. It sounds like you’re looking at lower priced DSLRs , which is a great way to start.