switters

I have very limited space in my home office for light set-up. I have to sit/stand just a few inches in front of the bookcase. If I'm much further out than that, there isn't enough space for the tripod/lens unless I use a very wide angle, which then takes in too much of the background. I have two Fancier 500-watt LEDs on stands, and position them at roughly 45 degree angles behind the camera. Do you know of any articles I could read that would teach me how to create the kind of separation from the background you're talking about? Thanks.

Well, after the project is finished I could certainly use it for other things. Does the GH2 have audio input? I'm assuming it does.

These videos need to be highly professional in appearance, and because of the particular set-up in my home office, the only feasible background is a bookshelf. It's distracting if the books are in sharp focus, so I want to blur them slightly and in order to do that I need an ILC and sensor large enough for shallow DOF. A simple manual lens is exactly what I had in mind. Thanks for the tip on the 550D. Maybe I can pick up a used one on FredMiranda.com or something.

Over the next several months I'll be recording some instructional videos for an online training program. The video camera will sit on a tripod in my home office, and everything will be blocked out. This will be the sole purpose for this camera; I don't plan to use it for anything else. I'm a stickler for quality, and I would like to mildly blur the background (a bookcase), so I'd prefer an interchangeable lens camera with a large enough sensor to get the necessary shallow DOF. Here are my criteria:[list] [*]<$1,000 for camera and lens [*]Lens can be manual focus (since the camera will be on a tripod in the same place) [*]Audio-input mandatory (so I can connect my lavalier mic) [/list] With this in mind, what would you recommend?

I'm curious about this. Canon's first DSLR that can autofocus during video, and some STM lenses to go with it. $1100 gets the body + 40/2.8 pancake. Might be a good option?

On Luminous Landscape he says 1920X1080P at 24 FPS. The codec is H264 and will produce .MOV files. I'm hoping EOS HD can test this one.  It has no AA filter and they claim it will outresolve a 5DII.  Fuji lenses are phenomenal.  Should be interesting!

I'm just getting into DSLR video with my 5DII.  I've been reading up on this site and elsewhere, and I made a donation and received the beta version of Magic Lantern unified.  Now that I have it, I'm a little overwhelmed.  Can someone recommend some settings to start with?  Thanks.

Cool, thanks for that.  I saw an article on another site that suggested a combo of the H1 + AT-3350 lavalier mic.  I already have the 3350, and get decent audio with it plugged in to the 5DII, but apparently the quality will be a lot higher when it's plugged into the H1.  I'm all for using what I already have if possible!

I came across an article that answered my question about the benefit of recording to a Zoom device instead of using in-camera audio: more control over gain levels.  [url=http://dpexperience.com/2010/02/12/recording-audio-with-your-video-dslr-part-i/]http://dpexperience.com/2010/02/12/recording-audio-with-your-video-dslr-part-i/[/url]

Thanks Jamie and Amro, As far as the camera goes, I was thinking that I could set up the shot with the 5DII the first time using manual focus (obviously I'd need someone else to either sit where I would sit, or focus while I'm sitting) and then put some kind of a mark on the manual focus ring to indicate where it should be.  Then, on video day, I bring the 5DII with me to work, stick it on the tripod, twist the focus ring to where the mark is, and then turn on video mode.  Should be good to go, I think - and that way I can avoid buying a new camera and lenses and spend that money on lights and audio. I think I'm unfamiliar with how to use Zoom mics, because I thought they were mics themselves?  You're suggesting using a Rode video mic + a Zoom.  I'm not exactly sure how that works.  Do you plug the Rode video mic into the Zoom instead of the 5DII?  What's the advantage of doing it that way instead of just plugging it into the 5DII/putting it on the hot shoe? Is there any reason not to get a Zoom H2n and just use that, rather than a Rode + H1 (which would be more expensive)? Thanks again.

Amro, I appreciate your reply, and I'm no expert so I don't have strong ideas about the best solution one way or the other. I guess I'd be open to using the 5DII as long as I could figure out a way to quickly set it up.  This really needs to be a "hit the record button and sit down and start talking" sort of thing, because I just don't have the time to fiddle around with a lot of setup every time.  It needs to be easy and fast.  That's why I was leaning toward the idea of a dedicated camera that just sits on the tripod in my office. I have a 28-75/2.8 (Tamron, often rated higher than Canon's 24-70) and a Sigma 50/1.4 (highest rated 50mm for Canon outside of the Canon 50/1.2L).  If I used the 5DII, I could probably just use the 28-75 zoomed in to 60-75mm for a head and shoulders shot.  I'm not going to be doing multiple lenses or camera angles in a shoot. Someone else recommended an H2n so I'll definitely look into that.  Am also considering 1-2 softboxes.  I have several reflectors already, so maybe a softbox + window fill + reflector would be adequate.  On another forum, folks are saying that if I use a 5,600K CFL it will mix well with daylight from the window.

I'm a physician and am planning to start an internet TV "channel" where I record 3-6 minute "shows" on a variety of health topics. I will shoot these in my office. In order to make it as easy as possible, I plan to set up a dedicated camera, mic and lights so all I have to do is hit record and sit in the chair.  My total budget for camera, lights and mic is around $1k. [b]CAMERA[/b] It does not need to double as a still camera, and it doesn't even need to be used for other video purposes (i.e. filming kids, sports, etc.) This camera will just sit on this tripod and film these "shows" - that's its sole purpose. I have a 5DII that I use for stills and video at home, and that would probably be perfect for this job but I need another camera that can just sit in my office, and another 5DII is 2x my total budget for this. Here are my criteria: [list] [*]Excellent HD quality [*]Good color rendition [*]External mic jack [*]Larger sensor/ability to blur background preferred [/list] That last criteria would seem to eliminate most, if not all, camcorders. Since I don't even need a zoom lens with this, I was thinking a DSLR with a fixed lens might be the best choice.  I'm considering a GH2 or NEX-5n with a fast prime, but I'm wondering if there are better options I've missed.  I'm also concerned that the 5n doesn't have an external mic input, which seems crucial here. [b]MICROPHONE[/b] Based on my limited research, I'm thinking of a Rode.  But I have no idea which one to get.  Directional? Condensor shotgutn?  Lavalier?  I have an Audio Technica AT-3350 lavalier mic, but I'm not that happy with the audio quality I get with it.  Recommendations here would be very helpful. [b]LIGHTING[/b] I need to keep this fairly simple because the equipment will be stored in my office, and I don't want complicated set-up to be a deterrent to me recording videos.  The point is to make this as simple as possible.  There's a large window with natural light camera left.  I'm considering a single softbox (from skaeser.com?) with an 85W 5,100K CFL camera right, using the window for fill.  Would this be adequate? Thanks for your help!