EduPortas

I'm confused: just recently I recorded ON CARD while doing clean HDMI out from my now ancient 7D Mark II to a cheap monitor. My low-tier Z50 can also do clean HDMI without a problem. Like a lot of people around here I do this just for monitoring reasons since I don't like to fiddle with external recording devices. Internal codecs recorded on SD cards are fine for me. You're telling us one of the most expensive Canon cameras CAN NOT perform this basic function?

Thank you.

Just out of curiosity and as a fellow teacher, how are you implementing two cameras for an English class?

And also the fact that most of digital media today is being consumed on 6 inch screens at 480p or 720p where a higher resolution is almost impossible to differentiate. That goes for movies and YouTube "content". We lot are doing this camera stuff for the pleasure of actually holding the damn camera or videocamera (not talking about the high-end production professionals, of course)

Thanks man, much appreciated. With the prices of newer cameras, it's always good to have more options that are not insanely expensive, especially if the actually AF correctly like you said (I only use Nikon Z lenses for fan boyish reasons, though).

That's great, man. At the price used Z6s are going right now it's impossible not to consider it for serious work. What's your opinion of the AF in video? Can it hold it's own in talking-head scenarios? (I've only used my Z50 for this purpose and it was good in AF-F mode with the kit lens. It has no eye-detect AF, though, just face AF)

Nikon Z6 looks very good. Considerably better than the other cameras. And it's FF, as a bonus. Also, it has competente AF for video. Not Canon or Sony level, but certainly good.

Yes, they cost more or preserve most of their value bc the people who sell then know they will solve most of the user's needs years down the line. Take a look at the famous 3CCD Panny cameras still being sold for ridiculous prices. The ones that record on P2 cards or SD cards. They are almost 20 years old! The videocamera world seems less prone to "feature differentiation" like the MILC and DSLR environment, since the form factor has remained intact for a looooong time. Once every 10 years or so a new technology will come around and make videocameras lose a huge amount of their original price, but we can count those eras with one hand: Cassetes-->miniDV MiniDV-->SD cards CCD-->CMOS HD-->Full HD Full HD-->4K

Bleh. I find no pleasure in shooting with my phone. It's just there to register. Besides, holding the phone to take a picture or shoot video doesn't look cool :p A dedicated camera or videocamera requieres more work, yes, but there's an artisan's process that offers "something" that's not just there with the phone. The technical aspect of our job can be spiritually rewarding.

Sorry about that. You are correct. I was talking about the XA50, which is more expensive. Either Panasonic or Sony will prove useful tools within their limits. You can't go wrong. My experience with video cams from both brands since the mini-dv era has been very good.

Get the Sony. If you want a cheaper videocamera take a look at the AX100. One incher. 4K. Canon has one interesting 4K offering that is in the same budget range you are at (XA40). I find videocameras have a spot in any pro's rig because they magnify the image during recording with the press of a button, have unlimited recording times, and of course dedicated microphone and headphone jacks. Only very few MILCs offer all these functions as standard. So unless you're recording caves for a new Werner doc you'll be ok.

I can only speak from a very limited experience but my tiny Nikon Z50 produces beautiful 4K 24p files at 144mbps. I've spent an absurd amount of time admiring the beauty of the files on my 27-inch iMac monitor. This represents a HUGE step up from the 1080p files coming out of my 7DM2, which has fantastic AF in video but produces very soft output that looks decent on YouTube but never really convinced me when editing on FCX. Those Nikon files are simply astounding, though, and the Z50 (and Zfc and Z30, I would presume) has very good video AF as well. Shame it has no headphone input :[

Celluloid was much more forgiving with camera shake. Digital technologies look awful with jitters and make people sick more rapidly. The brain knows it's unnatural. Content is king, but 99.9% of the time I'd watch a shaky old family film than a shaky iPhone family video in 2021.

A grand total of two technologies have been relevant for the MILC/DSLR budget community in the last 7-8 years, the main audience of this blog: Canon's DPAF (originally seen in the 70D) Panasonic's affordable 4K in a relatively large sensor (GH4) After that every new advancement has been absolutely minuscule since 99.9% of today's output with consumer-grade gear goes to YouTube, social media and maybe Vimeo. What does any of that have to do with this blog? There's a HUGE audience that would be well-served with older tech reviews and opinionated pieces emphasizing retro-affordable gear in 2022 and beyond. That's the new frontier, Andrew: prosumers who want to go beyong their cell-phone but can't spend 10K+ on lenses and a cutting-edge camera body for a 1% increase in output quality. I haven't even mentioned older videocameras. Huge market there for newcomers.

Not a whole lot. Things can get complicated quickly. AF is probably the most important factor here. Even if your shots are locked the person recording the video must be confident the important stuff stays in focus. Will that person be able to check that every time she records? What if the subject moves about 6 inches during recording and she locked the shot at F2.0 at the start of the session? Boom! A 40 minute video turns out being completely out of focus. This is not trivial. That's why people love their cell phones. The DOF is so deep practically everything will look like it's in focus even if it's not perfect. In conclusion: jump for the absolute best AF camera you can afford, even if you sacrifice output quality. For a one-person-band, this is a no-brainer. Two 70Ds are probably a good bet, or a pair of SL2s. With the budget you mentioned it will be hard to buy two cameras with good, dependable, solid AF that record above 1080p. Search for videocameras by the usual suspects (Panasonic/Canon/Sony) that feature a long zoom with small sensors to ensure correct focus (not a very popular reccomendation in this site 😅). I'm not even touching other critical factores like good lighting and quality audio. And of course, AC power for your cameras. Nothing worse than being about to start a session just to find out your batt is dead! As I mentioned, lots of things to consider can overwhelm anyone. Specially if it's not her field. Good luck.