Is 7d a good tool for everyday family stuff?

[traviswalken]

Prior to the 7d release, my wife was wanting to upgrade her 20d to a 50d. She and I are now thinking about the 7d for a couple reasons. One of which is its video capabilities. We could use a better video camera (our current camera is an 8 year old video tape model). I have a couple questions about the 7d video capabilities:

Will the 7d work well for simple family videos?

How large are the files? I currently have 14 GB of cf cards...will I need more?

Thanks!

Edit: Just thought of another question...If I want to play HD videos on my tv, would I need to burn the video via blueray burner and play on blueray player? I assume regular dvd players will not play hd.

If I am not careful, this could get expensive real quick.

[krb]

I love my 7D, but it's a long way from being a good tool for simple home videos.

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=771831

[traviswalken]

I love my 7D, but it's a long way from being a good tool for simple home videos.

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=771831


Thanks for the link.

Darn...I was talking myself into a 7d because of the video. I guess if we buy one it will be for the stills.

[Trey T]

It's a professional tool that only cost a fraction of a price.

[bearkeithley]

I'd say, no, because there's no autofocus while recording.

Or am I misinformed?

[bearkeithley]

Oh yes, and file sizes are ridiculous.

If I were you, I'd buy a used video camera off Craigslist. You can get good quality miniDV cameras for less than 100 bucks most of the time. They're way more practical for home use.

[carnage3630]

agree with bearkeithley.

I was using 4GB for my 30D but i need to buy 32GB CF card for my 5dmk2... the files generated by RAW and HD videos is emorous.

[Terjay]

You'll be better off with a used cheapo MiniDV cam. The footage is good and you won't have to worry if it breaks.

[bpaulette]

Unless you have nothing better to do, and actually want to spend a lot of time converting and editing, definitely not.

That said, just for practice on the workflow, I've created some freaking phenomenal "home movies" on the 5D2... but the work that went into them was definitely on the extreme side.

For high-def playback (whether from a 7D, or even one of the lower priced HD camcorders) I highly recommend getting a PS3. You can easily import the digital files into its media library without burning it to disc - it even creates a 10-second video thumbnail for easy browsing. Upgrading the hard drive is also a snap. I've got a couple hundred gigs worth of hd home movies that I can flip through, no discs required.

[neurorog]

I've just started using the 7D for family videos. It clearly requires more work to take good video than using a simple point and shoot camcorder. However, I think some of the complaints about no functional autofocus and trouble editing are overblown. This weekend, I took 10 min of raw video of my kids playing in the basement. The light was poor, the kids were moving around, and I was just using a 28 mm 1.8 with no external microphone or stabilizer. I quickly downloaded the raw footage on my computer and did a quick trim to about 3 min of usable scenes, and by the time it took me to make lunch for the kids, the computer had created a nice HD movie for viewing. The quality of the video, both in terms of exposure, clarity, colors, and sound were superior to what I could get from my HD tape-based camcorder. I had no trouble keeping the kids in focus.

[Trey T]

neurorog knows what he's talking about.

all photogs, PLEASE REFRAIN FROM USING THE TERM "AUTOFOCUS" on these giant sensor on these video DSLR... it doesn't work that way, well not yet, and I don't think it will happen in this decade or the next.

[Matthew Craggs]

For family videos, I would pick up a used Vixia camcorder. When you're shooting Jr.'s first birthday the last thing you want to be worried about is 12 minute recording limits and transcoding footage.

It's an amazing tool, but not the right tool for home video in my humble opinion.

[neurorog]

For family videos, I would pick up a used Vixia camcorder. When you're shooting Jr.'s first birthday the last thing you want to be worried about is 12 minute recording limits and transcoding footage.

It's an amazing tool, but not the right tool for home video in my humble opinion.

I think a lot of us at POTN enjoy the photo capabilities more than video. I find having one tool that can take great pictures and capture some video to be a nice addition. I like video and love pictures. I might get a score ofgreat photos of my kids at a party and then combine with a few minutes of amazing video. I'll burn a AVCHD DVD combining video with a slideshow of pictures with a little pan and zoom thrown in, and I've got a great way of capturing the family events.

[jay415]

Edit: Just thought of another question...If I want to play HD videos on my tv, would I need to burn the video via blueray burner and play on blueray player? I assume regular dvd players will not play hd.

If I am not careful, this could get expensive real quick.

I use Canon Vixia HG20 for my HD Video. I burn AVCHD DVD's which use standard DVD's with HD Video and play on most Blu-Ray players. I have a SONY Blu-Ray and it works great. AVCHD DVD's hold about 40 min of video. The quality is awesome. I get nothing but compliments on my home movies. Best camcorder I have ever owned.

[Green_Tea]

If you decide to go for a used vixia camcorder I know where you can get one in great shape... check out the link in my sig. It does a great job on full manual but also grants a lot of control if you want it.
-Trevor

[recrisp]

On the conversion, you 'may' consider something along these lines...
The Sony VRDMC6 is a little machine that allows conversions of your AVCHD videos really easy.
I bought this to convert all of my old VHS tapes to DVD, it also does the aforementioned stuff too though, but I have not tried that yet to be honest, but the price is good, and the unit itself is pretty impressive.
The conversion takes the HD video [using RCA cables, I know, I know... :) ] and converts it to a DVD that you can play on any DVD player.
(It's a stand alone unit, no computer required, it's really not rinky-dink either, it's very well made)
Do a search on Amazon for it, I paid $168. for it the other day, I see it is $188. now, but if you watch it, you can find it cheaper, in one day I saw it went down over $10., within a few minutes.
I'd paste a link, but I can't remember if that is allowed here or not...

I'm just suggesting this, I really haven't tried it like I said, but it may be something that you are interested in.
I have the Canon HF-S100 video camera and I play my movies from the camera, then I download them to my HD, and hopefully get them all to DVD.

Randy

[BrantG]

Good for everyday family use? Probably not. Not as practical/easy to use as a hand camcorder. However if you want to produce some nice quality family videos, the 7D will do much better than any consumer camcorder on the market.

[oRGie]

I've just started using the 7D for family videos. It clearly requires more work to take good video than using a simple point and shoot camcorder. However, I think some of the complaints about no functional autofocus and trouble editing are overblown. This weekend, I took 10 min of raw video of my kids playing in the basement. The light was poor, the kids were moving around, and I was just using a 28 mm 1.8 with no external microphone or stabilizer. I quickly downloaded the raw footage on my computer and did a quick trim to about 3 min of usable scenes, and by the time it took me to make lunch for the kids, the computer had created a nice HD movie for viewing. The quality of the video, both in terms of exposure, clarity, colors, and sound were superior to what I could get from my HD tape-based camcorder. I had no trouble keeping the kids in focus.

I would really appreciate and love to know the blow by blow workflow you use to do this so easilly, what camera/video settings, what type of computer, pc or mac, which codecs, what editing software and what output settings, as much info on settings as you can be bothered to post. I'm slowly getting my head round it all, but no one tutorial sais "do this" allways so many options :cool:

[Jethro790]

I would really appreciate and love to know the blow by blow workflow you use to do this so easilly, what camera/video settings, what type of computer, pc or mac, which codecs, what editing software and what output settings, as much info on settings as you can be bothered to post. I'm slowly getting my head round it all, but no one tutorial sais "do this" allways so many options :cool:

Do not get the 7d for the video function alone. Fortunately, it's one kick azz camera otherwise. Frequent video work with this camera would be best left to someone with a LOT of time on thier hands. You can get simple, ultra-high quality video files with it, sure, but to be able to actually film action, or moving subjects with any focus accuracy is a real trick.

[oRGie]

Do not get the 7d for the video function alone. Fortunately, it's one kick azz camera otherwise. Frequent video work with this camera would be best left to someone with a LOT of time on thier hands. You can get simple, ultra-high quality video files with it, sure, but to be able to actually film action, or moving subjects with any focus accuracy is a real trick.

Hey Jethro, not sure if your answering the OP I quoted or me tbh :) I have a 7D and love it, got it just for stills, but am playing around with the video and am just trying to get my head round what software and a good workflow to make use of the video. My intention is to make nice "moving stills" rather than home movies, so I agree with you completely.

[Jethro790]

Hey Jethro, not sure if your answering the OP I quoted or me tbh :) I have a 7D and love it, got it just for stills, but am playing around with the video and am just trying to get my head round what software and a good workflow to make use of the video. My intention is to make nice "moving stills" rather than home movies, so I agree with you completely.

I've not gotten into any editing, still trying to capture clips that I think are worth compiling. However, I have heard Vegas Pro is a good choice.

[haknslash]

There are two types of Vegas. For the type of stuff he is probably only interested in doing, the cheaper Vegas Movie Studio Platinum 9 will be more than sufficient enough. Then there is Vegas Pro 9 which has a good bit more you can do and is more catered to full on editing. I have used both Vegas Pro and Adobe Premier Pro but I mainly stick with Vegas Pro 9 as the workflow is just faster/easier for me than PP.

[RWatkins]

neurorog knows what he's talking about.

all photogs, PLEASE REFRAIN FROM USING THE TERM "AUTOFOCUS" on these giant sensor on these video DSLR... it doesn't work that way, well not yet, and I don't think it will happen in this decade or the next.


Really?

http://www.youtube.com/v/wqGyGA9M4q4&hl=en_US&fs=1&