SLR vs Camcorder

Not sure if this has been posted, but currently i have a 350d with a couple lens's im happy with. Now a while ago i posted about upgrading it and have not done so yet.

As a hobby i just stated to stunt street bikes. Now i would like to get a camcorder, but found that a lot of people like to use slrs for filming, and for the price of a decent camcorder is not bad but a bit pricey. So what my question is, is it worth it for me to sell my 350d and get like a T2I, or similar, or stick with trying to get a camcorder. Ive heard the slrs are good for having good depth of field while filming. What i was willing to spend on a camcorder is around $400 cdn. But i was thinking i could sell my 350D and use that money towards a better slr with HD video. any help would be appreciated!!

The problem with DSLR video is there is no auto focus. You have to do it all manually. They haven't figured out how to get the auto focus in video mode. But if you don't mind spinning a focus ring, the video from my 5D Mark II is phenomenal!

ahhh, thats kind of a bummer, the thing is, it would prob be fine for me, but when it comes to say my gf filming me, not going to work out so well. hmm not sure what to do then. Another thing i like to do is, ill put the camera on a tripod (gfs ****ty camera) and hit record and ride, and just film the whole time until i go over and stop it. so again, that wont work.

Look over the dark side. D7000 autofocus in vid mode

to tell you the truth, ive been thinking of nikon, as ive seen many riders using the nikon for filming, But the bad thing is, i just bought a lens for this camera, plus have a decent zoom lens, so thats really stopping me from changing

I'll skip Canon, as it was mentioned before, it has no auto focus.
But. If it is for home use, it is not so big deal.

yea, most if not all video mode will be for sports, ie: stunt bike riding. Just looked into the d7000 and by the time i replace everything i have for my camera,( 2 lens's, flash) i might as well by a good camcorder

If video will be the main purpose of the camera, keep the 350D for stills, and get a real video camera for the video.

Sounds like you want a dedicated camcorder, and that's what you should get. In good light even $300 camcorders will give you good looking video (without the worries of recording times, manual focus, etc).
DSLRs for video are great when used within and with their negatives/positives.

Sony's Alpha DSLRs have autofocus during video that is highly rated and I think the GH2 does as well. But a camcorder sounds like what you really need.

yea, i was hoping to have the best of both worlds in case i only had my camcorder and wanted stills, then the slr could do both, but i really think the auto focus is a must!. thanks for the help everyone!! im actually surprised that canon didnt bring the AF out in the T3i. As i was reading a review and they compared to to the nikon d7000 which has AF for video.

If you don't mind switching systems there's the new Sony SLT:s which have phase-detect AF(the fast AF you'd expect in an SLR) in video mode. The Nikon D7000 only has the slower and less reliable contrast detect AF(same as in P&S cameras) in video mode.

Gurry wrote in post #12653281
to tell you the truth, ive been thinking of nikon, as ive seen many riders using the nikon for filming,

eekkkkkkkkkk! a Nikon that's Scary, or was you just joking?

Just get a Canon video camera for movies and keep the dslr for photo. End.

Focusing for video really isn't that difficult, especially with good manual focus lenses. If you've got good light, just get yourself a semi-wide angle lens, set it on the tripod like you said and stop down to f/11 or more - there you go, DOF.

From a usability standpoint yeah the camcorder is much easier.

cputeq007 wrote in post #12655266
Focusing for video really isn't that difficult, especially with good manual focus lenses. If you've got good light, just get yourself a semi-wide angle lens, set it on the tripod like you said and stop down to f/11 or more - there you go, DOF.

From a usability standpoint yeah the camcorder is much easier.

I've used T2i for video since I bought it. There are pros and cons. The biggest pro is not having to haul a different device with you, practically all of my videos are unplanned and I wouldn't have the camcorder with me anyway. The con is of course the need to MF, the zoom range (hard to approach the one on a typical camcorder), the lack of swivel screen (T3i fixed that so you have a choice). You can use the AF while filming to re-focus but it's ugly since it has to fully open the aperture to focus so that moment has to be cut out in editing anyway. I usually narrow down the aperture the best I can and pre-focus before I take video, then MF when I feel I need to and hope for good results. MF isn't easy even in LV, for me at least, the screen it still too small. OTOH you're not going to pixel peep in video, and even on my 40" TV screen, it usually looks fine. The biggest challenge is fast moving subjects going towards or away from the camera. However I'd say, for me at least, it's overall useful and I haven't used my old camcorder at all since the last year.

My vote is for a camcorder. I have both and can't see using a DSLR strictly for video unless it was a production with stabilizers. Even if you used an IS lens your battery would drain quickly because the IS stays on the entire time video is on. Not to mention the manual focus problem. I just got a 5D II last week and played with the video and the sound is horrendous when focusing or zooming (it was in a quiet room). So you might have to get an external mic whereas on my camcorder I have a windscreen ($15 and is awesome). The only downside to the camcorder is the wide DOF.

Also, the 350D will be difficult to sell these days and may not fetch a whole lot. I tried selling mine last year and couldn't sell it. I figured I'll just keep it for one day when I want a refurbished camera through the Canon Loyalty Program.