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Topic: Buying a new camera

Me and my brother is planning to buy a new camera, we got the Quickcam pro 9000 now, but we feel that it's not really going to be enough for our upcoming stop motion projects. Now, I don't know much about cameras but what I have read so far is that the Canon Eos 550D seems to be a good purchase for stop motion.

Which camera is the best to use for stop motion in that price range?

What kind of lenses do I need for the Canon Eos 550D?

The Canon support recommended that I would get EF-S 60mm lens or the EF 100mm.

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Re: Buying a new camera

I don't use a Dslr (yet) but if I remember right Repelling Spider just uses the lens that comes with the kit, and have you seen the quality of his videos! Go watch some of his stuff at his YouTube (repellingspider) and see what you think.

The 550D is a good choice, (That's the Rebel T2i, right?) but if you could I would spend extra money to get the T3i.

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Re: Buying a new camera

I've seen some of his videos and the quality is quite good actually.

Yes the 550D is the same as The T2i. But is it really worth getting the T3i? I read on this page...

http://www.digitalrev.com/article/canon … ODI3NA_A_A

that if you shoot stills you should stick to the 550D, and we are only going to use the camera for stop motion. And how about the T4i, is that a good camera?

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Re: Buying a new camera

What about the 9000 makes you think it's "not enough"?

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Re: Buying a new camera

I wouldn't recommend getting a macro lens for stopmotion. One of the reason's the 100mm or 60mm lens is a macro is because of it's close focusing and fast 2.8 fixed aperture. The 2.8 aperture will actually be to your disadvantage because when you shoot, half the minifigure will be sharp and the other half will be blurry. The kit lens focuses plenty close enough. And I'd suggest getting the t2i. The new thing about the t4i is that it auto focuses in video mode.

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Re: Buying a new camera

Noobster Studios wrote:

I've seen some of his videos and the quality is quite good actually.

Yes the 550D is the same as The T2i. But is it really worth getting the T3i? I read on this page...

http://www.digitalrev.com/article/canon … ODI3NA_A_A

that if you shoot stills you should stick to the 550D, and we are only going to use the camera for stop motion. And how about the T4i, is that a good camera?

The only reason the creation of the T3i was that the T2i was having a problem overheating when shooting video continuously for a long time, and Canon decided to throw the variangle screen for fun and so that they could raise the price. If your not planning on some serious live action filming, you want the T2i. Technically the T4i is a better camera, but if you're only using it for stop motion I'd say that it isn't worth the money; the T2i is plenty of camera for brickfilming. (I have a 60D and a T2i, and though I'm currently using the 60D, I'm going to switch to the T2i as soon as I'm done with my current film because I don't want to waste the 60D's shutter life.) mini/smile

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Re: Buying a new camera

Thanks for all the info, I think we will take a look at the T2i.

minifig051 wrote:

What about the 9000 makes you think it's "not enough"?

Well, we want some better picture quality and you can't do any good extreme close ups with the 9000.

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Re: Buying a new camera

That's a good choice. Go ahead and get the T2i. It can produce much better image quality than the 9000.

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Re: Buying a new camera

Noobster Studios wrote:
minifig051 wrote:

What about the 9000 makes you think it's "not enough"?

Well, we want some better picture quality and you can't do any good extreme close ups with the 9000.

The 9000 can do 1280x720, which is HD (frame averaging also helps).

You can do close-ups by using the zoom function in the webcam software.

(By the way, who's "we"?)

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Re: Buying a new camera

minifig051 wrote:
Noobster Studios wrote:
minifig051 wrote:

What about the 9000 makes you think it's "not enough"?

Well, we want some better picture quality and you can't do any good extreme close ups with the 9000.

The 9000 can do 1280x720, which is HD (frame averaging also helps).

You can do close-ups by using the zoom function in the webcam software.

(By the way, who's "we"?)

Well, I think the quality is just not good enough, made this movie last week and it doesn't look great. Maybe we just have the wrong settings, I don't know...anyway, just ordered the T2i.

"we" is me and my brother, we make the films together.

( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usuevnBV … ature=plcp )

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Re: Buying a new camera

Noobster Studios wrote:
minifig051 wrote:
Noobster Studios wrote:

Well, we want some better picture quality and you can't do any good extreme close ups with the 9000.

The 9000 can do 1280x720, which is HD (frame averaging also helps).

You can do close-ups by using the zoom function in the webcam software.

(By the way, who's "we"?)

Well, I think the quality is just not good enough, made this movie last week and it doesn't look great. Maybe we just have the wrong settings, I don't know...anyway, just ordered the T2i.

"we" is me and my brother, we make the films together.

( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usuevnBV … ature=plcp )

That video is definetly not in HD. What did you use to capture frames?

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Re: Buying a new camera

minifig051 wrote:
Noobster Studios wrote:
minifig051 wrote:

The 9000 can do 1280x720, which is HD (frame averaging also helps).

You can do close-ups by using the zoom function in the webcam software.

(By the way, who's "we"?)

Well, I think the quality is just not good enough, made this movie last week and it doesn't look great. Maybe we just have the wrong settings, I don't know...anyway, just ordered the T2i.

"we" is me and my brother, we make the films together.

( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usuevnBV … ature=plcp )

That video is definetly not in HD. What did you use to capture frames?


We are using Monkeyjam and we did the editing in Sony Vegas Pro 11.

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Re: Buying a new camera

Noobster Studios wrote:

We are using Monkeyjam and we did the editing in Sony Vegas Pro 11.

Ah, Monkeyjam. That's why you can't do HD; Monkeyjam doesn't support HD.

A free program that can do HD is Heluim Frog.

If you're okay with paying for a program, there's Stop Motion Pro (version Action! HD); which is what I use. I think it's a great program (one of the things it has is in-program masking) and definetly worth the money.

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Re: Buying a new camera

Your camera isn't the problem, your lighting is. Getting a DSLR isn't going to make your films look great automatically, so with the lighting in your last video it'd be a good waste of $600+. Get some nice bright lights and learn a bit of cinematography. I made this with a Quickcam 9000, and I'd say it looks really good for a $90 dollar camera.

So don't get a DSLR, in my opinion. You don't need one. I actually find it kind of funny how a lot of brickfilmers are now spending hundreds of dollars to get DSLRs when they start out. It's completely unnecessary. Get a couple nice lights, do a bit of colour correction/grading and enjoy your beautiful looking brickfilm shot with a $90 webcam.

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Re: Buying a new camera

minifig051 wrote:
Noobster Studios wrote:

We are using Monkeyjam and we did the editing in Sony Vegas Pro 11.

Ah, Monkeyjam. That's why you can't do HD; Monkeyjam doesn't support HD.

A free program that can do HD is Heluim Frog.

If you're okay with paying for a program, there's Stop Motion Pro (version Action! HD); which is what I use. I think it's a great program (one of the things it has is in-program masking) and definetly worth the money.

I use MonkeyJam and it does HD in 4:3 so you just have to crop it.

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Re: Buying a new camera

Mr.Rundown101 wrote:
minifig051 wrote:
Noobster Studios wrote:

We are using Monkeyjam and we did the editing in Sony Vegas Pro 11.

Ah, Monkeyjam. That's why you can't do HD; Monkeyjam doesn't support HD.

A free program that can do HD is Heluim Frog.

If you're okay with paying for a program, there's Stop Motion Pro (version Action! HD); which is what I use. I think it's a great program (one of the things it has is in-program masking) and definetly worth the money.

I use MonkeyJam and it does HD in 4:3 so you just have to crop it.

But wait, you can't have HD in 4:3 (I don't think). Isn't HD 1280x720 and up, and only in 16:9 resolutions?

Well, I think it would be better to film in 16:9 so you can get the framing the way you want it and stuff like that.

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Re: Buying a new camera

NXTManiac wrote:

Your camera isn't the problem, your lighting is. Getting a DSLR isn't going to make your films look great automatically.

I was going to say that in the first place, but don't want to let your hopes down in getting dslr. That's one of the main problems with people who got the 9000(including me), the lights weren't bright enough, or they didn't position them well. NXTManiac has some absolutely amazing stuff made with the 9000, because he lit the scene well and had bright enough lights. But in the end, it's your choice whether to get or not to get a dslr. Just remember what NXT said, dSLR's don't automatically give you amazing results right away UNLESS you light it well. Lighting is one of the main concerns when doing any movie, not just brickfilming. Please don't let me interfere with you getting a nice camera though! mini/smile

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Re: Buying a new camera

Thanks for all the tips and feedback!

The two lamps we are using right now is terrible, we have tried to replace them with other bulbs, we also tried other lamps but it just didn't work. So I ordered two new lamps yesterday and I hope this will help.

Me and my brother decided to get the T2i, the price of the camera isn't really a problem and we both wanted to get one.

I did some animation this morning and tried out Helium Frog, I liked it much better than monkeyjam, I really liked the Onion skinning, so I think I will stick to it.

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Re: Buying a new camera

Everything that goes into the production of a film is important, from the story to the lighting to the camera (your oder may vary).

With that said, a DSLR is much better than a webcam. You have (greater) control over aperture, shutter speed, and depth of field.