Bricks in Motion
We are a friendly filmmaking community devoted to the art of stop-motion animation using LEGO® and similar construction toys. Here, you can share your work, join our community of other brickfilmers, and participate in periodic animation contests!
A place to discuss, share, and create stop motion films.
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Yeah, adapters with glass in them seem to be a pretty raw deal. You will get better results generally if you stop the lens down and slow the shutter, but if you're putting glass in front of glass it better be really high quality or it'll seriously degrade the image. High quality being a Metabones speed booster, which doesn't hurt the quality in any significant way but often costs more than the lens you're mounting to it.
Again bumping this thread.
Canon has a sale (actually a rebate) for their EOS Rebel T5 cameras for $399. I am wondering, which is the better, the T5 or the T3? I would assume the T5 would be better, because it's regular price is much higher than the T3's, but I'd like to get an opinion from people who know about these things. How good is the Canon for stop-motion? I know it's better than Nikon, because it has live view support. Is the video capability any good? Are there any major cons to Canon DSLRs? Also, how's lens compatability? I know that Nikon to Canon and M42 to Canon adapters are out there, but how about other lenses?
Thanks.
Last edited by rioforce (March 4, 2015 (08:51pm))
well, for me, I love my canon 500D, and i would certainly upgrade it when I get a chance(as a tax rebate too), and the 'nikon to canon' adapters, i think some complain about the fact that some dont support auto focus, which, I do hope you aint using.
I short, I have a old canon, I can keep the shutter open for 30s. with live view. so, I will be recommending more canons.
From what I can tell by looking at the specs, the T5 is just the long beloved T2i, but re-named to fit better into Canon's naming structure based on it's specs, since a lot of better cameras have come out in the last couple years. It's most definitely better than the T3, in every way. The only use I would recommend the T3 for would be pure stop-motion. I would recommend it to anyone who really wants to get into photography, it's more for family photo type stuff, for the kind of person who's never going to take the kit lens off. It's totally useless for film, can't even do 24 fps. If you're just looking for something to supplement your Nikon for stop-motion purposes, the T3 is fine, but if you're looking for a camera for video or to try out the Canon system for stills photography, you should be looking at the T5. If you're wondering what I think about the price, $400 for that camera new is really good.
Again bumping this thread.
Canon has a sale (actually a rebate) for their EOS Rebel T5 cameras for $399. I am wondering, which is the better, the T5 or the T3? I would assume the T5 would be better, because it's regular price is much higher than the T3's, but I'd like to get an opinion from people who know about these things. How good is the Canon for stop-motion? I know it's better than Nikon, because it has live view support. Is the video capability any good? Are there any major cons to Canon DSLRs? Also, how's lens compatability? I know that Nikon to Canon and M42 to Canon adapters are out there, but how about other lenses?
Thanks.
OK. So excuse me in advance for any fanning out here (Canon Fanboy here 
). Kidding. I'll get serious now.
I've used Nikon models, and Canon models. My flat out opinion is Canon. Now for a more elaborate explanation:
Personally, the T5 is just a repackage. Get a T3i or T4i. They have FABULOUS video quality (for the price; it's hard to beat). If you just want to do stop-motion, though, then just get the T3. It's got enough pixels for any common animator to lust for. But the T3 is NOT good for video. It's auto exposure, and only handles 720p 30fps (25fps for PAL people). But the T3i and on up the video quality is fantastic. There is a decent lens selection available (especially for M42 lenses). You can also load the Cinestyle picture style, which is also a great plus, even for brickfilming, in my opinion.
Thanks for the tips. I'm debating between a new T5 and a refurbished T3. I'm leaning towards the T5, though, because of all the better features for just 50 dollars more, and it's more future-proof so I won't have to upgrade again for a while.
I have been looking up things about the T5 and it's use in stop-motion, and really can't find a clear answer, so I'm going to ask here:
Does the T5 allow computer live view using the EOS utility? I've seen videos and pictures of people using it with higher end cameras, but never with the T5 or T3. One of the main reasons I am thinking of purchasing the T5 is to use it with computer live view. I'm pretty sure it does work, but I thought someone might know for sure.
Thanks for all the help. 
It works with Dragonframe. If it works with Dragonframe then it works with EOS utility.
For those following my tales of shooting on lenses from Communist Russia, I'm attempting to shoot my new short film for the BiM Collection entirely on the Mir-1B 37mm and Helios 58mm. We'll see how that goes. Here's a test still from the Mir. I found I had to stop it down quite a bit and use a +2 diopter to focus this, even though it wasn't very close. So that's a bit of a hassle. I have a feeling you don't get much of a noticeable "look" from these lenses when they're stopped down, other than that soft glarey haze on the window light, which is rather subtle here anyway.
I'll be very interested to see how that turns out. I have a Mir-1, but ruled it out for brickfilming because of the insanely long minimum focusing distance. If the diopters work out I might have to try them. The test looks nice; in my opinion it definitely feels like it was shot on an old lens, but I do have the bias of knowing it was shot with a Mir-1 and having shot with one myself.
Oh, I do think there's a subtle haziness around the windows that is characteristic of the lens. But the slight color aberration is more because of the low quality of the diopters, and I've color graded the shot to look sort of old-timey as well. I think it's not a huge difference from an old Nikon lens for a shot like this is all.
I wanted to use extension tubes to avoid the distortions introduced by diopters. But what I discovered was that even my shortest extension tube was far too long to get focus into the necessary range.
Thanks for the tips. I'm debating between a new T5 and a refurbished T3. I'm leaning towards the T5, though, because of all the better features for just 50 dollars more, and it's more future-proof so I won't have to upgrade again for a while.
I would say get the T5 paying $50 more for a new better camera is so worth it especially on a big buy like a camera, Even if its a bit more now it saves in the long run.
that looks perfect... too perfect.....
Really tho, if you get a nice piece of glass for your sensor, it will make a WORLDS difference compared to putting crappy glass on a new improved sensor.
I'm finding that stopping down the lens to get a decent field of stuff in focus mitigates the "style" of the Russian lenses quite a bit on closeups, as well. They only really have that full swirly texture when they're wide open, which just isn't desirable on closeups at LEGO minifig scale.
edit: here's an image to explain what I mean. Shot on the Helios 58 but stopped down to a point where the swirly bokeh are lost, and yet the depth of field STILL feels very shallow. Had to use a +2 diopter to get this close.
Thanks. I'm pretty stoked on how this film is coming along so far. It's my new exclusive short for the BiM Collection.
So guys I'm getting closer and closer to settling on a good D-SLR decision for brick filming as well as live action, (the canon t2i) but I have a few questions. (And I'm not a DSLR expert so forgive me if I'm missing something painstakingly obvious)
First, for live video feedback, specifically what kind of cord will I be needing? Will a simple USB to mini USB work or will I need an HDMI type cord?
Second, does anyone know of a good, preferably cheap lense with decent macro capabilities?
Third, I'm not sure if this matters a whole lot, but would I be better off with a full frame camera?
Thanks, and if I have more questions I may bring those up as well.
1. A regular USB cord is fine. I've had some trouble with some really old cords not working, but those may have been USB 1.0. Any generic cord should work just fine.
2. This thread from Sloth should answer your question. You can also look into old M42 mount lenses from pentax and the like, but it's harder to find lenses that fit the qualifications for brickfilming.
3. No, at least not if brickfilming is a primary use. Full frame is better for stills photography, but they can be problematic for brickfilming. Because the sensor is larger, you'll get a more shallow depth of field at the same f/stop than a crop sensor; eg. if a 5D and a t2i shoot the same photo with the same lens at f/4, the shot from the 5D will have a more shallow depth of field than the one from the t2i. Since brickfilming is essentially macro photography, it's already hard enough to get a deep enough focus field with an APS-C sensor, so using full frame can potentially limit creative options and make it more difficult to make the LEGO characters seem like full size people in a full size world. Also, full frame cameras are much more expensive. Despite being from 2009, the 5D mark ii is still very hard to find for less than $1300 used, body only; so you need to be pretty invested in still photography or live action video (there's a whole other conversation about whether Canon DSLR's are even the best option for video any more) to step up to full frame. I do still photography semi-professionally on the side, but still haven't upgraded to full frame.
backyardlegos has done a good job of answering the questions you asked, GHB. Only thing I would add on 2. is a re-iteration of Sloth's suggestion to get the Micro-Nikkor 55mm f/3.5; if you buy one lens for brickfilming, that will probably be the best investment.
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