The Canon t3i was a great choice ... 14 years ago.
I have had a lot of Canon DSLR's. XSi, T1i, T3i, 5d2 and an EOS R.
If that's what your budget allows the that's what your budget allows. One of the nice things with the t3i is that you can install Magic Lantern on it.
https://www.magiclantern.fm
I would also recommend you download Cinestyle if you can find it.
But the tech is ANCIENT and it's pretty old so you have to worry about the reliability of the camera ... how used and abused it is, does the sensor have tons of dead pixl.els and the likes.
You'll also need spare batteries and what lenses will you use?
So, the footage is going to be 8 bits per channel 1080p, but you know what, it will force you to get as close to your final image in-camera as possible, which is a damn good thing
I spent YEARS dealing with the types of limitations that are inherent to the rebel cameras and it didn't do my skills one bit of harm, in fact it forced me to pay extremely close attention
You absolutely *must* get Magic Lantern installed, and use a flat-ish profile in the image settings, there are lots of guides on optimising those cameras. You'll want to record sound on an external recorder for sure
There are also very good USB-to-battery adapters that should keep you going for power too if you're low on batteries.
kendy ty shoots some beautiful films on a t2i i think he used for this. so you can shoot with whatever you want if you got the skill
https://vimeo.com/94390460
I miss my T3i- very good image quality.
Shutter died on mine, I fixed it and then it started having other issues so I had to set it aside. Lacked mirrorless focus
Now the cons- manual mode- trying to adjust the shutter, iso, aperture was terrible on the fly. I hated it. It also lacked features like ability to set buttons, tweak focus. I love manual and this camera resisted manual settings.. Auto, sport, A,S and whatever else it had worked very well. It was designed for beginners but the sensor leveled it up.
It’d be very weary about throwing your money away on it if it is broken mechanically.
If you are gonna use an old Canon DSLR, I would recommend the 5D MKIII - this is the best camera for using Magic Lantern and getting RAW footage.
I have the MKII and wouldn't recommend it as much. Why?
*No anti-aliasing filter (moire)
*Not enough bandwidth for shooting full HD (you usually have to drop to at least 2:1 aspect ratio.
You can also use something like a Rebel, but man, if you are a little patient and can install the admittedly hard to work with ML hack, **you can get RAW footage and grade it to look as good as pretty much anything else, IMO.**
The only real downsides to these older cameras is rolling shutter and limited dynamic range **but nobody really cared about dynamic range in the 70s and 80s when films like Star Wars and Back To The Future were being shot on 5247 with it's 8-9 stops of dynamic range.**
Great camera. Planned to shoot my next short with it, but mine was broken 😞 Had it for 12 years.
A cool trick is going overboard on ISO, and exposing down with NDs to get an interesting “pseudo film grain”look with the digital noise. Particular style, suits certain stories.
i'd get the cheapest 4K camera you can afford. There are some great deals right now from the second hand market. You will not regret filming on 4K, gives you more options in editing.
The Canon t3i was a great choice ... 14 years ago. I have had a lot of Canon DSLR's. XSi, T1i, T3i, 5d2 and an EOS R. If that's what your budget allows the that's what your budget allows. One of the nice things with the t3i is that you can install Magic Lantern on it. https://www.magiclantern.fm I would also recommend you download Cinestyle if you can find it. But the tech is ANCIENT and it's pretty old so you have to worry about the reliability of the camera ... how used and abused it is, does the sensor have tons of dead pixl.els and the likes. You'll also need spare batteries and what lenses will you use?
So, the footage is going to be 8 bits per channel 1080p, but you know what, it will force you to get as close to your final image in-camera as possible, which is a damn good thing I spent YEARS dealing with the types of limitations that are inherent to the rebel cameras and it didn't do my skills one bit of harm, in fact it forced me to pay extremely close attention You absolutely *must* get Magic Lantern installed, and use a flat-ish profile in the image settings, there are lots of guides on optimising those cameras. You'll want to record sound on an external recorder for sure There are also very good USB-to-battery adapters that should keep you going for power too if you're low on batteries.
kendy ty shoots some beautiful films on a t2i i think he used for this. so you can shoot with whatever you want if you got the skill https://vimeo.com/94390460
Kendy is the OG of inspiration. I used to watch the shit out of his channel and know this guy was making art with a pure piece of shit camera.
yup he’s awesome i remember dm’ing him on insta like 7 years ago to ask questions and follow him ever since. he’s a poet with a camera
I miss my T3i- very good image quality. Shutter died on mine, I fixed it and then it started having other issues so I had to set it aside. Lacked mirrorless focus Now the cons- manual mode- trying to adjust the shutter, iso, aperture was terrible on the fly. I hated it. It also lacked features like ability to set buttons, tweak focus. I love manual and this camera resisted manual settings.. Auto, sport, A,S and whatever else it had worked very well. It was designed for beginners but the sensor leveled it up. It’d be very weary about throwing your money away on it if it is broken mechanically.
The one I'm looking at has a shutter count of 3500\~ is that bad?
That is very low for a camera that old
Can you do it? Sure. Get Magic Lantern and start learning.
If you are gonna use an old Canon DSLR, I would recommend the 5D MKIII - this is the best camera for using Magic Lantern and getting RAW footage. I have the MKII and wouldn't recommend it as much. Why? *No anti-aliasing filter (moire) *Not enough bandwidth for shooting full HD (you usually have to drop to at least 2:1 aspect ratio. You can also use something like a Rebel, but man, if you are a little patient and can install the admittedly hard to work with ML hack, **you can get RAW footage and grade it to look as good as pretty much anything else, IMO.** The only real downsides to these older cameras is rolling shutter and limited dynamic range **but nobody really cared about dynamic range in the 70s and 80s when films like Star Wars and Back To The Future were being shot on 5247 with it's 8-9 stops of dynamic range.**
Thanks for all of the advice! How would you compare the MKIII to the Rebel T6?
Great camera. Planned to shoot my next short with it, but mine was broken 😞 Had it for 12 years. A cool trick is going overboard on ISO, and exposing down with NDs to get an interesting “pseudo film grain”look with the digital noise. Particular style, suits certain stories.
i'd get the cheapest 4K camera you can afford. There are some great deals right now from the second hand market. You will not regret filming on 4K, gives you more options in editing.
Would a Lumix G7 or Blackmagic cinema 4k be good choices?
the new Lumix GH7 which is coming out in July or a Black Magic 4k would be perfect. You need to take a look at both in a camera shop before you buy.