Camera or Camcorder Upgrade

[Justin Wilcox]

I think you would be pretty happy with a Canon T4i & 18-135mm STM kit. That lens is a great walk around lens. Out of the 4 lenses I own(ed), that one got a majority of the use. They can be had pretty cheap too. But pretty much what these guys said is it. The shot in my avatar was done with a Canon SX 230 HS point & shoot. Its not a super killer shot, but it got second place and won me a tshirt lol.

 

[Caleb Grunzke]

So I ended up getting a Nikon D7100 (not all my fault) in a kit that included a 18-55mm and a 55-300mm lenses. Will these lenses be sufficient for shooting storms? (I am particularly most concerned about not being able to photograph the whole storm) Or should I be looking into a wide-angle lens? If I should be looking for a wide-angle lens, would someone please suggest any Nikon lenses that would be most suitable? Thank you.

 

[Brett Roberts]

So I ended up getting a Nikon D7100 (not all my fault) in a kit that included a 18-55mm and a 55-300mm lenses. Will these lenses be sufficient for shooting storms? (I am particularly most concerned about not being able to photograph the whole storm) Or should I be looking into a wide-angle lens? If I should be looking for a wide-angle lens, would someone please suggest any Nikon lenses that would be most suitable? Thank you.

If you're a fan of sprawling structure shots, you'll probably want an ultra-wide angle lens that goes to at least 12-14 mm; 10 mm would be best (i.e., Sigma 10-20mm or Nikon 10-24mm for zooms). For my first two years chasing, the widest lens I had only went to 17 mm. The next year I added a 10-22mm, and found that from that point until I upgraded to full-frame five years later, I used that lens at 10-14mm about 80% of the time while chasing. To this day, I regret missed structure shots from those first couple years because I didn't have anything wide enough. If you value storm structure shots and not just tornadoes, the ultra-wide lens is the most important one in your bag on a chase day.

 

[Jason Boggs]

Yep, get you a nice wide angle lens, and a decent 24-105 lens for tighter structure/tornado shots.

I shoot with a Canon 7D and have the following lenses which is more than sufficient for all areas of storm photography:

Canon 10-22mm
Canon 50mm
Canon 24-105mm L
Canon 100-400mm L

 

[TJKLECKNER]

Yeah, I might take a bite and buy a T2i or T3i. I have seen a few <$400. Anyone have a used one?

 

[Caleb Grunzke]

Thanks for your help everyone. The NIKKOR 10-24mm wide-angle lens will definitely be my next purchase but will most likely be sometime down the road. But, for now, at least I have 2 lenses that will help me learn how to use my camera properly.

 

[TJKLECKNER]

This worth taking a bite on?

http://fumfie.com/product/1660.5/pr...PPC&utm_campaign=pricegrabber&utm_term=1660.5

 

[Marcus Diaz]

If it was a T5i then yeah. You really want to go i series of you go with Canon. World of difference.

 

[Marcus Diaz]

Looking to get another dslr body strictly for video since my T2i has been acting up. And because I'm 90% sure my Vixia is wandering around San Antonio somewhere. I want to stay with Canon since I have a couple of lenses already. Looking at a 60D body. Can anyone with experience with the 60D confirm its a great camera for video. Also any other suggestions in the Canon dslr camp for video?

 

[Skip Talbot]

I have a T2i and a 60D and will vouch for the 60D as a video shooter. The T2i overheats on me if I leave it running for hour(s) shooting low framerate time lapse video. I haven't had that issue with the 60D though. The build quality is quite a bit better.

Magic lantern adds a ton of features that make video shooting a dream too like live view histograms, focus assists, raw video, and many more.

Add a handle and/or steadycam weight so you can hold it more like a video camera, and the swivel screen on the 60D makes a nice video shooter.

 

[Marcus Diaz]

Skip what lens do you use for video? I have a 10-22mm and the shi*ty stock 18-55mm from my T2i. I was thinking if I got a 60D body I'd also get a Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 lens. Seems like they're cheap enough. Any other suggestions for just general video?

 

[Skip Talbot]

I kind of like the 10-22 for video actually, especially if you're shooting a time lapse. It gives you that GoPro field of view but it's so much nicer quality wise and doesn't have the fisheye distortion.

The only other lens I have that I shoot video with is my "nifty fifty" 50mm f/1.8. It's nice for shooting tornadoes in low light since it's fast and gives you some reach. There's no zoom though so you're stuck with your shot unless you move, and there's no IS so you *have* to tripod it.

I've been meaning to check out the 18-135 f/3.5-5.6 IS. Looks like it could be a nice lens for video. Maybe try renting that one or a few others from borrowlenses.com to see which you like most. I like that focal range because you can stay pretty wide for structure and then zoom way in once dust starts kicking up under your wall cloud. The quality looks pretty decent too.

 

[Marcus Diaz]

Sigma and Tamron both make 18-200mm for half the price of the Canon version. But they aren't IS while Canon is. What's the difference between a regular lens and one that's IS?

 

[Skip Talbot]

That's image stabilization. If you're not shooting on a tripod you'll need that for any video work. Canon has a new 10-18mm IS too. If you had those two lenses you could shoot basically any focal range you'd want for chasing .

If Tamron and Sigma have their own image stabilization that would be worth checking out. I think the differences between the brands diminish when shooting video since you're not pixel peeping at a 20 megapixel image but looking at a much smaller and moving high definition image.

 

[Jason Boggs]

IS means image stabilization. Basically being able to handhold the camera at lower shutter speeds without as much blur with still photos. Not sure about the difference it will make with videos.