[gardinrm]

I'm planning on buying a better camera, and I don't know what to look for. I currently have an older gopro, which I'm frankly not that impressed with. It had an issue with sound recording within about a year (constant hiss) and it's just not very versatile.

I am a big fan of Nikon DSLR's, and have a number of lenses as a result. So I'm wondering if a more recent DSLR would be a good option, given they have excellent video recording options (mine is over 10 years old now)? But I know mirrorless is taking over, which might make my old (excellent) lenses a little obsolete. DSLR's seem to offer really good value for money though......

Perhaps something different is the best options. But what? Any ideas/advice would be good!

[cheque]

Don’t worry about your lenses being out of date, video autofocus is for punters so you can use them fine on any mirrorless camera with an adapter unless they’re focus-by-wire.

I like Panasonic myself but any make will do really. Sony have been making full-frame (I’m assuming that’s what your Nikon lenses are) mirrorless cameras for longer than Panasonic, Canon or Nikon so you’ll have cheaper secondhand options.

You could of course get a newer Nikon DSLR which is a better option if you plan to use it for stills too or if your lenses are focus-by-wire.

[SA Chris]

No idea with Nikons, but my Pentax FF DSLR records great video, especially time lapse etc in low light. I would assume that the most recent (or nearly most recent if you look for second hand) Nikon DSLR would be similar, esp if you have quality glass already.

Don't worry about the future, one day everything will eventually be obsolete.

[User deactivated.]

I have a Nikon Z6 mirrorless that I mostly use for photography, but it has ridiculous video quality and despite getting very good reviews, it didn't seem to gain popularity in the same way the Sony mirrorless cameras have, so it can be found considerably cheaper than the equivalent Sony or Canon on the used market. It's not a cheap camera, so it might not be what you're looking for, but for pro level it's reasonably priced! There's now an updated MK2 version which didn't really add all that much, making the original model the value purchase.

[SA Chris]

ridiculous as in good or bad?

[andy_e]

I recently bought a second-hand Canon Eos 1300D and a wide angle lens to go with it. Video quality is a bit fuzzy and old-looking. It's absolutely perfect for waht I need it for. Cheque recommended me Panasonic Lumix GM3, which looks perfect and is nice and lightweight, but was a hundred or so out of my price range.

[cheque]

Cheque recommended me Panasonic Lumix GH3,

[andy_e]

Ooops, sorry. Too many letters and numbers!

[User deactivated.]

ridiculous as in good or bad?

Clearly you're not down with the kids. In this context 'ridiculous' meant 'very good', and while this would hold true for someone coming from a gopro, on reflection I think the video features are just 'good' relative to its competitors (but it is generally cheaper than them used). Features I like for video:

4k 30p with no crop (yes a gopro can do this but the footage looks nothing like full frame mirrorless), 1080 120p for slow motion, VERY good low light performance, decent sensor stabilization and additional digital (crop) stabilization if needed, live focus and highlight clipping indicators, higher bitrate than main competitor Sony A7iii, reliable and usable video autofocus.

[SA Chris]

Clearly you're not down with the kids.

No diggety, no doubt.

[Paul B]

Perhaps something different is the best options. But what? Any ideas/advice would be good!

What are you filming? I'm seriously out of date with my camera tech but used to muck around with the first incarnations of Magic Lantern on a Canon 5DII (probably quite a while ago now).

I ask as if it's for filming yourself doing problems, I'd expect a DSLR to feel like unnecessary faff; you're not going to benefit from the shallow DoF you can get with the sensor as you'll have nobody to pull focus for you and you'll be lugging around a fair amount of weight for no particular reason*.

*other benefits of larger sensors obv. do exist etc.

[turnipturned]

If you are looking at budget, I would recommend watching this guys content on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@NigelBarros

A word of warning, if you are looking at newer cameras, 4k, 10bit etc you will also likely need to upgrade you computer and plan for some bigger storage.

I usually a Atomos Ninja V external recorder mainly as it records in Prores which is really easy to edit and don't have to work with god awful internal camera codecs (which I often have to proxy).

Hope that's helpful.

(Personally on Panasonic S5, but have had GH4 and GH5, if I was to start ahead I would definitely go Sony- maybe even APS-C sensor).

[chrisbrooke]

Depends what your version of 'reasonably priced' is I guess. Personally I use a Sony A6400 with the 10-18 F4 lens, which is good for most things. Often with bouldering you can struggle to get a decent position for your tripod at a distance, so being able to go pretty wide can be useful. Anyway, the 6400 can do 4k and produces decent enough footage. I'd like to upgrade to full-frame, but then that's getting out of the 'reasonably priced' category...

[SA Chris]

Phone in Shoe (PiSh) not good enough any more..

[gardinrm]

Phone in Shoe (PiSh) not good enough any more..

Jokes aside, it's become my preference recently. Phones are amazing really.

Other ideas are great, but often playing with the 'reasonably priced' part. I'd love to have a new mirrorless Nikon (or Sony) but I can't really justify the cost.

Good point Dan about improving my computer to deal with the footage. So perhaps 1080 HD is fine, and get a fairly decent second hand DSLR. After all, I would still like to use it as a stills camera.

I'm not hearing many shouts out for compact video cameras (apart from the Atamos Ninja v - had to look that up, never heard of them!). Has the world moved on from gopros?

[lagerstarfish]

there was this thread recently

[hongkongstuey]

going down a slightly different track - i'm a massive fan of my Insta360 camera for bouldering footage.

Small and light, plonk it on a tripod facing any direction and then use the app to reframe and grab the zoom / angle you want etc. Also great for sticking on a pole and getting close ups of people climbing.

Combo of one of these plus a DSLR is ideal for covering all requirements

[turnipturned]

Phone in Shoe (PiSh) not good enough any more..

I'm not hearing many shouts out for compact video cameras (apart from the Atamos Ninja v - had to look that up, never heard of them!). Has the world moved on from gopros?

Atomos Ninja V is just an external record. Connects via HDMI to your camera and depending on your camera can record high bit rates/ resolutions externally. Not a camera itself.

How I see it, GoPros are amazing action cameras, great for sticking on your head and flying down a hill or surfing a 15 foot barrel. I often stick one in my climbing bag when I can't be bothered to take my main camera, but its really hard to frame it nicely and I often fine the footage fairly uninspiring.

I recon a Panasonic G7 would be good bet.

[User deactivated.]

Phone in Shoe (PiSh) not good enough any more..

Jokes aside, it's become my preference recently. Phones are amazing really.

If it's just to film your climbing, or similar, and you don't have any aspirations for everyone to 'smash the like and subscribe button', then using a phone makes sense. The footage from a modern flagship phone is at least as good as a Gopro (form factor limitations aside).

Even if my Nikon mirrorless camera is in my bag, I usually just use my phone to film my own climbing because the quality is adequate for that purpose. However, when it comes to photography, which I'm much more interested in, I will always use my camera because my phone cannot produce the type of images I want. I imagine it would be the same for a serious filmmaker.

[SA Chris]

A large Gorillapod with the spring loaded phone mount, or a lightweight mini tripod with the same mount make videos look a lot better. Although I had the end of a leg fall off my GP and float down the River Dulnain (it was a freezing cold snowy day though and i think the plastic was really brittle).

[chrisbrooke]

I reckon a light-weight but full size tripod makes all the difference. Even with a decent camera, if you're still limited to finding a rock to put a mini tripod on, or jut the ground, the footage is likely to still have that 'phone in a shoe' quality. A proper tripod gives so much more flexibility with finding a nice angle to shoot from.
Smash that like button and subscribe....

[Paul B]

Years ago I ignored Johnny Brown and bought alloy legs for my tripod. Every time I take it anywhere now I mutter about how I should've bought carbon as he advised.