Best Camera for Student Filmmakers

best camera for student filmmakers

Best Camera for Student Filmmakers – The best camera for students Filmmakers are the ones that has these 3 qualities in combination ; durability, affordability, and ease of use. As a student, the last choice you would make is to buy a camera that won’t see you through the full duration and course of study or one that’s is too hard to understand right from the beginning.
Even if you are studying at school, university, or college, there are a variety of courses like media, photography, and broadcast journalism that will definitely need that you know about filmmaking. So this content will guide you through on selecting a perfect camera for filmmaking as a student, read on!

Top Best Camera for Student Filmmakers

1. Best Camera for Student Filmmakers: Panasonic G85

Panasonic G85

The Panasonic G85 (G80/81 in Europe) is a very quality camera of choice for student filmmaking, you can purchase it at around $700 and it comes with lens. This camera has a solidly built magnesium body and it also has a tilt and swivel touchscreen, coupled with the fact that it body and lens are weather sealed making it a perfect choice. The battery life is manageable too for a student but it might not be too great for large scales (you can get an extra battery grip to be a second, or you can always make use of an adapter and an external battery).

2. Best Camera for Student Filmmakers ; Fuji Film X-T4

Fujifilm X T4 1

Fuji-film’s X-T4 comes with a larger APS-C sensor, so this might be a better choice when compared to the G85 because of low light and creative shallow focus. Nonetheless, this option might be much more costly even though it is pocket-friendly for students. It has great colour rendition, it has good good dynamic range, as well as a lot of pro video features. This camera comes with an excellent image stabilisation, it offers ultra-fast autofocus feature, 4K slow motion characteristics, including 10x slow motion in HD. You can also use the shoot in log mode option which grants you the access to capture a greater range of contrast. It do not have a headphone socket, instead it comes with a USB-C which links to the headphone adapter. This camera has a 30 minute video recording limit and students can comfortably use it without complains (that is 20 minutes for 4k 60p). It also a boasts of a good camera quality for still photography.

3. Best Camera for Student Filmmakers: Panasonic GH5 II

Panasonic GH5 II 1

The Panasonic GH5 II is a good camera for student filmmakers, this is in the form of mirror-less camera (Only about $1500 body ). It come with a lot of professional video features as well as a fairly small package. It has a perfect in-body image stabilisation as well as good battery life for a mirror-less camera.
This camera for film maker students can successfully record in a range of broadcast-quality 4K including the HD video formats. It has log recording ability. This is excellent for managing contrasty light. With the solidly built-in and robust feature, it can be able to add a pro audio module.
The disadvantage of this choice is that MFT sensor is actually small and so it is recommended for student usage, it also has low light performance which is not as good as some of its competitors .
The original GH5 comes with majority of the features of the GH5 II (but the V-log here is a paid upgrade). This reason makes the camera a great value choice to make in their filmmaking journey .

4. Best Camera for Student Filmmakers: Panasonic GH5S

Panasonic GH5S 1

The GH5S (Only at about $1400 body ) is structured specifically for student filmmaking, with less but bigger pixels than majority of the still cameras. This reason makes the camera an excellent choice for in low light.
It also boasts of a more professional video features as well as better video quality when compared to the GH5. This camera is highly recommended for student filmmakers and it is the best movie-making camera that you can buy under $2000. But it do not have in-body stabilisation, together with the fact that the still images are limited to 10MP.

The GH5S discontinued presently, but you can still get new products at many retailers. Like the GH5, it’s a perfect value choice to make.

5. Best Camera for Student Filmmakers; Black-Magic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K

Black Magic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K

The Black-Magic Design Pocket Cinema Camera 4K is made up of different professional features and it comes with an excellent image quality at an pocket-friendly price for student filmmakers. You can purchase it at $1300 body only. And it can shoot high quality RAW and ProRes files for up to the quality of 60fps and it also contains pro audio inputs. Just as the Panasonic cameras, this one has a Micro Four Thirds sensor for student usage.

6. Best Camera for Student Filmmakers ; Canon XA60

Canon XA60 1

It is a prosumer camcorder which comes with a built-in zoom lens. This camera can be a more convenient choice when compared to a normal mirror-less camera. Buttons and dials grants you direct access to vital controls. So it would be right to say that they are quicker and easier to use for students in creating news, in school events, corporate videos and other school use.

Conclusion

The best camera for film students are those ones that has good selection of features, which includes but are not limited to usability, performance, and durability. For the entire time range of your studies or your filmmaking course time, your camera should go through a lot, which implies that it should be tough, strong, high-quality standard and capable of lasting during the odd knocks and bumps in your filmmaking journey.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do you need your own camera for film school?

Having a digital camera is not mandatory, but most students end up buying one anyways. If you purchas a camera, keep in mind that your lenses are an investment.

What is a good affordable camera for film?

Panasonic G85.

Fujifilm X-T4.

Panasonic GH5 or GH5S.

BlackMagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K.

Canon XA60.

What cameras do Hollywood filmmakers use?

Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro.

Canon EOS C200B.

Canon EOS C100 Mark II.

Blackmagic Pocket CC.

Panasonic HC-X1.

Sony PXW-FS5.

Panasonic Lumic GH5s.

What is the best cheap 4K camera?

GoPro Hero 7 Black – for action or underwater shooting.

Nikon D850 – the best quality.

Panasonic Lumix G7k – amazing stabilization.

Panasonic Lumix FZ80 – great AF.

Canon XC10 – AI functions to eliminate camera shake.

Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark III – convenient for long-time shooting.

What is the best video camera for personal use?

Best overall in quality: Sony FX30.

Best when it comes to filmmaking: Blackmagic Design Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro.

Best when it comes to photo and video: Canon EOS R6 Mark II.

Best if you want to go into vlogging: Sony ZV-1.

Best compact camera; DJI Pocket 2.

What is the top selling digital camera?

Sony a7 IV + 28-70mm lens combo.

Sony a7R V.

Canon EOS R6 Mark II.

Nikon Z6 II.

Fuji X-H2S.

Nikon Z9.

Fuji X-T5 (silver)

Reference

  • Digitalcameraworld.com – The best camera for film students in 2023
  • Adorama.com – Buying Guide: Cameras for Student Filmmakers
  • Learnaboutfilm.com – The Best Cameras for Low Budget Filmmaking
  • Digitaltravelcouple.com – BEST CAMERAS FOR FILMMAKING

Recommendations

Best Small Film Cameras For Film Students – [Pros & Cons]

Top 10 Best Bag for Film Students

Best Camera for Photography Student

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You May Also Like