t3i vs sr11 for video

[gtxrla]

I'm trying to decide between these two cameras... I will just be making youtube videos, mainly with the camera on a tripod, possibly with glidecam. Usually it will just be me filming myself. I want a very clear picture and depth of field. Both seem to have depth of field, but t3i a lot better.

It's hard to decide... sr11 is $350 (used, is it ok to buy camcorder used more than dslr?), t3i plus 50mm 1.8 ii is $600 (new body and lens)

-sr11 is much cheaper, and I don't even need to buy a memory card, just extra batteries. I saw some people used something to put 50mm on here for good depth of field http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BolN2h7qjjk but I couldn't find the information for that, but it appears that the sr11 has depth of field by itself.
-Does anyone know about the pre-amps on the sr11? I imagine it does not provide phantom power?


Overall I like the video on t3i much more, but I'm not sure if 50mm is enough, I might need to get 2 lenses. How far away would the camera need to be to get a full body shot of somebody, or even 2-3 people standing up with the 50mm? Would being this far affect anything on the video, like distortion or something (besides sound)?

Just wanted to get your guys opinion on this, I'm having a tough time deciding between the two...

[aedipuss]

a 50mm on the t3i is a telephoto lens ~ 80mm in standard format. maybe 15ft for a 6ft. person. don't forget you also have to buy an external mic for that dslr, unless you like really crappy mono audio.

[Video Head]

I use a 50mm 1.4 USM with my t3i and 7d. It produces beautiful bokeh and is one of my favorite lenses. Not certain that I would call it a zoom, but it is definately not wide angle. I have an assortment of prime lenses that I use for video but sometimes use a telephoto for video. With proper camera settings it is possible to achieve nice depth of field with a telephoto.

As previously said, you will need to deal with the audio.

I use a rig that can go from tripod to shoulder mount. The Steadycam sounds interesting and I would be interested in hearing how it works for you if you go that route.

How are you going to deal with focus? Manual or electronic follow focus?

VH

[gtxrla]

As far as focus, whatever the camera offers... I hear manual is better, but a lot of times I imagine I will just shoot myself...
I got a shure sm 70 or something like that, it is a lavalier that requires phantom power, but also has a battery that will supply phantom to itself, so I will order either a h1 or h4n to attach it to and sync later, I could also use the h1/h4n as makeshift shotgun until I have more funds I guess.

I really don't want to just film my face though, is 50mm good if I just have it futher back to film my whole body or 3/4 of body?

[gtxrla]

speaking of the audio though, if I get a t3i, can I disable the agc with magic lantern and just stick the microphone with a xlr to 3.5 adapter into the t3i so that I don't need to sync the two, since I can provide phantom with the battery?

[aedipuss]

50mm is fine as long as you have the room to be able to move it far enough away. i use magic lantern firmware on a canon 60d and it allows manual audio levels. you'll have to check what is available on a t3i. the xlr to 3.5 should work, the input is stereo though.

[gtxrla]

cool, thanks for your help aedipuss. I think I'll go with the t3i for now.