Reddit mentions of Movo Photo HVA20 Heavy-Duty Video Accessory Dual Shoe Bracket for Lights, Monitors, Microphones and More

yeah, i'd do that with any camera tbh and keep the in-camera audio as a back up, just because the pre-amps on consumer cameras tend to generate a lot of hiss.


if that's the case-- if you want sharper video and 60p for slow mo/a better camera for whenever you want to shoot stills, either the a6000 or its cheaper sibling the a5100 are great options. the a6000 is a little easier to use ergonomically because of its hotshoe and viewfinder, and only about $100 more. The a6000 doesnt have a mic jack, but there's a pretty decent shotgun stereo mic that sony makes that plugs directly into the hotshoe to work for about $100.

i'd also definitely recommend going for the native 50mm 1.8 or 35mm 1.8 with OSS in them-- they're not too pricey, especially used, and the stabilization and video AF in both are surprisingly decent.

Panasonic also has some really good options, namely, you can get a used GH2 or G6 for under $300, both of which do great video.



But I'm not going to recommend either of those. Instead, I'm going to recommend the EOS M. You can get one with the pancake 22mm f/2 kit lens for under $300, easily. Yes, it's soft 1080p, but:

>1: it has a mic jack and hotshoe, and with magic lantern, you get pre-amp control, audio levels, and focus peaking to fix its ergonomic failings


>2: its image quality in stills mode is excellent


>3: that leaves you with as much as $250 (even less!!!) for other lenses and or lights + mics + etc


>4: it's mirrorless, so you can adapt basically any mount for it


>5: its the canon menu system, so you're used to it, and if you're shooting for web, soft 1080p is ok-- basically all video on the web is upscaled 720 at best with Youtube's garbage compression & Vimeo's very wise move to default at 720p for streaming. More importantly, canon has great out-of-the-box skin tones, decent 3rd party options for flat profiles, and does skin tones better than anyone (though samsung comes close).

>6: with the amazing 22mm pancake lens, you can literally fit it in your pocket, with a sharp, fast, wide lens. don't underestimate that. I'll never, ever be getting rid of my EOS M for that very reason.

if you're willing to chance it with a no-return ebay listing, this is an insane deal for it at $200: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Canon-EOS-M-18-0-MP-Digital-Camera-Black-Kit-w-EF-M-STM-22mm-Lens-Extras-/301852333911?hash=item4647cd1757:g:xmcAAOSwUV9WntSq


edit: here's a listing that does offer returns and isnt expiring in 25 minutes: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Canon-EOS-M-18-0-MP-Digital-Camera-w-EF-M-STM-22mm-Lens-SN401090-Near-Mint/252261698510?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20150604093004%26meid%3D9cc556ced6ae4eb2988415606b2afa1e%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D321987815557&rt=nc


Edit 2:

If you go with the eos M + 22mm at $250, that leaves you with:


-$125 for a solid ravelli video tripod (less if you search CL or ebay)


-this Takstar mic for $30-- it's 90% as good as a Rode/AT, and its actually easier to work with in post (which you'll need to do with in-camera audio) http://www.amazon.com/Takstar-SGC-598-Recording-Microphone-Camcorder/dp/B00E1D2LTA

-this 50mm f/1.8 manual focus lens for approx. $30 http://www.ebay.com/itm/CANON-LENS-EX-50-MM-1-1-8-/262261014275?hash=item3d0ff97f03:g:oHMAAOSwNSxVdKLd (requires a cheap adapter for an additional $16: http://www.amazon.com/Fotasy-AEMFD-Mirror-Camera-Adapter/dp/B00ACYTWFI/ref=sr_1_2?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1453854045&sr=8-2&keywords=ef-m+fd)

this LED camera light for $30: http://www.amazon.com/NEEWER%C2%AE-Dimmable-Digital-Camcorder-Panasonic/dp/B004TJ6JH6/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1453854327&sr=8-3&keywords=led+camera+light

This hotshoe extender for $12: http://www.amazon.com/Movo-HVA20-Heavy-Duty-Accessory-Microphones/dp/B00HTWF7MS/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1453854366&sr=8-11-spons&keywords=hotshoe+extender&psc=1

and finally, this cold-shoe grip + extender, for using this tiny camera on the go with a mic for $30:
http://www.amazon.com/Movo-SVH6-Stabilizing-Extender-Olympus/dp/B00YQD94RW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1453854193&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=cold+shoe&psc=1

This is a little over $500, so you could drop 1 or 2 of the accessories, but this will do way more for you for your money.

The D5100 is not a great choice for video, as it doesn't allow you to adjust aperture while shooting video which makes it a real pain getting your exposure correct.

For ~$100 more than the SX60HS you could grab a Panasonic G7 which also supports 4k and has a whole lot more video-focused features; and also there's quite a range of relatively inexpensive M43 glass that costs a lot less than Nikon mount lenses.

Generally if you're shooting with DSLR or mirrorless you'll want an external audio solution. For example, you could combine whatever camera you end up buying with an inexpensive recorder such as a Zoom H1. You can then use a Attenuating cable with headphone splitter to allow you to route the audio from the recorder into the camera for synchronised recording while also allowing you to listen to the audio with headphones.

You can connect the camera, microphone, and recorder together using a cold shoe extender and a 1/4"-20 screw to cold shoe adapter for the audio recorder.

Given that it sounds like you'll be recording in very noisy environments anyway, I wouldn't worry too much about handling noise, especially if you mount whatever microphone you get in a suspension mount.