• The SH Membership has gone live. Only SH Members have access to post in the classifieds. All members can view the classifieds. Starting in 2020 only SH Members will be admitted to the annual hunting contest. Current members will need to follow these steps to upgrade: 1. Click on your username 2. Click on Account upgrades 3. Choose SH Member and purchase.
  • We've been working hard the past few weeks to come up with some big changes to our vendor policies to meet the changing needs of our community. Please see the new vendor rules here: Vendor Access Area Rules

Self-Filming

Jrybicki said:
Im looking to get into self filming as well. Played around with just a gopro the last few seasons but the fish eye and no zoom makes it difficult. Ive noticed a lot of people lean towards video cameras for ease of use... Id also like something to take pictures with... anyone using a mirrorless camera that doesnt break the bank? And are you able to control them with a lanc type controller?
Click to expand...

No you cannot control focus and zoom on most DSLR and Mirrorless. Zoom and focus are controlled on the lens rings. I use a Sony A73 with a 200-600mm lens for wildlife photography and I want to try to use it to self film this year instead of my camcorder but I might end up going back to the camcorder just due to ease of use. If you go the mirrorless route, you want to spend more on your lense than the camera body. Camera bodies come and go but good glass will always be good glass and you can take your lenses from camera to camera as you upgrade. When you say “not break the bank” what do you have in mind? This type of gear is a money pit so everybody has different perspective of a “budget setup”.

Camcorders will take photos but they are not intended for photography. iPhones take just as good of photos as most camcorders except that they don’t zoom in as much. But if you just want to take trophy photos after you get a kill then a camcorder or Iphone is fine. If you want to get into photography and get pictures of live animals while in the woods, than a mirrorless is the way to go but the learning curve is a lot steeper forsure.

Here is a picture of my wildlife photo setup that I want to try to use for filming this year, and an example of a low light picture I got a few weeks ago. I got a cool video of these bucks fighting as well but the file is too big to upload here. This is considered a midrange setup in the photography world, but I couldn’t afford the highest end stuff and the results I’ve been getting with this are plenty good for my standards anyways. The biggest thing you are going to be sacrificing with a budget setup is low light capability and depth of field (blurry “bokeh” background that gives a cinematic look). Full frame camera bodies will have much better low light ability that crop sensor cameras, but the biggest determinant will be the maximum aperture of your lense. Aperture is measured as “F-stop”, the lower the f-stop the more light it gathers and therefore is better in low light, so F2.8 is much better than F4 but also costs more and weighs more too so there are trade offs to every setup. My advice is do a ton of research and spend more on your lens than your camera body, then upgrade your camera body down the line. If you have any questions about camera and lens combinations, you can PM me.


fb41342c434fcf04d3c8510b11ee66b9.jpg

685abedf76f3c6a9f7a1cbfe1474e817.jpg



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
wildmed said:
No you cannot control focus and zoom on most DSLR and Mirrorless. Zoom and focus are controlled on the lens rings. I use a Sony A73 with a 200-600mm lens for wildlife photography and I want to try to use it to self film this year instead of my camcorder but I might end up going back to the camcorder just due to ease of use. If you go the mirrorless route, you want to spend more on your lense than the camera body. Camera bodies come and go but good glass will always be good glass and you can take your lenses from camera to camera as you upgrade. When you say “not break the bank” what do you have in mind? This type of gear is a money pit so everybody has different perspective of a “budget setup”.

Camcorders will take photos but they are not intended for photography. iPhones take just as good of photos as most camcorders except that they don’t zoom in as much. But if you just want to take trophy photos after you get a kill then a camcorder or Iphone is fine. If you want to get into photography and get pictures of live animals while in the woods, than a mirrorless is the way to go but the learning curve is a lot steeper forsure.

Here is a picture of my wildlife photo setup that I want to try to use for filming this year, and an example of a low light picture I got a few weeks ago. I got a cool video of these bucks fighting as well but the file is too big to upload here. This is considered a midrange setup in the photography world, but I couldn’t afford the highest end stuff and the results I’ve been getting with this are plenty good for my standards anyways. The biggest thing you are going to be sacrificing with a budget setup is low light capability and depth of field (blurry “bokeh” background that gives a cinematic look). Full frame camera bodies will have much better low light ability that crop sensor cameras, but the biggest determinant will be the maximum aperture of your lense. Aperture is measured as “F-stop”, the lower the f-stop the more light it gathers and therefore is better in low light, so F2.8 is much better than F4 but also costs more and weighs more too so there are trade offs to every setup. My advice is do a ton of research and spend more on your lens than your camera body, then upgrade your camera body down the line. If you have any questions about camera and lens combinations, you can PM me.


fb41342c434fcf04d3c8510b11ee66b9.jpg

685abedf76f3c6a9f7a1cbfe1474e817.jpg



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Wow thanks for the info. I was leaning towards the mirrorless for the low light capabilities and something I could use for wildlife photogrophy/family photos/maybe youtube stuff down the road. I also know "braking the bank" is different for everyone and self filming is an endless rabbit hole but I figured for an initial setup with a standard lens for (post hunt interviews/B-roll) and something like a 70-200 would be more than enough... cant see more than 60-70 yards in most areas I hunt currently. Also want something that can handle being in the weather an not have to worry about damaging the equipment if it gets wet (hunt in the swamp/have tripped/fallen a time or two). Budget wise for me I think would be under $3K for everything (Camera body, lenses, rode mic, wireless mic, tripod, camera arm, fluid head, controller if applicable). Though the more I read and see even in this thread... camcorder might be the easiest/quickest way to jump into it and see if it is something I would even enjoy doing with the added pack weight and hassle of setup/filming.
 
$3000 is definitely doable for getting into a good mirrorless setup. Mine was between $4k-5k but I bought everything brand new and some of the things have come down in price since new cameras have come out. You also could get a similar setup used for much cheaper if you did your research and were patient. You are right about the learning curve though, a camcorder is much easier when trying to film and shoot the animal with your bow. If photography and high quality is your goal you will be much happier going the mirrorless route but if just filming hunts is the primary goal, a prosumer camcorder like the ones others have listed will be the way to go. I started with a camcorder which I still have and used for self-filming but I get a lot more use out of my mirrorless now because I can go out and take pictures and videos of deer and other animals anytime of year, and I can go into state parks where there are bigger unpressured animals. I actually setup in my saddle or in my ghillie suit that I use for hunting in the offseason to get photos of wildlife, it’s like my hunting season is year-round but only part of the year I get to carry my bow. I actually have found some of my best hunting spots by stumbling upon them when out taking wildlife photos. Both have their advantages, just depends on what your primary goal is. Either way it’s cool to capture the memories in the outdoors and show to others.

Where are you located? If you by chance are in WI, I will probably be at the saddlehunter WI meetup and plan to bring my filming and wildlife photo gear if people are interested. If you happen to live in WI you could try out both of my setups before you buy. If not you can always rent from a camera shop and take it out in the woods and try to film your dog or kids or whatever and see what you like better.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
$3000 is definitely doable for getting into a good mirrorless setup. Mine was between $4k-5k but I bought everything brand new and some of the things have come down in price since new cameras have come out. You also could get a similar setup used for much cheaper if you did your research and were patient. You are right about the learning curve though, a camcorder is much easier when trying to film and shoot the animal with your bow. If photography and high quality is your goal you will be much happier going the mirrorless route but if just filming hunts is the primary goal, a prosumer camcorder like the ones others have listed will be the way to go. I started with a camcorder which I still have and used for self-filming but I get a lot more use out of my mirrorless now because I can go out and take pictures and videos of deer and other animals anytime of year, and I can go into state parks where there are bigger unpressured animals. I actually setup in my saddle or in my ghillie suit that I use for hunting in the offseason to get photos of wildlife, it’s like my hunting season is year-round but only part of the year I get to carry my bow. I actually have found some of my best hunting spots by stumbling upon them when out taking wildlife photos. Both have their advantages, just depends on what your primary goal is. Either way it’s cool to capture the memories in the outdoors and show to others.

Where are you located? If you by chance are in WI, I will probably be at the saddlehunter WI meetup and plan to bring my filming and wildlife photo gear if people are interested. If you happen to live in WI you could try out both of my setups before you buy. If not you can always rent from a camera shop and take it out in the woods and try to film your dog or kids or whatever and see what you like better.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
wildmed said:
$3000 is definitely doable for getting into a good mirrorless setup. Mine was between $4k-5k but I bought everything brand new and some of the things have come down in price since new cameras have come out. You also could get a similar setup used for much cheaper if you did your research and were patient. You are right about the learning curve though, a camcorder is much easier when trying to film and shoot the animal with your bow. If photography and high quality is your goal you will be much happier going the mirrorless route but if just filming hunts is the primary goal, a prosumer camcorder like the ones others have listed will be the way to go. I started with a camcorder which I still have and used for self-filming but I get a lot more use out of my mirrorless now because I can go out and take pictures and videos of deer and other animals anytime of year, and I can go into state parks where there are bigger unpressured animals. I actually setup in my saddle or in my ghillie suit that I use for hunting in the offseason to get photos of wildlife, it’s like my hunting season is year-round but only part of the year I get to carry my bow. I actually have found some of my best hunting spots by stumbling upon them when out taking wildlife photos. Both have their advantages, just depends on what your primary goal is. Either way it’s cool to capture the memories in the outdoors and show to others.

Where are you located? If you by chance are in WI, I will probably be at the saddlehunter WI meetup and plan to bring my filming and wildlife photo gear if people are interested. If you happen to live in WI you could try out both of my setups before you buy. If not you can always rent from a camera shop and take it out in the woods and try to film your dog or kids or whatever and see what you like better.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Originally from MI but am currently living in SC going on year 8 now, LA for 6 prior to that...hoping to get somewhere out west or Alaska...but thats up to uncle sam. I will definitely need to do a bit more research and think about things a bit to narrow down my approach but will for sure be PMing you in the near future.
 
S
Jrybicki said:
Originally from MI but am currently living in SC going on year 8 now, LA for 6 prior to that...hoping to get somewhere out west or Alaska...but thats up to uncle sam. I will definitely need to do a bit more research and think about things a bit to narrow down my approach but will for sure be PMing you in the near future.
Click to expand...
Sounds good, happy to help. Alaska is awesome! I worked in a little medical clinic in Southeast Alaska for a summer, I have been wanted to go back since.

If you or anyone else wants to learn more about this stuff, DIY Sportsman has a good self-filming basics series and Dylan from The Breaking Point TV has really really good how-to film hunts videos on their youtube channel; I'm pretty sure he also does a lot of filming for Jeff Sturgis on Whitetail Habitat Solutions. Dylan is much higher level than I am, and I actually messaged him and he got back to me and gave me advice about some of this stuff before I got my current setup. Aron Snyder on Kifarucast has podcast episodes dedicated specifically to hunting and backcountry photography and videography too, and those are good for higher level mirrorless and DSLR stuff.

Those would all be good places to start. I did a ton of research and used an old craigslist camera for a long time to learn this stuff. I dont actually recommend going the cheap camera route to start off though unless thats all someone can afford because it can be frustrating and discouraging especially if you are trying to photo wildlife.

Sorry, I realize this is probably info overload and I don't want to sabotage this thread, but its a big investment and it can be hard to find reliable info, so those are good places to learn this stuff.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top