I recently got an email question from a reader asking me what gear would best fit his needs. I thought I would share my answer with you guys. After talking a little, we came up with this wish list for a kit.
Kit Wish List:
- Needs to be under $3000
- Decent low-light capability
- Two Cameras would be important
- Will need to do slow motion
- Lenses need to be included
- Tripods have to be in the kit
If you ask me, thats a tall order for that budget! Luckily, he would be shooting music videos, so audio equipment wouldn’t have to be a big part of the kit.
The hardest part for me was to get two cameras with decent slow motion AND lenses to fit within the budget. But I was able to make it work!
Finding the Right Camera Combo
The first brand I thought of was Sony. Sony DSLRs have pretty good low light and 60FPS at 1080. The problem would be the cost for two cameras. But this is where the Canon EOS-M inspired me… I shoot with my 5D and my EOS-M all the time. I really like the workflow of having a loaded DSLR and a light and fast second camera. So I took that same idea and transferred it to Sony and this is what I came up with:
Sony Two Camera Kit
- Sony A77 WITH 16-50mm F2.8 ($300 off right now at B&H) $1100
- Sony NEX 6 (Comes with $300 of accessories from B&H) $600
- Sony A to E adapter (to use with the NEX 6) $200
- Rokinon 85mm F1.4 lens $300
- Davis and Sanford Grounder Tripod $165
- Davis and Sanford Standard Tripod $140
TOTAL: $2505
This kit gave this shooter two cameras, with slow motion (60p), two lenses with a decent range and tripods. Not to mention he still has 500 in the budget for cards, batteries, bags and all those little things he’ll need.
Just for kicks, I gave him two other kit packages to compare with. The first was another two camera kit from Canon which would include the lovely Tamron 24-70mm since the cameras are cheaper. The second package was a single A99 kit.
Canon Two Camera Kit
- Canon 60D $700
- Canon EOS-M $300
- EF to M Adapter (for the EOS-M) $60
- Tamron 24-70mm F2.8 VC $1178
- Canon 50mm F1.4 $339
- Davis and Sanford Grounder Tripod $165
- Davis and Sanford Standard Tripod $140
TOTAL: $2882
Sony Pro Kit
- Sony Full-Frame A99 ($380 worth of extras from B&H) $2300
- Sony 50mm F1.8 $218
- Rokinon 85mm F1.4 lens $300
- Davis and Sanford Grounder Tripod $165
TOTAL: $2983
Conclusion
I hope this helps some of you looking for a similar kit.
I hope this helps you out. If you purchase gear using the Amazon and B&H links on my site (found here) I would greatly appreciate it. With each purchase I get a small commission at no additional cost to you: