Jolley

Thanks to everyone for the replies and your sample videos. I really appreciate the advice, as I'm sure like many of you will agree, the more you start shopping, researching and comparing... the more confused and tired you get! ( although maybe my girlfriend wouldn't agree :) I've really appreciated on reflection where I can improve my techniques, most noticeably my tendency to over expose video. I do think from a business point of view the bright images sell a house far quicker than dark gloomy shots, which is my best excuse for this, but I'm determined to reduce noise and blown windows/lights on the video. I don't have time to set up stand alone lighting on my shoots, but the LED light panels which can clip on a camera flash mount look interesting? Would they help for video as an equivalent to bounce flash for still photos? So I see the logic in going for the Nikon D5300 now, combined with a new lens (as the sigma is VERY soft) (Tokina 11-16mm or Nikon 10-24mm is better?)... But the camera and new lens combined would come to around £1200, so I'm left wondering if I would regret not making the step up to full frame camera for the same money (such as the Nikon D610) as quality photography is actually more important to our marketing than video! :-/

Thanks for the feedback much appreciated! araucaria: In response to the frame rate, I record in 1080 @ 30fps and render in Adobe premier elements 11 as 1080p at 30fps (as I was aware you should render in the same settings you shoot at from previous advice)... Perhaps I'm doing something else wrong if this 'stuttering' is something other than internet speed? (I mean the file I upload to youtube is around 600mb for each video, and it doesn't stutter when I play back the original file outside of youtube). Perhaps the Nikon records in 1080i which would conflict if I render in 1080p afterwards? Chris

Dear forum members, I'd be very grateful for any advice/opinions any of you could share on my situation below! We run a small family estate agency in High Lane, England. Our USP / mission statement is to offer class leading photography and video tours of every property we take to market at no extra cost to our vendors, which we believe is quite unique in the UK at our price point. Our business is currently growing rapidly so we are now in a fortunate position where I can justify investing in some higher end photography equipment in order to keep improving our service. I currently shoot all photos and video with my trusty Nikon D5100 combined with a 35mm DX prime lens for detail/arty shots and sigma 10-20mm wide angle lens for the majority of shots. As I spend in the region of five hours on site per property, and a further day editing all the photos and video for each property, I'd like to think I was using the best equipment to match the time and effort involved (even if my skill levels are in question!). As a perfectionist, I'm frequently disappointed by the quality of video achieved (even if it is fairly decent considering the cost of the equipment). Clearly it's some way short of the claimed 1080p resolution of a professional production. Another key issue for me is the level of noise introduced to the picture (houses tend to be quite dark spaces inside with high contrast areas from the windows too, I feel my forced high ISO settings without additional lighting or HDR options can't be helped at times). So as I'm taking photos as well as video, I'm assuming my best route is to search for the best DSLR for video. I also need to consider which cameras offer the best lenses for my requirements, namely a pin sharp wide angle lens which works well in low light? (Nikon FX 14-24mm f2.8 seems to get rave reviews)!? I've been looking at a few cameras like Nikon D610 / D800/E, Canon 6D / 5D Mark III. Am I on the right track? Would you have any suggestions for camera/lens combinations? It seems I suppose there's also some sense in visiting a local store to see which one would suit me best? Ultimately, I'm primarily looking for a noticeable step up in video performance from my existing setup, whilst continuing to learn and improve my photography. If you're interested you can see a sample of my work (photos & video etc.) at the link below: http://www.jolley-co.com/view/3073692/6-Linden-Way-High-Lane-STOCKPORT.html Any feedback appreciated guys! Thanks again for your time. Kind regards, Chris