DSLR Cinematography

This semester, I have really grown to love DSLR cinematography. I'd been wanting to learn more about it and get more experience with it for a really long time, so learning more about DSLR video was actually my favorite part of class. I studied still photography all throughout high school so it was nice to feel close to these cameras again. Now I'm saving up to get a t3i!

The main advantage of DSLR cinematography to me is that it just downright looks gorgeous. The color and depth that these camera can pull out of a shot is just lovely. They look more classically "cinematic," thanks to their ability to crush the depth of field so that the focus becomes extremely shallow.

I've really enjoyed learning the particular settings we can adjust in camera to get the most out of DSLR. I know that it will take much more experimentation on my own to discover how these settings affect the picture and what I'm comfortable working with myself, but I felt like Shane Hurlburt's videos explaining his preferred settings really took what I already knew to a whole 'nother level.

Disadvantages:

It makes me sad to even think of the sweet little DSLR's disadvantages, but of course there are some.

• overheating - the cameras can overheat relatively quickly, especially if shooting in the hot sun. this will slow down production as you will have to wait for them to cool down before you being shooting again
• jelly roll - probably the most disappointing disadvantage, a  DSLR can create a weird affect if you move the camera quickly 
• shallow depth of field can be tricky - because the depth of field can be much more shallow, you may only have a teensy bit of room to get something in critical focus. this is made even harder by the fact that the DSLR has a tiny on-camera monitor, so if you're not using an external one, you have to really trust that your eyes are seeing the focus correctly on a such a small screen. pulling focus can also be hard.

But still, DSLR's are just really lovely and can create beautiful imagery.