How to choose a camera if you're an amateur filmmaker
Let's say, you're an amateur filmmaker. You watched a couple of good video tutorials on youtube or even participated in some short-term filmmaking courses. You want to start to shoot your movies, but there is one problem: you have no camera! Well, that sucks. Of course, you can use your smartphone or even old point-and-shoot camera (and actually they both can produce a decent image), but it wouldn't be that fancy and cinematic, right? So, it's time to get something new and shiny.
When you're new to the filmmaking industry, avoid cinema cameras
Even if you have an unlimited budget, please, don't buy expensive cinema camera first. Even cheap Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera won't be a good choice. It would be really hard to shoot, edit and color grade, especially when you have almost no experience. And you can't use them as a photo camera, in case you decide to give up on filmmaking or just want to take some shots of sunset at the sea. Also, I hope there is no need to tell you to not buy old film cameras, for obvious reasons.
So, it's time to state some limits and prerequisites. It should be a DSLR or Mirrorless system camera, with an ability to shoot video (preferably 4k) and decent stills. It wouldn't make a big difference, but it would be better to have both microphone input and headphones output. You'll need it to record some backup sound if for some reason main audio recorder failed to do its job. Few extra points for adjustable live-view screen. Everything else shouldn't bother beginner filmmaker, at least for quite some time.
I haven't used all these cameras, but tried a lot of them, and read/watch a huge amount of articles and video reviews with samples. All the Amazon links below are affiliated, so whenever you buy something using them, Amazon will pay a small fee to me. It costs nothing for you, but I hope I can pay bills for this website hosting out of the fees.
Cameras
Canon 200D
Entry level work horse from Canon. Pretty good choice if you don't have any experience with DSLRs. Of course, it doesn't have all the shiny new features, but enough for starter.
NameCanon 200D Microphone in+ Headphones out- Display articulation Full Lens MountCanon EF Crop Factor1.6 4k Support- Price< 600 Linkhttp://amzn.to/2F02wQd
Canon 80D
Decent camera, with crop sensor, but close to pro-level. As a modern and more expensive Canon model, it have really good autofocus. Most filmmakers doesn't use it yet, but I think they'll start do it soon, at least on commercial/music video shoots (like, everything that is not a feature film). At least Canon introduced this Dual AF technology to their new professional cinema cameras (e.g. C200). So it definitely worth to have it. Other cool feature is weather sealing, so you'll have one less thing to worry on a set.
NameCanon 80D Microphone in+ Headphones out+ Display articulation Full Lens MountCanon EF Crop Factor1.6 4k Support- Price< 1000€ Linkhttp://amzn.to/2EYCmxd
Canon 6D MkII
Most affordable full-frame from Canon. Actually, it seems like this is only one big difference from 80D. 6D MkII doesn't have 4k, doesn't have dual cards slot, and doesn't even include a magician, that will make all your videos perfect instantly. So yeah, only full-frame sensor as a benefit.
NameCanon 6D MkII Microphone in+ Headphones out+ Display articulation Full Lens MountCanon EF Crop Factor1 4k Support- Price< 2000 Linkhttp://amzn.to/2F7liIv
Interlude
So, moving from Canon DSLRs to a mirrorless world. So without getting into technical details, mirrorless cameras don't have a mirror inside (what a surprise!). As a consequence, they a lighter, thinner, and don't have any optical viewfinder. That's all you need to know for a moment.
Panasonic G80
Nice and relatively cheap way to get 4K camera. It also comes with In Body Image Stabilisation (IBIS) technology. Which means that your footage will be less shaky. And if you also have lens with stabilisation, you won't need a steadycam or a gimbal (well, if it's not super high-paced action, you know, but usual tracking handheld shots will look smooth). But this camera have one big problem: it's not that good in low-light situations. You can't really use it beyond 800-1600 ISO. So take it into consideration. Also autofocus is shit.
NamePanasonic G80 Microphone in+ Headphones out- Display articulation Full Lens MountMicro 4/3 Crop Factor2 4k Support+ Price< 1000 Linkhttp://amzn.to/2F6OKhT
Panasonic GH5
The best 4k camera from under 2000 euros range. All the features of G80 (and also the same problems with low light and autofocus), plus ability to shoot in 10bit mode, log-gamma, 4:2:2 subsampling and all other magic words. If you don't know what they mean, it's okay, just know that this camera have way more features than you'll need (at least for the first year). I personally use this camera, and I love it. (Also this camera have weather-sealing, dual card slot and other stuff, that all professional cameras have)
NamePanasonic GH5 Microphone in+ Headphones out+ Display articulation Full Lens MountMicro 4/3 Crop Factor2 4k Support+ Price< 2000 Linkhttp://amzn.to/2EXOxu0
Sony A6300
Cheapest Sony mirrorless camera for filmmaker. It has basic 4K support, good autofocus and works decently in low-light situations. However, it has a problem with overheating in video mode (particularly in 4K). Also, it's quite small, and grip is not good.
NameSony a6300 Microphone in+ Headphones out- Display articulation Tilt Lens MountSony E Crop Factor1.6 4k Support+ Price< 1000 Linkhttp://amzn.to/2EXZrjv
Sony A6500
Better version of A6300. Sony added IBIS to this camera, and also tried to fix a lot of issues like overheating and grip. It wasn't fully fixed, but it's better now.
NameSony a6500 Microphone in+ Headphones out- Display articulation Tilt Lens MountSony E Crop Factor1.6 4k Support+ Price< 1500 Linkhttp://amzn.to/2GLMaLq
Lenses
Now you've seen a lot of cameras and maybe even picked one to buy. Well, it's time to reconsider your choice. Cameras don't live in a vacuum, they need lenses to actually collect and focus the light on the sensor. Actually, it's better to invest in lenses, as they can serve you for quite a long time when cameras tend to get old quite fast.
So, what do you need to know about lenses? Well, I hope you know something, as I don't want to go deep into explanations. But let's take a moment and talk about features that filmmaker needs to think about while buying a lens, beside max aperture value and focal distance:
Prime or zoom. Primes are sharp, cheap (as individual lenses), and usually, have wider aperture. Zooms are more convenient, in terms of both usage and storage.
Autofocus or manual. Not everyone needs autofocus feature, and I haven't seen cheap cine lens with autofocus at all.
Photo or cine. For an amateur filmmaker the biggest difference between this two types of lenses will be the fact that cine lenses have way more precise manual focus and also an ability to change an aperture without clicks. Very neat features.
Also, the last but not least. If you really want to dive into cinema world, but don't initially buy Canon camera, it's still better to buy Canon EF lenses. Let me explain why. Good lenses cost a lot. Good full-frame lenses cost even more. Good full-frame cine lenses can be more expensive than a kidney. So it's good to use them for a long period of time. And if you buy lenses with Canon EF mount you can use them on Panasonic or Sony mirrorless cameras with adapter (like this or this). If you move to real cinema cameras, you can still use these lenses, because Canon EF mount is widespread on all levels of the cinematic world. But if you're on a budget, don't be shy and use native Panasonic/Sony lenses. They will be lighter, in almost all cases cheaper, and you can always sell them anyway.
Cheap photo autofocus primes
Canon
Wide: Canon EF 20mm f/2.8 ~500 Euro
Standard: Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 ~120 Euro
Tele: Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 ~400 Euro
Panasonic
Wide: Sigma 16mm f/1.4 ~450 Euro
Standard: Panasonic 25mm f/1.7 ~170 Euro
Tele: Panasonic 42.5 f/1.7 ~340 Euro
Sony
Wide: Sigma 16mm f/1.4 ~500 Euro
Standard: Sony FE 50mm f/1.8 ~230 Euro
Tele: Sony FE 85mm f/1.8 ~630 Euro
If you want to go really cheap, you can just take standard lens. Next option will be standard + wide. And the last one is all three.
Little bit more expensive autofocus photo zooms
Canon
Canon EF 24-70mm f/4L IS ~790 Euro
Panasonic
Panasonic 12-35mm f/2.8 ~910 Euro
Olympus 12-40 f/2.8 ~850 Euro
Sony
Sony 18-105mm f/4 ~530 Euro
Only one lens and all the basics are covered. But pay attention to aperture values.
Adapted old lenses
You can use old primes and zooms from film era to use with mirrorless (Panasonic and Sony) cameras. It would be really cheap, but will require search at Ebay and some amount of luck. Checkout "Vintage lenses for video" for further information.
(Almost) true cinema lenses from Samyang
Okay, let's look at actual cinema lenses. Actually, they are rehoused from manual photo lenses, but it doesn't matter for newbie. These Samyang (also known as Rokinon and Bower) lenses exist for every modern mount, so you can just choose 1-2-3-4 lenses with desired focal distance and you're good to go:
Samyang 16mm T2.2
Samyang 24mm T1.5
Samyang 35mm T1.5
Samyang 50mm T1.5
Samyang 85mm T1.5 (cheapest of them all)
Combine
The easiest way would be getting camera with kit lens. After a month or two of pain (as it will something like 18-55mm f/3.8-56 with plastic instead of glass) you'll know what exactly do you need. Usually, first choice after kit is standard lens (like canon 50mm f/1.8). Then something wide, then something tele. But it really depends on your needs, budget and amount of time you want to spend with camera.
Conclusion
In this article, I've tried to cover only camera side of filmmaking. Of course, if you're an indy filmmaker you'll also need to buy sound and light equipment on your own, but that's another big story, that I can cover later. Tell me in the comments section, have you found this article helpful, and do you want to see any more posts on this matter. Good luck and have fun on your filmmaker's path.