Looks like a sick fucking setup, but I would recommend you get a prime for filming too, such as the nifty fifty (50mm 1.8 Canon lens or the 1.4 version if you can afford it, maybe even the 35mm prime). Very flexible lens with a good field of view, as well as nice and small/light on the camera. I would not recommend the 18-200 IS personally. My experiences have been that it's better to have one lens for wide-medium and one for telephoto. For the price of that 18-200, you could get an '17-85mm f4-5.6 IS USM' AND a 55-250mm IS. But, it depends on whether you want to be swapping lenses much. They've been selling the 600d with an 18-135mm kit lens I think, so maybe try and get that somewhere.

I will be getting my dirty hands on a 600d for xmas, cannot wait!

As for the tripod, thats one thing not to go tight on - they are so important/useful for most situations and they will last a long time - IF you spent the money to begin with. I know alot of people say use glidecams too for filming, but i dont know much on that front yet, sorry.

Word. The wide angle was the lens I was sold on from watching some test footage, but obviously I need a "normal" one if I'm doing traditional video. I guess since I'm so used to shooting on things like HVX's that I'm a little nervous to locking myself down to prime lenses.

I wouldn't go for the 18-200 lens. You really don't need to film that far away or get that macro if you're trying to get blade clips. I mean it's interesting for a few shots, but get something like a 35 of a 50.

do not get the 50mm 1.8 though, it's super shitty. the 50 1.4 runs circles around it. I'm talking about the focusing. it's nice.

Do it. Lock yourself in with a prime lens. By limiting yourself you will excel because you wont be fucking with the zooming while filming, or worrying about if you should zoom it out more or less. you just fucking film it.

This, and the high aperture of a prime such as the 50mm is really useful too. Take a serious look at the 50mm 1.4 if money isn't an object, but also the 35mm f2, to give you a little bit of a wider angle on the 600d crop sensor.

Cool. 50mm 1.4 it is. That also frees up some dough which is nice. My gut first told me I'd want something longer or that can zoom longer, but honestly, since I'm doing either films or skating rather than something like football games or wildlife, I feel like I'd be all set with these two lenses. Would you agree?

If it's for filming and not photo, get a m42 50mm lens with an adapter. They are cheap and built for manual focusing.
You don't need a 200mm lens, especially with a crop which gives a ridiculous amount of 320mm.

Get a tripod!!

So, the 10-20mm and 50mm will be more than fine for a start, after a while you will figure out if you need a longer lens (and how long).

And although I only have a fair knowledge of Canon lenses, I'd suggest to take a look at 24-105L IS. I think it's about 900-1000$ in the US, and looks really good. I'd propably get a 24-105mm and a 50mm. Watch these vids, the guys at DigitalRev shoot all their reviews with a 24-105 (on a 5dmk2), without any glidecams. They are walking around the city all the time, and the footage looks good.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gHxZh7kjic
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hk5IMmEDWH4

Pretty much. Like s. says, you can always decide later if you want a walkabout lens such as a 24-105 or 18-135 like I suggested earlier, or even a proper telephoto.

Cool. Well here's a tripod that jumped out at me. I like that it can also be used as a monopod, 3 way fluid head and a decent length pan handle rather than a pistol grip. Also decent height and can stand tall enough that I can look into it at eye level. Anything I'm looking over? Could I get something just as good for cheaper? Should I be looking at something more expensive for some reason?

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...opod_with.html

ill tell you right now that handle is the beast, ive been using it for awhile, only thing is if its on one of the side slots it tends to wiggle around if you do any violent shakes. But all and all a great handle

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...egs_Black.html
+
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...luid_Head.html

what i use, its very durable, stable, reliable. I love it, and often use it as something of a steadycam also.

U- fly cam and a battery grip with an lcd screen the U-fly is just as good as a glide cam but way cheaper and the battery grip is the one of the best things besides lenses that I invested in for my DSLR

Also get the R0de shotgun mount mic best for your money

This was filmed by only prime lenses.

I used a 35 1.4 (it was like 300)
a 50 1.4 (350)
a 50 1.2 (1200)
a 8mm 3.5 (idk, probably 400, wasn't mine)
and a 15 L .. don't know the aperture wasn't mine.

http://vimeo.com/30992253


90 percent of this video was filmed in either a 35mm or a 50mm. No zooms, barely any wide angles, no tripods, or steady cams (there was 1 steady cam shot, btu that wasn't me, it was contributed by my boy)

all hand held. You can tell, a lot of shots are a bit shaky but it's not that important. after a few months shooting on it solid you would be fine. Plus I have super shaky hands by nature. I have to use a technique to put weight on the camera. I use the camera strap and put it over my head and I pull the camera away from me as tight as I can before it becomes uncomfortable. That way I can keep the camera more steady.

For an UWA (ultra wide angle) I would skip the Sigma and go for the Tokina 11-16 f2.8. It's faster and sharper. It is a little more money though.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc..._AT_X_116.html

But also consider how you'll be using the UWA. Be aware that it is not a fisheye, it does not have barrel distortion. So if you're picturing using it for skate stuff as you would a fisheye, but not for much else, go with one of the "Korean" aka "manybrand" fisheyes, like this one:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...ide_Angle.html

It'll be cheaper, wider, and these lenses actually have a slightly UWA-ish distortion to them, so you may be able to get away with using it occasionally for other stuff. But, if you have a significant amount of non-skate uses for a UWA, go for the Tokina.

I would also skip the 18-200. As others have said, a fast normal/short tele prime is very useful. The Canon or Sigma 50mm f1.4's are both great. A 50 is pretty long on a crop body though.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...Autofocus.html

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc..._f_1_4_EX.html

Also consider the Canon 28mm f1.8 or the Sigma 30mm f1.4: these will give you a "normal" FOV on a crop body, which is a bit more useful IMO, especially indoors. I'm picking up the Sigma tomorrow myself, hopefully.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...e_EF_28mm.html

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...1_4_EX_DC.html

For a zoom, consider the Canon 17-55 f2.8 or the Tamron 17-50 f2.8 VC.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc..._f_2_8_IS.html

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...0mm_f_2_8.html

These will be your "all-around" lens. the IS/VC will help tremendously with handheld/shoulder-mounted shooting, and the constant aperture will allow you to pull some zooming action (if you can handle doing so). The Canon is the gold standard but the Tamron is supposed to be excellent too, at least more than enough so for video, as opposed to photo.

One important thing to consider: if you're only shooting video, paying more for modern lenses just to get electronic aperture control and autofocus (that you can't use in video mode) is just a waste. it seems your focus is entirely on video, so you should consider going the "used older manual primes with an adapter" route.

You will save a LOT of money doing this, and the focusing action on these older lenses is better than newer autofocus lenses. You won't be able to do this for your UWA/fisheye or your IS walk-around lens, but seriously consider it for your primes. You could get a semi-wide, a normal, a short tele and probably a longer tele, all at f2 or faster, for probably the same amount as just the Canon 50 1.4.

Don't bother paying $50 for a Canon-brand battery. Get three generics (but make sure they have the "chip" so they'll communicate with the camera) for the same price- you will need them. Here's a shop I've bought batteries from before:

http://lacoloronline.com/product/?LP...atible-Battery

There's also plenty to be found on Amazon, eBay, etc.

Personally I consider a battery grip a must-have for my camera, but I'm also shooting photos, and that's where it's most helpful. Its only real benefits for video are extended battery life (as the grip holds two batteries), increased mass/size (helps with stability), and it supposedly also helps prevent/lessen the camera overheating, as the battery isn't inside the camera body. It'll probably come down to preference for you. There are a few good generic grips out there too, for like $40 or so, so no need to fork out for the official Canon version.

For cards I recommend Sandisk, they're kind of the gold standard. Those Lexars say 15MB/s which is a bit low. The Sandisks I use are 30MB/s and are also on sale right now at B&H when you buy two or more:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...HC_Memory.html

The X-Grip is pretty meh but it'll work. Unfortunately you're not gonna get into anything better without being real crafty or spending a lot more. I have a Cam Caddie (the product the X-Grip is a copy of) with some mods to it, works decently and was pretty cheap to do. I'll post pics sometime soon.

A tripod is a must. That Sunpak is pretty much crap, and I had the older version of that Manfrotto 128 head that someone posted, and I'd recommend against it. On a budget it seems the best choice is the Weifeng/E-Image 717 variants, which you can find on eBay for under $200 with legs. The head has a decent action and you can get it with photo-style legs or with crutch(video)-style legs, and with or without a ball mount. Since you're just shooting video I'd probably go for a version like this:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/WF717-Heavy-...item19c8a3d30b

As it has a ball mount, so easier leveling, and the crutch-style legs are more stable than photo-style legs.

Here's a taller version:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/EI717X-1580m...item1e6478cf90

The next step up from there would be into Manfrotto stuff. I have the 701HDV head:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...uid_Video.html

and I like it a lot. It's very smooth, small, affordable, and lightweight. Many will recommend the 501HDV instead, but it's much larger and you don't need its larger weight capacity for a DSLR setup. Most importantly, the 501 is not actually a true fluid head, while the 701 is. Also, the 701 uses the most common style/size of Manfrotto's plates, which means you'll be able to move your cam from the 701 to a higher-end Manfrotto tripod, or to your shoulder rig or glidecam using their 577 QR adapter, without taking the plate off your cam.

Manfrotto legs are good too but I don't know enough about all their models to recommend any particular one. B&H always has a lot of combos with 701 heads and various legs so I would just browse through those.

I would recommend getting this cheapy shoulder rig too:

http://www.amazon.com/CowboyStudio-S.../dp/B0036NMQ7S

It's cheap plastic and the risers/brackets you get with it are crap, but I have it set up with one of these:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...t_Adapter.html

instead of the brackets/risers. My camera/handle just slots right in and boom, ready to go. That reminds me, you NEED a loupe/LCDVF. Here's a good but cheap one:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/USA-Carry-Sp...item1c1eb2e4a0

The metal frame gets mounted to your LCD (which unfortunately costs you the ability to flip your LCD inwards) and the viewfinder snaps on via magnets. This is absolutely critical for focusing.

As for mics, here's three options:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...icrophone.html

Azden SMX-10. Cheap ($65 elsewhere I believe, shop around), stereo, decent. Will work well for skating but not to much for interviews/speaking.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...a_Mounted.html

Rode VideoMic. This will give you very good, mono, directional sound. It's pretty big though, and floppy. Kinda annoying to deal with.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...t_Shotgun.html

Rode VideoMic Pro. Best (and most expensive, of course) option for recording right into the camera. Small, has a pre-amp built in which will give you the cleanest sound as you can turn down the camera's amp (important for interview/speaking stuff), good shockmount but not floppy/annoying like the regular VideoMic.

For any of these you will want a "dead cat" aka "furry", which blocks wind rumble/wind noise, unless you're never going to go outside. Those run anywhere from $20-$50.

Once you get the cam you will want to install Magic Lantern:

http://magiclantern.wikia.com/wiki/Unified

This is almost a must. It will make your camera much more useful for shooting video.

Goddamn I wrote a lot! Time for bed. Good luck.

don't tell us ALL of your secrets :mrgreen:

Haha, nice line up. Might have to jump on that bandwagon too...

I'm sorry to see you go to the DSLR side.

Yea, it's no longer the hip thing unfortunately

totes not in bro