I have always loved video cameras and camcorders since I was five years old and I still do. I have spent thousands of hours toying with them and using them practically for leisure, schooling, and work. Here is my camera evolution since I was a five year old!
The Digital Blue
The first video camera I ever owned was a hand-me-down from my brother. My brother had gotten this camera for his birthday or Christmas and used to always make short videos of himself and his friends. Eventually the record button jammed permanently so he got a new one. You could connect the broken camera to the computer via loading dock and could ultimately be used as a webcam. While connected to the computer, I used the camera for taking still images. I would make stop-motion animations with my toy cars and lego people and use the editing software that came with it. I wish I was able to recover my old animations but the computer’s hard drive unfortunately failed.
To be honest, my brother greatly influenced me to get into filmmaking and doing video from this camera as I would always use it behind his back without his permission. It came first as a toy, and a video camera second. I started out making stop-motion animations. These were my roots and I would love to venture back to those times by shooting a stop-motion short film!
The Flip Video Camera
In middle school, my brother introduced me to YouTube. People were uploading videos they made themselves for the world to see. At the time, Flip Video cameras were becoming a huge thing. For Christmas when I was 13, I got my first Flip video camera. I used to make vlogs documenting my boring teenage life or I made short videos with my friends. It was a step-up from my Digital Blue and did basic video recording. As I grew older, I wanted more out of my camera, so I upgraded, also both of my Flip video cameras didn’t last very long…
The Canon Powershot SX20 IS
When I was a sophomore in high school, I got a Canon Powershot SX20 IS for my 16th birthday. Now this was a bigger step-up than the Flip video cameras. It was more than a point-and-shoot camera but not quite a DSLR; a point-and-shoot on steroids. It was also my first HD camera. I was still making videos for YouTube at this time and it was a great camera. It took nice photos, had a great zoom range, and the video quality looked fine. Also I could finally use SD cards and give myself so much more storage to shoot videos and photos.
During my second half of high school I started watching more short films than I had before. I wanted to get more serious about filmmaking, so I sold my Powershot camera and I scraped up some money to upgrade once again.
The Canon EOS Rebel T3i
Canon T3i with Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM Lens
I bought my first DSLR, the Canon T3i, mainly for doing video during the fall of my senior year of high school. Three years later and I still use this camera as my primary camera. DSLR filmmaking has been the greatest phase of production I’ve entered so far. Being able to use large storage SD cards, shoot in different video formats and utilize different interchangeable lenses made shooting interesting and more accessible than before. The great thing about DSLRs is investing in multiple lenses so when your camera body wears down and breaks, you still have the lenses to use for newer cameras. Also it’s mainly a photography DSLR, so actually taking photos is great on this thing as well. I love this camera!
Throughout my life, I have made equipment upgrades and will need to make more in the future as technology advances and mine breaks down. The workhorse of the T3i has proved to be a reliable camera for multiple years and as much as I love this camera, I will need to replace it one day or another. I hope to upgrade to a full-frame DSLR like a Canon 5D or 6D, or jump the Canon ship and board the Panasonic sail for the GH4’s 4K capabilities. I’ve filmed with the GH4 multiple times and the quality is astounding. This is my most recent project shooting with that bad boy.
What are some previous cameras you owned? Let me know in the comments down below or you can tweet me @MitchGFilms!