UnknownVT,
Originally posted by UnknownVT This is a decent article. However, for me the choice was not an either/or. I already have one camcorder which is fairly high-end, at least it was top of the consumer line Canon 4 years ago. It's the Canon HG21 .
The video quality really is pretty good. That may be why I couldn't stand the video quality of the other cheaper JVC camcorder I returned.
However the T3i video quality is very good as well. I was expecting the DSLR to have better quality vs the camcorder due to the larger sensor. I have not done very close comparisons yet. But definitely it's OK for me to create video clips with footage from both the Canon HG21 camcorder and the T3i from different angles.
I care about audio very much, so much that I use a dedicated audio recorder with 9 mics at 24 bit/48k lossless recording for my piano recordings and just discard the audio from the camcorder when I produce.
Out of the box, the Canon HG21 audio is not impressive. And the audio is compressed DD 2.0. It gets a bit better with the external mic on top, which was an extra $200... I use that one for outdoor shoots.
The audio from the T3i is acceptable compared to the HG21. And actually uncompressed PCM which is nice. The t3i accepts an external mic.
I am definitely not shooting documentaries
I don't really like the internal memory . I prefer to use cards. It's easier than having to dig the right USB cable for each device.
The HG21 has a 120GB hard drive, but the interface is USB 2.0 which is not very fast.
With SDHC/SDXC cards I have a USB 3.0 reader. When flash cards become fast enough, transfers will be faster with the card reader than the hard drive.
Downside is that the card slot door on the T3i is really flimsy.
Quote: This is pretty old and outdated IMO.
Quote: Is sensor heating still an issue for recording longer video clips on dSLRs?
I have not noticed yet, but I have not done long recordings yet. I am awaiting delivery of an AC adapter for my T3i . Then I will know.
The largest card I have is a 32GB SDHC which would be about 2 hours I think. I don't know if the Lion battery that came with the T3i would last that long. But I only have one battery and not planning to buy a second one; I have a grip on order and plan to use AAs only with it. I guess I will find out soon.