Bricks in Motion
We are a friendly filmmaking community devoted to the art of stop-motion animation using LEGO® and similar construction toys. Here, you can share your work, join our community of other brickfilmers, and participate in periodic animation contests!
A place to discuss, share, and create stop motion films.
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I believe it should work Headpods. Anyone correct me if I'm wrong.
It's a camera lens, so it'll work, but it depends on what you need it for and are going to use it for. Pretty good for not having to swap lenses around, but it's not the fastest for low light photography (which rarely happens in stopmotion, at least our uses).
The problem with that lens is the same with any other modern lens: since the aperture is not manually controlled, you have the possibility of light flicker caused by slight variations in the aperture as it closes for each frame. That's why most people (including professional studios such as Laika) usually go for old manual focus lenses for stop-motion. I'd also steer away from Sigma lenses that aren't in the art line for any photography; they tend to be not super great quality and wear out pretty quickly. My mom owned one awhile back and the auto-focus motor totally quite after about two years, and it was pretty soft.
The problem with that lens is the same with any other modern lens: since the aperture is not manually controlled, you have the possibility of light flicker caused by slight variations in the aperture as it closes for each frame. That's why most people (including professional studios such as Laika) usually go for old manual focus lenses for stop-motion. I'd also steer away from Sigma lenses that aren't in the art line for any photography; they tend to be not super great quality and wear out pretty quickly. My mom owned one awhile back and the auto-focus motor totally quite after about two years, and it was pretty soft.
I use a digital lens for my films and have no problem with light flicker. I think it depends an the build quality of the lens but manual lens are what you should go for if you are on a tight budget and want to do stop motion with a DSLR.
Yep. Really nice electronic lenses will work, but most budget zooms are going to have problems with light flicker in stop motion.
The truth is, what is best for stop motion when it comes to camera and lenses is just not the same as what is good for live action. I do think a set of Nikkor Primes and a Canon DSLR is ideal for stop mo and *pretty good* for live action. Sloth's lens guide is a good starting point for stop motion work. He's absolutely right that the Micro-Nikkor 55mm f/3.5 is the most important lens to get.
Thx for the feedback everyone. 
@backyardlegos @1011Ev Can you somehow control the aperture manually on these sigma lens or any modern lens? How?
@AquaMorth Thanks for the feedback. I'll keep that in mind.
@Smeagol Sloth's guide on the lenses is very helpful, Thx! But I'm looking for my first DSLR for photography and stopmotion on a tight budget. Trying to get a nice body with a lens that cooperates with photography and stopmotion. I found this Sigma lens in this video which was pretty helpful. Brickfilm DSLR Tutorial
Last edited by Headpods (December 2, 2015 (06:34pm))
I can't guarantee that the Sigma will cause flicker, these things are all over the place when it comes to cheap zooms and it really just depends on the lens. It's been a particular problem for people using the kit lenses included with Canon cameras, I know.
One thing to check for is if the aperture motor is in the lens or in the camera, If the aperture is mechanically actuated from inside the camera and the camera stops down for each individual photograph (as opposed to staying constantly at the selected f-stop) it can cause flicker.
With Sony's E mount lenses I have never experienced any aperture flicker, only flicker from things like f-stop, shutter-speed, ISO, white balance, DRO, HDR, Focus, etc... being on automatic instead of manual.
One interesting thing about Sony's mirror-less cameras is that even though they can't do live view tethering, some of them have an internal app store where you can purchase a Stop-Motion app for either $5 or $10 that allows onion skinning right on the camera's LCD and can also combine the pictures into a movie file. they also can be easily adapted to all kinds of old (think cheep) lenses.
While that's a pretty good option if you already have a Sony camera and are getting into stop-motion, I think it would probably be best not to go out and buy a Sony if you already know stop-motion will be a primary use for the camera.
I've been using a Nikon D7100, and it does a really good job
Bump.
A friend of mine would like to get a nice camera for some photography, so I was wondering if you guys could help me with some suggestions. Her budget is about $700 (but it's more like $700 is the most she's willing to spend if she has to do so to get a good camera). As a general recommendation I suggested getting a refurbished Canon DSLR (specifically something like a T3i, which I would personally look closely at I were in her position - both due to price and capability). Basically, is there anything that I should be suggesting that I'm not?
The T3i is pretty outdated at this point; if I were her I'd probably try to jump into a more recent model if possible; maybe a used T5i. The low light performance from Canon has improved drastically since the T3i, and I think that's worth spending a little more money on.
I guess she needs to figure out camera feature priorities. For example, a flip out screen often helps, especially with self portraits and difficult camera angles. I've heard that most recent Canon cameras are pretty similar in quality, so it's mostly about the add-on features (not entirely, of course, but those seem to be the largest differences in cameras). Canon entry levels, or even slightly above are pretty good for the money, especially if you can find them refurbished or on sale.
If you just want a camera for photography, and stop motion is not anywhere on your list, I would really look long and hard at a mirror-less camera from Sonly, Panasonic, Fujifilm, or Olympus, as they tend to have more modern features, better quality for the price, much better video quality, and they are far smaller and lighter, making them easier to handle and transport.
The problem with older cameras, is that while they can take very high quality pictures, the useable iso range is far lower than modern cameras, making photography in low light more difficult.
I feel like at this point, (besides for stop motion) only certain specific professionals need a DSLR, and the rest of people are just getting sucked into a marketing gimmick and getting a camera that isn't the best fit for them, simply because they've heard that "you need a DLSR to take good pictures", or "DSLRs are better", when in reality another type of camera may be much better for them.
Last edited by MarkNelsonMovies (May 15, 2016 (12:28pm))
Mark has made a good suggestion, mirrorless can be a really good way to go, but I want to point some stuff out. Now I love mirrorless; I'm drooling over the Sony A7 system and I would love to buy into the Fuji X-Pro system, because oh baby is the X-Pro 2 a sweet camera and those lenses are fine 
. But don't think that just because they're mirrorless they're cheap. The good mirrorless cameras are just as expensive as prosumer DSLR's, sometimes more (A7R II). It's also important to consider the lens system you're buying into, how much you're going to expand you're gear, if you can get any specialty lenses you might be interested in (this is a huge advantage of DSLR's).
Another caution about mirrorless: be wary of sensor size. You want at least an APS-C size sensor. I have a Fujifilm X20; it's a fun camera, great for shooting on the street, but it has a really small sensor. This means it has garbage low light performance, which either forces me to be creative, or just ruins shots. I'm hoping to replace it with a larger sensor camera (hence my coveting of the the X-Pro 2).
Last thing. About Mark's comment about only specific professionals needing DSLR's. This is a bit misleading. While a few professionals are switching to mirrorless, the vast majority are yet to convert. Mirrorless cameras just aren't yet reliable enough for a working photographer. It doesn't matter how nice the image looks if the camera only behaves perfectly 90% of the time. Also, battery life is pretty terrible on all mirrorless cameras, or at least the ones which attempt to market to professionals.
The take away: mirrorless is great, and I think your friend should consider a mirrorless system. But a good mirrorless camera is not going to be way cheaper than a DSLR. Mirrorless or SLR, they're all just cameras. Consider the merits and weaknesses of every camera you're looking, and the systems as a whole, to see what will suit you best.
Sorry, I wasn't meaning to imply that most professionals didn't use DSLRs, I just meant that simply because you are a professional doesn't automatically mean you need a DSLR, I know a wedding photographer who uses a Fuji X series camera, and he likes it way better than the DSLR he used to use.
I definitely agree that sensors size is important, which is why I didn't list Cannon and Nikon, as I feel that they are behind the other companies in their mirror-less offerings, but just make sure that you are comparing like to like, as the RX-10 that I use (it has a 1 inch sensor) has better low light performance than my friends old cannon DSLRs
I'm not trying to say that you shouldn't get a DSLR if you've done your research and found that it's the right camera for you, but I've seen too many people (especially older people) who go into a box store and pick up a old cheep DSLR because they think it will make their photos great, and then end up hardly using it, when they would have been better off, and been able to take more and better pictures if they had instead purchased a high end fixed lens camera.
Yah, I agree with all of that. Sony's sensors are probably the best at higher iso's right now, though the high end Nikon's are also quite good. Canon is lagging a bit, which is unfortunate because all the lenses I have access to right now are Canon.
Hello everyone. I have a digital Canon Ixus 115 HS, and lately realised that I can't go on with it. When I find myself in shooting extreme close ups or very dark environments, it's nearly impossible for it to focus right, and I can't manually set the focus. Any not too pricey camera that solves me these problems and that on the other hand does quality videos? (I also do some live-action films sometimes).
you can grab a Canon T2i used for around $250 and maybe get a set of close up filters for about $12, if that's to much I would recommend just getting a C920 webcamera
Hi guys my name is Cristian Garces (cgdude9) and I am studying animation in the state of Florida. I enjoy making brickfilms and I have recently come to purchase a new camera for my videos, which I bought the Canon EOS Rebel T6. I researched a lot on looking and buying a good camera to use for LEGO stop motion videos, and I think that this Canon DSLR is fit for making brickfilms. I just created this account to ask for any feedback or knowledge about this camera or any other that would be good for making brickfilms. I appreciate any comments! Thank you everybody.
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