How important is a touchscreen for video work and filmmaking?
I'm thinking of buying a Nikon D5300 as my first camera for video and filmmaking purposes. I have researched very heavily and find this one to be the best.
The only problem is, there's a Nikon D5500, and I'm struggling to choose one.
The D5300 is about 350 dollars cheaper, and the two of them are pretty much identical; but the D5500 has a touchscreen, and the D5300 doesn't.
Just how important is a touchscreen for video production? Would you say that the D5500 is worth the money? Please note that this money is almost vitally needed in other places.
Probably not important at all
Why?
When shooting a film or video, there's a whole lot of preparation setting up the camera, lighting the set, marking the focus points on the lens when follow focus it part of the take and blocking the scene, a touch screen could actually slow things down. Being able to use dedicated switches and buttons to make necessary adjustments like white balance, lens aperture and frame rates.
I can't imagine any commands you would find on a touchscreen that would be important when setting up each scene.
Spend a few hours watching the crew setting up a scene and blocking it and then shooting as many takes as necessary before moving on to the next scene. I doubt that you will see any advantage to a touchscreen
Film makers and videographers have been using camera gear without touchscreens for many decades. Just because a mobile works well with a touchscreen (to activate apps, etc), it does not mean that touchscreens are necessary for any device with an LCD monitor
The only compelling advantage of the D5500 is the longer battery life. If you get a backup battery, the D5300 should serve you well. Touchscreen adds nothing to video work.
Depends upon your style, preferences and the type of work you do. Many people prefer to have a touch screen to choose focusing points. However, not all cameras with touch screens also provide the ability to choose focusing points.
Let me just say that Nikon is the worst DSLR for video, bar none. The main issue is that Nikon's focusing system is downright appalling. You would be far better off with any of the mirrorless cameras from Sony, or one of the GH series of cameras from Panasonic. The Sony A6300 is a new camera which just blow the doors off anything from Nikon, even the D4s, when it comes to video.
Do some more research. Watch YouTube videos which review the Nikon D5xxx series or even the better D7xxx series for video. Certainly if the better D7xxx series sucks for video, all of the D5xxx series will be, at best, just as bad.
Touchscreen does nothing for video work and filmmaking. None of the essential controls are mapped to the touch screen because it is ineffective and it will introduce unwanted movement.