I wouldn ' t go with a Canon DSLR body if at all possible . Pretty much anything from your 550 D , to the 5 D Mark II , to the $ 4000 5 DS R is all going to have the same mediocre video quality , save for better ISO performance . All of their cameras lack any tools for the videographer like focus peaking , focus check while recording , etc . The reason for this is that somehow inside of Canon ' s management , they ' ve decided to artificially cripple their cameras so that people will , allegedly , buy their Cinema EOS cameras at a much higher price . Why they think this is a good idea is beyond me as they started the entire videoshooting DSLR market with the 5 D Mark II . Your budget allows a really nice camera for video you could pick up an A 7 S first gen and Metabones adapter for your Canon lenses . Alternately you could look at the Sony A 6500 inbody stabilization for all lenses , 4 K , great lowlight performance akin to the a 7 S , all on a lower cost APSC sensor . The Panasonic GH 4 is also worth a look , although its smaller sensor won ' t adapt to your lenses as well you ' d still be within budget buying a GH 4 body and a couple lenses for it . To quickly break down the specs Sony a 7 S 12 MP fullframe sensor , built for detailed video 1080 p up to 60 fps , 720 p up to 120 fps 1213 stops of dynamic range in Slog 29 on the Canon bodies Incredible lowlight performance up to and beyond 25 , 600 ISO EMount , short mount flange depth allowing for versatile lens adapting to nearly any mount . Very , very detailed 1080 p performance . Compared to Canon , you ' d think it was 4 K . No real AF to talk about , if that matters to you . Sony A 6500 24 MP APSC size sensor with 5 axis stabilization 4 K up to 30 fps , 1080 p up to 120 fps Decent lowlight performance usable up to 12800 1213 stops dynamic range in Slog 23 Emount Incredibly detailed 4 K footage , decent 1080 p mode but not as good as the a 7 S . Only downside here is the 4 K mode has a bit of rolling shutter if you ' re not careful of how you shoot . Ridiculous intelligent AF that works as fast as a high end Canon DSLR , but here it works for video and stills . Great for gimbals or other work where you ' d need to let the camera focus . It can remember faces and keep them in focus even when they leave frame and come back . Panasonic GH 4 16 MP Micro FourThirds sensor smaller than APSC 4 K up to 30 fps , 1080 p up to 96 fps 1011 stops of dynamic range in vlog Average low light performance to 32006400 Both 1080 p and 4 K modes are very sharp and detailed , rolling shutter is wellcontrolled , and the camera offers a lot of tools for the shooter . Smaller sensor means crop factor is larger and your Canon lenses , while they ' ll work , are a little less practical . Note smaller sensor does not mean reduction in quality .