For those of you not familiar with what is going on in the DSLR world, everything shifted when the 5D Mark II came out. We are talking earthquake-like fault lines. It gave every indy film-maker an insta-hard-on.<p>It was just another standard hand-held photographer's camera until some gent got a pre-release version and showed the world its capacity to capture film-like imagery -- beautiful blacks, shallow depth-of-field, that 24-frames-a-second look, etc.<p>Even with high-end prosumer cameras, you couldn't quite nail the cinema-look without resorting to actual film. But this toy camera came out of nowhere and was capturing images several times better than anyone could have expected!<p>So each time we see a news story like this, it is validation of the technology and that in a very short time, all of us will have the ability to capture the types of motion images that normally cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.<p>And as is often the case with technology leveling the playing field, the winners will be the folks that are daring and creative!
And the 5D becomes _much_ more useful for film making with the much improved, open source Magic Lantern firmware patch from Trammell Hudson<p><a href="http://magiclantern.wikia.com/wiki/Magic_Lantern_Firmware_Wiki" rel="nofollow">http://magiclantern.wikia.com/wiki/Magic_Lantern_Firmware_Wi...</a>
I own the 5DmII. The HD video really is amazing–especially with fast lenses (my favorites are the 35/1.4 and 135/2).<p>The main problem is that it's hard to handle and focus the camera hand-held. You really need a good rig and focus ring to get it right. And some of those from Redrock or Zacuto can cost almost as much as the camera body.<p>Here's a couple videos I shot with the 5DmII (again, handheld and I'm a terrible videographer)
<a href="http://vimeo.com/10768127" rel="nofollow">http://vimeo.com/10768127</a>
<a href="http://vimeo.com/5253857" rel="nofollow">http://vimeo.com/5253857</a>
<i>The last 3 minutes</i>, a demo of what the camera can do:<p><a href="http://www.petapixel.com/2010/04/09/the-last-3-minutes-showcases-new-canon-5d-mark-ii-24p-capabilities/" rel="nofollow">http://www.petapixel.com/2010/04/09/the-last-3-minutes-showc...</a>
> In 2008, House was distributed in a total of 66 countries. With an audience of over 81.8 million worldwide...<p><i>There’s only like 6bn people on the globe, right? And that’s including feral wolf children and fuel-starved hermits living on sun tea in the Chinese desert. And yet, if aliens did some random sampling of people around Earth, they’d find that more than one in every hundred of us watches House. “The Earthlings’ religion is based on weekly silent observances of medicine-man figure called ‘Dwelling-Place’ in the local tongue. Possessing supernatural powers of observation and an ability to perform healing miracles, this god also suffers from hubris and vanity, and he is susceptible to the temptations of certain potions. Essentially, we are grading Earth’s religious development somewhere between animist and monotheistic. Not yet adequately prepared for Operation Helping Hand. Revisit in 1,000 local solar units.”</i> <a href="http://modcult.org/read/2010/4/13/this-is-called-sending-the-lede-to-sleep-with-the-fishes" rel="nofollow">http://modcult.org/read/2010/4/13/this-is-called-sending-the...</a>
The 5DM2 has been getting a lot of attention recently being used as a HD video camera. Canon even sponsored a short being made entirely with the 5D after the most recent firmware update: <a href="http://hurlbutvisuals.com/blog/2010/04/07/the-last-3-minutes-canon-5d-24p-firmware-shines/" rel="nofollow">http://hurlbutvisuals.com/blog/2010/04/07/the-last-3-minutes...</a><p>It was also used in a recent Nissan commercial attached to a mini helicopter: <a href="http://www.blogmeright.com/?p=1059" rel="nofollow">http://www.blogmeright.com/?p=1059</a>
On a related note, a few years back the movie "Cold Mountain" was edited entirely using Apple Final Cut Pro: <a href="http://www.apple.com/pro/profiles/murch/" rel="nofollow">http://www.apple.com/pro/profiles/murch/</a> The editor, Walter Murch, received an Academy Award nomination for his work.
Doesn't look like he's talking about it at the moment, but Stu over at ProLost (author of the great indie film manual "The DV Rebel's Guide") covers the DSLR-for-filmmaking subject a lot and has lots of good technical (and technique) info if you're into that sort of thing:<p><a href="http://prolost.com/" rel="nofollow">http://prolost.com/</a>
If you're interested in this sort of thing, definitely check out DSLR News Shooter: <a href="http://www.dslrnewsshooter.com" rel="nofollow">http://www.dslrnewsshooter.com</a>
The blog covers video journalists using DSLRs for their stories and the articles generally come with some great advice.<p>A couple of examples:<p>- <a href="http://www.dslrnewsshooter.com/2010/03/22/johnnie-behiri-shoots-national-geographic-earth-explore-desert-adventure-on-7d/" rel="nofollow">http://www.dslrnewsshooter.com/2010/03/22/johnnie-behiri-sho...</a><p>- <a href="http://www.dslrnewsshooter.com/2010/03/25/into-the-haiti-earthquake-zone-khalid-mohtaseb-covers-the-aftermath-on-5dmkii/" rel="nofollow">http://www.dslrnewsshooter.com/2010/03/25/into-the-haiti-ear...</a><p>I bought a 7D a few months back. It's fantastic, although I haven't made use of the video much yet.
The sensor on the 5D is <i>huge</i>. Here's a graphic with most of the current video camera sensor sizes: <a href="http://rebelsguide.com/dl/sensorSizes_06_cheatSheet.png" rel="nofollow">http://rebelsguide.com/dl/sensorSizes_06_cheatSheet.png</a> A bigger sensor means that it can operate well at very low light levels.<p>Also note that at $2500 this is by far the cheapest option for shooting feature quality films. There are some issues with audio, so you will have to record it using an external recorder, but with a nice mount, this is an amazing camera.
Interesting. The 5D is smaller and cheaper than RED, but not that much. I wonder if it was just an experiment for its own sake or if there was some deciding factor in favor of the 5D.
I know nothing about Canon's product release cycles. Is now a good time to invest in this puppy? Or will the 5D Mark III or some such thing be out soon?