Interesting points Ryan,
Have you yourself found the aliasing & moire a problem with what you shoot? Do you find you are having to take these issues into consideration when shooting wildlife?
One of the remaining problems i have with the DSLR's is their handling, i simply don't see that i will be able to get a lot of the shots i currently do when i'm having to worry about composition, focus, exposure, etc, etc. A lot of the time, i think the subjects i film would be long gone before i get things right. I already miss enough shots as it is. Ok, while filming from a blind may be ok, i'm not always in a blind & set up ready to go.
I think i will look into a DSLR to compliment my XH A1, & predominantly use it for scenic wide shots, but for a lot of what i would consider to be a little like run'n'gun type of shooting, i think i will stick with the A1 until something more suitable comes along.
Regards,
Bryce

In nature, aliasing is usually not an issue. Moire of the other hand, manifests itself on fine detail. You can eliminate it in post somewhat, but it can change your colors in subtle ways. I've had it appear on the edges of small leaves, or the fine feathers of an owl, or on the tiny ripples of water when there is a breeze.

Per Johan's post is very accurate. While I've had success in using them, I've not worked professional in gathering footage. Just personal use. I actually only started filming animals in earnest about 1 1/2 years ago, so for me it has just been a learning experience. His comments about focus are true. I recall filming a beaver swim up a creek and I had to do everything I could to keep him in focus as he swam by...slowly falling out of focus and then me compensating. Unfortunately, I've not used other formats with animals much. All my 1/3" chip recording was in studios or just filming scenery out in the natural world.

All that said, I have still gotten a ton of very good footage from my DSLR. The majority of stuff that I've shot involves taking fairly static shots or minimal camera movement and so the subject isn't falling in and out of focus.

Hi Per Johan. Thanks for that. It makes me feel better about my very similar results with the T2i. I couldn’t agree more strongly with the statement “Loosing your footage is like getting yourself a heart attack!”

Per Johan,

It's good to hear from you. Your experience with the DSLR mirrors pretty much every one I have read about, and what I have seen personally. I was going to buy one of those and continue using all my Canon gear, saving tons of money. What really put me off (along with all the artifact and control stuff that you mentioned) was the fad of putting a large chip in all of these. There went the crop factor. I desperately need lots of telephoto power and a crop factor of 1.5, having had 7.2 in the XLH1 was totally unacceptable.
So I finally bought a Sony PMW EX3 (1/2 inch chip, crop factor of 5) and am pretty happy with it. It's best features are a viewfinder that you can really focus, and the ability to adjust the slope of the gamma curve so that blown out highlights are a thing of the past.

Hi Steve,
That's interesting stuff! So you're finding the EX-3 a good camera for wildlife then! I thought i had read somewhere that you were surprised with the omission of a certain feature which i can't think of right now. What ever that was, it sounds like you have managed to work around that. The EX-3 is a camera i have seriously considered, & may well be the best way to go, i'd just have to save a bit more obviously!!
Bryce

Hi Bryce,

The feature you remember was the lack of a dial or button to change the shutter speed. Turned out that the jog-shuttle button serves that purpose. You just have to scroll over to the shutter speed on the display first, and double click. Then it will stay there and act like a shutter control. I am mostly happy with the camera. I do not like the tapeless work-flow, however, because each clip is only assigned an obscure number and you have to view and rename or catalogue each one, and each requires a bunch of mouse clicks. Watching a tape and taking notes by time code is a lot faster. And there is always the risk of accidentally formatting a card for reuse before you have uploaded the content to a hard drive. And finally, the EX-3 does not automatically shut off when not in use for a time, like Canon instruments do. I have already had the experience of getting out of my car to do a shot, and finding the battery out of juice because I forgot to turn it off before driving away from the previous venue. This could be a disaster out in the field.

Aah yes, that was it. Thanks Steve.
Well as usual, each camera has its good & bad points i guess. Are you happy with the EX-3 over your old XL H1? How much better is the footage from the EX-3 over the XL H1?
I have just been playing around with various different shots ranging from well exposed & in focus shots to shots i thought were a bit too soft, to shots with a lot of grain etc, etc. I have burnt them to a AVCHD disc & played them on my inlaws flat screen HD tv with surprising results! All of the shots i thought would be just plain unusable, were actually not that bad at all. Seems i may be able to use more of the shots than i originally thought!
While i still don't have the color detail using HDV, i am pretty impressed with what i am seeing. Not sure however, how it would compare to footage shot with an EX cam.
As i have said in another post, i had entertained the idea of the Sony HVR Z7, using it with an external recorder. By bypassing the HDV compression, i may well get some nice images from that camera??
Anyway, i'm sure all the cameras mentioned will produce a great image in the hands of someone that knows what they are doing!! I might just wait a little longer before pulling the trigger.
Bryce

The GH1 and GH2 have working AF in video mode. I used my GH1's AF to track a Hoary Marmot last summer as it kept coming closer and it stayed in focus.

I was shooting Florida wading birds and gators on Sunday. A very large male gator was making "outboard engine running" sounds which send strong vibrations through the water. This sound is used to attract a mate. I recognized the sound and approached with a 7D, 100-400 mm lens plus a X2, fluid head & tripod.

This gator was swimming with 2 smaller gators and may have been around 15 - 18 ft. He saw me and went into typical stealth and attack mode, swimming rapidly towards me from about 100 ft away. He pushed quite a bow wave, stopping nearby and sinking so that just his eyes were visible. You sneaky debil you! Darn, I grew up with hippos & crocodiles and need to learn fear for these little beasties for my own safety. Too late to run mate.

He was in focus at the beginning of the shoot and slightly blurry near the end. Auto focus would have been very useful, but I was too afraid of losing the clip to try to focus manually. Not a bad clip at all, just a little dark because of the X2, so now I'll experiment with the X1.4. Was actually getting AF with the X2 which was a surprise.

Then I took the 7D off the fluid head and removed the X2 to hand hold & shoot a large Osprey hovering and about to dive on a fish. Switched the camera on. While I'm trying to zoom and hold focus on AF it switches off. Switch it back on. Switches off. Again and again. Missed the clip completely. Anyone else experiencing this? It's been going on for some time. I have a fast enough card, cold camera, fresh battery, latest firmware.

This may be something to do with the lens. Later on I was shooting B Roll of the marsh area and did not have the on/off problem with the kit 28 -135 mm lens.

Regards & happy shooting,
Doug.

Finally did the video with the T3i or the 600D with the feature of sensor crop
Would say that the 3x is impressive but after that the thing is a real digital zoom and really not impressed with it. however the 3x is very usable

Canon 600D Video on Vimeo

Let me know your views.

Hi Steve,
Well after this long with your EX-3, can i ask how it is going with that camera? Are you still happy with the camera? After all this time, there is still really no other choice really. I had hoped something would come out from one of the manufacturers, but alas, zip!
I am hoping to make a big push on finishing my UWOL long form project on the mountain caribou in the next 12 months but really need the added flexibility a camera like the EX3 would allow. Will probably start looking for a used one as i can't quite justify buying new when this is after all just an expensive hobby!
Thanks in advance,
Bryce

Hey Bryce,
I really am happy with my Sony EX3. I was surprised to find that the work necessary with tapeless format is really no more than with tape. You do have to upload, review and catalog your material soon after obtaining it, so you can format and reuse the memory chip, but when the time comes to actually use the stuff, there is no capturing to do, just import the file into the editor.

The EX3 has a greater dynamic range than the XLH1, and more ability to adjust the knee and gamma slope. I think there is less burn out of highlights, but it's marginal. The viewfinder is tons better, and screw threads allow you to screw one of those diopter lenses into it to give a (30%) bigger image in the viewfinder. You can dial in up to 18HZ of gain for owls by flashlight. The rec button is tiny and poorly placed, but you get used to it. It doesn't shut off automatically after a few minutes, so you really have to pay attention to the power button when you are not shooting. I can shoot all day one one and a half battery charges and half of a 32 GB chip. Audio is equal to or better than Canon.

It uses a small battery, like the Canon, not one of those Anton Bauer monsters. There is an adapter to use less expensive SDHC chips instead of expensive SxS chips. It shoots in 4:2:0 like the Canon at 35mbps (XLH1 was 23 mbps). I sometimes use a Nanoflash to improve on those numbers, but not often.

Canon 35mm lenses are not a good choice with this camera. There is no way to adjust the iris without going into the menu!! I use a Nikon 80-400 zoom which has a manual iris ring. Mike Tapas (MTS industries) makes an adapter for about $250 US. My biggest complaint is that the crop factor is only 5.4.
The XLH1 with the EF adapter was 7.2, and the old XL1 was 9, I think.

The only other bad thing about it is that the handle and the viewfinder are not removable, making packing it for air travel an exercise in contortion.

I would dearly love to see a new camera with one of those full size sensors where you could cone down to a fraction of it to get a big crop factor for wildlife and use the whole thing for scenery. Have you seen one?

Wow Steve,
Thanks for the very informative reply! Sounds like you're enjoying that camera! All positive things pretty much. Yes the crop factor is not as great as the H1, but you are still talking some serious magnification with a 400mm lens on it! What tripos are you using with it to get steady shots? I will inevitibly need to upgrade my tripod to be able to get some decent shots using lens' over 200mm. Currently i am using a Miller DS10 with carbon fibre sticks, & with the XH A1 & a 1.8x extender, i can get reasonably smooth pans with it, but that's only about 1200mm equivalent. I am currently looking here & on ebay to see if something comes up. I would love to buy one new, but it's a heck of a lot of money, & knowing my luck, since i've waited all this time, if i bought one new then for sure a newer cam would come out that i wished i had waited for!!
As far as a camera goes like you talk about with a crop factor on a FF chip, yes that would be ideal. Something that would give those awesome wide shots using the whole frame of the sensor, then being able to just use the middle portion of that same sensor would make for an incredibly flexible camera for sure. I guess the Nikon D800 is the closest that comes to that. I'm just not sure i want to go the route of the DSLR just yet. Too many work arounds still for me.
Again, thanks for the reply,
Regards,
Bryce

I've been really tempted to spring for an EX3 for the crop factor. I'm shooting wildlife as well. But the camera is four years old now and overdue for an update, a higher bitrate, maybe 4:2:2. Sure wish I had a crystal ball sometimes...