Got My Hands on the New Canon Mark II 5D Last Night

Don Miller · November 13th, 2008, 06:41 PM

What I find most exciting is not still photographers shooting video. But that talented people will now have low light and dof control.

Professionally, I believe that the combination of the web and this tech. will greatly reduce the number of "still only" photographers over time. People who can create and report with skills to mix video and stills will be in demand.

Think internet, stills, and video. Integration of TV and internet. How all this comes together is the creative tool set for the future: "Wedding Multimedia Designer", "Multimedia Journalist"

Videographers with excellent creative computer skils would seem to have "a leg up" on still photographers. Although most videographers are going to need to learn to control light better, especially mixed lighting.

Dan Chung · November 13th, 2008, 09:34 PM

Brett,

You make a fair point, all I can say is that some photographers (like me) already made the jump. For the rest what the 5DmkII does is give them the ability to get going for low extra cost as most would probably have bought the camera anyway for stills purposes. Many already use a newish Mac or PC too so all you really need is software and a decent mic setup. Many photographers already have tripods and lights they could use to get a result, they may not be pro video grade but Vincent Laforet wasn't using video tripods and lights, just his regular stills setup. The ease with which the 5DmkII seems to give the look a photographer is used to in video will make the transition easier too I think.

Much as I love all my nice video gadgetry, my EX3, my Miller tripod, my Mattebox and my litepanels I do recognize you can make professional looking video with a lot less.

Dan

Tim Polster · November 16th, 2008, 07:34 AM

Dan, you have good points, but the problem I see is the 5D mII is not a very "user friendly" video camera.

You are painting the scenario of non video people starting to shoot video in a non controlled environment with a still camera that has workarounds needed to get good performance.

A lot of negatives.

To me, this has a very limited use, mainly controlled shoots where lighting setups and scripts are involved.

I just noticed your post of a mounted rig for video from stills use.

I would bet that you are one of the few in the world of still photographers who go to this extent!

I think when they come out with the 5D mIII with full manual control of the shutter, ISO and aperature we could see some real movement.

Don Miller · November 16th, 2008, 08:16 AM

There are many different uses and users. I'm fairly confident that there is a way to effectively do manual control. What is difficult for me is the lack of an EVF. What other people are going to find is that focus when using narrow DOF combined with HD is much more difficult than they expected. Other people will be frustrated by the lack of simple audio line inputs.

But even with all these issues the thing will produce broadcast quality 1080p with a cinematic look. This will find many uses.

But the 5D isn't "IT". "IT" is what comes after the 5D. And not just from Canon. Canon's problem is that they hate defining new markets. They're do counter-attack. They respond to good ideas with better engineering. What form factors and features should these new types of cameras take? Canon's doesn't want to be on that leading edge. So we get an amazing video camera inside a refreshed 5D. Pretty weird if you think about it.
Red shows the same hesitation coming from the cine end. Scarlet is more cine oriented than what they had first talked about. This is probably due to two reasons. First, its very dififclut to define all the future markets. Second, the 5DII makes it pretty clear that Red isn't going to be taking over the imaging market. Canon is perfectly capable of bleeding Red dry.

This is a long way of saying "horses for courses". There's plenty of use for the 5DII as a video camera. There's not much overlap between Canon and Red - yet. It's unclear what a more generic still/video camera should look like.

Ger Griffin · November 17th, 2008, 05:45 PM

I don't think we have a whole lot to worry about until the day comes when you dont break the video to take a photo (Enter the RED technology)
I think thats enough to turn anyone off trying to get both video & stills coverage of a live event.

November 13th, 2008, 06:41 PM	#16
Don Miller Major Player Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Chicago Posts: 706	What I find most exciting is not still photographers shooting video. But that talented people will now have low light and dof control. Professionally, I believe that the combination of the web and this tech. will greatly reduce the number of "still only" photographers over time. People who can create and report with skills to mix video and stills will be in demand. Think internet, stills, and video. Integration of TV and internet. How all this comes together is the creative tool set for the future: "Wedding Multimedia Designer", "Multimedia Journalist" Videographers with excellent creative computer skils would seem to have "a leg up" on still photographers. Although most videographers are going to need to learn to control light better, especially mixed lighting.

November 13th, 2008, 09:34 PM	#17
Dan Chung Major Player Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Beijing Posts: 665	Brett, You make a fair point, all I can say is that some photographers (like me) already made the jump. For the rest what the 5DmkII does is give them the ability to get going for low extra cost as most would probably have bought the camera anyway for stills purposes. Many already use a newish Mac or PC too so all you really need is software and a decent mic setup. Many photographers already have tripods and lights they could use to get a result, they may not be pro video grade but Vincent Laforet wasn't using video tripods and lights, just his regular stills setup. The ease with which the 5DmkII seems to give the look a photographer is used to in video will make the transition easier too I think. Much as I love all my nice video gadgetry, my EX3, my Miller tripod, my Mattebox and my litepanels I do recognize you can make professional looking video with a lot less. Dan

November 16th, 2008, 07:34 AM	#18
Tim Polster Inner Circle Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Arlington, TX Posts: 2,231	Dan, you have good points, but the problem I see is the 5D mII is not a very "user friendly" video camera. You are painting the scenario of non video people starting to shoot video in a non controlled environment with a still camera that has workarounds needed to get good performance. A lot of negatives. To me, this has a very limited use, mainly controlled shoots where lighting setups and scripts are involved. I just noticed your post of a mounted rig for video from stills use. I would bet that you are one of the few in the world of still photographers who go to this extent! I think when they come out with the 5D mIII with full manual control of the shutter, ISO and aperature we could see some real movement.

November 16th, 2008, 08:16 AM	#19
Don Miller Major Player Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Chicago Posts: 706	There are many different uses and users. I'm fairly confident that there is a way to effectively do manual control. What is difficult for me is the lack of an EVF. What other people are going to find is that focus when using narrow DOF combined with HD is much more difficult than they expected. Other people will be frustrated by the lack of simple audio line inputs. But even with all these issues the thing will produce broadcast quality 1080p with a cinematic look. This will find many uses. But the 5D isn't "IT". "IT" is what comes after the 5D. And not just from Canon. Canon's problem is that they hate defining new markets. They're do counter-attack. They respond to good ideas with better engineering. What form factors and features should these new types of cameras take? Canon's doesn't want to be on that leading edge. So we get an amazing video camera inside a refreshed 5D. Pretty weird if you think about it. Red shows the same hesitation coming from the cine end. Scarlet is more cine oriented than what they had first talked about. This is probably due to two reasons. First, its very dififclut to define all the future markets. Second, the 5DII makes it pretty clear that Red isn't going to be taking over the imaging market. Canon is perfectly capable of bleeding Red dry. This is a long way of saying "horses for courses". There's plenty of use for the 5DII as a video camera. There's not much overlap between Canon and Red - yet. It's unclear what a more generic still/video camera should look like.

November 17th, 2008, 05:45 PM	#20
Ger Griffin Major Player Join Date: May 2007 Location: Ireland Posts: 579	I don't think we have a whole lot to worry about until the day comes when you dont break the video to take a photo (Enter the RED technology) I think thats enough to turn anyone off trying to get both video & stills coverage of a live event.