[BillLee]

"May 17, folks. That's the date when the grumpy doctor you wish you were and the snazzy camera you wish you owned will join forces on American network television. The final episode in this season's run of House has been shot exclusively using Canon's 5D Mark II, and the show's director Greg Yaitanes has been taking questions about the experience on Twitter. PetaPixel have helpfully collated the Q&A session into a coherent pseudo-interview, which you'll be able to find at the source below. The major takeaway is that the crew liked the experience and didn't have to do an overwhelming amount of work to adapt to the different shooting method. Guess after SNL and its own movie, the 5D Mark II just had to go and do a guest appearance on its favorite TV show."

-http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/13/c...-finale-direc/

[Dan in PA]

That's pretty exciting. I know the 7D and 5D Mark II were used to film at least one Saturday Night Live opening scene. Philip Bloom's DSLR work is excellent as well...I just wish the 5D Mark II did at least 5fps burst and had a little more updated autofocus system...

[remmib]

Very impressiv I must say.

[scollins]

This is not a knock on Canon, but why do people get so excited about using a DSLR to create movies? It seems to me that the form factor is terrible for shooting movies, especially in any sort of professional manner. How do you hold it steady? How do you get the focus right? Even the director who shot the "House" episode said that, and how "cine-style" lenses are being created.

Why not just take the 5DMkII sensor and put into a much more appropriate form factor for shooting movies? Leave the Canon lens mount so you can use all those lenses. But really, why are we trying to force a feature into a system that was designed around taking still photos?

[Dan in PA]

Originally Posted by scollins

This is not a knock on Canon, but why do people get so excited about using a DSLR to create movies? It seems to me that the form factor is terrible for shooting movies, especially in any sort of professional manner. How do you hold it steady? How do you get the focus right? Even the director who shot the "House" episode said that, and how "cine-style" lenses are being created.

Why not just take the 5DMkII sensor and put into a much more appropriate form factor for shooting movies? Leave the Canon lens mount so you can use all those lenses. But really, why are we trying to force a feature into a system that was designed around taking still photos?

People get excited because it makes them feel like they're using the same equipment as the pros in hollywood. I personally think pushing video recording on $2k+ cameras is the biggest gimmick in the photography world, I wish they'd spend the money developing something else.

[wvtlo]

Similar story using Canon 5D MKII for BMW commercial...
http://www.pdnpulse.com/2010/04/bmws...-mark-iis.html

[anthony @ eas]

That's cool. Great show too.

[radiantm3]

Originally Posted by scollins

This is not a knock on Canon, but why do people get so excited about using a DSLR to create movies? It seems to me that the form factor is terrible for shooting movies, especially in any sort of professional manner. How do you hold it steady? How do you get the focus right? Even the director who shot the "House" episode said that, and how "cine-style" lenses are being created.

Why not just take the 5DMkII sensor and put into a much more appropriate form factor for shooting movies? Leave the Canon lens mount so you can use all those lenses. But really, why are we trying to force a feature into a system that was designed around taking still photos?

Nobody shoots video holding the camera like they do for still (my handheld rig: http://img253.yfrog.com/img253/3892/7kz.jpg). There are many mounts for that. It's all about convergence. Whether you like it or not, it's going to happen more and more. Personally I love it. I never would have gotten into video if it weren't for the 5D. I don't want a separate video camera. I love the fact that I can take stills and great video (aside from a few technical limitations) with one camera. The limitations also push for more creativity.

[Dan in PA]

Originally Posted by radiantm3

Nobody shoots video holding the camera like they do for still (my handheld rig: http://img253.yfrog.com/img253/3892/7kz.jpg). There are many mounts for that. It's all about convergence. Whether you like it or not, it's going to happen more and more. Personally I love it. I never would have gotten into video if it weren't for the 5D. I don't want a separate video camera. I love the fact that I can take stills and great video (aside from a few technical limitations) with one camera. The limitations also push for more creativity.

How do you do focus tracking? (I'm not sure what the proper term is). From what I remember with my 7D, it was either manual focusing (pain) or autofocus (very intrusive, took forever).

[scollins]

Originally Posted by radiantm3

Nobody shoots video holding the camera like they do for still (my handheld rig: http://img253.yfrog.com/img253/3892/7kz.jpg). There are many mounts for that. It's all about convergence. Whether you like it or not, it's going to happen more and more. Personally I love it. I never would have gotten into video if it weren't for the 5D. I don't want a separate video camera. I love the fact that I can take stills and great video (aside from a few technical limitations) with one camera. The limitations also push for more creativity.

Sure, there are some rigs out there that make the camera into a better form factor. The RedRock Micro looks pretty damn trick. But the cost of these setups can be pretty steep. I understand the desire to have a "one thing does all" kind of platform, but that seems (at least with current technologies) to require quite a few trade-offs. The 5DMkII is pretty cool in that it does 1080p, but it is technically limited (lack of true autofocus, duty cycle limits, recording length limits, etc.)

A dedicated HD cinema camera is major bucks ($40,000+), so I can see where a 5dMkII, 24-70 and even RedRock's Cinema rig are a good value in comparison. You've got $2,500 for the 5dMkII, $1,500 for the lens and maybe $5,000 for a full cinema rig. $9,000 is way cheaper than $40,000.

And yes, that convergence you mention is coming, whether I (or anybody for that matter) like it. But realistically, the capabilities of the 5dMkII, D90, D3s or any other DSLR that "also does" video is much more hype than anything else. A few generations of refinements and breakthroughs will be necessary. Fortunately in the tech sector, a generation isn't really that long of a time frame.

[Dan in PA]

As long as developing video on the camera doesn't affect the resources spent improving the still capabilities, fine. Best of both worlds. But if trying to advance video mode begins to eat into development time that could have been used elsewhere...that's going in the wrong direction.

All imho of course.

[radiantm3]

Originally Posted by scollins

But realistically, the capabilities of the 5dMkII, D90, D3s or any other DSLR that "also does" video is much more hype than anything else.

You'd be completely wrong on that. It's far from hype. There's a huge community around shooting video with the 5d/7d and many small studios are using it to produce real work. The reason why Canon has been pushing video so much is because it has really blown up with the 5D.

Just browsing through 5d videos on vimeo proves what the 5D is capable of and people love it despite its limitations: [VALIDVIMEO209185824]videos[/VALIDVIMEO209185824]

[radiantm3]

Originally Posted by Dan in PA

How do you do focus tracking? (I'm not sure what the proper term is). From what I remember with my 7D, it was either manual focusing (pain) or autofocus (very intrusive, took forever).

It's all about manual focusing. I'm pretty sure that's how hollywood movies are done as well (though they have people dedicated to it as well expensive hardware to aid it). I use a Dfocus Follow Focus which is cheap and works well for my needs: http://www.dfocussystem.com/dfocus.html Manually focusing video straight from the lens barrel is a huge pain.

[scollins]

Originally Posted by radiantm3

You'd be completely wrong on that. It's far from hype. There's a huge community around shooting video with the 5d/7d and many small studios are using it to produce real work. The reason why Canon has been pushing video so much is because it has really blown up with the 5D.

Just browsing through 5d videos on vimeo proves what the 5D is capable of and people love it despite its limitations: [VALIDVIMEO172430744]videos[/VALIDVIMEO172430744]

May very well be true, but I can guarantee that these people, and the cottage industry that has sprouted to make the 5dMkII really "usable" as a video camera (mounts, follow focus adapters, accessories, etc.) were not the intended consumer for Canon. Luckily for Canon, this "other" consumer has come along and is willing to put up with the perceived limitations of the video system and created a market for it.

And we can say that the limitations of DSLR video capability has spurred these other companies to innovation, creating solutions that work.

But in the end, I personally still don't care whether my DSLR has video capabilities. As long as the still side of works and does what I want and/or need it to do, it can have video or not. If they develop the heck out of video, and it doesn't impact me, go for it!

[radiantm3]

Originally Posted by scollins

May very well be true, but I can guarantee that these people, and the cottage industry that has sprouted to make the 5dMkII really "usable" as a video camera (mounts, follow focus adapters, accessories, etc.) were not the intended consumer for Canon. Luckily for Canon, this "other" consumer has come along and is willing to put up with the perceived limitations of the video system and created a market for it.

And we can say that the limitations of DSLR video capability has spurred these other companies to innovation, creating solutions that work.

But in the end, I personally still don't care whether my DSLR has video capabilities. As long as the still side of works and does what I want and/or need it to do, it can have video or not.

Not arguing with you there. If you don't have interest in video, then it's obviously not going to be a selling point. But for someone who loves photography and has a strong interest in getting into video (and a lot of photographers do), these cameras are a dream. Not sure if you've seen my latest video done with my 5D, but I'm just playing around and am able to get decent results: . I'm completely new to video and have never owned a video camera in my life (not even a cheap handheld). But I've been able to take the little I know about photography and apply it directly to video. Still photography and video share a lot in common, which I think is what makes it so interesting. Obviously, Canon knows this as well.

[scollins]

Originally Posted by radiantm3

Not sure if you've seen my latest video done with my 5D, but I'm just playing around and am able to get decent results: . I'm completely new to video and have never owned a video camera in my life (not even a cheap handheld). But I've been able to take the little I know about photography and apply it directly to video. Still photography and video share a lot in common, which I think is what makes it so interesting. Obviously, Canon knows this as well.

I'm seeing some stalling/freezing in the pans during the video. But that could be my computer too, as CPU usage jumps to 95-100% during playback (Firefox on a PC running a Pentium D 915 dual core 2.8 GHz processor with 2GB RAM.) It looks worse in IE. I'm guessing it is more of an issue of my hardware, but at least I recognize that.

Now be honest, how much cash have you sunk into video accoutrement for your 5D?

[radiantm3]

Originally Posted by scollins

I'm seeing some stalling/freezing in the pans during the video. But that could be my computer too, as CPU usage jumps to 95-100% during playback (Firefox on a PC running a Pentium D 915 dual core 2.8 GHz processor with 2GB RAM.) It looks worse in IE. I'm guessing it is more of an issue of my hardware, but at least I recognize that.

Now be honest, how much cash have you sunk into video accoutrement for your 5D?

It's definitely flash that's causing the stutters. Looks smooth when played via quicktime. But there were a couple small hiccups at the end of a few pans. My tripod was broken at the time and it would shake when my camera was towards the end of the slider.

I probably spent about 2-3 grand in video equipment, but it's definitely not necessary. I'm pretty sure you can have a great setup with under a grand. This doesn't include lenses of course. I actually picked up a lot of gear based on this post: http://philipbloom.co.uk/2009/12/31/...9-what-a-year/

[scollins]

Originally Posted by radiantm3

I probably spent about 2-3 grand in video equipment, but it's definitely not necessary. I'm pretty sure you can have a great setup with under a grand. This doesn't include lenses of course. I actually picked up a lot of gear based on this post: http://philipbloom.co.uk/2009/12/31/...9-what-a-year/

So given all that, it is most certainly "false advertising" for the "House" promo to have a bare 5dMkII on a Gorillapod!!





I really need to stop looking at this thread, otherwise I'll wind up getting a second body that can do video and have to come back and eat a huge helping of crow!

[Dan in PA]

Is there a camcorder available that can use Canon EF lenses? Wouldn't that be better than using DSLR bodies?

[ibeclueless]

nice

[Saigon]

my photoshoot that just occured was shot with that same camera! click my sig

[rodi]

actually, the Red Rock Micro rigs are nowhere near as robust as the Zacuto gear.
the cool thing is, you can configure your HDSLR mount in any way you please.

we've done a lot of projects with the 5D instead of our Red One (which is soon to be an Epic!).

my own most recent piece: