On 17/9/2008 Canon introduced the Canon 5D MK2, this camera has successfully proved to be revolutionary for filmmakers everywhere across the planet - for the first time Canon introduced an HD full frame DSLR that is great for really impressive video image recording.
This element was put in by Canon because journalists have been inquiring about it for quite a while and also the convergence between stills photography and video within the same device was swiftly becoming viable.
Nobody was more shocked than Canon when Filmmaker Vincent Laforet was among the first filmmakers let loose on the completely new digital camera. His very first attempt Nocturne wouldn't disappoint, in truth it's no overstatement to say it set the field of film-making on fire. The real reason for this is that the substantial full frame sensor within the camera permits the operator to generate a truly lovely depth of field that old fashioned small sensor camcorders cannot reproduce.
The conventional film cinema look is tough to define but one of the significant elements is the depth of field that a 35mm film aperture generates. The Sensor (or film gate) in the Canon 5D is a great deal larger than the sensor found in a 35mm movie camera, actually it's closer to filming on 65mm.
Despite this astounding depth of field property and it's very swift adoption by the film making network, the canon 5D MK2 camera does have it's complications when filming video.
One of the major challenges is line skipping or moire. The canon has to dispose of information from the several thousand pixels that make up it's sensor to ensure that it can produce a 1920 X 1080 HD image. It does this by losing every third line of data - line skipping. This can prove disastrous for anyone who is filming a subject that has several horizontal or vertical lines - as when the image steps across the removed lines of data it can look unpleasant. I usually try to avoid check shirts!
Another difficulty is image 'skew', this is evident when panning left to right swiftly - vertical lines bend and twist noticeably - this is a dilemma on all CMOS video sensors but famously poor on the Canon because it's scan rate from the top to the bottom of the sensor is very sluggish and there is no internal compensation. A way around this is to simply stay clear of any quick pans!
Another drawback may be the 'form factor'. A DSLR is a very cumbersome form to film with, there is no focused eyepiece so just two points of contact - both hands. If at all possible three points of contact are necessary to get a secure image whilst filming handheld video. In the past two years quite a few amazing camera support systems have been produced by a wide group of suppliers but they all fundamentally do the exact same thing - deliver one more point of contact using a shoulder or chest support platform.
The rear LCD monitor is generally problematic to look at in bright sunlight and there are various 3rd party items to cope with this, from low-cost hoods to pricey lensed eyepieces and additional video display units working off the built-in small HDMI port. There are lots of worries with the HDMI supply, most notably, it is quite delicate and fragile. Additionally there is a delay when feeding the image from the dslr to a monitor after hitting record, this means patiently waiting eight or nine seconds before acquiring a monitor visual. This can be maddening in a documentary situation.
The camera records in 8 bit quicktime H264 and even though this produces amazing pictures it isn't really deemed to be a pro recording file format due to the H264 data compression. Having said that the camera has been employed for a great number of TV dramas, documentaries and features. It's image attractiveness obviously outranking it's technical restrictions.
Even with the listed issues, many filmmakers (including myself) tolerate these troubles simply because Canon have put together a wonderful, creative, film-making device. When they improve the grievances with the MK3 then they'll have assembled a truly remarkable camera at a spectacular price point.
This element was put in by Canon because journalists have been inquiring about it for quite a while and also the convergence between stills photography and video within the same device was swiftly becoming viable.
Nobody was more shocked than Canon when Filmmaker Vincent Laforet was among the first filmmakers let loose on the completely new digital camera. His very first attempt Nocturne wouldn't disappoint, in truth it's no overstatement to say it set the field of film-making on fire. The real reason for this is that the substantial full frame sensor within the camera permits the operator to generate a truly lovely depth of field that old fashioned small sensor camcorders cannot reproduce.
The conventional film cinema look is tough to define but one of the significant elements is the depth of field that a 35mm film aperture generates. The Sensor (or film gate) in the Canon 5D is a great deal larger than the sensor found in a 35mm movie camera, actually it's closer to filming on 65mm.
Despite this astounding depth of field property and it's very swift adoption by the film making network, the canon 5D MK2 camera does have it's complications when filming video.
One of the major challenges is line skipping or moire. The canon has to dispose of information from the several thousand pixels that make up it's sensor to ensure that it can produce a 1920 X 1080 HD image. It does this by losing every third line of data - line skipping. This can prove disastrous for anyone who is filming a subject that has several horizontal or vertical lines - as when the image steps across the removed lines of data it can look unpleasant. I usually try to avoid check shirts!
Another difficulty is image 'skew', this is evident when panning left to right swiftly - vertical lines bend and twist noticeably - this is a dilemma on all CMOS video sensors but famously poor on the Canon because it's scan rate from the top to the bottom of the sensor is very sluggish and there is no internal compensation. A way around this is to simply stay clear of any quick pans!
Another drawback may be the 'form factor'. A DSLR is a very cumbersome form to film with, there is no focused eyepiece so just two points of contact - both hands. If at all possible three points of contact are necessary to get a secure image whilst filming handheld video. In the past two years quite a few amazing camera support systems have been produced by a wide group of suppliers but they all fundamentally do the exact same thing - deliver one more point of contact using a shoulder or chest support platform.
The rear LCD monitor is generally problematic to look at in bright sunlight and there are various 3rd party items to cope with this, from low-cost hoods to pricey lensed eyepieces and additional video display units working off the built-in small HDMI port. There are lots of worries with the HDMI supply, most notably, it is quite delicate and fragile. Additionally there is a delay when feeding the image from the dslr to a monitor after hitting record, this means patiently waiting eight or nine seconds before acquiring a monitor visual. This can be maddening in a documentary situation.
The camera records in 8 bit quicktime H264 and even though this produces amazing pictures it isn't really deemed to be a pro recording file format due to the H264 data compression. Having said that the camera has been employed for a great number of TV dramas, documentaries and features. It's image attractiveness obviously outranking it's technical restrictions.
Even with the listed issues, many filmmakers (including myself) tolerate these troubles simply because Canon have put together a wonderful, creative, film-making device. When they improve the grievances with the MK3 then they'll have assembled a truly remarkable camera at a spectacular price point.
About the Author:
The Author, Mitchell Blatwood is a film maker offering leading program content for cinema, broadcast and corporate companies. He operates Tall Man Films and possesses over ten years experience in corporate videos Cardiff. Please go to the web site for further free training.