Video for still photographers with the Canon 5D Mark II

photo by Luke Padgett

 part 1 Form Factor

The Canon 5D Mark II is the best DSLR I have ever used. The raw files are fantastic and its low light/high iso capabilities open up whole new realms to photograph. Ira Block does a great quick review of the camera here  and here.

But the camera has made the biggest splash because of it HD video capability. There are some beautiful videos floating around the web (mine , Dan Chung's , Chador's and others). 

For any of us still shooters who have wanted to check into moving pictures this is the time and this is the tool. Look, if of you are a canon user you are going to buy this camera anyway. You already own the lenses so what else do you need and what do you need to think about to make movies?

First, some unsolicited advice: If you are going out to shoot video, shoot video, if you are going out to shoot stills shoot stills. Don't think that you can grab some still images while doing a film shoot and really really don't think you can get good moving images while you are working as a still photographer. Different skills, different parts of your brain.

on to nuts and bolts

Form Factor:

The camera's size -its greatest strength- is also one of its greatest weaknesses. Here is a 2 pound device that records hd video using fantastic canon 35mm lenses. But how are you going to hold it steady? Remember shaky video is bad video, amateur video. With a short lens You can hand hold the camera steady -sort of- by putting the strap around your neck and pulling the camera tight against the strap.

This video is all hand held.

shot by Stephen Alvarez, edited by Luke Padgett, music by Juana Molina (available on itunes) watch the movie on vimeo 

And you can see some serious issues with steadiness. 

This technique only works well for wide lenses. If you go to a longer lens than 35mm forget it.

The IS lenses do a good job of smoothing out hand held camera shake, but that gets to be a lot of weight to hold out in front of you. Remember you are looking into the screen on the back of the camera, not the viewfinder.

What I am saying is that the form factor isn't good for video, but hey this is a still camera right? So what do you do?

1)   for tripod shooting, buy a decent fluid head. Yes I know you have already spent a bunch on money on a ball head for your tripod but it won't give you smooth pans. Trust me I tried. I have a Manfrotto 501HDV Video Head that didn't break the bank and works just fine. It goes on my regular tripod.

2)   for hand held shooting -particularly with a longer lens- you need some sort of camera support. I use a Cavision RS1580D rail/shoulder support and handgrip system. But there are others from Red Rock Micro that offer more features (for many more Benjamins).

You end up with much steadier video and, a place to mount your microphone and external monitor, but at the cost of size. Suddenly your dslr had gone from being nice and compact to, well, to being the size of a video camera. Just remember, it is a VERY GOOD video camera.

 

 Tomorrow part 2, Sound

Comments

[Stephen Alvarez]

Stirling,
Thanks for the comment. My thought about this camera for video is that if you are a canon shooter you are going to buy this camera anyway and for an extra 2 thousand dollars you can be producing good video with it. The current red is a whole different animal and comes at a vastly different price point.

The next generation red cameras are still just CAD renderings so I wouldn't hold my breath.

[Stephen Alvarez]

replying to Kevin No I haven't noticed any lines when the sensor warms up. what firmware are you running? I ran the camera for an hour solid the other day and it was noticeably warm when I was through but no image degradation.

[Kevin]

Have you noticed any problems with lines in the video if you shot for extended periods of time. I'm getting a line about 2-3 pixels wide on the left side of my frame when the sensor gets hot. Other than that I love the camera.

[Sterling Zumbrunn]

Thanks for this advice. I was thinking about getting this camera, and getting an adapter to mount some of my Nikon/Zeiss glass, but now I think I am just going to wait for the RED. It seems like the implementation of video is definitely at the 1.0 level for DSLRs (or even at the beta level for Nikon), so I'm not going to dive in just yet. All of the add-ons that one would need to make this camera work properly (audio break-out box, mounting systems, external monitor) make me think that it's better to just buy a camera that is dedicated for that purpose. Using existing glass is a perk though, and it's exciting that the RED will offer both Nikon and Canon mounts. Cheers, and thanks for the review.

[Stephen Alvarez]

Ira you know as well as I do that the sound quality BLOWS. Be patient I discuss it in a little more depth tomorrow!

[Ira Block]

Yes it produces good videos, but the camera is still not a video camera and awkward to use. That is unless you spend some money and basically build it into a video camera. For simple shots especially using a tripod the camera is fine, but to pull focus and do moves it is problematic. If you have to produce a serious video you may need a video camera- if you need to do small clips for the web the 5D Mark 2 should work. And how about the sound quality Mr. Alvarez??