Using the video mode on your camera

E

edbarton

Messages
145
Edit My Images
No
Hi guys,

Not sure how well this topic will go down as I realise for some people video is a bit of a sore point (although I've never seen a decent reason as to why) but I thought it'd be worth having some sort of thread or discussion on those who use their camera for video uses, primarily or equally to photography uses.

Personally I bought a 5d Mark II (soon to become a 7D, purely for video reasons) for the video. Obviously stills on the thing are something special but they were never more than a bonus, although nowadays I find myself using the stills more than video, but I digress. Anyway, these new cameras are very much a revelation in the low-budget filming world and there's loads of communities around these features (cinema5d, planet5d to name a few)

So basically I was wondering if anybody is in a similar boat (can't imagine so on a photography forum) or those who are considering moving to video, utilising it more or those who just want to share experiences. Browsing around these forums, I kind of feel like I'm on my own in even acknowledging that the video feature exists but I'm sure I can't be? Can I?
 
Video was one of the money reasons I traded up from a D90 and unfortunately I am yet to use it to anywhere near it's full potential. My main problem is what to do with the footage after I have captured it.

I have already spent years perfecting my photo workflow and am a little reluctant to put in the same out of time learning the skills required to edit a decent video, although I am sure it is something I will get round to doing in the future.

Also, for me personally I am a little unsure of what I would actually do with the edited work once complete. Photos are simple, get them printed and admire for years to come but video is a little different... do you videographers out there get the same pleasure revisiting past movies over the years? I am sure you do, why else would you do it.
 
we video and photograph
but my cam's video is too short for mrscrows video requirements
imho if you want to really video, capture, edit with all its supplementary tracks, and burn a good finished family video...then a small camcorder is the way to go..one with a tape...and dv in
ours is a sony and cost around 300...
just my feelings about horses for corses
 
I think that's definitely the case for home movies, just as with stills photography, you don't always want to be carrying around your big SLR.

I wouldn't say I've used it to its full potential either (weird since that is what it was bought for) whereas with photography I would say I have. It's certainly a lot harder to produce a video to the same quality as a single still frame and there is a steep learning curve to editing things properly. Proper video SLRs also aren't the nicest of cams for video with weird codecs and strange jelly effects and lack of autofocus. I wouldn't recommend them for home movies certainly.

But, for me, the video quality is just such a jump above what I can afford. The equivalent very much is a Sony Z1 in that price range with I think an 8x crop factor and the inherent flatness and huge DOF that brings. The images my 5D produces really jump out in comparison.
 
edbarton said:
The equivalent very much is a Sony Z1 in that price range with I think an 8x crop factor and the inherent flatness and huge DOF that brings. The images my 5D produces really jump out in comparison.
Click to expand...

image 'quality' (sharpness etc) maybe, but you just don't get the amazing depth of field that you get with a 5D2 and fast glass with a Z1, because the sensor is so pathetically small - to get even half decent DoF you need a pain in the rear letus adapter or similar, and the associated vast amount of light because the letus eats it... plus the Z1's only 1080i.

Imo, the Z1 and the slr cameras are for pretty different things - the z1 is a really fantastic ENG camera (if only it was SSD and 1080p... though the EX line corrects this, but I'm not too impressed on the AF on them), whereas I can see slr bodies being used much more for single camera indie shooting, and doubtless even on a few features coming soon... seen some pretty cool stuff that panavision have been doing mounting a 5D2 to a parachutist's helmet, pointing in at their face... footage that 5 years ago you just couldn't have got for cinema..

I can't wait for nikon to finally crank out a brilliant video body - they don't even have a pro video arm, unlike canon, so I really don't know why they're still stalling on 1080p - who knows... a 2K D3s would blow everything out of the water and make even Jim Jannard (RED) scared... but just a 1080p with audio in and no time limit on video is what's really needed about a year ago, and the current lack of one is making me glance over at the 5D2 more and more....
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top