167 replies to this topic

[Drew]

Well, there is some skew and slant, not as bad as the D90 but noticeable especially with longer lenses and movement together. I didn't have a CF card to record anything (Canon policy which no one paid attention to but myself! sigh ) but I saw the clips fed to a monitor via HDMI. Panning at normal pace seems to keep the picture steady.
Activating liveview to shoot video is relatively easy, but you don't hit the shutter button but the set button. You can shoot a still in the middle of shooting video and the camera will continue shooting after it takes the still... neat but cooler would've been to be able to do both... but this is not the camera that will do that (well to be fair I didn't try it because I couldn't verify if the clip was seamless or not )

If one were planning to use this underwater, changing to video would be like changing lenses correct? This could be a problem I imagine not being able to shoot the same perspective as you are shooting stills. Would there be any present lenses that shoot wide angle video with this?
If Nikon implements this in their FX cameras, then their present option of being able to use DX lenses will be helpful. Am I correct?

Not at all, my comparison was about the typical video sensors of camcorders in the $3-9k range which are usually 1/3-1/2" sensors. I guess I should rephrase that since some people may not know what I'm yammering about.
The nice thing about having a 35mm sensor is that we have full use of SLR lenses with sharpness that is beyond that of most camcorder lenses. You get the full 35mm FOV and the fast lenses like the 24 f1.4 or 20 f.18 or 14 f2.8... REAL WIDE ANGLE without converters. Obviously the image is still bound by the same problems as SLR , for example soft corners in dome ports.
Btw CPS members get first dibs apparently. I love special status.

[Alex_Mustard]

Thanks for the hands on feedback, Drew. Excellent stuff.

Btw CPS members get first dibs apparently. I love special status.

I think Nikon did the same thing with the D3. First dibs to CPS too.

[Drew]

I think Nikon did the same thing with the D3. First dibs to CPS too.

Yes, many Nikon guys did join CPS... it's only fair Canon doesn't hoard.

[segal3]

More video from Canon.
And more (some overlap).

[Drew]

Here is one of the video WITH SOUND to test the mono mic:



Btw, the camera just hit the top 20 most sold camera list... and it's not even out yet. Get your preorders in! Housing manufacturers.... this is your "it" product!

[wagsy]

Well still have not found a moving shot clip....I wonder why....

[Taxgeek]

I have a question about focus? It appears from the various reports (Michael Reichmann's report is just up) that the camera will not change its focus during the recording of a clip? Is this correct?

So if Emma the Beautiful Bahamian Tiger Shark happens to be swimming toward you during a shot, the camera can't track her and stay (more or less) focused?

Thanks. I don't have that much experience with video, but I make little videos of my dive vacations, and this seems like one of the more essential features. And alot of the newer P*S cameras can't do it. My old one can, so I haven't upgraded, grr.

Was hoping the 5dII could . . .

[scaper]

Here is a pro photographer's short dramatic movie using the 5D MKII. Is that CMOS wobble in the helicopter shots? Looks like he used manual focus while shooting once or twice and maybe he also let his subjects move into the plane of focus. This does seem to suggest that auto focus may not be changing once you roll footage.

http://blog.vincentlaforet.com/

Pat

[Drew]

Thanks pat.
Here is the actual Reverie movie:
http://downloads.can...Cut2_midres.m4v
I'd embed but I don't think Canon would like that.

And here is the making of:

http://vincentlafore..._MRytZ-1280.mp4

Note for all of the running/moving shots were all stabilized by gyro mounts, all from Kenyon as in the credits. There's also bits and pieces of frames showing wobble, slant and skew during movement, especially in the car and helicopter scenes. The lack of shutter speed control also showed up when the LCD screens were flickering.
With CMOS and rolling shutter, there will always be some sort of skew/slant/wobble. Image stabilization will always help alleviate it but as you can see... it can't eliminate it. However, the low light looks awesome and a nice fast wide lens would be awesome.
Now to pressure the housing makers to add hydrophones.
You can tell the making of was put together in a hurry. Their editor left a few frames here and there of bad clips. Oppsie!

[Alex_Mustard]

Btw, the camera just hit the top 20 most sold camera list... and it's not even out yet. Get your preorders in! Housing manufacturers.... this is your "it" product!

I have never seen you so excited about an inanimate object, Drew.

Great info - keep it coming.

Alex

[PRC]

I have never seen you so excited about an inanimate object, Drew.

So is this the 'Killer app' of the camera world ?

I know nothing about video so where does this product offering stack up in the pile of video gear out there and why ?

To be honest I had assumed that the video side of the equation was probably a bit of an also ran feature like live view on my D300, you know, great theory and marketing but....

Why is Drew so excited?- or is he just sitting on a portfolio of Canon shares

Paul C

[BotSO]

I'm first on the Seacam list!!! I loved the 5D, upgraded to the 1D Mark III and hope the 1D Mark IV fits in the same housing - it won't. I can hope...

Get your preorders in! Housing manufacturers.... this is your "it" product!

[Alex_Mustard]

Got this from Drew.

"As I mentioned before,the 5D2 cannot take a still AND shoot video at the same time. The movie mode does continue to record, but whenever you take a still photo, there's a gap of about 1 second in the resulting file."

Not all reviews have spotted this.

Alex

[segal3]

Every "review" (or, whatever these one-day, hands-on impressions are called ) I've seen has noted this as happening...?

[wagsy]

I downloaded that Reverie movie clip and looked at it frame by frame as well.

They certainly were careful on how they shot and cut around the camera\'s weakness, but as Drew stated there were a few skewy bits missed.

Nice though for certain creative jobs to have but would not be good yet for day to day video use.

[Ferg42]

Given that the 5D MkII only offers fixed 30fps rate, does anyone have any insight into how problematic the conversion to 25fps is likely to be for those of us in PAL land. Thinking about mixing in 5D MkII footage with HDV etc.
I've heard mixed reports- anything from 'no problem it is easy to convert with high quality results' to 'it's a nightmare and leads to serious degradation of footage'....

[Ferg42]

OK, I think I just answered my own question
I tried downloading the sample (MVI5500) from Canon and rendering it with Vegas together with one of my HDV 25fps clips- tried a .wmv and a .avi file, both at 25fps and render was pretty quick. Quality of the 5D MkII video still looks better than my HDV- I couldn't see any problems. Still need to try it with a clip with a bit more fast motion in it...

[wagsy]

Here ya go.
Enjoy the skewing.....it's a keep me still video camera

[Drew]

I have never seen you so excited about an inanimate object, Drew.

Hey that's no way to talk about my girlfriend! Oh you mean the 5D2. Well it'll replace my trip camera rigs with all-in-1 ability. I'll still bring the big video rig for dedicated shots but as production cameraman, it's a great tool to have. I can take high quality stills and video of the productions in the same rig. The issue of CMOS rolling shutter isn't a big deal underwater for me unless the director wants something more "nausea inducing".

OK, I think I just answered my own question
I tried downloading the sample (MVI5500) from Canon and rendering it with Vegas together with one of my HDV 25fps clips- tried a .wmv and a .avi file, both at 25fps and render was pretty quick. Quality of the 5D MkII video still looks better than my HDV- I couldn't see any problems. Still need to try it with a clip with a bit more fast motion in it...

Ferg
It is precisely faster motion that will show the strobic effect of 30-25fps. You're removing frames so the action in between is cut short. Frameblending/motion blurring helps a bit but it's Saving Private Ryan/GI Jane all over again.

[Ferg42]

Hopefully the skewing won't be too much of a problem when shooting wideangle. I guess for macro work a tripod might help minimize it (which you kind of need anyway for decent looking shots). Ohh I'm getting excited. I'm just about to get on the pre-order list for this little beauty....