Video Capable DSLR’s

I am a little late to the game with this, but I’m on my first shoot (as the videographer) with a Canon 5D Mark II. I spent a good chunk of yesterday acclimatizing to the UI and how the camera handles… My first impressions are that it’s a camera that is still built for photographers. The UI and the way it handles is counter intuitive to a videographer’s senses. It doesn’t take long to figure out, and coming from a film background certainly helps, but overall the handling and the form factor are a ‘workaround’.

For the 5D Mark II.

I’ve handled the Panasonic GH1, and UI system for that camera is much more fluid, from a videography stand point. It’s also no secret that the GH1 is a more video friendly camera that the Canon, Nikon, Sony or Olympus models. And the firmware for both the GF1 and GH1 were hacked enabling up to 50mbps 1080p MJPEG recording.

This brings me to my only real beef with the Canon and it’s a big one as it relates to the video capabilities… H.264 at 17mbps, piss poor audio handling. It’s almost insulting how poor the audio is.

The best part is obviously the low light shooting. That’s a no brainer.

The over compressed video and piss poor audio aside. The camera is nice.

I still crave a GH1 though.

Here are some stills (video will be added soon).