Ok. So everyone seems intent on making up for Canon's deficiencies here.
Guess, I'll come to bat as well. Why miss out on a marketing opportunity? Gotta love the DIY culture that is willing to take these Alpha/Beta products and try to make them work as they should. Note to self: remember this when introducing new ColorRight products.
First off, you need to get one of these at the very least:
Secondly, for now you also need to make sure you have a fairly decent Mac if you want to edit the footage.
Thirdly, I am going to go back by PPR today and try out all their IS lenses to see if any of them help with the herky-jerkies. If not, expect to purchase some sort of third party steadi-cam type product which I am sure someone is already designing.
With these additions at least you might be able to use it as Doug Axford and others have suggested.
White Balance so easy, even our 5 year old can do it.- Melissa Strickland
IS does seem to help, and the Sennheiser mic also works fairly well. Although, the wind shield seems to want to slide off fairly easily. A little tape or glue should fix that up. The mic was $225 at a local shop. At least it is stereo and records ok ambient sound without the grinding noises of the IS and AF motors drowning everything out.
The bad news is that there are precious few fast IS lenses. The best of the bunch looks to be the 70-200 f/2.8L IS. There is no 24-70 f/2.8L IS lens made by Canon. The next best alternative for a shorter zoom seems to be the "kit" lens 24-105 f/4 L. Kind of defeats the purpose of the video coming out of this camera, though, namely low light work. But, it dos a respectable job, otherwise.
If Canon is going to take the video thing seriously they desperately need to introduce a fast short range zoom with good IS. They should also consider adding IS to some of their great fast primes. The video I shot with the 50 f/1.2L is amazing, but you can't hand hold that combo for anything. Again, I guess the steadi-cam that someone should design should open that area back up.
All of the lenses tested with IS exhibit occasional "freezing" when panning. It seems to be worse when panning slower than when panning quicker. The cheaper 28-135 IS was somewhat helpful, but did not seem to work as well as the IS present in the better lenses. The Mode 2 IS found on the 70-200 seems to alleviate some of this effect. The 24-105 does not have a mode 2 IS. To my knowledge, the only other IS lenses having mode 2 IS are mostly the longer sports lenses (eg. the 300 f/2.8).
The 70-200 also seems to work the best because it provides a nice weight for counterbalancing the body, and has a much larger manual focus ring.
So, there you have it for the moment, I will try to have a little more go with it tomorrow.
White Balance so easy, even our 5 year old can do it.- Melissa Strickland
My impression of your review is that it is very much a 'glass half empty' review. I have been talking a lot with Vincent Laforet (we are currently organizing a workshop with him that will focus on the topic of 'Video for Still Photographers') and from his perspective, I think the glass is more that 2/3s full. In fact, his career is transforming around his use of this camera.
The fact is that this camera opens up an entire new world of possibilities to photographers. Whether you shoot weddings, pj, commercial or editorial, this tool can open up new business opportunities for you. I'd venture to say that most pros who put this camera to work properly in their business will have their 5D Mk II and mics paid for with their first stills/video shoot. As a commercial and fine art shooter myself, I can't wait to get this camera in hand, I have so many ideas for putting to use in my business and artwork.
From my perspective, this camera represents a giant leap forward for digital image makers, plain and simple.
Drew, appreciate the time you're taking to add to to the body of information trickling out about the 5D Mk II's video capabilities now that production models are getting into the hands of critical users. I'm interested in reading about user personal opinions/experiences and would like to hear about the warts as well as the accolades...especially from people like Drew who have a videographer background.
Looking forward to the next installment.
__________________ Felix
*****
White Balance so easy, even our 5 year old can do it.- Melissa Strickland
I did a short section of Video at a Gig last night. Using the 70-200 f2.8 L IS, and handholding it above my head, so it's a bit shaky, but considering how I was holding it, it think the results are amazing.
PM me if anyone wants a look, it's 149Mb for 30s.
I find on my PC that I have to play it FullScreen mode, because otherwise it -and Drew's - are very hesitant if played in a window.
I'd love to have been able to shoot from closer and a tripod, but with all the crowd activity, I think a tripod would have been worse due to age-ing rockers dancing on the floor!
White Balance so easy, even our 5 year old can do it.- Melissa Strickland
I now have a use for a video camera, but my problem now is finding a wireless stereo transmitter that will plug into a mixer board lineout. I find quite a few wireless miccrophones but nothing that will plugin to the mixer. The receiver end seems to be covered very well, with a large selection of shoemounted or tripod mount receivers. I need to record music/singing from the sound stage, so a transmitter with a stereo linein is required.
Do any of you vidiographers have information.
No, you don't know that you were wrong. You think that you were wrong, but you haven't tested the hypothesis. I'd really like to hear what your wife thinks of the 5D MkII video feature.
Mike.
You're kidding, right?
My wife will rue the day she ever voluntarily uses manual focus on anything.
She cut her teeth in pro photography well after good AF was already a well established technology.
She is now begging me NOT to purchase this camera.
White Balance so easy, even our 5 year old can do it.- Melissa Strickland
Linear Mode
