Whilst listening to an interview Dan Chung (Right) asks the Canon rep Mark Burnhill, why the new Canon 1DX has a limited HDMI output and Marks reply is very interesting.

Dan “Why is that” in reference to a non clean output from the HDMI.

Mark…Has a large hesitation…”I think the video guys are kind of still in discussion in Canon about a conflict between the EOS and the video market…”

In other words this EOS 1DX has been deliberatly tamed down in order to make way for a video version due to be released to the world on the 3rd of November 2011.

This makes sence as Canon cannot afford for it’s photographic side of the business to interfere with the Pro Video side and it’s very refreshing that the Pro Video side still have some clout.

As sexy as the 1DX is and from all accounts very clean in low light to deliberately reduce it’s video specifications after adding a ton of new video features is a tad strange unless you are guarding a new video product further down your timeline which is the most reasonable explanation.

I have also got to add here that if you are contemplating buying this DSLR for video use at £5600 it is now dearer than the Panasonic AF101 and the Sony FS100 which are far superior large sensor camcorders for SDoF video work.

You can see Dans interview here…

http://vimeo.com/31175496

Specific video features…

Improved movie mode with reduced artifacts and moire, no line skipping, better low light performance, no file size limitation, SMTPE compliant time code, on screen audio meter, new video compression Intra frame and IPB, 1920x1080p full HD shooting at 24, 25 and 30fps, 1280 x 720p at 50 or 60 fps.

This is fantastic news for not only serious photographers but for serious video producers who are kitted out for DSLR shooting. The best bit about the news is it clears the way for November the 3rd being a video camcorder and dare I say it a large sensor film camera.

This new filter could breath new life into those tired shots that you never dare shoot with a DSLR like hair, netting, bricks and many more because as soon as you pan or tilt you get moire patterning or aliasing, both can lead to a good shot being wasted, until now.

Dr Davik Cubanski from Pennsylvania in the USA has developed a new filter that guarentees a 75% reduction in moire and aliasing when using his filter. The filter will cost $385 which is a snip if your a professional film maker using Canon 5DMk11 DSLRs for commercial filming work.

The three downsides to using this filter is a slight loss of light about one third of a stop, your focus plane is shifted slightly so you can not use the numbers on the lens but as most people don’t use them anyway it won’t be a major problem and lastly you are restricted to using 24mm lens at its widest which for some people may just be too restricting.

The unit slips into the front of the camera with the mirror in the up position, personally I would have 2 cameras, one for video only work and one for photography, this is why Canon have never addressed this issue as a permanent solution as this filter would start to compromise the main intention of the camera and photography is a DSLRs number one priority.

Optical Anti-Aliasing Filter for the Canon 5Dmk2 from Glenn Przyborski on Vimeo.

I have had a few emails recently all with the same message…DSLR stopped working ! Are we now seeing the major limitations of this cheaper video technology.

No one ever thought for one minute that we would see video work being produced by a stills camera especially at weddings, but quite a number of you have been putting the DSLR through it’s paces at least twice a week throughout the wedding season.

We are now on year 2-3 with the DSLR being used as a video tool, people like the “look”, “Shallow depth of field”, “”Compactness” but all this form factor is at a cost, not one DSLR manufacturer to date will compromise the photographic side of these cameras so for at least 90% of you that means moire and aliasing.

Sound is poor and in most cases uncontrollable so you are having to use an external sound source like a zoom etc.

Up until a week ago the only DSLR giving hassle free video was the Panasonic GH1 but one of my readers had the following…

” The GH1s not a whole lot better. I shot a wedding with 2 of them and a HMC151 recently. The 2 GH1s crashed during the ceremony. One was restarted by the operator, the other was locked off to the rear of the church so we didn’t know about it til after the ceremony.

DSLRs are fabulous filmmaking tools but not really sorted for live video work, yet.”

This chap was lucky he was also using a Panasonic HMC-151 camcorder so the instant 2 camera failure was a bad blow but the video camcorder saved his bacon.

This also happened to a company I blogged about recently using two Canon 60Ds and a Sony FS100 once again a two camera failure during the speeches and the Sony FS100 saving the day.

It seems obvious to me there is a short longevity with the DSLR using it in video mode, the overheating is never a good sign in any electrical equipment and I think it’s also causing irrepariable dammage, in other words temperature = camera problems.

If I take my straw pole of unsatisfied DSLR users to date it equals 70% not happy having had a major let down at a live event and out of that 70% only 30% had a video camcorder to fall back on.

My advice is obvious either take a video camcorder or a spare DSLR body to all your weddings and keep them at arms length…just in case !

This will not suit everyone as in my opinion it is far to specific using Android phones and tablet when the marketplace is dominated with iPhones and iPads.

Just in case its something you may be able to use here is a short video…

Here is the website https://market.android.com/details?id=eu.chainfire.dslrcontroller

Someone once told me that the DSLR is simply another tool in your box, especially if you are filming weddings with them. Over the last two years I have developed a comfort zone with the Video DSLR though I do not use one outside the studio other than the odd pack shots and close up work of new camcorders etc.

This true story starts about 8 weeks ago the only change to the truth is the boys names to save their professional blushes. I was working at my desk when George came on the phone with an offer of a second hand Sony EX-3 a week later we shook hands and Prestons had their EX-3 and George was very happy with his four figure sum.

The boys, George and Scott were looking to beef up their DSLR kit as they use two Canon 60Ds for all their top end wedding work. About a week before the Glasgow open day I got a further call from George asking if we would be interested in their second EX-3, no problem and John Preston took the EX-3 at the Glasgow show and the boys now had a fair sum of money to spend.

I demonstrated the Sony FS100 to them and they were blown away by it’s exceptional noise free 21dB gain, so much so they put their name down for a new FS100. The Nikon to E mount adapters from MTF were just on their second production so it would be about a week till we took delivery of the boys adapter, I gave them my Sony 18-200 “E” lens to tide them over.

Last week I visited the boys in their plush offices in Glasgow city centre to hand over the MTF adapter. “How did you get on with the new FS100 boys” “It saved our bacon last weekend” was the sheepish reply.

The Report…”Last weekend the boys were filming a two camera wedding using the FS100 as a third camera for syncing sound and cutaways, the day went well till it came to the speeches, fortunately they were using the FS100 for sound so decided to record the speeches using all three cameras. The speeches were longer than anticipated, the day was one of Glasgow’s hottest and half way through both Canon 60Ds brought up a thermometer indication, indicators flashing and both cameras switched off within a minute of each other leaving both boys shocked to the core.

Over the last year they had gradually gone from using two Sony EX-3s switching over to two Canon DSLRs and till this moment in time with much success…this was a monumental disaster but for the luck of buying the Sony FS100 one week before that very wedding, they composed themselves, finished the speeches with the one camera that was preventing a major law suite and the demise of their wedding film business.

I don’t need to tell any of you how serious this could have been but I do think all of you filming weddings with DSLRs should take stalk and rethink your workflow.

Far to many of you poo poo the video camcorder these days in preference for the DSLR when it’s clear that you have a temperature time bomb waiting to happen…sometime in the future !

There is a place for both technologies, especially now we have cameras like the AF101 and the FS100, George and Scott still have a wedding video business thanks to having the Sony FS100 … but you may not be so lucky !

In my opinion the DSLRs are good for openers, musical montages and anything that does not require sound other than that you should be using a video camera like the Canon XF300, Sony NX70/NX5, Panasonic AF101 or the Sony FS100.

If you are being payed to produce a wedding video you are legally bound to make sure you have taken all precautions possible to make sure you produce the package the bride and groom have asked you to film for them, there is no excuse in law for ignorance or using equipment that is not fit for purpose. You take someones money off them…most of you get payed before the wedding you are entering a legal contract of work, if your DSLR shuts down because its too hot you better have a back up of some kind at the ready otherwise it becomes very expensive and you may loose you business.

My thanks to Bertoli for pointing out my D60 should read 60D.