It was a comment on Phil’s Facebook that brought this article into sharp focus Q “Anything us XD 700 users could learn?” R “Yes on the Saturday we have two different classes. DSLR and film look. Come to film look, but actually come to both because seeing what the DSLR is capable of is worth coming to for anyone. Tomorrow I shoot a commercial with Kevin Spacey using the 5d. The camera cost £2000.”

You have a cameraman having spent the best part of £23,000 on a Sony XD700 being told that a camera used mainly for 35mm digital stills work costing £2000 is bringing in as much work or possibly more than the man with the top end Sony kit. How times have changed, I had a brief conversation with Phil this morning…

PJ “Hi Phil how are you finding the Canon 5D Mk11 ?”

PB “Great I am getting a fair bit of work with it now”

PJ “What type of work are you looking at ?”

PB “Everything from commercial work with Kevin Spacey promoting a top end housing development to filming in India for a Greenpeace commercial for television.”

PJ “I presume the sheer compactness of the 5D compared to the bulky, heavy video/film using letus adapter is the main bonus ?”

PB “The main bonus is when your flying, keeping down the weight when you are on a 15-25Kg weight limit is so important and you can take some of the kit as hand luggage”

PJ “What are the down sides using the 5D ?”

PB “The audio is the the 5Ds achilles heal, yes, you have an audio input via a 3.5mm jack socket but the sound is unusable, making the need to record separate sound via a solid state audio recorder. The other problem is finding focus even using the Zacuto loupe which definitely helps sometimes finding critical focus on a pull focus can be tricky”

PJ “What’s you favorite lens ?”

PB “The Canon 50mm f1.2 L lens, this allows great low light shots… way superior than you could achieve with even the Sony EX-3″

PJ “What type of tripod suits the 5D”

PB “The Miller DS20 carbon fibre tripod is a great compliment to the 5D”

PJ “Getting back to your Kevin Spacey shoot what did Mr Spacey think of you using the 5D ?”

PB “It never came up in conversation, he was concentrating on his delivery to camera, a true pro.”

The Canon 5D Mk11 is far from perfect with no audio metering, gain control, everything needs to be converted from H264 to ProRez, the sound needs to be re-synced with an external recorded sound source…and the camera has a 8 minute recording limit due to the fact it’s a photographic camera and would incur import duties if it recorded more than 8mins at a time. You can record as many 8min sequences as you like but it’s very limiting.

Philip Bloom has started the ball rolling using the Canon 5D Mk11, he has already clocked up 4 commercial jobs with it and on the whole is delighted with it’s performance especially in low light situations, I suspect these jobs are helping to pay for some of his expensive Canon glass in fact he told me his next purchase will be the 85mm f1.2 L lens at £1600.

www.philipbloom.co.uk

Having just bought a Canon 5D MkII for photographic use, I decided to see what all the fuss was about using the 5D as a film camera. My friend Philip Bloom has embraced the 5D to such an extent he has filmed 2 television commercials with it.

So firstly I went to order a Zacuto Z finder to discover they are not shipping till August the 10th 2009 this was possibly a blessing as I then plumbed for the 3″ Hoodman loop which is 1/3rd the price of the Zacuto.

One major problem for me is the lack of choice this leaves you attaching a loop to the LCD of the camera. As a photographer I like the old fashioned TTL viewfinder for taking photographs and the loop destroys this feature unless you are willing to use the live view for taking photographs as well !

let’s face it a 35mm Digital SLR is for taking photographs with not for filming television programs !…so why are so many people embracing this dual technology camera…simple they want the shallow depth of field that only a film camera gives you but at a price…the on board sound is naff as is the RAW codec although it’s a Quicktime it uses H264 compression so you can’t bring it onto your timeline without converting it first.

I don’t know if Canon can change this H264 as a firmware update but you only have to look at JVCs HM700/100 to question why Canon did not go down the same road.

My findings were less than encouraging, this is not a replacement for a Sony EX-3 etc, it’s very cumbersome to use and let’s face it we are looking at a 35mm stills camera as it’s prime use and 1080i HD filming as an after thought, although Canon give you a 3.5mm mic input the sound is very basic and AGC switched on with no availability to switch it off.

In order to get good sound you are forced to use an external digital audio recorder which adds to the time in the edit suite syncing it all up, between syncing external sound and converting the files you are doubling your editing time before you kick a ball.

I am sorry to be so negative about the Canon’s HD video mode but the only reason people like Philip Bloom are using this camera at all is because at this moment in time their is no alternative without costing a fortune or making a video camera look like something out of Madd Eye Moodys sneekerscope (Harry Potter).

Canon have been clever dipping their toe into this market but they would be pure genius if they would bring out a solid state video camera which took their 35mm lenses.

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So where now, we have had our pickings from Panasonic, JVC and Sony with solid state camcorders but we might ask where is Canon. We have not had a sniff from Canon for ages, apart from the odd tweak here or there.

I think Canon are biding their time and will WoW us with a complete rethink and finally go solid state. Canon are not stupid they have seen how the market is moving and it’s all in their favor…why ?

Look at the Canon 5D Mk2 Digital SLR with it’s new firmware allowing manual exposure control including ISO, shutter speed and aperture. You don’t have to spend a lot of time with a digital SLR camera that is designed to take photographs to realize it’s short comings as a video camera.

I was told only today that the good old BBC have bought the first consignment of Panasonic Lumix GH1 cameras and you can be assured it’s not for it’s photographic qualities though I do despair that an organization renowned for it’s quality programming is going down this road. Maybe someone from the BBC will write to us as to why they are buying so many Lumix GH1 cameras.

Canon on the other hand have many facets not least the broadcast lens division, pro camcorder division and pro SLR camera division, you would think that Canon would realize a big gap in the market for a quality solid state camcorder with shallow depth of field, a camcorder that will take all their SLR lens range…am I dreaming, well it’s not everyones cup of tea but Canon would sell tones of these camcorders and first in the que would be Mr Bloom himself.

A word of caution Canon please do not be stupid enough to bring out expensive dedicated solid state memory card when we have SDHC cards that are cheap and great for archive.

Advanced Sound for DSLR’s from Steve Weiss, Zacuto USA on Vimeo.

It can’t be difficult to make it happen…the all new Canon 21MP full frame CMOS sensor CF35…

I am not a big fan of cross pollination yet Canon have decided that almost all DSLRs are going to have the facility to record in HD. Why not go the whole hog and produce a full frame film look camera that would satisfy the hunger for a growing band of video/film makers who need the Shalow Depth Of Field (SDOF) that the 35mm sensor gives along with 35mm Canon lenses with the need for more professional facilities like XLR sound inputs etc.

This is my photoshop prototype of the Canon CF35…A 21MP full frame CMOS sensor camcorder from Canon, with dual compact flash slots, takes all Canon 35mm lenses, full 1920 HD and 720P, takes 15MP photographs while filming, dual XLR connectors, HD-SDI output, new LCOS hi-rez viewfinder and optional EHDZ-9P hi-rez camera/field monitor with built in CF recorder.

Canon would like a better hold of the marketplace over the likes of Sony, JVC and Panasonic. So far we have seen full 1920 HD camcorders or 35mm still cameras with HD recording and 3.5mm jack mic inputs (EOS 5D Mk11). Canon you have the top hand you know all about video and 35mm digital, now more than ever is the time to produce a proper solid state film look (SDOF) camera at a reasonable cost say £6000.

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