Canon 5D Mark II HD footage test

[Warheart]

They can all do *nearly* as good, but it depends on what your definition of nearly is. I've played around with a D90 and the movie mode is an after-thought. The Mark II gives you the biggest DoF options, and the best iso performance for a camera under $5,000. That test footage was shot at 1600 iso! The Nikon for example, is pushing it at 800. There's a great camera shoot-out video, where they put a bunch of DSLRs through testing and the 5D wins all of them (in its class of course). The 7D looks *nearly* as good, but not as good.

I know you're basically paying an extra thousand dollars for better iso performance and DoF, but its that important to me.

As far as film making goes, the mark II is the only guy in town, and has been for a year now. I can't speak for Pentax, but I know that Nikon has nothing to compare to it. Its the best camera to make movies/narratives with in its price class.

Yeha, you're right about the DFS and lowlight performance indeed. Well I wouldn't have the money to get anything FF anyway. I heard that the D3x is actually better than the Mk II but for that you pay another 2000-3000$.

But to be honest I'm just jealous.

[Beowulf]

But to be honest I'm just jealous.

The truth comes out!

[NeoQuixotic]

Using DSLRs for video is awesome. I bought a 7D earlier in the year and loved it. I ended up selling it because I needed money and would of needed about another $1000 minimum in accessories for follow focus and decent audio recording. But oh man is the footage it produces nice. I was hoping Canon would release a 5D MkIII to enhance/fix the issues with moire/aliasing, but they said the MkIII is not coming out anytime soon because the MkII is selling so well. I would love to have a full frame sensor DSLR or video camera without the current issues and a proper Codec, but it looks like we will have to continue to wait. The DSLRs definitely have problems with them, but the benefits out weigh the negatives. It's too bad RED takes so long to get anything out and always ends up costing much more than they said. They have totally missed a market they could be making some good money in.

[ZephyrStar]

For a long time I've been eyeing a panny HMC150, and now recently they have the 40, which is cheaper. I'm very torn, because should I get something like an HMC150, I'd have an all-in-one for doing stuff like interviews or documentary, as well as commercial stuff like wedding shoots for money. For my cinemafag side, should I reach a point where I can shoot one of my ideas, I would have to go DSLR and get a set of primes. I guess the good thing is, I won't need that for years probably as I'm wrapped up in my indie anime thing. So I'll probably just grab like a Canon Vixia to shoot my special features with for the anime thing for now...but dammnit I want large sensors and DOF ;_; The tech changes so fast though, 10 years ago when I was eyeing a DVX100, I never would have thought I'd see some of the stuff that's out now. Will be interesting to watch.

Edit: hoshit...I did not realize the T2i could be had for ~$800... that's a no-brainer.

[Magnus]

Damnit, this or the Scarlet?

As Beo said, it's going to be a much better camera. However it will be much more expensive.
And as for the release date of the Scarlet itself, it will most likely be furthur delayed. Considering it's launch has been pushed forward the past what, 2 years almost? However, the RED-team is not pushing the release further for no reason. The more time it's delayed, the more upgrades and gears/possible add-ons it's getting. Was considering waiting for it, but ended up getting a 550 D/Rebel T2i, instead.

Still dreaming of the day I can afford an EPIC lol.

As for the test Beo, pretty nice one

[Castor Troy]

Thank God I decided not to get a panasonic HVX.

Although, by the time I can afford a "good" camera, a better one than this will be out..