phil hawkins

Well as a 5D MKII shooter, my scenes never have the need to go over 12 minutes so that's not really an issue. If I'm doing some sort of videography, I'll use a proper video camera, but for cinema where my scenes are only a few seconds to a minute and some change max, that limitation never bothered me.

 

As far as audio is concerned I use a 5.1 mic on cage and my recordist uses a separate recorder for the boom and shotgun. I only use the 5.1 for ambiance and since the AGC was killed in the big firmware upgrade in June the audio is flatly responsive and predictable. I know that there are XLR breakout cables or adapters that you can buy that have both input and output but I haven't fully investigated those.

 

One of the biggest reasons you'd want to use a rig like this is yes, it's only 1080p, but the sensor is HUGE for 1080p. Light gathering is amazing and the ability to not only get the depth of field of say a 1.2L lens but to also utilize the light gathering ability of a 1.2L lens rivals any adapter rig on a standard camera.

 

I do have one gripe though, monitoring through the HDMI port isn't 1080p it's 480p... if you play back from the camera to the monitor it's 1080 but it defeats the purpose of spending so much money on high resolution field monitors.

 

As far as auto focus is concerned, that's a feature used more by videographers imho. I have a RedRockMicro follow focus on my rig and it does fine for pulling focus in most scenes. I have my own hang ups with that but that's outside the scope of my post. :)

Great response, Phil, just what I was looking for. Low-light image quality and dynamic range... makes sense. thanks!

Can someone explain to me why everyone is so giddy over the 5D MKII video output given that:

1) It records video at resolutions that are less than some other 1080i dedicated video cameras in the same price range... (2 megs 5dMKII vs 2.9 meg for the Sony HVRA1U.)

2) Horrible audio/audio connections

3) No monitor

4) No autofocus

5) records maximum 12 minutes continuous vs 45 for DVCAM models (DPReview 5D MKII Specifications)

I like the use of the Canon "L" lenses, which is a great thing... but can someone clarify for me in simple technical terms why everyone is so ga-ga? It just seems like the hassle factor is very high in all other aspects of using the 5D MKII as a video source. Plus, I'd like to see a side-by-side output comparison of dedicated 1080i cameras in the same price range of the 5D MKII. Is this available on the net somewhere? I am obviously missing something...