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Canon 5D Mark II


Emanuel A Guedes

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Why is that? There is no visual impairment of the lens. Anyway, in video mode, this is only a 2MP camera.

 

 

Simple brand snobbery I'd suspect. If the adaptor is there only for a simple job shouldn't the low price tag be a bonus? Also if a simple plastic lens cap will protect your £5,000 Zeiss lens from damage isn't it a good thing it doesn't cost much?

 

I've heard from somebody that DSLR's with movie function could phase out consumer/prosumer cameras in certain markets. What I wanted to know was how a DSLR handles as a movie camera? I'd imagine it would be slightly uncomfortable after a while. What you you reckon the chances are of a dedicated movie DSLR? I think Kodak and Samsung are releasing digital compacts now with 720p movie capability. This could be the start of something really exciting! :)

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Just to clarify, I said the adapter was shite because it doesn't work for poop, not because of its brand.

 

The Gadget Infinity adapter? I mean it doesn't have to really do anything, other than fit on and AF confirm, both of which mine seems to do. It's only 40 bucks.

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Just to clarify, I said the adapter was shite because it doesn't work for poop, not because of its brand.

 

I'm sorry! I wasn't reffering to you, or Karl Borowski, or anybody. I was just reffering to human nature in general.

 

Sorry for the confusion.

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IF a FF35 sensor allows much higher ASA ratings at comparable noise to an S35 sensor at a lower rating, perhaps the net result would be about the same, practically, i.e. if you can rate the FF35 camera at 1000 ASA and be happy with the noise level, then you can shoot at a higher f-stop to get the same depth of field of the S35 camera at, let's say, 320 ASA at a wider aperture, for similar noise quality but better dynamic range.

Right -- It's much like shooting large format still film, say an 8x10 view camera at f/22. Scale up the image size, scale up the stop. The film gets bigger, the lens gets smaller.

 

 

 

 

-- J.S.

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  • 3 months later...

Slightly OT, but in regards to the 5D MKII's 4GB limitation, is that to say that you can only record 12 minutes at a time? or is it to say that if you have an 8GB CF card, you can record 24 minutes seamlessly, but it will have created two 4GB files on the card? Is there any limitation on recording length as far as sensor heat and image quality is concerned?

 

Dave

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Is there any limitation on recording length as far as sensor heat and image quality is concerned?

 

Yes, very much so, as is mentioned in the manual.

 

It starts off recording what you'd expect - a really nice, really low noise, almost creamy image with lots of lovely focus falloff and everything you'd expect from a digital vistavision camera. Half an hour later it becomes horribly noisy. You need to be absolutely religious about switching it out of live view and using the optical viewfinder between takes.

 

P

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What about the recording length, given the 4GB limitation? Do you have to stop recording every 12 minutes?
Don't know - never wanted to do a 12 minute take! In any case we only had 4GB flash cards. It's h.264, anyway, so the file size is variable against length with respect to image complexity. P
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Yes, very much so, as is mentioned in the manual.

 

It starts off recording what you'd expect - a really nice, really low noise, almost creamy image with lots of lovely focus falloff and everything you'd expect from a digital vistavision camera. Half an hour later it becomes horribly noisy. You need to be absolutely religious about switching it out of live view and using the optical viewfinder between takes.

 

P

 

That's an interesting quirk. How would it do as an HD telecine camera? Would I have to let it rest (cool) between rolls? Does it output its H.264, HD signal through its tether? Does it output better than that through the tether like the back of the XLH1 does?

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Guest Kal Karman

I'm editing a job now that I shot with the Canon 5D mark II, and i'm noticing that if someone flashes from their camera while I'm filming, often I get the flash only on the top half of the frame...

 

This would mean to me that the camera is not shooting truly progressive frames, and is actually scanning lines.

 

Can anyone out there confirm? If so, really bad...

 

(still looks great though :)

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I'm editing a job now that I shot with the Canon 5D mark II, and i'm noticing that if someone flashes from their camera while I'm filming, often I get the flash only on the top half of the frame...

 

This would mean to me that the camera is not shooting truly progressive frames, and is actually scanning lines.

 

Can anyone out there confirm? If so, really bad...

 

(still looks great though :)

 

it is called rolling shutter, it scans the sensor from top to bottom, faster than the frame rate but it is still progressive scan.

A rule of thumb is CMOS sensor=Rolling shutter (Sony Ex1, RED camera, Canon 5D M2) the faster "refresh" of the scanning, the less apparent it would be. This is also the cause of the so called "Jello Vision".

They are limitations of the new technology (CMOS) which gives a lot other benefits (less power, less heat, less noise, no smear...) so i think at the end people will just live with it.. and the people that can't stand it will go CCD sensor route.

 

 

Cheers

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This discussion only matter when we see a rig for the DSLRs that actually give the 1st the ability to measure and pull focus. I haven't seen one yet that's well-designed.

Edited by Chris Keth
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  • 3 weeks later...

Shooting tests this week for an indie feature that may use the D5 MK2 for some scenes, with manual focus AI Nikon glass. First impressions after one day is that the camera is a lot of fun in low light - and the no manual control issues are a real drag and a definite headache on set. I'd not complain one bit if you had to do a headstand and recite the greek alphabet backwards however, if only it would shoot 24p and 1/50th a sec at ISO higher than 200 after some trickery. It's a fatally crippled camera in that regard, but "soon come," like the rastamen say.

 

I'm assisting for a DoP from Europe who has shot commercials, music videos and even part of a TV MOW with the D5 Mk2 and he knows less about the camera than most people on dedicated indie user forums, but it doesn't matter. That's part of the charm - the darn thing shoots good footy without much learning curve applied. Considering the cost, it's a cool tool.

 

The form factor stuff is "okay" not great compared to Panavison, et al, we're using mostly zacuto. Lost time every 2 hours when the mounts and sliders, etc work themselves loose, but nothing a good machinist couldn't fix in a day or so - this stuff is all straight out of the box right now. The follow focus stuff is okay - if it were machined better and cost more it still wouldn't improve the major bottleneck - the limitations of still lenses being pressed into use for cine work - witness marks on top, short thread-throw, tiny markings, etc. I hope to make up a set of discs to match the lens set and rely on that somewhat when shooting.

 

Looking forward the 35mm film-out test most of all. The proof is in the pudding! (I'll try to post my impressions.)

 

Many, many performance issues with these lenses being adapted for cine use - barrel distortion much more noticeable on anything 35mm and shorter being the most obvious. There is better glass, no doubt but for instance the 85mm Nikkor f1.2 is a beautiful piece of glass for close-ups with this camera. It was beautiful back in the day, and it still is. Putting together a set of primes will be fun, as you can pick and choose between canon, nikon, leica, etc glass and even throw in my lensbabies, and funky russian glass, too. There were some "greatest hits" over the years in various formats.

 

As for the codec we have "Judder" issues as well on pans, rolling shutter issues, etc. A lot of this CMOS stuff has already been discussed by Red Users elsewhere, and there are forums for this camera so I won't go into detail on that here, just now.

 

As for the glass, all the way back to the 1970s the strengths and limitations of Nikon glass has been well known. I remember using these same lenses on Eclair camflex cameras for steadycam work - it was a light body that some steadycam owner operators liked to own. Again, consider the cost. There are going to be some cool docs at sundance next year I predict, shot with this system.

 

The real area where this camera should shine is low light, low PROFILE work for delivery on low fi platforms, ie, not film-out but for certain effects and uses it ought to be a new and interesting way to get some good stuff previously not possible. It's practically a spy camera when you walk into a bar with it. I kept finding myself throwing on the 50mm f1.2 and doing simple focus pulls with the FF as we would walk around the shop, or in the car, etc. I felt like Albert Maysels after about ten minutes practice! (All apologies to the real verite pioneers! YMMV!)

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Many, many performance issues with these lenses being adapted for cine use - barrel distortion much more noticeable on anything 35mm and shorter being the most obvious. There is better glass, no doubt but for instance the 85mm Nikkor f1.2 is a beautiful piece of glass for close-ups with this camera.

 

85mm Nikkor f1.2. My fav. Great for flat faces. I like the 105mm for narrow, projecting faces. Glamor lenses are critical. People will forgive optical weirdness on everything except facial close-ups. The human brain is, comparatively, more critical of facial close-ups.

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Here's the package we had for the tests. The wide lenses have a flange that protects the rear element we're having to mill down a bit, to clear not the mirror but the housing around the mirror. Hopefully the fact that these flanges were to stop stray light in Nikon bodies isnt going to be a problem, but who can say until we test it....

 

20mm Nikkor Auto 1:3.5 No. 476940 NOT TESTED

 

24mm Nikkor Auto 1:2.8 No.337571 NOT TESTED

 

28mm Nikkor Auto 1:2 No.317324 NOT TESTED

 

35mm NIKKOR -N Auto 1:1.4 35mm Nippon Kogaku Japan No. 350150

 

50mm Nikkor Auto 1:1.2 No. 390746

 

85mm Nikkor Auto 1.1.4 No. 202947

 

105mm Nikkor Auto 1:1.2.5 No. 525188

 

135mm NIKKOR -Q Auto 1:2.8 135mm Nippon Kogaku Japan No.192131

 

180mm Nikkor Auto 1:2.8 No. 330918

 

I've used almost all these lenses for years and that's another plus - it's like meeting an old friend each time we put one up. The 135 has always done well, too and the 24mm is something I've always been very comfortable with - I can find my shot with it almost without looking thru the viewfinder I've made so many stills with it in the past.

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BTW, I recently received my 16-9.net Nikon G>EOS adapter. Nice little gadget. I got the lever-controlled one, so I don't have to twist the lens.

 

I tried it out on a Nikon-version Sigma 50-500 (basically a G lens), and the results are very nice! The "throw" on the iris lever is short but as along as you're not trying to ride iris in the middle of a shot, it's fine.

 

I'm still praying that a firmware update will fix the 24p issue. And although I know it's very unlikely, anything Canon could do to fix the moire issues and other artifacting caused by line skipping would be incredibly helpful.

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And although I know it's very unlikely, anything Canon could do to fix the moire issues and other artifacting caused by line skipping would be incredibly helpful.

 

Nothing really doable. I presume they can't make the chip go any faster, so the only way to approach it would be very aggressive single-axis low pass filtering, if such a thing is even possible, which'd probably make it even softer than it is.

 

P

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  • 4 weeks later...

hi all

here is a 5D2 story :

I was recently selected to shoot a major comercial for national tourism.

production/ asked me if i could do the same work i won the film with, in RED (it was 35 anamorphic)

i said no.

So i was hired to prep the shoot in 35

then they found a work in progress from me and another director shot in 5D2

Whithout knowing the format they asked me to re-prep the shoot in 5D2.

 

I was caught at my own game!

i don't say 5D2 is better than 35, i just say the director liked it better for his film.

 

soon i'll post the anamorphic comercial (it's aired saturday and the 5D2 one, graded next week)

 

take care all

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  • 3 months later...

I'm a technical lightweight - I'll get that out of the way right from the start.

 

Most of the examples of the 5DII movies I've seen are absolutely gorgeus - in that Discovery Channel sharp detailed documentary sort of way. But nothing I've seen is very "filmic". Is that merely a function of the 30fps v 24fps? Is there a cine gamma setting (or whatever) to make it look more like 35mm film? Can it be done in the computer? Or as someone suggested earlier in the thread - is that a coming attraction?

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