ave Video on Canon DSLR
Discussion
Gents
I currently have a 450D whihc is working fine. I have been toying with the possibility of upgrading to a model which has the HD video capability and external microphone inputs, mostly to use on motoring holidays.
does anyone have any thoughts or input on video and sound quality?
Cheers
I currently have a 450D whihc is working fine. I have been toying with the possibility of upgrading to a model which has the HD video capability and external microphone inputs, mostly to use on motoring holidays.
does anyone have any thoughts or input on video and sound quality?
Cheers
I took my 7D on Safari and filmed (amongst other things) a cheetah hunt (those b*ggers are fast!).
I only got to review the video when I got home and the video quality was outstanding, the (in-camera) mic picked up a bit of wind, but nothing I would complain about.
Very smooth, no shake or jumping in the picture, and full HD quality.
Also took some footage of the wilderbeest/zebra migration, and again, very impressive... when they just stand there I could zoom in (whilst still recording) and pick up some real detail in the fur/eyes/water etc etc.
The video was only let down by the operator!
I can see why some photographers more onto video though, certianly got me thinking more about it!
There are some good DSLR video examples on youtube too which was partly why I decided to give video a go instead of a series of photographs.
I only got to review the video when I got home and the video quality was outstanding, the (in-camera) mic picked up a bit of wind, but nothing I would complain about.
Very smooth, no shake or jumping in the picture, and full HD quality.
Also took some footage of the wilderbeest/zebra migration, and again, very impressive... when they just stand there I could zoom in (whilst still recording) and pick up some real detail in the fur/eyes/water etc etc.
The video was only let down by the operator!
I can see why some photographers more onto video though, certianly got me thinking more about it!
There are some good DSLR video examples on youtube too which was partly why I decided to give video a go instead of a series of photographs.
Auto focus doesn't work, you can focus with a half shutter press but its not great but don't let that put you off as you can get some great shots using manual.
Take a look at the magic lantern (3rd party) software. It runs from the SD card and gives tonnes of extra functionality such as magic zoom (a focus window that pops up when you move the focus ring to show you a zoomed in portion of the picture to see if you have it focussed), headphone output for audio monitoring, automatic gain can be switched off and individual gains controlled and loads more.
I've used mine to shoot weddings and all sorts and its been great. There is a 4gb file size limit but with the magic lantern software you can vary the bit rate to suit what you are shooting. Set at a fairly high bit rate I get around 1 minute to 146Mb.
You can shoot in 1080p at 24fps or 30fps and 720p at 50fps or 60fps which can be nice for slow motion.
If you are looking at doing video then definitely get the magic lantern software installed, it transforms the camera.
ETA Magic lantern also has a built in intervalometer feature too which would be good for some nice time lapse video of your drives.
Take a look at the magic lantern (3rd party) software. It runs from the SD card and gives tonnes of extra functionality such as magic zoom (a focus window that pops up when you move the focus ring to show you a zoomed in portion of the picture to see if you have it focussed), headphone output for audio monitoring, automatic gain can be switched off and individual gains controlled and loads more.
I've used mine to shoot weddings and all sorts and its been great. There is a 4gb file size limit but with the magic lantern software you can vary the bit rate to suit what you are shooting. Set at a fairly high bit rate I get around 1 minute to 146Mb.
You can shoot in 1080p at 24fps or 30fps and 720p at 50fps or 60fps which can be nice for slow motion.
If you are looking at doing video then definitely get the magic lantern software installed, it transforms the camera.
ETA Magic lantern also has a built in intervalometer feature too which would be good for some nice time lapse video of your drives.
Edited by andrewrob on Tuesday 24th January 15:06
TigerS6 said:
As above, the auto focus doesn't work, but it certainly made good practice for zooming and focussing at the same time (wasn't too bad at the end!).
re: ^^^ not heard of that magic lantern software, but it sounds like you're a lot more serious at it that me will take a look though.
Even for just home videos it still makes a difference so worth a look. A good cheap lens for video is the 50mm 1.8. Great for low light and nifty focus pulling shots. There's also a lot more control over colour balance with magic lantern too.re: ^^^ not heard of that magic lantern software, but it sounds like you're a lot more serious at it that me
will take a look though.Cactussed said:
v interesting stuff. I presume it works on all the canon DSLR's that shoot HD video (ie, 500 onwards).
Not all, I think it does work on the 500d but with limited functionality. It was designed around the 550d from memory so I think that has the most features available but the 5d and 7d are supported for most of the main functions people use. Have a check on the website to confirm though. My 1100D does 720p. In my opinion the video quality is very good, but the audio leaves a lot to be desired. Here's an example on a video I made using it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeE3MdmcahA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeE3MdmcahA
If I am not mistaken, there is limit to the duration you can shoot before the camera stops. I think it is 5 minutes of video at a time. I beleive that the camera body gets hot during this process, and the shutdown is a safety feature to allow the internals a break. Not sure how much of this is true. I have never really used it much myself, only tested it out on my 7D, and the footage itself is superb.
We use 7d's at work for some of our projects (I work at a production company)
They're not bad. A few pointers:
- sound. onboard sound is pretty dire, but hey it was designed as a stills cam first and foremost. Rode make a pretty decent shotgun mic that sits in the shoe and plugs into the minijack audio in. The best way to good audio is getting the mic off the camera ,but if you dont have a soundman in your kit bag, this does the trick nicely for run and gun stuff.
http://www.rodemic.com/mics/videomicpro
DSLRs mostly have fully auto sound levels, but you can use 3rd party firmware by a company called magic lantern, which gives you control of audio levels if you so desire.
And use a 'fuffy dog' if your filming outside to reduce wind noise.
- To get the best out of dslr video, it's best to keep everything manual. Autofocus is great for photography, but not so good for video on these kinds of camera- doing it manually means you can choose when to pull focus from one subject to another.
- keeping it sharp: Manual focus, on a large sensored camera like dslrs, can be tricky. On films sets, you have a focus puller to do it all for you, armed with tape measure and actors who can hit a mark. Not so easy in the real world, with photogrpahy lenses that have quite short focus throws and low resolution screens.
To help, you can get something like a zacuto loupe, that attaches to the lcd screen, and turns your lcd screen into a viewfinder you can get your eye up to. (video mode has the mirror locked up, so you loose the optical viewfinder). If you feel like spending more there are electronic viewfinders that plug into the mini hdmi port. Also, dont wander round at F1.4 all the time, or you'll spend your life going in and out of focus. Theres a time and a place for shallow depth of field!
- Keeping it steady. Photos are a moment in time. Video moves. Holding a DSLR at arms length for video is a recipe for wobble-o-vision. But you don't have to be tied to a set of sticks. A lens with IS can get some decent handheld shots, with the right technique. Its all about points of contact. If you're using a loupe against your eye, thats 1. both hands on camera, thats two. Add a shoulder mount of some sort for a fourth, and now your talking. The more points of contact, the steadyier you can be. A shoulder mount rig doesnt have to be a beastly cine style affair either- i've seen a few little setups that act almost like a rifle butt off the bottom of the camera, allowing you to butt the camera against your shoulder / armpit. Oh, and my tip if doing handheld stuff - hold your breath! And avoid massively long focal lengths unless you have biceps like arnie.
- A word on shutter speed. If shooting at 25p (25 frames per sec). For natural looking motion blur, and to try and avoid too much judder, keep your shutter speed at 1/50. In the video / cine world, its called the 180 degree shutter rule. Usually, you always go for a shutter speed twice that of your frame rate.
- Set your white balance. Dont leave it on auto, it'll change throughout your shot as you point it at different things, which will look at as your colours change during the duration of your shot. And video isnt like a raw photos, so changing WB in post isnt advisable.
- The record limit is around 15 mins for a continuos clip on most dslrs. Its got something to do with keeping them classifeds as stills cameras not video cameras. For most shoots, it's never been a concern for what we do. Its not really the right camera for live events. Some dslrs can overheat, but thats a seprate issue, but it's only happened to me on a few occasions, usually in an overly-hot studio.
- Get lots of compact flash cards, and plenty of hard drives to store all your footage on!
hope thats of some help
They're not bad. A few pointers:
- sound. onboard sound is pretty dire, but hey it was designed as a stills cam first and foremost. Rode make a pretty decent shotgun mic that sits in the shoe and plugs into the minijack audio in. The best way to good audio is getting the mic off the camera ,but if you dont have a soundman in your kit bag, this does the trick nicely for run and gun stuff.
http://www.rodemic.com/mics/videomicpro
DSLRs mostly have fully auto sound levels, but you can use 3rd party firmware by a company called magic lantern, which gives you control of audio levels if you so desire.
And use a 'fuffy dog' if your filming outside to reduce wind noise.
- To get the best out of dslr video, it's best to keep everything manual. Autofocus is great for photography, but not so good for video on these kinds of camera- doing it manually means you can choose when to pull focus from one subject to another.
- keeping it sharp: Manual focus, on a large sensored camera like dslrs, can be tricky. On films sets, you have a focus puller to do it all for you, armed with tape measure and actors who can hit a mark. Not so easy in the real world, with photogrpahy lenses that have quite short focus throws and low resolution screens.
To help, you can get something like a zacuto loupe, that attaches to the lcd screen, and turns your lcd screen into a viewfinder you can get your eye up to. (video mode has the mirror locked up, so you loose the optical viewfinder). If you feel like spending more there are electronic viewfinders that plug into the mini hdmi port. Also, dont wander round at F1.4 all the time, or you'll spend your life going in and out of focus. Theres a time and a place for shallow depth of field!
- Keeping it steady. Photos are a moment in time. Video moves. Holding a DSLR at arms length for video is a recipe for wobble-o-vision. But you don't have to be tied to a set of sticks. A lens with IS can get some decent handheld shots, with the right technique. Its all about points of contact. If you're using a loupe against your eye, thats 1. both hands on camera, thats two. Add a shoulder mount of some sort for a fourth, and now your talking. The more points of contact, the steadyier you can be. A shoulder mount rig doesnt have to be a beastly cine style affair either- i've seen a few little setups that act almost like a rifle butt off the bottom of the camera, allowing you to butt the camera against your shoulder / armpit. Oh, and my tip if doing handheld stuff - hold your breath! And avoid massively long focal lengths unless you have biceps like arnie.
- A word on shutter speed. If shooting at 25p (25 frames per sec). For natural looking motion blur, and to try and avoid too much judder, keep your shutter speed at 1/50. In the video / cine world, its called the 180 degree shutter rule. Usually, you always go for a shutter speed twice that of your frame rate.
- Set your white balance. Dont leave it on auto, it'll change throughout your shot as you point it at different things, which will look at as your colours change during the duration of your shot. And video isnt like a raw photos, so changing WB in post isnt advisable.
- The record limit is around 15 mins for a continuos clip on most dslrs. Its got something to do with keeping them classifeds as stills cameras not video cameras. For most shoots, it's never been a concern for what we do. Its not really the right camera for live events. Some dslrs can overheat, but thats a seprate issue, but it's only happened to me on a few occasions, usually in an overly-hot studio.
- Get lots of compact flash cards, and plenty of hard drives to store all your footage on!
hope thats of some help
Edited by Fordo on Tuesday 24th January 20:19
Cactussed said:
Right. So, in essence, I should keep using my 3CCD optical stabilised video camera with its external mic and keep the stills for the stills. So to speak.
Thats the easy option!But don't be put off. One of the great things about dslr's that do video, is no-one tends to think you are recording video. So people act naturally, instead of pulling silly faces or doing gang signs....
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