Praise for 5D II video + low-light performance

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Archive 2008 · Praise for 5D II video + low-light performance

RalphJ
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p.1 #1 · Praise for 5D II video + low-light performance

One of the most admired editorial photographers working today, Vincent LaForet:

http://blog.vincentlaforet.com/2008/09/20/something-very-interesting-is-comingboth-to-this-blog-and-to-our-industry/

"The 5D MKII camera produces the best stills in low light that I’ve ever seen - what you can see with your eye in the worst light (such as sodium-vapor street lights at 3 a.m. in Brooklyn) - this camera can capture.

"It produces the best video in low light that I’ve ever seen - at 1080p. A top commercial film editor who regularly edits RED camera footage and has seen the raw footage from the 5D MKII says the 5D MKII is 'far superior to the RED camera' in terms of low light performance.

"This camera will sell for approx. $2,700 - and perform better than many $100K plus video cameras out there."

Sep 20, 2008 at 09:28 PM

Steve Spencer
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p.1 #2 · Praise for 5D II video + low-light performance

Hi Ralph,

That is nice to hear, but keep in mind that Vincent has a deal with Canon. I saw him at a CPS event last year and he is definitely a very impressive photographer (and he is a great speaker too). It certainly seems, however, that he has some sort of financial arrangement with them. I'm not saying he isn't honestly impressed and doesn't mean what he is saying, but I don't think he would be talking up any flaws either.

Sep 20, 2008 at 10:38 PM

RalphJ
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p.1 #3 · Praise for 5D II video + low-light performance

Hi Steve,

Point well-taken. In fact LaForet makes clear very early in his blogpost that he's one of the "Explorers of Light" - hey, aren't we all? - and one can assume that that's why he was "behind the scenes" at the Canon offices when the new 5DII's came in. While you're right that he's unlikely to be very critical (publicly, at least) of his sponsor's gear, he also need not have gushed quite so effusively since credibility is part of his stock in trade.

Regardless, it will be interesting to see more user reports as they come in.

Sep 20, 2008 at 11:37 PM

BenV
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p.1 #4 · Praise for 5D II video + low-light performance

Im a little 'nervous' about the whole high-def recording thing. If it produces such high quality videos with stills from it, how much pro's are going to just record entire events, and grab stills from it? kinda sounds like videography now, not photography. Its not going to take any work to get a good shot, just record the sunset for 30 minutes and take your best stills.

Sep 20, 2008 at 11:45 PM

Flav
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p.1 #5 · Praise for 5D II video + low-light performance

BenV wrote:
Im a little 'nervous' about the whole high-def recording thing. If it produces such high quality videos with stills from it, how much pro's are going to just record entire events, and grab stills from it? kinda sounds like videography now, not photography. Its not going to take any work to get a good shot, just record the sunset for 30 minutes and take your best stills.
The camera can only handle 12 minutes of Full HD and 24 of reduced...
I seriously doubt this is called videography, as far as artistic short movies go - i'm sure many will turn to the 5D II for great performance...
+that 1920 pixels aren't really what i call high-res images for printing and such.
+that 30fps = 1/30 exposure... i doubt that would be satisfying.

Sep 20, 2008 at 11:50 PM

blackpill
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p.1 #6 · Praise for 5D II video + low-light performance

Steve Spencer wrote:
Hi Ralph,

That is nice to hear, but keep in mind that Vincent has a deal with Canon. I saw him at a CPS event last year and he is definitely a very impressive photographer (and he is a great speaker too). It certainly seems, however, that he has some sort of financial arrangement with them. I'm not saying he isn't honestly impressed and doesn't mean what he is saying, but I don't think he would be talking up any flaws either.

I just read his whole blog post on his experience. While he definitely has a relationship with Canon, my personal impression is that he is not feeding us the corporate script. The blog reads like it was written by someone who genuinely had their mind blown. If you scroll down and look at his responses to the comments, he is genuinely excited.

The stills that Vincent posted look fantastic. I've shot under those sodium street lights in Brooklyn, and they are nasty.

I, for one, can't wait to see more test shots and videos from this camera. When Nikon announced the D90 with video, I thought it sounded like a horrible idea (especially with only manual focus), now I'm actually kind of excited to see what the 5D II can do (mainly so I can take some high quality video of my baby).

At any rate, its nice to see someone be positive about this camera - especially someone who has actually used it.

Sep 21, 2008 at 12:19 AM

Philip L
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p.1 #7 · Praise for 5D II video + low-light performance

blackpill wrote:
The stills that Vincent posted look fantastic. I've shot under those sodium street lights in Brooklyn, and they are nasty.

Those are actually frame grabs from the video.

"the images you are seeing on this blog - are frame grabs off of the video - those frame grabs were downsized from 1920 pixels wide to 700 pixels wide to fit the page width of this blog - and absolutely NOTHING was done to them either in Aperture/Photoshop or any other software"

Sep 21, 2008 at 12:30 AM

thedigitalbean
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p.1 #8 · Praise for 5D II video + low-light performance

Vincent makes this comment at the end when one person asked about the "jello" effect from the D90:

"The panning looks great - no problems. Didn’t notice any problems at all in the footage…"

Again, I'll wait until I can try it out myself to decide, but there is hope that it doesn't suffer to the same extent the D90 does from the "jello".

Sep 21, 2008 at 12:40 AM

thedigitalbean
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p.1 #9 · Praise for 5D II video + low-light performance

Flav wrote:
The camera can only handle 12 minutes of Full HD and 24 of reduced...

The limit comes from the file size due to the file system being used on the card (4GB limit). The 12 minute limit is an estimate based on average shooting it could be higher or lower and most important of all, the limit is per clip. Its rare I've seen people shoot for longer than just a few minutes / clip.

Sep 21, 2008 at 12:42 AM

rocketpop
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p.1 #10 · Praise for 5D II video + low-light performance

I'm guessing that the 5d is going to have terrible shutter-roll when it comes to video. CMOS is known for it, although the RED has it pretty controlled. The thing that has me so convinced of this is that Canon has not released a single clip where the camera moves during the shot--and, typically, camera movement is what gives away the shutter roll.

I'm sure you've seen the nikon d90 movies that show the phenomenon... It'll be next to impossible for any sort of film maker to use it if it is that pronounced.

Edit: Read the article... Hopefully the jello effect really isn't too noticeable.

Sep 21, 2008 at 12:56 AM

blackpill
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p.1 #11 · Praise for 5D II video + low-light performance

Philip L wrote:
blackpill wrote:
The stills that Vincent posted look fantastic. I've shot under those sodium street lights in Brooklyn, and they are nasty.

Those are actually frame grabs from the video.

"the images you are seeing on this blog - are frame grabs off of the video - those frame grabs were downsized from 1920 pixels wide to 700 pixels wide to fit the page width of this blog - and absolutely NOTHING was done to them either in Aperture/Photoshop or any other software"

Ya. I meant video stills. Is that even a term or did I make that up? I know next to nothing about video.

Sep 21, 2008 at 01:00 AM

invalid2
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p.1 #12 · Praise for 5D II video + low-light performance

thedigitalbean wrote:
Flav wrote:
The camera can only handle 12 minutes of Full HD and 24 of reduced...

The limit comes from the file size due to the file system being used on the card (4GB limit). The 12 minute limit is an estimate based on average shooting it could be higher or lower and most important of all, the limit is per clip. Its rare I've seen people shoot for longer than just a few minutes / clip.

1) Most of my video is more than 60minutes in a clip
2) I can't imagine it would the terribly difficult to store the information in multiple files
3) Firestore units can handle long clips

Sep 21, 2008 at 01:00 AM

cogitech
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p.1 #13 · Praise for 5D II video + low-light performance

RalphJ wrote:
One of the most admired editorial photographers working today, Vincent LaForet:

http://blog.vincentlaforet.com/2008/09/20/something-very-interesting-is-comingboth-to-this-blog-and-to-our-industry/

"The 5D MKII camera produces the best stills in low light that I’ve ever seen - what you can see with your eye in the worst light (such as sodium-vapor street lights at 3 a.m. in Brooklyn) - this camera can capture.

"It produces the best video in low light that I’ve ever seen - at 1080p. A top commercial film editor who regularly edits RED camera footage and has seen the raw footage from the 5D MKII says the 5D MKII is 'far superior to the RED camera' in terms of low light performance.

"This camera will sell for approx. $2,700 - and perform better than many $100K plus video cameras out there."

I don't doubt it.

Not in the least.

Sep 21, 2008 at 01:05 AM

Mark Kenfield
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p.1 #14 · Praise for 5D II video + low-light performance

thedigitalbean wrote:
Vincent makes this comment at the end when one person asked about the "jello" effect from the D90:

"The panning looks great - no problems. Didn’t notice any problems at all in the footage…"

Again, I'll wait until I can try it out myself to decide, but there is hope that it doesn't suffer to the same extent the D90 does from the "jello".

Haven't had a chance to look at either of these up close yet. But the difference in frame rate (30fps with the 5DII to the D90's 24fps) makes a notable difference in the visual quality of panning shots. You'll see notably less strobing from the 5DII in that department. The Jello effect is the result of the rolling electronic shutter the CMOS chips use for video work.

Very early days for this technology, but very exciting too. I'm hoping I can talk Canon Australia into letting me put the 5DII's video performance up against the D90 and see how they compare.

Sep 21, 2008 at 01:22 AM

Jman13
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p.1 #15 · Praise for 5D II video + low-light performance

rocketpop wrote:
I'm guessing that the 5d is going to have terrible shutter-roll when it comes to video. CMOS is known for it, although the RED has it pretty controlled. The thing that has me so convinced of this is that Canon has not released a single clip where the camera moves during the shot--and, typically, camera movement is what gives away the shutter roll.

Canon has released a video where the camera moves. It's with the 15 fisheye, and it does a 360 swing around the area.

Sep 21, 2008 at 01:38 AM

Chip Payet
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p.1 #16 · Praise for 5D II video + low-light performance

Jman13 wrote:
rocketpop wrote:
I'm guessing that the 5d is going to have terrible shutter-roll when it comes to video. CMOS is known for it, although the RED has it pretty controlled. The thing that has me so convinced of this is that Canon has not released a single clip where the camera moves during the shot--and, typically, camera movement is what gives away the shutter roll.

Canon has released a video where the camera moves. It's with the 15 fisheye, and it does a 360 swing around the area.

Where can we see it?

Sep 21, 2008 at 02:04 AM

Larry Sullivan
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p.1 #17 · Praise for 5D II video + low-light performance

Quick question which might have been covered previously but i missed it. In video mode is the shutter constantly actuating or is there some other process going on?

Sep 21, 2008 at 02:05 AM

cogitech
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p.1 #18 · Praise for 5D II video + low-light performance

Larry Sullivan wrote:
Quick question which might have been covered previously but i missed it. In video mode is the shutter constantly actuating or is there some other process going on?

The shutter is wide open.

Sep 21, 2008 at 02:51 AM

Jman13
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p.1 #19 · Praise for 5D II video + low-light performance

Chip Payet wrote:
Jman13 wrote:
rocketpop wrote:
I'm guessing that the 5d is going to have terrible shutter-roll when it comes to video. CMOS is known for it, although the RED has it pretty controlled. The thing that has me so convinced of this is that Canon has not released a single clip where the camera moves during the shot--and, typically, camera movement is what gives away the shutter roll.

Canon has released a video where the camera moves. It's with the 15 fisheye, and it does a 360 swing around the area.

Where can we see it?
Fourth clip here:
http://www.slashgear.com/canon-eos-5d-mark-ii-sample-video-clips-1716575/

Sep 21, 2008 at 02:58 AM

andylaiphoto
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p.1 #20 · Praise for 5D II video + low-light performance

Sep 21, 2008 at 05:18 PM

Cableaddict
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p.1 #21 · Praise for 5D II video + low-light performance

RalphJ wrote:

"It produces the best video in low light that I’ve ever seen - at 1080p. A top commercial film editor who regularly edits RED camera footage and has seen the raw footage from the 5D MKII says the 5D MKII is 'far superior to the RED camera' in terms of low light performance.

"This camera will sell for approx. $2,700 - and perform better than many $100K plus video cameras out there."

Oh boy! A still photographer, (who has a deal with Canon, BTW) is ga-ga over the video performance of this camera!

Let's ask him what he thinks of the new fall fashions coming out of Paris.

Sep 21, 2008 at 06:11 PM

Napalm
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p.1 #22 · Praise for 5D II video + low-light performance

Cableaddict wrote:
RalphJ wrote:

"It produces the best video in low light that I’ve ever seen - at 1080p. A top commercial film editor who regularly edits RED camera footage and has seen the raw footage from the 5D MKII says the 5D MKII is 'far superior to the RED camera' in terms of low light performance.

"This camera will sell for approx. $2,700 - and perform better than many $100K plus video cameras out there."

Oh boy! A still photographer, (who has a deal with Canon, BTW) is ga-ga over the video performance of this camera!

Let's ask him what he thinks of the new fall fashions coming out of Paris.

Such venom.

Sep 21, 2008 at 06:36 PM

Aragosh
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p.1 #23 · Praise for 5D II video + low-light performance

And why can't a still photographer not be impressed with video? Its only 30fps instead of 3.9fps not so.

Sep 21, 2008 at 06:48 PM

RalphJ
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p.1 #24 · Praise for 5D II video + low-light performance

Cableaddict wrote: Oh boy! A still photographer, (who has a deal with Canon, BTW) is ga-ga over the video performance of this camera!

Jealousy is such a sad thing to see. The notion that someone might know more than we do and be more successful than we are - and be more respected for that knowledge and success - can just be too much to bear sometimes, can't it?

(BTW, LaForet's deal with Canon was discussed earlier in this thread.

Sep 21, 2008 at 09:58 PM

Cableaddict
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p.1 #25 · Praise for 5D II video + low-light performance

You guys just don't get it. You literally are not capable of understanding my point.

Go buy what you want, I can't help you.

I have to go now- - My sister is coming over with her boyfriend. He's a professional baseball player, and I want to see if he can help me improve my bowling game.

Sep 21, 2008 at 11:45 PM


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