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Video on DSLRs (from Nuggets)

Posted: Thu Apr 12, 2012 2:15 pm
by dlodoski
awdc wrote:You may be surprised that you can get good shots like this using a Canon 5DMKII and a few rented lenses. Still may be a few thousand, but not anywhere near $10K.

I actual have a good collection of full frame Canon lenses, having owned and used a 5D since 2006.

B&H doesn't even have stock on MkII's right now. I think that me and a zillion other Canon guys were waiting for the price drop associated with the release of the MkIII.

But really, I was more interested in the higher ISO range of the MkII than the video capability. We'll see if I can find and afford a MkII. Then I will find out if the video capacity has any appeal. :ugeek:

Video on DSLRs

Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2012 5:48 pm
by awdc
dlodoski wrote:
awdc wrote:You may be surprised that you can get good shots like this using a Canon 5DMKII and a few rented lenses. Still may be a few thousand, but not anywhere near $10K.

I actual have a good collection of full frame Canon lenses, having owned and used a 5D since 2006.

B&H doesn't even have stock on MkII's right now. I think that me and a zillion other Canon guys were waiting for the price drop associated with the release of the MkIII.

But really, I was more interested in the higher ISO range of the MkII than the video capability. We'll see if I can find and afford a MkII. Then I will find out if the video capacity has any appeal. :ugeek:


I have a small collection of lenses also that I used with my 1D MKIII prior to purchasing the 5D MK II a few years back (70-200 2.8L, 24-70 2.8L, 135 2.0 L, 50 1.4, 100 macro). You could rent the 5D MKII for a week for around $140. I'm not suggesting money grows on tress and this is something you're willing to do, but it's a decent way to try before you buy. With the 5D MKIII hitting the shelves, I would have thought a bunch of used MKIIs might be hitting the market.

I appreciate the higher ISO of the 5D MKII over my 1D MKIII. The video capability seems to be really good if you have the time to experiment and play with it. I subscribe to a fellow who does a lot of video-related work with this camera (dslrfilmnoob) who I appreciate his reviews and feedback on equipment. My point with mentioning the rental was to try it out before spending the cash on one to see if it adds anything to the video quality that you currently shoot with. It could be a matter of added complexity that you may not have to deal with right now. Things like finding a proper camera frame and audio synching features. I could try some demo shots with mine and send them to you if it helps, but I imagine you'd want to try in your own environment to see what works best. Plus, there are a plethora of examples of what the video capabilities are of this camera if you need proof. :-)

Re: Video on DSLRs (from Nuggets)

Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2012 12:37 pm
by dlodoski
Those are some nice lenses!

I have the 50mm 1.4 and a 17-40L (not 2.8 though) that I really like. Pretty much everything else is standard EF stuff that will eventually be replaced.

But it is enough to at least experiment with a MKII if I get a chance. Right now I need to hunker down with what's at hand at get ready to shoot. Hopefully new MKII's will still be a round in the fall. If not, then, oh well. 8-)

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Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2012 1:23 pm
by schlamm
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Re: Video on DSLRs (from Nuggets)

Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2012 1:27 pm
by Duncan Edwards

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Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2012 6:14 pm
by schlamm
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Re: Video on DSLRs (from Nuggets)

Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2012 6:43 pm
by nachtjaeger
My family digital camera shoots nice video for what it is, but even at 640 x 480 the .mov files it produces are freakin' HUGE! I can use a free converter (Pazera) to flip them to .avi, but the quality is horrible. Any suggestions?

Re: Video on DSLRs (from Nuggets)

Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2012 1:31 am
by Boggy Man
nachtjaeger wrote:My family digital camera shoots nice video for what it is, but even at 640 x 480 the .mov files it produces are freakin' HUGE! I can use a free converter (Pazera) to flip them to .avi, but the quality is horrible. Any suggestions?



Select 2-pass encoding, H.264 codec, and experiment with the bitrate? Make certain that the fps matches that of the original file?

Re: Video on DSLRs (from Nuggets)

Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2012 10:13 am
by dlodoski
nachtjaeger wrote:My family digital camera shoots nice video for what it is, but even at 640 x 480 the .mov files it produces are freakin' HUGE! I can use a free converter (Pazera) to flip them to .avi, but the quality is horrible. Any suggestions?

I've got a little Canon Elph that I take with me on vacations. It does the same thing, except the huge files it creates are avi.

I run them through Vegas (video editing software) and re-render them. That's pretty much what Boggy Man is suggesting.

Basic (free) video editing software (Windows Movie Maker?) should be able to do it. With .mov files, you may have to install Quicktime (if you're on a PC) in order to get the codec/plugin aspect to work.

There is no vanilla answer to the rendering setting you would settle on. H.264 (AVC) will produce either a avi or mp4 extension depending on the software. But along with wmv, it's the format of choice. 640x480 stuff should look good at 5-10 MB per minute of re-rendered video.

Re: Video on DSLRs (from Nuggets)

Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2012 8:27 pm
by nachtjaeger
Thanks, guys! That seems to work- Pazera supports the H.264 codec, and two pass encoding seemed to help also. Excellent since I might actually get to shoot some video Sunday.


Boggy Man wrote:
nachtjaeger wrote:My family digital camera shoots nice video for what it is, but even at 640 x 480 the .mov files it produces are freakin' HUGE! I can use a free converter (Pazera) to flip them to .avi, but the quality is horrible. Any suggestions?



Select 2-pass encoding, H.264 codec, and experiment with the bitrate? Make certain that the fps matches that of the original file?