DSLR Video: Gear Overview

DSLR video is on the rise. In fact, whole TV shows liek «24» and «House» are now shot using DSLR’s. Many people expect the iPad to increase the magazine demands for video. Here is some thinking about DSLR video and my first impressions.

Which Camera?

Digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) cameras capable of HD movie recording are a quickly evolving field. The Canon 5D Mark II is the moviemaker’s darling these days. A recent firmware upgrade added the long awaited 24 fps mode, however, there is no slow motion. Besides the 5DM2 with its full frame sensor (around $2500), Canon’s 7D is a favourite HD-DSLR for video production ($1700).

Recently the Canon 550D came out with quite the same video capabilities as the 7D but for half the price ($800). Both the 7D as well as the 550D have a smaller 15 x 22 mm sensor with a 1.6 crop factor. Concerning video, the Canon 550D offers a lot for its price, as it has 24, 25, and 30 fps recording in 1080p mode, and does 50/60 fps in 720p video. In the top segment, the Canon 1Ds Mark IV is coming (and it should feature improved autofocus…).

Nikon was first in the DSLR video sector with the D90 ($780) – the first movie DSLR brought in 2008 – but there has been little news since. I’d expect Nikon to develop some competitor. Especially the D90 will face hard times as a competitor for the 550D. Both the Nikon D300s ($1500) as well as the D90 only offer 720p at 24 fps – there is no slow motion. However, tonal range is very nice (Nikon D300s test footage).

I’d love to have one system (Nikon) with a full frame sensor capable of 50/60 frames per second video at 720p and 24/25/30 fs at 1080p. This ideal solution is not there yet. In the meantime, the Canon 550D with a Nikon lens adapter is a very attractive camera for jumping into video. I do not plan to switch from Nikon’s D3 to Canon for still photography as I think the D3 still has the best autofocus and dynamic range for stills.

DSLR Video or Camcorder?

For fast action, it’s very hard to use a DSLR video camera as the handling is made for still images. Another downside of HD-DSLRs may be aliasing. Of course there is a difference between video filmed with DSLR’s and the RED camera quality-wise. Nevertheless, these quality issues may not be too important for many situations, whereas the advantages of HD-DSLR are. It’s the interchangable lenses used at open aperture giving low depth of field, and their low price, and shooting in low light that make HD-DSLR so attractive. Not shooting test patterns.

One thing concerning low light capabilities: it’s reasonable to keep the shutter above 1/48 of a second for a 24 fps movie and stay on the 180 degree maximum shutter rule (minimal shutter speed = double frame rate). So if you want to shoot in the dark, the cam shouldn’t record too much noise at higher ISO settings.

Canon 550D: First Impressions

The Canon 550D– also called T2i in USA –  is a very attractive camera opening the field of HD video to photographers. It features the same video specifications as the 7D at half the price. Its still photography capabilities are not of primary interest for me.

Picture styles are defineable. For video, low-contrast and low-saturation picture styles are particularly useful. The same picture styles as for the 7D can be used for the 550D. Especially for portraits, I use a customized Standard picture style with saturation and contrast dialed down to the lowest settings. Otherwise you get strange skin colors. Color correction and grading is easier and more versatile with such a picture style.

ISO can be cranked up from 100 to 6400 and is manually adjustable for video. Regarding noise, on a 36″ HD TV screen, there is some noise visible at ISO 400, but up to ~1600 ISO, the pics are very usable. I have troubles with noise if I use Magic Bullet Looks for grading. I think one shouldn’t tweak these video clips too much, and the color correction included in Final Cut is potent anyway. Proper exposition is mandatory.

There are some buttons too many for me on the back of the camera. There’s a a seperate video start/stop button. Overall, the handling isn’t very intuitive for me as I am used to Nikon pro cameras. However, when I’m shooting video, everything’s on manual control anyway, so I don’t need many of the menus and gimmicks.

The large rear 3″ LCD is very nice. It’s great, actually – also in comparison to other, much more expensive cameras. The 550D’s battery pack is not compatible with other Canon models. For shooting video, some spare battery packs (LP-E8) are needed as the camera eats a lot of power in video mode. Beware of cheap third party battery packs as they die without warning when empty – which occurs a lot earlier than with the original battery. Also, you’ll need SD memory cards whereas most pro cameras use CF cards so far. By the way, my Yongnuo MC-36b intervalometer fits the 2.5mm jack of the Canon 550D (and the G10) and is very useful for timelapse photography.

Overall, the 550D is a great camera for HD video entry. On the Plus side are:

• Video quality is awesome! Also at higher ISO.
• The camera is quite small, which is handy if you also have to carry your main DSLR still photo gear.
• Photo quality and features are good despite the consumer target price.
• Large and bright rear LCD monitor

Some negative points:

• There is no histogram in video live view mode to control manual exposure
• No manual audio level control

Lenses

The desired cinematographic look largely depends on open aperture. Here’s the demand for old manual focus prime lenses. As a Nikon user, I wouldn’t want to buy lenses in double. Using an adaptor for Nikon lenses, it’s possible to use Nikon glass for the Canon bodies (although a small sensor 1.6 crop factor makes it a little less useful for wide angle lenses). There’s a 1.6 crop factor (compared to 24x36mm sensor/film format cameras) becaus of the smaller sensor if you use a 7D or a 550D.

I happen to own a series of Nikon manual focus prime lenses, they are about 20 years old and I love them. They’re rock solid, full metal hardcore pieces, and they produce a very creamy image. I particularly  love the 1.4/50mm Nikkor, and the 2.5/105mm. The 2.8/20mm becomes a wide angle lens, and the 50mm behaves as a 80mm tele. These old lenses still have an aperture ring – in contrast to the new G-series Nikkors which wouldn’t be usable with this kind of simple adaptor ring.

Accessories

This is a very expensive field! Buying the camera is less than half of the costs of a DSLR video kit. There is a lot of stuff needed, for example variable neutral gray density filters, an audio recorder with decent microphone, extra batteries, a fluid head for the tripod, a finder for precise focussing, some support rig or derivative of a steadycam, and portable dolly or slider, editing software, Fx plugins, color grading etc. Uff!

Here is what I’d consider essential accessories for starting with DSLR video:

• a very stable tripod with a fluid head,
• a simple external microphone with 3.5 mm jack and a wind shield,
• and maybe a dolly / slider like the Glidetrack,
• and Final Cut Express for editing.

Editing

Some important and basic technical steps for editing I learned are the following (I use Final Cut on a Mac): it’s a lot faster to edit in Final Cut if you convert the original camera mp4 footage to a format easier to work with. Most people recommend to use Apple ProRes (not available for Final Cut Express), but Apple Intermediate Codec also works. There is a great app for the conversion called MPEG Streamclip.

It makes a lot of difference if you edit 1080p or 720p footage regarding rendering time, so decide early in the workflow.

If you are looking for music, here’s a list with sound resources.

Two more random hints: Final Cut Express has no option to dynamically alter the frame rate of a clip (like it’s big brother Final Cut Pro), but there is a great TimeRemap plugin. Most important: Apple’s H.264 encoder fucks up colors on export, so you could use the x264Encoder instead.

To get started with video there’s the DSLR Cinematography Guide, and I recommend reading the ProLost blog. For inspiration have a look at Vimeo’s Staff Picks and Explore HD videos. Visit MediaStorm, and the Motiongrapher.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 13th, 2010 at 10:10. It is filed under Gear, Video & Multimedia and tagged with Canon 550D, DSLR video, T2i. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.