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Posts: 6444
Joined: Jul. 6 2003
From: England, living in Italy
New toy
I can never have enough cameras. This is a very special DSLR as it does things almost impossible on a camcorder under £10,000 (full-frame cine 35mm, 24fps, great low light and shallow depth of field with interchangeable lenses)
Anyway, here is my first shoot (at 720p 50fps rather than the full HD, then conformed to 24 fps to get the slo-mo).
And a still of our cat
Images are resized automatically to a maximum width of 800px
I'm not an experienced camera critic, but the results certainly look stunning to me.
I know it's essentially a "stills" camera, but what is the maxium time-length you can make a good quality movie clip for just using all the in-built gubbins?
what is the maxium time-length you can make a good quality movie clip for just using all the in-built gubbins?
12 minute clips - limited by EU import laws on stills cameras but unlimited storage - as big as your memory card. I very rarely grab a clip over 12 minutes in one take so it's manageable.
Having said that, it is a nightmare to use as it's all manual, no autofocus in video and if you want to keep the same shutter speed and ISO (which you do) - they have to be manual as well. You can't focus through the viewfinder in video, so you have to focus on the LCD screen and understand the relationships between shutter speed, frame rates, ISO, aperture etc.
I am hooked on getting more out of this little baby but it is not easy.
Incredible video quality, my friend. You couldn't go wrong with the 550D. Very nice camera. What lens did you use? Oh, btw, I think the T2i has a crop sensor.
Thanks, that was first time out and it took ages to figure out all the workflow in Final Cut but I think I got it now.
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What lens did you use?
I bought a used Sigma 17-70mm f2.8-4.5 DC Macro. The kit lens was crap, but cheaper than buying just the body from Amazon. I got the camera on Friday and couldn't wait to get some better glass.
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Oh, btw, I think the T2i has a crop sensor.
In photography terms, you are absolutely correct but the APC-S sensor is closer to the 35mm motion picture frame size than the full-frame 5D, for example.
Images are resized automatically to a maximum width of 800px
that video and the pic look awesome. i am not familiar with technical issues of photography, camcorder, etc. but that little video you made looks as good as some professional clip which you see on TV.
That looks great. Does that come with the 18 - 55mm or 18 - 135mm lens? I've just done a quick search on Amazon and they are retailing for 694.98 (UK) with the 55mm lens and 952.98 with the 135 mm lens. Do you mind if we know how much you paid for it? The image quality looks amazing! Digital SLR seems to be a third of the price of a only a couple of years ago.
I've just done a quick search on Amazon and they are retailing for 694.98 (UK) with the 55mm lens and 952.98 with the 135 mm lens. Do you mind if we know how much you paid for it?
I bought the 18-55mm kit from Amazon at that price, which is cheaper than the body only (go figure). Then I dumped the kit lens for a Sigma 17-70mm f2.8-4.5 that I got at a good price in town. For video, I am looking for wide and fast glass.
The kit lens is a bit crappy but you can always knock yourself out buying Canon L lenses .
Some of the old 50mm 1.8 primes lens are fantastic quality.
Yep, I've got the Canon 50mm 1.8 prime on order - it's under £100 and gets rave reviews.
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I'd love to mess around with the video function with an extra wide aperture, you could get some pretty cool cinematic out of focus effects.
This kind of stuff? Here's the 35mm 24fps cine look on a 7D - same sensor as the 550D. Try it on full screen. If you are inspired we can compare notes.
Cool, you'll enjoy the 50mm. I think it works out about 75mm on your camera.
Unfortunately my Nikon SLR's don't shoot video.
The the shot I imagined was in a desert with this blurred character wearing a hat with something slung over his shoulder. The desert heat creating ripples as the character walks closer and comes into focus....
It's Escribano with his guitar slung casually over his shoulder and a cigar in his his mouth.... lol (spaghetti style).
It's really easy to get up to speed with digital SLR's. You can keep trying every function and setting and comparing the result etc... without the worry of development costs. Just keep shooting test shots and then delete all the duff frames.
Yea, you won't regret buying the 50/1.8. Speaking of deserts, that reminds me of this video I saw a few months ago that really piqued my interest in DSLR video. I searched for it on youtube, and guess what? I found it! : )) Here it is. Shot completely on the 5DII
Some chap was talking about this on Digital Planet on the BBC world service this morning. No wonder it's catching on if these cameras are capable of producing such fantastic quality video. It boggles the mind when you consider how an enormous camcorder with a separate battery was not long ago needed just to record terible VHS video.
I saw this too - because the audio is rubbish on these cameras (I use a Rode Vic) and stills photographers are doing a lot of the experimenting, there is often no sound. Like a hi-def, colour silent movie revolution. Another kind of art form of beautiful moving imagery.
It's interesting that the top guns (Nikon & Canon) started doing this. I'm pretty sure it's borne out of the idea that professional photojournalists were being pressured to move to moving images to secure their survival and wanted to stick to a format (SLR camera) that they were most comfortable with.
I'm a BIG fan of the power of the still image, but I have seen presentations where the SLR's with video capability was deployed to shoot still images but also shoot the odd interview to lend some weight to the presentation.
I could be a wealthy man by now if only I'd had a video facility on my cameras. Two years ago in Switzerland I had a senior british royal call me a 'F*** idiot' as I took his picture.
I'm pretty sure it's borne out of the idea that professional photojournalists were being pressured to move to moving images to secure their survival and wanted to stick to a format (SLR camera) that they were most comfortable with.
I worked with Associated Newspapers in 2008 for a year and the regional picture desks were under pressure to go online with more than just the standard editorial i.e. video clips. However, 720p is more than enough for the web, so it doesn't explain 1080p 24fps (the somewhat suspect minimum requirement for digital filmmakers, as this can be done in post and is intended for telecine to film anyway).
Philip Bloom (in the BBC podcast) proposes the evolution of the sensor in the DSLR as the desire to preview the images in higher definition. Eventually, they got to HD, found they could leave the shutter up and record at 2K (48Mbps) speeds. With the 35mm format and interchangeable SLR lenses, this was enough for the filmmakers to get really interested and they started to dump their video cameras with 35mm spinning ground glass adapters for the HDSLRs (large sensor, low light, shallow DOF with interchangeable wide and fast lenses)
Stills guys are meeting them in the middle with their imagery.