As I said in the article of good news, the rental 5d rental store audiovisual has agreed to help me with the blog by posting an article on a monthly basis on the theme of the image. Here is a first article on the advantages and disadvantages of cameras in the video.
Since the arrival of the now cult Canon 7D, shooting so-called “DSLR” are increasing. (The 7D has quickly replaced to its place in the canon 5D mark II follow-up to far too late in the competition). But why ?
- The price : a camera 1080p for 1700 euros or 80th/j it is hard to beat.
- The footprint, the weight
- The size of the sensor, the color rendering
- The objectives are much less expensive but still very effective
But it’s magic I hear you say !
Of course things are not so simple, and the magic can only appear under certain conditions. The price is good, but if the DSLR is 5x less expensive than a sony EX this is for one very simple reason : It is a camera ! (of course it seems stupid what I say but at the bottom it is full of meaning), And this mere fact induces the advantages and disadvantages compared to a “big sister” broadcast.
The benefits
- The consumable is inexpensive, and of good quality, a compact flash SANDISK not you will very likely never fail and the same for your battery canon. Looking at the price of a battery of the Sony EX or a disc SxS, P2 we feel the portfolio is complete.
- The optical ! I lack words to tell you how much this asset is the one that turns the gadget in a camera, the optical photos lend themselves very well to the video (apart from the mode stabilized that replaces your firm hand in parkinsonian videographer), they are very beautiful invoices with books that are exceptional for the price miserable. They are in spite of everything not certain the optical film, Zeiss or cooke, but the comparison with products costing 5x has 50x more expensive ! This asset justifies to himself all the inconveniences that might follow.
- As I said the restricted space requirements of the case and its light weight (everything is relative) allow you to do things you wouldn’t do with an ALEXA. In case of doubt, try taping an ALEXA equipped with 20kg on the crane and jump in a parachute from an airplane. (note : invest before in a insurance in reinforced concrete)
- The sensor of the mark II (and others) are sensors says ” full frame “, they capture the image in full HD on a full sensor that is the size of a 35mm motion picture film. The interest of having a more shallow depth of field, the beautiful blur that give a movies. And also a big sister and EX pale figure with sound sensor sort CCD. Attention in the report the disadvantage quickly becomes an advantage and vice versa retro-proportional. The color rendering is also quite good for its price as much as the box rises fairly well, ISO, theoretically, 160, 320, 640, but some have more or less managed to do great things well beyond. (attention to the disadvantage of the codec which I’ll talk about more below)
Disadvantages :
- First of all, the ergonomic design is made for the photo, the many menus are beautiful and practical buttons that abound on the cameras pros (and have the advantage of scaring off newbies) The box DSLR is confidence at first, less buttons and many now know use of an Slr camera. Attention trap ! You will understand, if you don’t know how to vary the depth of field, what is the color temperature, the lens, the sharpness… you don’t know what it means to shutter or h. 264. Tune into your books before the turn.
- The internal microphone is of a quality close to the one you have made in technology course in the 6th, it is thus necessary to replace it if you want to make a good sound, at least by a cardioid with a mini jack that you plug in the box, at best, a big fat XLR mic with a digital recorder and a mixer to the side of the box. Of course, the micro of an EX is not the top, but the camera has XLR jack to replace it.
- The other big worry the auto focus is non-existent, I can already hear the mass to tell me, ” but if there is one ! “, but no, it’s not ! The auto focus is a camera, which operates by approximation (the principle of dichotomy). It is already going to estimate the point, do a trial first, and then one behind and one in front of, before determining the exact value of the point. As you say that moving it is the point as well as my dog found my keys. An EX will make the item ” follow-up “, will be less accurate in itself, but is much faster, the short focal lengths of these cameras for news stories, helping to ensure that the point is still roughly correct.
- Another drawback, the codec used and its limitations. When you shoot with the 5d the video is coded in H264 with a compression 4.2.0 ( 4 information of the luminance on 4, 2 information for the blue, and guess what?…..0 for green) The compressor does not transmit all information color, even if the render start is good, reworking this kind of file is unthinkable. If the image is not would be a little noisy with the codec you will be recalled by large, square lovely. So be very careful of what we do.
Conclusion
The DSLR has fabulous advantages, but its disadvantages require hands more skilful still. Be meticulous, precise, and take knowledge of the tool that you have in hand. It is necessary to think to the post production, and well calculated all the “add ons” that are going to have to wrap our camera in the grass. If you are aware of the dangers, the HD is at hand, and portfolio.
We are at the end of the article if you ever have any questions, request for explanation or other do not hesitate it is with joy that I’d be happy to answer in the comments.
Hoping that this article will have helped a little.
Guillaume, Rental 5D