III. VIDEO RECORDING ON EOS 5D MARK II | 14 |
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Features and Benefits The EOS 5D Mark II’s Full High Definition (HD) video recording and playback functionality is creating a paradigm shift in the way still photographers and videographers approach their craft. In the past, one camera or camcorder couldn’t do it all, so advanced and professional photographers rarely thought outside of the still-picture box—and into the fluid motion world of
video with sound. But as the thirst for video on the Internet expands and as news organizations tighten their budgets, it will be more cost effective to send one EOS 5D Mark II equipped
photographer to an event or wedding instead of a still photographer and movie crew, or a single wedding photographer to capture the important moments in both formats, thus giving owners of the EOS 5D Mark II a distinct competitive advantage.
On the other hand, serious videographers rarely use their camcorders to capture still images—even though most modern camcorders have the ability. The reason? The average still frame taken by a camcorder (even an expensive 3-chip, HDTV model) is under 5.0-megapixels and may include image quality problems that show up in print. Unlike these camcorders, the 21.1-megapixel EOS 5D Mark II can capture
extraordinary quality still images for print clients and even expand the creative possibilities when recording HD video clips. It’s lighter, smaller, and lower-priced than most professional HD camcorders, yet provides amazing depth-of-field control, exposure compensation and white balance controls, and full compatibility with Canon’s super-telephoto, macro, fisheye, tilt-shift, soft focus, and image stabilized EF lenses.
Until now, there were no affordable 1080p HD video camcorders able to capture ultrawide or fisheye perspectives without the addition of distortion-producing adapter lenses, and none that had the depth-of-field control found in the EOS 5D Mark II. There are several reasons for this: all current 3-chip HD camcorders, even those costing over $10,000, use 1/3-inch (or smaller) format sensors with pixels that are approximately 1/10 the size of those found in the EOS 5D Mark II. Pixel size primarily affects the light sensitivity and noise levels, with smaller pixels being less sensitive and producing higher noise. Using 3 sensors to capture individual RGB color channels helps to improve light sensitivity and reduce overall noise to some extent. But the sensor size affects the focal length required to deliver a normal zoom range, and because of the small sensor size, most camcorders feature lenses with focal lengths that start around 5mm and extend to 50mm (for a 10x zoom) or 100mm (for a 20x zoom that’s roughly equivalent to 400mm focal length on a full-frame camera such as the EOS 5D Mark II) Depth of field at any given aperture increases as focal length decreases, so for most focal length positions on a typical HD camcorder, it's nearly impossible to blur background elements when shooting a portrait or closeup. On the other hand, even an EF 50mm f/1.4 USM lens mounted on an EOS 5D Mark II will provide narrower depth of field at all apertures compared
