Canon eos5d manual New Video Shooting Capability

III. VIDEO RECORDING ON EOS 5D MARK II 19

New Video Shooting Capability

Still photographers who also need to capture motion picture video will find the video recording capabilities of the EOS 5D Mark II highly useful, often eliminating the need to carry a sep- arate camcorder. The EOS 5D Mark II can shoot video at Full HD (High Definition) at 1920 x 1080 pixels or SD (Standard Definition) at 640 x 480 pixels. The frame rate is 30 fps.

To begin video shooting, the user simply presses the SET button while the camera is in Live View mode. Pressing SET again ends recording. The maximum file size of individual video clips is 4GB. This works out to approximately 12 minutes of footage when shooting in HD, and 24 minutes shooting SD. There is no real delay before being able to start the next new video clip, and the only limit to the number of clips you can shoot is the size of your memory card. Videos are recorded as MOV files (with MPEG-4 compression), and the sound is recorded using uncompressed linear PCM (pulse code modulation).

The Picture Style selected for the Live View mode is used for video recording. Thus, adjustments

to a Picture style — such as sharpness, color saturation, etc. — will be reflected in the captured video footage.

Focus is performed prior to the start of video recording. As with still shooting, the user

can focus manually or use one of three AF modes. Focus can be reacquired in the midst of video shooting using the AF-ON button. Program AE is used for exposure control with all video recording. The image sensor is used for metering, and exposure is calculated in real time using an evaluative algorithm.

A built-in microphone below the camera nameplate records monaural sound. Stereo recording is possible with an external stereo microphone connected to the camera’s mic input connector (a standard 3.5mm stereo jack). Audio levels are automatically adjusted whether recording with the built-in or an external microphone.

Still photos can be captured at any time during video recording simply by pressing the shutter release button. The photo is captured at the currently active still image quality settings. Video recording is momentarily interrupted while a still photo is being captured; the Live View Function returns and video recording automatically resumes as soon as the still capture is completed.

Video can be played back on the EOS 5D Mark II LCD monitor with sound reproduced via a built-in speaker located to the right of the viewfinder eyepiece. Playback options include standard and slow motion replay (with variable speed) and various still-frame capabilities.

Video Playback Screen