DSLR for Video

As much as I hate to, I have to say something that I dread saying.

For months now I've been hearing about how people are using DSLR cameras to shoot amazing video. And for months I've been saying that it's just a fad.

Last week I attended the Metro Media Ministers Association annual conference. There was a lot of talk about the Canon 5D and how Media Ministers across the country have started using it as their primary camera for shooting video. I was skeptical, but the more they talked, the more it made sense. I watched both raw and edited footage shot with the 5D, including a series of promo spots for the North American Mission Board...it truly was amazing!

So why is it so amazing?

> Lenses - You can use any Canon EF lens made since 1987. Many of us already have several of these for our still cameras that we can now use for video.

> Processor - The surface area of the processor is nearly 3x that of a standard video camera (Canon GL2 for instance).

> Depth of Field - Because of the wide array of lenses available, you can achieve a very narrow depth of field.

> Still shots - You can grab the still shots you need for your project while you're shooting video.

> Size - The 5D is a lot smaller than the average video camera.

> Cost - It costs less than many professional video cameras...and it's a still camera too!

There are a couple of drawbacks to using the 5D to shoot video.

> Audio - The quality of the audio would not be suitable for most productions. You would want to record audio to an external field recorder (many producers already do that) and then sync it with your video.

> Record time - The 5D will only record 12 minutes of footage at a time. However, when it stops recording, you simply press the record button again and it picks right back up. You will have missed about 1 second of recording, but if you're recording audio separately you can simply cover that glitch with b-roll.

> Zooming - It's harder to achieve a smooth zoom. However, the picture is large enough that you can "zoom" within Final Cut without any loss of quality. One of the Media Ministers said to the rest of the group, "You're zooms aren't any good, so you shouldn't be doing them anyways."


After talking with others who are using it and seeing the quality of the footage, I believe the benefits of using the Canon 5D for shooting video greatly outweigh the drawbacks. My next camera purchase will undoubtedly be the Canon 5D.

So here it goes..."I was wrong".

Ugggghhh! I hate saying that!

But it's true...I was wrong.