4 ms·
For those of you not familiar with what is going on in the DSLR world, everything shifted when the 5D Mark II came out. We are talking earthquake-like fault lin
by bprater 17y ago
For those of you not familiar with what is going on in the DSLR world, everything shifted when the 5D Mark II came out. We are talking earthquake-like fault lines. It gave every indy film-maker an insta-hard-on.
It was just another standard hand-held photographer's camera until some gent got a pre-release version and showed the world its capacity to capture film-like imagery -- beautiful blacks, shallow depth-of-field, that 24-frames-a-second look, etc.
Even with high-end prosumer cameras, you couldn't quite nail the cinema-look without resorting to actual film. But this toy camera came out of nowhere and was capturing images several times better than anyone could have expected!
So each time we see a news story like this, it is validation of the technology and that in a very short time, all of us will have the ability to capture the types of motion images that normally cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.
And as is often the case with technology leveling the playing field, the winners will be the folks that are daring and creative!
- mey 17y agoAnd after all the hype about the RED One breaking that market wide open. (at 6x the price for a body as a Canon 5D Mark II body)
- bprater 17y agoRight. RED One was designed from the ground-up to be the ultimate digital cinema camera. The 5D-M2? A few software engineers likely spent a week or two tweaking out the video capture that tied into whatever chip the hardware guys had slapped into the machine. RED will need to adjust if it wants to capture part of the hungry indy crowd.
- sp332 17y agoPresident Obama is the first to have his "official portrait" taken with a digital (not film) camera. They used the 5D mk II. http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/14/president-obamas-official-portrait-the-first-ever-taken-with-a/ http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/14/president-obamas-official...
- Keyframe 17y ago> all of us will have the ability to capture the types of motion images that normally cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. well, not really. You see, camera was never the expensive part. Not even Arri. For example good Cooke S4 lenses cost as much as a fine new Audi. Hell, even Fischer stand costs like a car, and having a good stand+lens is more important than camera itself. Not to mention good lighting, without which shot looks like crap. You can rent RED+S4 kit for about ~600€ per day though - add light, electricity etc.. and it is more cheaper than ever. But this "we can all do it a la panavision, without panavision" is BS IMO. Not trying to be rude or anything, just trying to put some things into perspective. I do like the trend of cheap good cameras (like RED - which is borderline great), but camera is only one tiny part of the picture.
- bprater 17y agoOh, I agree that the camera is just one tool in a filmmaker's arsenal. Great film is a combination of amazing talent and technology. My point is that we've never seen a leap in technology quite like this one. You could mount this camera on a rock at the beach and potentially pull in film-grade footage. Until now, you simply couldn't, short of renting Arri, buying filmstock, paying for processing, grading and converting it to the digital domain. That changes things. And it is that shift in power, through technology, that is fascinating.
- JoelSutherland 17y agoLens production involves high fixed costs and fairly low marginal costs. Right now you have to build a lens factory so you can sell lenses to professionals and indie filmmakers. As soon as everybody and their parents are buying DSLRs instead of video cameras the price on good lenses will surely fall.
- rantfoil 17y agoThat's the beauty of the Canon 5D Mk2 -- off-the-shelf easily available Canon lenses. They're lenses most photographers already have. And no additional work to make them work for film. A decent L lens is $1000. Not bad at all.
- 17y ago