5D after one week

What a difference a week makes. I have most of the camera controls down and can now shoot a video with little or no effort. I have actually submitted my first set of stock footage with this camera yet it is still waiting for review.

When in video mode the camera is in auto mode so no matter what your settings it takes over Iris/Exposure/ISO. ISO has the largest and most detailed range of 200-6400. Exposure is reported by Canon to only shoot at 1/60 and 1/120. Iris will only be set at 2/5.6/8/16/22 It can also be set at the widest point on the lens.

With some trickery you can lock in a iris but it’s hard to be consistent. You can lock all the settings before you shoot by hitting the * button. Once you are done recording it goes back into auto mode again. What I did find out was that many re using a cheap Nikon to EOS adapter and using Nikon (Non G) lenses in manual mode. This will give you full control over the Iris and also break the limitation on the shutter speed. I have an older Nikon 28mm and 105mm manual lenses as well as a Tamron 200-500. All have on board Iris control.

I ordered two Nikon to EOS adapters. The cheapest is a passive where you focus by eye. The other is a AF confirm where the Canon will beep when in focus as you adjust manually. We shall see how these work.

Canons major boo boo.
Here we have a camera that shoots in full auto mode when shooting video yet it has a major flaw. When ever the camera changes the aperture setting while shooting it drops 1 or 2 frames. It’s one thing to force you into auto mode but very poor to hamper your capture because of it. At the very least Canon should have allowed you true aperture priority mode even if it did adjust the Exposure and ISO. I would be perfectly happy with this.

Currently the only way you can keep the camera form missing a beat is by locking in the settings before you start recording. Not a big deal as that’s what I do anyway.

To show you some of the detail I just posted these.



Web



More Webs



Even More Webs

All three are directly off of the camera flash card. Dont judge by the Vimeo preview. Download the file and play with a quality player. Probably the Best AVCHD I have seen in a camera.

I am hoping Canons next round of cameras fixes all of the issues (or annoyances)

Michael,
Does the light meter work during shooting?
I mean, even if you use a manual lens, does it show you something like a histogram or anything to see if the shot is over or under exposed?

I guess you could use a light meter, sometimes I even use one with my FX1 if the shot has some wierd lighting.

Thanks for doing all the leg work for us.
Jake

You get nothing other than the live view. It does update in real time what the current fstop,shutter and ISO is. If you locked the exposure then nothing will change. You will just see the live view get darker or lighter.


As far as canon fixing the issues most are minor and could easily be done in a firmware update. The general consensus is they dont want the camera to compete with there video cameras so the SLRs will always be cripled in some way. All it will take however is for Nikon to start adding more features when they come out with there 1080i versions. Then the race will be on.

I went on a shoot the other day and it was heaven being able to shoot 21Mp stills as well as HD video. The cool thing is the camera even has a still mode where the pictures taken will have the same look and feel as the video your are taking. This is real important if you are going to mix video and still like in a wedding shoot. You can ever take a 21MP still while you are shooting a video. YOu just end up with a 1 or 2 frame burp in the vid. So just take the stills during or near your transision shots.

The camera lacks many of the features that my Nikon D300 has such as built-in interval timer for timelapes. I had to purchase a $180 Canon remote to get that feature.

Probably my bigest gripe is no grid for the viewfinder. For Nikons this is a simple option and you get a few. Canon sells a seperate screen as an option but I can just imageine how expensive it will be.

I have decided to keep all my Nikon gear as I am sure they will make the next leap frog jump and I do prefer Nikon controls and features over Canons.

I tend to buy a new camera every year so with the FX1000 and 5D I think I am set this year. Well maybe. Im waiting for the new Sony POV camera. It was suposed to be out this month.

Also Im not too sure about the 21MP thing. The images are almost too big. You need a very powerful machine to handle a image that size in 16bit per color per pixel. I crash photoshop and a regular basis.

Im getting the m42 adapter, that way I can use the old 35mm lense on the 5d. It has a manual apeture ring on it...only prob is I have to get a uv filter because there is no coating on the old 35mm lenses.

Iron, have you got your mark2 yet? I cant wait to get my adapter. Once I try it out and verify it works as described, I am going to head down to Penn Camera and pick up a couple of older Zoom lenses. They are dirt cheap and build like tanks. The cool thing is I can try them all out right there in the store. The good news is my wife and use them on her old F2 camera.

I just captured a couple of stock clips and the lack of iris control makes if very difficult to get a good focus in the focal range I want.

Mark,
You have screw mount lenses? Isn't that what the m42 fits?
I've read that you have to make sure it dosen't hit the mirror. That would be a bad thing.
Since I already have old Nikon manual lenses I use with my 35mm DOF adaptor I use now. I'll get the EOS to Nikon adaptor.

Which adaptor do you have Michael?

Jake

@simpson-No not yet, I have the money ready to go, and a local camera company has them in stock. I just haven't bothered to get it because the adapter is from overseas and it wont be here for another week or so anyway. :(

some m42 lenses would hit the mirror, but it depends on the adapter ...

@Jake_Ive got a bunch of old 35mm lenses, of different types. k-mount and m42, I already tried it out with another eos camera, without the adapter. And it fits OK it doesnt hit the mirror. I guess it doesn't stick out as much as other m42 lenses??? I can always get the k-mount adapter instead, the adapters only cost like 7 bucks.

I ordered 2 overseas adapters from ebay. Both have shipped we shall see how long it takes. Basicly there are two types of Nikon to EOS. Pasive and AF confirm.

When I shoot vids with the 5D I turn off the autofocus anyway so manual focus is not a big deal. The manual iris will be a blessing as its the single worst thing about controling the shot. I can deal with the auto exposure and iso. The camera wont let the exposure get below 1/30 even if it says 1/25.

This camera requires a tripod at all times. Even with IS it is impossible to hold the camera steady.



DOF Test

I am thinking of making some sort of shoulder mount.