XDR-TB

5D MkII initial thoughts.

Oh where do I start? I think a list in no particular order will have
to suffice.

This was a preprodution camera, any findings listed here may not be
acurate for shipping units.

1./ There is no way you can hold this camera steady whilst shooting video. Some kind of support is a must.
2./ Accurate focusing for video is easy before you shoot using a 10x zoom on the rear screen.
3./ Accurate focus whilst you shoot video is very difficult despite the awesomely sharp screen. The art of the focus puller is not lost.
4./ The HDMI port outputs a lower resolution whilst filming. Full res only on playback. Don't know what happens when viewing but not actually recording. I didn't get to test the hdmi at all.
5./ AF works during record but the AF on button causes the image to
brighten whilst the af works and this is recorded in the footage.
6./ Video became choppy when a lensbaby was used instead of a canon lens. Shame. Hope this is a firmware issue. Didn't have time to test if this was caused by a setting.
7./ Everything about this camera in low light is amazing. Stills and video. Just nuts.
8./ During video, ISO is used for auto exposure, like auto gain control I suppose.
9./ Nice grid option on live view.
10./ Peripheral brightness correction (vignette removal) works nicely in stills and video.
11./ Flash triggering of all kinds is disabled during video.
12./ To put 11 in context, whilst shooting video you can fire a full res still. Video is paused and a (roughly) half second key frame of the still is inserted, video then resumes. You are left with one video file and one image file.

More later as I absorb things and go over the footage and stills.

Unfortunately I can't publish the results or files publicly.

It's Nearly Christmas

And if you want to get me something, you can look here:

http://www.beermerchants.com/

Start at the mixed cases section :-)

Exciting times, now hurry up!

This is an amazing time to be involved in photography.
Tomorrow I'm going out to show some people a camera that has more than 20 million pixels and shoots some of the finest full hd video ever seen. (If anyone has any questions or tests for the 5D MkII just ask.)

In a few months, Elinchrom will ship a lighting solution that is so well matched to the 5D you'd think they had inside information. The Quanta pack, with 400j of flash and a super bright LED modeling lamp is just perfect for the 5D.
Ideas:
Fig rig.
Hotshoe mounted mic.
Bracket with Quanta head and Chimera mini softbox.

I cannot wait!