/above image hot as a fresh flapjack – from http://www.hurlbutvisuals.com/images/CameraConfigs/Studio-handheld-cam-2.jpg
Canon, with their 5D MkII and 7D DSLR cameras, (not to mention a host of other traditional still-photography camera manufacturers like Nikon), has slowly been making waves in the camcorder market for the last few years. The disruptive technology found within many modern DSLR’s through their video modes is the primary reason traditional camcorder manufacturers like Sony have to sweat. Video DSLR takes impressive advantage of the large image sensors traditionally used to make high-quality still images by applying these same sensors’ capabilities to video capture. Nowadays, models like the 5D are really stretching the definition of what constitutes a video/film capture methodology. It’s without question that the HD video capabilities of top-of-the-line DSLRs are going from novelty “extra feature” to becoming the primary purpose and use of the device for many production companies and hobbyists alike.
This item from Hurlbut Visuals (special thanks to Twitter user @russish for sharing this) illustrates just how far the video DSLR has come. Inside the archive linked you’ll see a host of DLSR rigs and implementations, as the Hurlbut company sets out to shoot video with the US Navy Seals. I’ll be sure to share a link to the video once they’ve got it up. It’s nice to see more folks, as Shane Hurlbut puts it, “preaching the benefits of HDSLR to the commercial and feature (film) world”.
Yet again, I am further convinced that video DSLR’s are the future of work-a-day filmmaking, TV, and, to a great extent, Web video (I’m still on the Flip Camcorder bandwagon when it comes to Web-specific entries, but I’d be a hypocrite to say I haven’t enjoyed the benefits of the 5D for many a Web project). SNL uses the 5D and 7D for their current season’s title sequence and shorts, I swear I’ve seen it in action on plenty of primetime network dramas (you can just tell by the look of the shot – new approaches to lighting for starters), and the price-point is otherwise incomparable when you stack these camera bodies up against the big boys in terms of end-result quality (but this is why I say “work-a-day” – there will ALWAYS be a use for incredibly expensive and powerful Panavisions, Arriflexes, and whatever the heck James Cameron dreams up a use for). Of course, these guys in the Hurlbut story provided are clearly going to great lengths to figure out how to make video DSLR production bleedin’ drat expensive, but, overall, video DSLR is going to be a perfect gateway for the masses as technology improves and prices decrease.
So, who wants to buy Matty a 5D for a graduation present? I mean, all I got for Christmas was some pajamas (they’re nice pajamas, though, don’t get me wrong! Love you, Mom!) Like @russish, a man can always grovel.
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Tags: 5D MkII, 7D, Canon, Canon 5D, Canon 5D MkII, Canon 7D, DSLR, film, filmmaking, Hurlbut, Nikon, storytelling, video, video production, web video