More Pro Video Coming to Consumers: Canon and Nikon Digital SLRs Shoot HD
Low depth of field, high frame rate, high resolution. These are the technical hurdles which have traditionally separated consumers from creating film-quality video. HD video has been within consumer reach for quite a while now. 2008 has already seen high frame rates fall to Casio, and in the last couple of weeks, both Canon and Nikon have announced Digital SLRs that will be able to shoot HD video. Obviously real digital cinema cameras have some technical advantages, and there’s that truck full of matteboxes, focus pullers, dollys, cranes and best boys helping the cinema crowd out. But as far as image quality quality goes, the field is just about level.
The larger sensor size and interchangeable lenses of digital SLRs make their image output vastly superior to compact cameras and what we used to call “camcorders”. DSLRs have allowed us to produce stop-motion and time-lapse video with filmic colour, depth of field and resolution, but full motion video of this type was only available by using 35mm adapters (which are bulky and lose light and resolution), or spending tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars on a digital cinema camera.
Canon EOS 5D MKII - $2500
The above video - Reverie by Vincent Laforet (View original in high resolution on Canon’s site) - was shot entirely on the Canon EOS 5D MkII. Apart from resizing the 1080i footage to a resolution reasonable for playing online, there is no colour correction or post-processing trickery involved. To prove this to sceptics, from Friday Canon will be hosting some of the raw clips from the shoot. Without going too overboard: This is completely bananas.
There is also a behind the scenes video, shot with a Canon XH-A1, and it’s frightening to see the output of this current-gen $3300 prosumer HD camera up against the $2700 5D MKII.
Nikon D90 - $1000
Last month, pro shooter Chase Jarvis released a promo video for Nikon, documenting as he and his team tested out their new video-capable prosumer DSLR.

HD4Indies’ Mike 


