7D Questions

fullofpaint

Thinking about switching over to a 7D for video and just had some questions I was hoping people could answer.

1. You can shoot a max of 12 minutes per clip correct? and 12 minutes=4 gb.

2. Do you need a certain read write speed for the CF card?

3. What's the battery life like when shooting video?

4. I have some fast glass but no fast wide's, just a kit lens, will video form that still look good?

ziggy53

1) The limit is a 4GB file size. Actual recorded minutes will depend upon the video format (resolution and frame rate). Approximate recording times in the following link in the "Canon 7D Video Options" table:

http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/E7D/E7DVIDEO.HTM

2) Yes, you should use a fairly current CF card for video but it doesn't need to be the absolute fastest. I suggest a faster card simply because the file sizes are pretty big and you can save some transfer time into the computer with a faster card and card reader. A Sandisk Extreme III with 30MB/s transfer would be a good compromise between cost and speed IMO.

3) I suggest several batteries if you use the camera for video. Battery duration will depend on many factors but video is a pretty large draw. A vertical/battery grip is a good way to add additional run time.

4) At the highest video quality settings and with low light I would suggest that you would be better to purchase a fast prime lens for better flexibility and low light performance. Whether the kit lens is sufficient depends on your quality needs. You could certainly start with that lens, since you have it, and test for yourself.

Just some personal observations:

Any dSLR is still a poor substitute for a dedicated video camcorder for most video projects. If you intend to shoot "indie" style video, that's a pretty good application for dSLR video. Poor focus tracking of moving subjects is one example of a serious deficiency of a dSLR vs a conventional camcorder.

"Rolling shutter" artifacts need to be taken into account for fast motion subjects.

The on-board microphones of dSLRs are really poor for many/most video applications. I highly recommend the purchase of one, or more, quality external microphones for best results. Poor sound quality can make even the best video acquisition unwatchable.

Make sure your computer is up to the task of HD video or budget accordingly. HD video is one of the most demanding applications for any computer. HD video editing is not really practical on many older computers.

fullofpaint

Thanks for the answers!

I own a XH-A1 now so handling the HD isn't really a problem, jsut not sure if I'm going to really like it or not. Hopefully renting out a kit in the next week or so to try it out. Defintly planning on buying an external recorder though if I do go this route.

Another question:

How would I go about transcoding the files for use in FCP? since MOV isn't really an ideal format

colourbox

fullofpaint wrote:

How would I go about transcoding the files for use in FCP? since MOV isn't really an ideal format

Here is how Vincent Laforet does it

Dan7312

The manual says 8MB/sec minimum read/write speed for shooting movies.

ziggy53 wrote:

12) Yes, you should use a fairly current CF card for video but it doesn't need to be the absolute fastest. I suggest a faster card simply because the file sizes are pretty big and you can save some transfer time into the computer with a faster card and card reader. A Sandisk Extreme III with 30MB/s transfer would be a good compromise between cost and speed IMO.

PhotoLasVegas

ziggy53 wrote:

1)


Any dSLR is still a poor substitute for a dedicated video camcorder for most video projects. If you intend to shoot "indie" style video, that's a pretty good application for dSLR video. Poor focus tracking of moving subjects is one example of a serious deficiency of a dSLR vs a conventional camcorder.

Really?

You should tell that to the producers of Saturday Night Live, who just re-did the entire opening sequence with a 7d... or the producers of House, who shot the entire season finale episode with a 5d. I also watched a "making of" TV commercial for oil that featured a plexiglass 370z (car) that in several scenes,there was a 5d shooting.

I would agree that "focus tracking" is difficult, which is why we likely will not be shooting weddings with our new 7d... but I've seen videographers with some amazing setups with 7d and 5d's, with adaptor thingies that help with focusing on-the-fly, etc. His finished video was amazing, better than any "real" videocam wedding video I've ever seen. And his editing was "so-so"... I'm talking about video quality.

ziggy53

PhotoLasVegas wrote:

Really?

You should tell that to the producers of Saturday Night Live, who just re-did the entire opening sequence with a 7d... or the producers of House, who shot the entire season finale episode with a 5d. I also watched a "making of" TV commercial for oil that featured a plexiglass 370z (car) that in several scenes,there was a 5d shooting.

I would agree that "focus tracking" is difficult, which is why we likely will not be shooting weddings with our new 7d... but I've seen videographers with some amazing setups with 7d and 5d's, with adaptor thingies that help with focusing on-the-fly, etc. His finished video was amazing, better than any "real" videocam wedding video I've ever seen. And his editing was "so-so"... I'm talking about video quality.

In the same time that all of the above projects that you mentioned were shot and produced, hundreds of thousands of videos were being shot with typical camcorders for the "typical projects" that I clearly qualified in my statement. (Shooting an episode of "House" or "SNL" is hardly a "typical" video application.)

Simply because there are a few success stories out there for some notable projects does not negate the fact that dSLRs lack some very basic feature sets that make them suitable for typical video projects that most people want to produce.

The very best current combination would be to use each acquisition tool for its desired properties. A more conventional camcorder is still more capable for most typical video projects. A dSLR might be used to augment and enhance the overall production quality as it's needed but to tell folks that any dSLR is generally more suitable for "typical" video projects is simply untrue. (I'm not saying that's what you said but some might think that's what you were implying.)

Using a dSLR for wedding work does look to be an exciting new field for videography and I may be exploring that myself (although my current market area is not demanding it or ready to pay the expense that I would have to charge).

Don't get me wrong, I see incredible video coming from my own Canon 5D MKII. I have just set up a machine capable of realistically editing the video and I now have some software that looks extremely encouraging. I have a nice set of Canon "L" lenses as well as some nice prime lenses that fit the camera body. I have a couple of decent external microphones that can feed the camera and even some lights and modifiers that I have used for video. I already have a small library of purchased music and sound effects for video production.

I really do look forward to the time when dSLRs and hybrid large-chip camcorders hit mainstream video production. I just don't feel that time is now.