Re: Focus during movie mode - yes or no? was Re: 5D II Review

Paul Furman wrote:
Allen Smithee wrote:
"Jurgen" <jurgen-haus@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:6ptd94F9sjpjU1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Allen Smithee wrote:
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"Allen Smithee" <me@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:YImdnYV5hZhqjqTUnZ2dnUVZ8oidnZ2d@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Brief 5D II review from Anantech here for anyone who's interested:
http://www.anandtech.com/digitalcameras/showdoc.aspx?i=3470

5D II looks good, even @ ISO 6400. That said, it's a shame that they didn't put the AF points in more useful locations. So, even though the AF point spread on the D700 is not as good as on the cropped D300, Nikon still seems to have a much more versatile AF system than the 5D II.

Thanks Allen!
I'm waiting for mine to come...
I find this review quite encouraging after I followed another thread on the possibility of the 5DII being far noisier that the 5D because ot its more numerous pixels. I'm looking forward to more in-depth testing while I wait for my camera to arrive (January?)


I think this is the calm before the storm. As the 5D II bodies are being released, there will inevitably be a huge amount of in-depth reviews coming out soon.




Can anybody confirm that these cameras will actually autofocus *during* a movie take? I can't find the source now but I recall reading that some cinematographer who made clips for Canon or Nikon said "off the record" that his only gripe was that the camera he used wouldn't focus while in movie mode, he had to continually manual focus it.

When I look at many of the clips Canon have approved of, there doesn't seem to be much focus going on during the shoots. I know there are mirror types that allow focus during shooting but these would limit low light ability.

I'm about to make some decisions regarding HD video capture and the Sony and JVC camcorders are looking extremely price effective compared to DSLRs with movie capabilities. I'm not looking to make feature length movies, just 2 and 3 minute clips to splice into my ProShow presentations.

Maybe these initial release models might not live up to the promise? I wasn't impressed with a D90 when I tried it and the D700 is out of the question (for me). Anyone got any constructive information here?




Yes and no.

Canon don't recommend auto focusing whilst shooting in movie mode and say it's because it may momentarily throw the focus off or change exposure. That said, the 5D II can autofocus whilst recording movies, but only one-shot type AF (think of movie mode as live view that records). When recording in movie mode the mirror will be up and the shutter open, therefore live view AF (which is contrast detection) will need to be used. Quick mode AF (phase detection) can not be used.

I never read the article you referred to, however I think the cinematographer's gripe may have been that the autofocus didn't track automatically (I.E. he had to press the 'AF-ON' button to set the focus everytime the focus changed, instead of the camera automatically tracking and adjusting the focus for him.

With normal consumer video cameras, you just zoom in and out or follow a moving subject and the camera automatically focuses, the user doesn't have to think/do anything about focus it's all automatic (unless they put it into manual focus mode). So for example, if you are videoing someone walking towards you or zooming in/out from a subject, on the 5D the subject would go out of focus. With a normal video camera it will constantly track/adjust the focus automatically to keep the subject in focus. Of course focusing is also silent on video cameras, so isn't picked up by the mic.

Do any of the high end HD cameras AF while shooting? There's a whole career path in the movie business operating the focus mechanism while shooting. That said, it does sound like a hassle and I don't doubt there are other things like this which make a DSLR less convenient than a camcorder for making movies but it's still pretty cool.


Thom Hogan reports (after using the D90) that video of moving subjects
is very disappointing:
"Yes, my horse can juggle dishes, but it isn't very pretty. And yes,
that statement sums up my assessment of the D90 video. First, the D90
uses a rolling shutter (each video frame isn't recorded simultaneously,
but in pieces over time, a common issue with all CMOS-based video
cameras). The jello impact on movement back and forth (which will happen
if you handhold or your subject is moving back and forth) is obnoxious
and more prevalent on my D90 than on my Coolpix P6000. Indeed, it's
about as bad as I've seen off any video camera, which is saying a lot.
Same thing with skew: you simply don't want fast moving subjects or pans
in your movies taken with the D90, or else things will start leaning in
the frame."

Is the "rolling shutter" problem with the D90 CMOS also with the 5d, and is it a problem with CMOS in general?
OTOH there's the possibility that a video camera that takes lousy "footage" of moving objects because of that problem could be quite good for still subjects, so hopefully Canon also built a still photography capability in to the 5DII.
.

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