I recently picked up a Canon 7D. I've been using an Xti since 2007 and purchased a 50D right before the 7D came out. I almost kicked myself in the butt when I saw the features of the 7D, so I took a chance and returned the 50D (which is a sweet camera) for the 7....

Well, I am just amazed at what this thing can do. Mainly, the 1080p 24/fps video this thing records. I am seriously just blown away.

I purchased the mini HDMI to go directly from camera to panel, and the video is so crisp, clear and smooth, it truly looks better than any blu-ray I have ever seen.

I shoot with a 17-40L f/4 lens, and when I recently went to Turks and Caicos, I shot video of just about everything, and its just amazing how the sensors on these cameras (which are bigger than any consumer HD video camera) take such vivid video.

The 720p is very nice as well, although the native file sizes (1080p & 720p) are just about the same.

Anyone else shooting their own HD video, and what are your thoughts on playback/quality? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Oh yeah, the photos are nice too! =-)

Two weeks ago I picked up a Canon 5D MkII. This replaces an Olympus 8080WZ from 2004 (a nice quality all-in-one that has taken all of the product photos since 2004 on RC, but it's starting to fail on me).

The 5D2 is my first DSLR (and first Canon ever), so it's taking a bit to get used to, but so far I'm extremely impressed by the body and the image quality.

I spent a LOT of time waffling back and forth between the 5D2 and the 7D - in the end I decided for studio purposes I wanted ultimate image quality, and could live without the better AF, faster FPS and other improvements that the 7D offered. Had I wanted a non-studio camera, I probably would have gone with the 7D.

I hear that, the Full Frame on the 5D MkII is just rediculous. My buddy has it, and that was what inspired me to go with the 7D for the video, I just cant pony up the money for the Full Frame after just having a baby.

What lens are you using with the 5D, and have you had a chance to mess with the HD video yet?

Curious as to your experience with the video and the high ISO quality of the video for low light shooting.

So far I just have the kit 24-105 4.0L. I plan on eventually picking up the new 100mm 2.8L IS macro, and possibly a tilt/shift lens for product photography.

I haven't played with the video at all yet - I have a dedicated Sony HDR-FX1 HDV video camera for that, but it's 1080i and I am intrigued by the 1080p on the 5D2 (although apparantly next year we're supposed to get a firmware upgrade to bring the video closer to the 7D's).

Daniel, have you messed with the 1080p yet? I ask mainly becuase I have been doing a lot of video recently and I am just amazed at how clean the video is and noise free (@ any ISO under 1600).

I got a chance to see a wedding video shot strictly with the 5D MKII and I was blown away, far better than what I am producing with the 7D.

I would like to know your comparison between the HDR-FX1 and the 5D when you play around some...

Yeah, I *still* haven't played with video on it. Did find way better deinterlacers for my FX1 footage so 1080p isn't quite as important... :-)

I've always been extremely happy with my FX1 - clean video (original video looks sharper than 95% of HD shows on TV), low grain/noise, solid colors, and whatever I see with my eye is almost always exactly what it's recording, even in extremely low ambient light environments (I've shot people in a pitch black room where the only light was being reflected from a projection screen). My only gripes is it's hard to manually adjust exposure, and it tends to underexpose if there's brightly colored lighting around (ie. a bright white light it compensates for OK, but a bright blue or green light tends to make it underexpose everything).

Have to say I'm also very happy with the 5D. It's way bigger than any still camera I've owned before, but there's just something so extremely satisfying taking a picture with it. I don't know if it's the responsiveness, knowing how good the image will look, or just the great noise it makes!

I have been putting this off for a long time... i want to get into photography. For portfolio shots and family photos, not as a career or business endeavor.

I want something under $700 (just the camera). I created this number because its exactly what i made last month with site advertising and template sales so its guilt free spending :).

What camera would you get if you were in my shoes?

It depends Stamp...

Most beginners can get away with a point and shoot, plain and simple. Most of the guesswork is already factored in to the "creative modes". I would recommend the Canon SD980. This camera has good/decent low light performance (ISO 3200), image stabilization and HD movie mode (720p). Its a great place to start.

I started with the original Canon A10, the first digital powershot made by canon, it was only 1.3mp, and I loved every picture I took. Now when I look back on those pics, I realize that my iPhone takes nicer pictures now, LOL.

If you want to venture into the DSLR world, I would recommend the Canon Xsi, it is the best entry level DSLR they make, nice 3" screen, it has live view (so you dont have to always look through the view finder), it comes with the 18-55 image stabilized lens (which you may find to be somewhat limiting), and I would recommend you get the 55-250 image stabilized lens to compliment the setup. The whole setup would be in the $700's.

I just recommended this to my sister-in-law, and she is in love, at first she was a little nervous about all the settings, but she ended up playing with it for a few weeks and really has it down. She uses it for product photos, yoga classes & stuff for her teaching.

If you really need any info, email me, I have been into photography for about 15 years, and do a considerable amount of side work with it. Good luck with your choice.

Joey

Thanks for the recommendation. I want to skip past the point and shoot even if i probably shouldnt :). I am going to try and pick one up once i leave town to go to a project. I just got home after 2 months away and im so behind on everything i know i wont have time to play with it until then.

I went from an Olympus C8080WZ P&S to a Canon 5D MkII DSLR... that's skipping more than a few steps. :-)

This is by far the coolest thing i have ever seen. How do you do tilt shift?

[Link: disneyparks.disney.go.com]

Ah, tilt-shift. In addition to being used for fun "mineature" shots like that, it's also used for product photography because it adjusts the focus plane and allows you to have an ENTIRE product in focus at once (instead of the front in focus and the back blurry, for example) - which is exactly why I've been researching them.

Tilt-shift movements are usually done with medium format or larger cameras, but you can buy special lenses for DSLR use as well. They're usually quite expensive and almost entirely manual (no auto focus or even auto aperature in many cases).

I've been eyeing one of them for my Canon.

I am about to pull the trigger on this Joey and i wondered if you had anything to add before i do.

[Link: accessories.us.dell.com]

thanks

Link doesn't work for me.

It must have been on sale :( It was about 80$ less with that link.

Edit.. looks like i cant directly link to products at dell.