5D2

I'm curious about the possibility of using the video feature to make stills. How would one make a single frame

print from a video, (using Photoshop?) and what would be the maximum size one could expect the print to be of

good quality? Would it be any better than a conventional video camera for this purpose? Thanks.

Video is compressed and only 1920X1080 it will make an ugle print unless your print 3X2 or smaller...it is not meant for prints

Arash thanks. Can I take it that applies to all video cameras?

Al:

 

The more complete answer is that until more people have the 5D II in their hands, we don't know.

 

I remember seeing at least one review where the person made "ugly" 8x10s from the video stills from the

5D II, and his staff couldn't reliably tell the difference between those and prints made from larger files.

(Of course, perhaps his staff is all legally blind. :)

 

 

Eric

I don't know the scannng pattern of the 5d2 in video mode whether its whole frame pull down, progressive or interlaced, certeinly the majoirty of video cameras are interlaced (though some feature a native progessive mode and some have a pseudo progressive mode) but stills taken from most video cameras are prone to combing where movement occours, this is an artefact of two fields making up a frame, you can deinterlace but this saps the resolution even more, and interpolation makes it look a wee bit soft.

 

On top of that many camcorders are going to be standard def which is only 576hx720w pixels so approx .4MP (in my region -PAL- at least, NTSC is lower again)

 

Arash is correct in terms of photo quality printing, however this kind of resolution would be absolutely fine for newsprint or web, which if you are a photojourno will be of the main concern.

 

Baack to video cameras, another problem is the use of non-square pixels, standard def non widescreen cameras have a pixel aspect of 1:1.07 (again in my region PAL, think NTSC is 1:0.9) widescreeen cams have a pixel aspect of 1:1.42, although photoshop can handle this it does mean resampling.

 

Another differnce is down to the differing way cameras and video cameras are used. With a stills camera you will probably compose the shot and steady the cam whilst capturing the moment, video cameras are more likely to have motion blur through panning or tilting or zoom blur.

 

I am excited by the prospect of a high res video function in a DSLR, especially with such a large sensor doing lovely things to the depth of field, but there are still a few things holding me back:

 

Frame rate, PAL is 25fps, the 5D2 is 30fps

 

Compression: MPEG4, very lossy, would prefer MPEG2 or even better AVi

 

Audio: No monitor & no pro input, i.e. XLR (although beachtek are working on this)

 

Lens control: No motorized zoom.

At 150 dpi, a 1920X1080 pixel image will make a print that's 12.8 by 7.2 inches. Most glossy 4-color magazines print at a resolution comparable to 150 dpi, so expect image quality of a 7 x 12 inch print to be comparable to what you see in magazines. In other words, not the very-finest quality, but good enough for a lot of practical uses.

Thank you all very much. I hope others will find this info of interest too. Especial thanks to Paul for such an indepth answer. Thanks too Paul for the info of 150 dpi and magazines. I expect to get this camera anyway but mostly for it's "normal" camera functions.

Sorry Mike my mistake it was you I meant to thank in terms of the 150.dpi info.

You can export a single frame using adobe premiere pro. You get a regular picture out of the video.

paul, everything i've read on the camera show the mk2 being 1080 progressive. only thing holding me back right

now is the 30 p! canon is in the video camera market, so there are WELL AWARE of 24/25P ! why the 30? very

frustrating. i'm going to do some tests with some post process 24p type filters and see how well the files hold

up...or maybe this is something to wait for canon to address with a firmware update.... *SIGH so close

The reason to get the 5D II is because you mainly need a FF still camera. If a minor feature like 30 P is cramping your

style, you're looking at the wrong camera. Get a real video camera for crying out loud!

Forget pro audio input on the camera; its ALC will mess with levels anyway

 

if you want broadcast quality audio, use a dual system and sync in post

Al,

The main problem with video is not the resolution but it is the video compression, subtle tones are quantized and there are also motion artifacts, below is a 100% crop form a 5DII 1080p video taken from dpreview.com, you can download the whole video and press the pause to see how it looks for yourself.<div></div>

Arash ..... thanks for the link, I see what you mean. Well as i said my main interest in the camera is for FF stills but not knowing a thing about video I just wondered what the possibilities might be. I'd have been happier myself if they'd have left the video out and improved the AF.

Al,

I agree with you, I take better AF or even a 100% finder for the best HD video any day. Video or cinema is a seperate branch of art which is great but I have nor the experties neither the interest and resources to dig into it... but maybe we will benefit from some occasional video use during travel etc. I was talking to a wedding photographer the other day and he mentioned he wanted to use the video feature in 5DII to make testimonials from his clients...so it's got uses other than print!

Take a look at today's New York Times Magazine. Still photos by RED.

"Take a look at today's New York Times Magazine. Still photos by RED"

 

the online edition for 11.23.08?

 

Which article or section are you referring to?

puppy face...please define 'real video camera'

 

what is intriguing about a sub $3000 camera that can do HD and full frame is that it's SUB $3000! for spec shoots or low budget music video's this is a great leap. yes the red cam is amazing, but it's cost is ten times more and that's without a lens! and if you want to spend $7000 on a sony ex1 you still are dealing with half frame sensors.

I really like the night video in this shot (be sure to click the "full screen" button!), the two kids at the newspaper stand, focusing ont eh back one and then the front....nice tele work can't do that with my consumer cam, well without adding a bunch of stuff for more money. I could see having two 5d2's, one dedicated to video with accessory mic, and one for still photos

 

24/25p causes a lot of headaches for people who are unaccustomed to dealing with it. Using 30p on the 5D2 makes perfect sense to me.

"24/25p causes a lot of headaches for people who are unaccustomed to dealing with it. Using 30p on the 5D2 makes perfect sense to me."

 

i'd disagree. if it causes a headache for people 'unaccustomed', chances are they are not in the market for 1080p or full frame vid cam to begin with.