I think the chief thing to remember is that while the 5D appears that it can do some neat things (some pretty darn neat things, actually), putting it into service as a full-time heavy-duty motion picture camera is a bit of a stretch. It's just not what it was designed for.
Can it do it? Yes. But that was not the designers' primary goal, ergo there are a lot of sacrifices to be made when using it that way.
Now, I haven't used the camera, but I've seen what it can do and have read the specs. The chief technical shortcoming would seem to be framerate. Unless I'm reading the specs wrong, to use it as a video camera you are stuck with 30fps. Considering that the majority of upper-end "digital cinema" users would be shooting (and want to continue shooting) 24fps... thats a big concern. Bryan says you can't force a 180° shutter... I was not familiar with that shortcoming. Shutters should be continuously variable, just as on any mid-to-higher-end video camera and on most higher-end film cameras. If that's not possible, that can be a real deal-breaker for digital cinema.
The sound is not quite so much of an issue (frankly I didn't even know the camera
could record sound at all). In that case for higher-end cinema work you'd simply shoot double system sound just as if you were shooting with a film camera (which some would argue is the way most sound
should be acquired anyway). In narrative conventional moviemaking that's no problem... it gets a little more hairy when you are talking about run-n-gun documentary style shooting where single-system sound is preferred, but I think in those cases a 5D (or any DSLR for that matter) would be a poor choice for a video camera for a variety of reasons anyway.
On top of everything, the sheer ergonomics of the conventional SLR body design is fairly poorly suited to motion picture work. There are already some workarounds this in place, such as the rigs from Redrock that are aimed at making DSLR shooting a bit more like we are accustomed to...
http://redrockmicro.com/redrock_dslr.html
The lack of autofocus in cine mode will not be an issue for most people (or rather, it
shouldn't be an issue). People who use this as a motion picture camera will need to keep a "film" mindset rather than a "video" mindset, where manual focusing is the norm.... just as the good lord intended. :)
Lenses are going to be another issue. Canon makes great lenses, but remember that those destined for the 5D are
still camera lenses, not cine lenses. It's the same glass, but the housing and function is completely different. Most notably, with a real cine lens to go from nearest to infinity you must make almost a full barrel turn of the focus ring. This is by design, to make pulling focus on a moving subject easier. Conversely, with still-camera lenses the range of barrel travel to go from nearest to infinity is
very short... usually only one-fifth of a complete turn. Therefore, pulling focus when using them as a cine lens with a moving subject can be maddening... even for the best focus pullers in the business. This is exactly the same problem that many people run into when they use SLR lenses with a DoF converter such as the P+S Technik Mini35, RedrockMicro M2, Letus35, Brevis35, etc. I've known several people who have tried it, but almost invariably they end up wishing they had real cine lenses not long into the shoot.
If there were only a way to use real PL mount mopic lenses on the 5D, well
then you'd have something pretty cool indeed.
The 5D may indeed yield some outstanding images, but until the next wave of RED components comes out I would heartily recommend instead going with a conventional video camera body plus a DoF converter and cine prime lenses. I personally use the XLH1 and P+S Technik Mini35 with superspeed cine primes... but there are many combinations of gear that will work.
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
