Dagzilla

A couple people on campus have commented that the Canon 5D Mark II ‘is not a movie camera’. They are referring to the limitations of the camera. They are of course referring to the limitations of the camera including it’s audio recording limitations, lack of focus marks on Canon’s DSLR lenses and lack of control over aperture and other shooting settings. Of course these comments are followed shortly by discussion on film’s superior range and the control of focus and aperture inherent in the film cameras we use in school, which also run anywhere from 5 to 20+ times the cost.

I contend that it is a movie camera. A movie camera is a camera that enables you to make a movie. Whether that be a cellphone camera, a Pixelvision 2000, a Panavision Panaflex or Genesis. It’s about having immediate access to the equipment and the tenacity to learn it and use it to the best of it’s function. I can carry my Canon 5D Mark II with me almost everywhere. I’ve shot more using this camera that I ever did with my Canon XL-1 which I had for ten years! It’s not the holy grail of cameras and despite a few fanatics, which exist for every camera (and many for the RED), it has some tough hurdles, but for me, it’s accessible (already owning an arsenal of lenses) and enables me to film and work on my skills. That being said, I’ve come up with some tips and tricks for getting the most out of the camera when shooting video. If anyone has anything to add or other suggestions, please share!

When you’re shooting with any camera, know and understand what the camera is doing. Watch the settings: ISO, aperture, etc. We’ve all heard the complaints about the camera, no manual aperture control, but you can get the camera to do what you want with a few tricks. As you’re trying these, remember what the camera is doing when you’re in movie mode. It’s evaluating the scene and assuming that what it sees is averages out at 18% gray, which is about what we perceive at neutral gray. If you have something really bright in the scene, the rest of the scene will automatically be dark – the camera has better range than many others, but it’s still not film or the human eye and has limitations. Keep Ansel’s zone system in mind!

1. Watch your ISO especially in low light shooting. If the scene is dark, you want it to appear somewhat dark and the camera will try to display the viewable area at neutral, averaged at 18% gray. If there isn’t much light it will jack up the ISO to 3200 and you’ll end up with noise in the blacks. To check, while in movie mode with the preview on, press lightly on the shutter button. If it does not display on the screen, press the ‘info’ button until it does. It will display the ISO, shutter speed and aperture for a short time. The ISO shouldn’t really be recorded above 2000 or you’ll end up with a lot of noise in the blacks. I’ve found that it’s best to be 1250 or less is even better. If it’s holding at too high an ISO, zoom out briefly or point the camera toward a little bit of light and hit the exposure lock button (the asterisk: *) when the ISO falls to a reasonable level. To get the exposure to look right, you may need to work with the auto-exposure compensation using the large jog dial on the back of the camera.
2. ALWAYS LOCK THE EXPOSURE USING THE * (asterisk). If you do not, the exposure may noticeably fluctuate during the scene. You know the exposure is locked if the asterisk appears on the display.
3. If you want to open the aperture in order to reduce the depth of field, first raise the exposure compensation all the way, which is two stops, by turning the large black dial on the back of the camera clock-wise. You’ll see the auto-exposure mark move up on along the tick-marks on the display. Next, place your hand over the lens or point the camera at a dark area. The ISO will first raise, until it reaches 3200 then the aperture will open up. When the aperture is where you want it, click the aperture lock (asterisk: *) to lock in the ISO and aperture. Note: for this to work the camera must be in ‘Stills +Movie’ mode, found under the ‘Live View / Movie Function Set.’ within the menu. it may take a little careful practice to get right. It can be easy to block the lens too much, set the aperture too wide and then not be able to tweak the exposure back down to an acceptable level.
4. Remember that when shooting in HD be SURE to watch your focus carefully. If the aperture is open and/or you’re focal length is high your depth of field will be less than you may be used to on a digital video camera. If you don’t focus properly (say for example on the eyes of the subject) and your depth of field is narrow, it will be noticeable in HD. On each shot, check your focus and rack focus when necessary (a little tape will allow you to mark the lens for rack). To check focus, while in preview mode, click the magnifying glass button on the back of the camera. The camera will display a zoom of the shot at 5x, and with another press of the button, 10x. You can use the small toggle joystick (above the large jog dial on the back of the camera) to pan around the image and check focus.
5. Find a way to monitor the audio. I have an Azden mixer, which allows me to monitor with headphones, but there’s no visual monitor so I’m hoping to upgrade soon to something like the Beachtek DXA-5D (link is a PDF, they don’t seem to have a product page or even listed on their site!), announced April 13th and made especially for the 5D.

Hope this helps others. If there’s interest, maybe I’ll film a tutorial. Photo below is from a shoot where I helped a classmate film a melting face for a SFX project.

Green screen setup with the Canon 5D mark II. 1 shot per second for
about ten minutes.