The original DSLRs that came out in HD were cameras intended for photography purposes, such as the generation that came out around the same time the Nikon D90 did a few years ago. They had video capabilities, but nothing that could be used for anything besides home video footage of the kids playing at the beach.
Now, that’s all changed and Canon has come out with several generations of cameras that are more than capable of producing top-of-the-line, ultra-high quality video footage. In fact, so much so that these cameras, such as the Canon EOS 5D Mark II, have been used on film and television sets.
It’s been widely publicized that last year’s House season finale on Fox was shot entirely with the Canon 5D Mark II camera, and the director of the finale announced on twitter that he found the camera perfect for tight spaces using Canon prime lenses and a 70-200 zoom lens without using a tripod or stabilizer rig of any kind.
Canon also announced recently that the same camera had been used to shoot the movie Iron Man 2 during key action sequences, such as the race car driving scene. In this scene, four of the cameras were mounted on different sizes of the vehicle, and the small size of the camera provided the crew with more footage and extra angles that wouldn’t be possible with larger cameras. The HD footage the camera is able to shoot is then easily integrated into other portions of a film shot with regular cameras.
Among the specs and features of the camera are the highest ISO range to date, a 21.1 megapixel full-frame CMOS sensor, full HD video capture at 1920 x 1080 resolution for up to 4 GB per clip along with an HDMI output for HD viewing, high performance 3.9 frames per second continuous shooting with a shutter durability of 150,000 cycles and a weather-resistant body.
If you’re in the market for a decent new DSLR camera, check out one with superior video capabilities like the Canon EOS 5D Mark II or Nikon D5000. These cameras offer professional-grade filmmaking on a hobbyist’s budget, along with a few extra perks like size and durability. Keep an eye on new generations of cameras being released as well, because it’s more than likely that every one of them will have decent to superior video capabilities in order to remain relevant in today’s market.