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rockreaver
Aug 5, 2009, 4:55 PM
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I'm looking at getting a good video camera for outdoor shoots that will involve climbing and other things. Any idea what kind of camera I'd need to purchase to get video quality like this?
http://www.youtube.com/...ture=player_embedded
I think that video quality is amazing. Any of you camera heads know a good camera that can produce video quality like that?
This is supposed to be 1080 and it sucks... GRRR
http://www.youtube.com/...&feature=related
{EDIT}encoded the URL properly and now added the 1080 video that sucks.{/EDIT}
(This post was edited by rockreaver on Aug 5, 2009, 5:00 PM)
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dhorgan
Aug 5, 2009, 5:06 PM
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did you email the guy who shot the movie?
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kennoyce
Aug 5, 2009, 5:25 PM
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where is jasonsdrivingforce when you need him? I can't believe that this video camera thread is already 3 posts long and he still hasn't popped up to tell us about his amazing video camera.
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dhorgan
Aug 5, 2009, 5:53 PM
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rockreaver wrote: dhorgan wrote: did you email the guy who shot the movie?  What a novel concept. DUH!  I'll give it a try. If I get a reply at all I wonder what language it'll be in. 
Let me know if you do get a response, I've been thinking about getting a camera as well...last time I checked they were still more than I wanted to pay.
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cush
Aug 5, 2009, 9:10 PM
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kennoyce wrote: where is jasonsdrivingforce when you need him? I can't believe that this video camera thread is already 3 posts long and he still hasn't popped up to tell us about his amazing video camera.
nah, he only pops in to tell us how his kid is the next sharma
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JasonsDrivingForce
Aug 5, 2009, 9:42 PM
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Sorry to disappoint you guys. I was on vacation.
A Canon 5D MKII would definitely shoot video like that. However, that is going to set you back a few thousand dollars. If you have that kind of money to spend then look no further.
http://www.dpreview.com/...ws/canoneos5dmarkii/
There is a Panasonic GH1 that also shoots some pretty nice 1080p @ 24 FPS video. It is still well over 1 thousand dollars though.
http://www.dpreview.com/...soniclumixdmcgh1.asp
If you were thinking more in the $500 range then cameras like the Panasonic LX3 can produce some nice 720p @ 24 FPS video. 720p is actually the max that you can affectively stream right now anyway. All of the videos on youtube are just 720p.
http://www.dpreview.com/...ews/panasonicdmclx3/
Panasonic will announce a new compact 4/3s camera at the end of August. That camera should shoot the video you are after and cost under $800. If you don’t have the money for the MKII or GH1 and you can wait then that is what I would do.
By the way, I played the file you said looked horrible and it looked horrible until I hit the HD button on youtube. It is actually a fairly high quality video. It does suffer from compression artifacts though. However, that is caused by the DIVX compression that they originally used with editing. I bet straight out of the camera the video from the second camera would have amazed you as well.
(This post was edited by JasonsDrivingForce on Aug 5, 2009, 10:16 PM)
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Myxomatosis
Aug 5, 2009, 10:31 PM
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Get one of the Canon HG or HV ranges.
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rockreaver
Aug 5, 2009, 10:35 PM
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Ah yes the HD button did the trick and I wondered when I saw it...
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Neel
Aug 6, 2009, 5:18 AM
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JasonsDrivingForce wrote: Sorry to disappoint you guys. I was on vacation. A Canon 5D MKII would definitely shoot video like that. However, that is going to set you back a few thousand dollars. If you have that kind of money to spend then look no further. http://www.dpreview.com/...ws/canoneos5dmarkii/
a few thousand + lenses, etc. The video from a 5D MKII is incredible... but for something like climbing unless you're always going to be on tripod or you have a rig to keep things stabilized, an SLR is not an easy thing to handhold and get steady video with. I think for the time being, a hd camcorder might be the best bet.
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pfwein
Aug 6, 2009, 2:20 PM
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Sounds like the OP wants (1) a camcorder rather than (2) a camera that also takes decent video.
But I wanted (2), and just got an Olympus E-P1 that takes 720p video at 30 fps. The camera is sort of a compromise between a full size dSLR and a point-and-shoot and has some trade offs, but seems sweet so far.
http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/EP1/EP1A.HTM
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JasonsDrivingForce
Aug 6, 2009, 3:29 PM
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pfwein wrote: Sounds like the OP wants (1) a camcorder rather than (2) a camera that also takes decent video. But I wanted (2), and just got an Olympus E-P1 that takes 720p video at 30 fps. The camera is sort of a compromise between a full size dSLR and a point-and-shoot and has some trade offs, but seems sweet so far. http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/EP1/EP1A.HTM
The 5D MKII takes “The BEST” video and Awesome pictures. The other cameras hold their own in video and pictures as well.
Your EP-1 definitely is a sweet camera. It does have a few drawbacks though(Optional Flash, Focusing issues). Overall it is a solid camera though. Can you post some sample videos from it(Preferably climbing ones)? I can host them if you don’t have a place to.
Here is what the climbing world(and the rest of the world for that matter) has been waiting for! It is Panasonic’s new 4/3s camera and it will take awesome video, great pictures, and fit nicely in a small case. Plus it will probably cost less than $1000 with a lens.
http://forums.dpreview.com/...=32606187&page=1
Fixed your URL as well.
(This post was edited by JasonsDrivingForce on Aug 6, 2009, 3:33 PM)
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cavemanNdisguise
Aug 6, 2009, 4:23 PM
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Any word on when this camera will be available?
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pfwein
Aug 6, 2009, 4:46 PM
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JasonsDrivingForce wrote: pfwein wrote: Sounds like the OP wants (1) a camcorder rather than (2) a camera that also takes decent video. But I wanted (2), and just got an Olympus E-P1 that takes 720p video at 30 fps. The camera is sort of a compromise between a full size dSLR and a point-and-shoot and has some trade offs, but seems sweet so far. http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/EP1/EP1A.HTMThe 5D MKII takes “The BEST” video and Awesome pictures. The other cameras hold their own in video and pictures as well. Your EP-1 definitely is a sweet camera. It does have a few drawbacks though(Optional Flash, Focusing issues). Overall it is a solid camera though. Can you post some sample videos from it(Preferably climbing ones)? I can host them if you don’t have a place to. Here is what the climbing world(and the rest of the world for that matter) has been waiting for! It is Panasonic’s new 4/3s camera and it will take awesome video, great pictures, and fit nicely in a small case. Plus it will probably cost less than $1000 with a lens. http://forums.dpreview.com/...=32606187&page=1 Fixed your URL as well.
I just got the camera and haven't been able to take climbing pics with it yet (and the only video I have now is ridiculously cheesy shot of my neighbor talking--not worth posting, although the quality looked good to me).
If I can, I'll try to get some video this weekend and remember to follow up on this post.
I'm not really a knowledgeable photographer or cameraman (hope to become one), so please keep that in mind when I post.
PF
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wes_allen
Aug 6, 2009, 5:12 PM
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The IQ of 5dII is amazing for sure. But, it isn't a simple piece of gear to operate - you need to be comfortable with totally manual shooting - manual focus, manual exposure, manual white balance, etc. And the form factor isn't easy to handle. If you just want a good, easy to use camera, I would look elsewhere for sure. I love my 5dII, but it isn't a beginners video camera at all. That said, if you really want great IQ and are ok with the learning curve and the $$$ is is pretty cool.
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JasonsDrivingForce
Aug 6, 2009, 5:30 PM
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wes_allen wrote: The IQ of 5dII is amazing for sure. But, it isn't a simple piece of gear to operate - you need to be comfortable with totally manual shooting - manual focus, manual exposure, manual white balance, etc. And the form factor isn't easy to handle. If you just want a good, easy to use camera, I would look elsewhere for sure. I love my 5dII, but it isn't a beginners video camera at all. That said, if you really want great IQ and are ok with the learning curve and the $$$ is is pretty cool.
How long have you had your 5DMKII Wes? Have you shot much video with it? I saw some of your latest photos and they looked great. Were those taken with the MKII? Have any videos from those shoots?
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wes_allen
Aug 8, 2009, 3:55 AM
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We got in in mid may, but only started really doing anything with video in the last month. The IQ when I do everything right is amazing, but it takes some work to get the setup that works.
The images I put up are mixed - lots of old, and a couple new, shot with everything from 20d, 5d, 1markiii, 5dii and maybe 1dmarkii/40d/etc. I usually leave the EXIF attached so you can check out what they were shoot with and the settings, etc. There are a couple images of paradise lost that I shot at the same time as the video of that route on vimo, but I get the FAIL with the goal of being able to mix still and video for that shoot.
JasonsDrivingForce wrote: How long have you had your 5DMKII Wes? Have you shot much video with it? I saw some of your latest photos and they looked great. Were those taken with the MKII? Have any videos from those shoots? |
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pfwein
Aug 10, 2009, 11:04 PM
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Can Jason (or anyone else) tell me what is the best way to post videos? I tried uploading on Picasa and it does not look very good compared to the version on my computer. Since the only reason for me to post is so you can see the quality of the Olympus E-P1 video, it doesn't do any good if compression ruins things (there is nothing postworthy in the videos themselves).
To me the quality looked pretty good but nothing exceptional. The "shake" from the guy holding the camera is really annoying--maybe you need a tripod (or a better cameraman)?
I'll experiment with YouTube later but I'm skeptical I'll get better results than with Picassa so thought I'd ask if there any better solutions to avoid too much time wasting on my part.
(This post was edited by pfwein on Aug 10, 2009, 11:16 PM)
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JasonsDrivingForce
Aug 11, 2009, 2:05 AM
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pfwein wrote: Can Jason (or anyone else) tell me what is the best way to post videos? I tried uploading on Picasa and it does not look very good compared to the version on my computer. Since the only reason for me to post is so you can see the quality of the Olympus E-P1 video, it doesn't do any good if compression ruins things (there is nothing postworthy in the videos themselves). To me the quality looked pretty good but nothing exceptional. The "shake" from the guy holding the camera is really annoying--maybe you need a tripod (or a better cameraman)? I'll experiment with YouTube later but I'm skeptical I'll get better results than with Picassa so thought I'd ask if there any better solutions to avoid too much time wasting on my part.
Actually youtube is quite good now. They stream at 720p and their compression is decent. For free you won’t find much that is better. Try uploading the original file to youtube. However, remember to hit the HD button before playing it.
If you are not happy with the results there then just Private Message me and I can set it up to host the original file or stream a near lossless version of it.
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JasonsDrivingForce
Aug 11, 2009, 2:09 PM
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Cool, the color on those videos was exceptional. I also liked how the contrast dynamically varied depending on the available light. However, there were a few things that looked odd about them as well.
Did you upload the videos as they were in the camera or did you compress them before you uploaded them? There was a lot of noise and compression artifacts in them. It looked like there were a bunch of “creepy crawlies”(for lack of a better term) in the videos. It almost looked like low light noise. However, those videos were not in low light.
Also, the cameraman was very shaky. I have seen worse but with a little practice you can actually get some decent hand held shots. And if that doesn’t work then a $20 tripod will keep them rock steady.
Thanks for posting those. I love to see HD climbing videos. Keep them coming.
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pfwein
Aug 11, 2009, 2:16 PM
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I did upload those from the camera (they were huge (hundreds of megabyte .avi files). But for some reason those clips were not quite as sharp as others that I took. Unfortunately the other clips were of things like me talking to my neighbor and cars driving around a parking lot.
I'll have to check the camera settings and generally experiment--fun stuff.
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JasonsDrivingForce
Aug 11, 2009, 2:39 PM
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I checked out some other samples from the EP1 and they really have outstanding color, bokeh, and resolution. However, a few of them have the noise issue that I was seeing in your video. I wonder if a noise reduction algorithm like the one in Windows Media advanced profile would alleviate the issue.
I will try processing some of the samples I have and see what happens.
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