Rick Young's Blog

The whole DSLR thing

January 11, 2010

Posted by: Rick Young

If there is one technology which has stood out in 2009 it is the emergence of the DSLR as a viable filmmaking tool. Capable of capturing beautiful images with wonderful shallow depth of field; or extreme wide angle, with amazing low-light capability, the DSLRs technology has revolutionised what is possible to filmmakers who don't have large budgets to work with or film cameras or ultra high-end video technology.

The Canon 5D Mark II rewrote the rule book when it hit the market in late 2008. Despite frame-rate issues and other handling issue workarounds ways were found to integrate this technology into modern filmmaking. The results are spread around the web with magnificent results that would make one think this is what filmmaking is all about and video cameras have had their day

Yet - for myself - my involvement with this technology has been limited and has met with some great results but with some serious drawbacks which have made me watch with interest while waiting a while longer before I commit to this way of working.

As I write this an EOS 5D Mark II is on the desk before me. Also a selection of lenses: Canon 50mm 1.8, 28mm 2.8, 17 - 35mm 2.8 zoom, 100 - 400mm zoom, fixed 135mm 2.8, 70 -200mm zoom, a monster Canon 100 - 400mm zoom 5.6, a Sigma 12 - 24mm zoom, and Sigma 70 -200mm 2.8 zoom.

With all this wonderful technology I have to wonder while I still use my video cameras.

The reasons are clear:

First and foremost I used the EOS 5D Mark II on a major investigation into this technology. The results can be seen on MacVideo in the movie 21st Century Road Movie. After shooting this in Amsterdam, LA, Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon and New York I had so many specs on the sensor my gorgeous images were marred by many imperfections. It all got particularly bad in New York where not just a spec of dust but a large noticeable mark obscured part of the sensor. Shooting with the Canon 100 - 400mm lens, which has since been described to me as a push-pull lens, something happened and ruined a lot of footage. I was able to salvage enough to work with, but ideally one should not have to go through any of this pain.

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21st Century Road Movie - filmed with the Canon EOS 5D Mark II

It was later described to me that push-pull lenses are notorious with DSLRs as the effect of sliding a large barrel back and forth sucks in grit and grime which can result in exactly what I encountered - a filthy sensor.

So what to do about the sensor - one can send it in to Canon who will clean is for a price - which is fine - but what happens next time it gets dirty? Do I need to have it cleaned regularly by a professional trained in this field? Seems an expensive way to keep a camera running.

I've been advised to get a blower, turn the camera upside down, lock the mirror and simply blow the dust out. Tried it - no difference. Sensor still gives me speckled marks on my images.

Beyond this, I get paid good money to shoot events, presentations, produce corporates, knock out training films, interviews - and I tend to shoot a lot of footage. When I say a lot this can mean hours. Given that I may also use multiple cameras this can mean many many hours. Video cameras are geared to this. I've heard stories, though not experienced this myself, of sensors overheating in DSLRs requiring a switch off of the camera and a wait for the sensor to cool down. If that is how I need to work then I'll need several bodies to keep me going. I can't stop and wait. I've got work to do.

Audio presents issues. Working with double system sound is too much for the single operator. I need XLRs and phantom power.

Turnaround is a huge issue. Many people have worked out many clever ways of converting the native footage from a DSLR to something that can be worked with in editing software. However, I have yet to see a really quick method. Tape has been abandoned in many areas due to the speed of tapeless workflows with SxS, SDHC, P2 and Compact Flash. Almost everything I do is quick turnaround meaning any hold-up in the procedure can be too much for the work I'm being paid to do.

Some of my concerns will apply to what I do and not what others do. Audio isn't an issue if you need to gather pretty images to be worked to a separate soundtrack; quick turnaround is only needed for certain types of production; the handling of a DSLR will bother some and not others; a dirty sensor - well learn how to clean it!

So my take on the whole DSLR thing is that we are still in the infancy of the technology. I'm expecting an avalanche with (no inside information here - just guessing) new cameras which will take the DSLR technology and employ this in a video camera to give better handling, easy access to manual controls, XLRs and hopefully a more workable editing codec.

In the meantime the DSLR technology is still amazingly fantastic. And for me, I've ordered a cleaning kit for my dirty sensor so I can explore what can be done with the equipment I have.