5D Mark II Video Improvements
Even though I'm almost exclusively shooting Nikon these days, I'm still watching developments in Canon land. Today's announcement of a firmware update that adds manual exposure control for shooting video with the 5D Mark II is a great one to see.
Long-time readers will know that I think that Canon short-shrifted the 5D Mark II in more than a few ways. There's a great sensor in there, but the control set should have been better. And the video mode is astounding, but the auto-exposure mode was baffling to say the least. I'd go so far as to call it a flaw. I've talked to several people using it for video that really love it except for the fact that they can't control exposure. Having the exposure bounce around in variable light conditions isn't what you want most of the time. This update should fix that nicely for those that want to shoot in full-up manual mode.
Announcements on Rob Gailbraith DPI, PDN, and DPReview. Looks like the firmware will be out in June.
N.B. As Derek points out in the comments, the D90—Nikon's first entry into still/video convergence territory—is also limited in it's exposure modes. The one workaround that I know of there is that you can lock your exposure by holding down the AE-L button while your shooting. Not exactly convenient, but it does keep the exposure drift at bay.
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Doesn't the Nikon D90 have a similar limitation? I've been considering one to replace my D50, and the video is purely a bonus for me, but it would be nice if there were additional control like this for the D90 too.
I saw that Panasonic has a firmware update for one of their LENSES today too. 20 years ago I would have laughed at the very idea of lens firmware, never mind for a camera.
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Derek, from what I understand, the D90 has the same limitation to it. This limitation, more than anything, has really tempered the idea of using one of these as a video camera for now. Instead, I'm currently more interested in the Panasonic GH-1. Of course, that's a completely different lens system and all. Sheesh.
And I agree on the firmware updates. The first time I updated the firmware on my keyboard, I had to take a minute and wonder. :)
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It's such early days for DSLR video, but it is also strange that Canon and Nikon would release cameras that give you so much control over still image exposure, and yet assume that for video you want the camera to make all the decisions (except focusing, of all things!) for you. I get the impression that they really were trying to beat each other to market with DSLR video, and that the features came out half-assed because of it.
That doesn't explain the similar limitations with the newer D5000 and T1i, though.
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