Why video on DSLR matters
Following several online photography forums, I’ve been flabbergasted by the general attitude towards the new emerging video features of the DSLR cameras such as Canon 5D Mk II, Pentax K7 and Nikon D90 and D300s. There seem to a lot of disdain, some carefully positive comments (“it doesn’t hurt”) and very little exuberance. As I tend towards the exuberance, I find this very odd, to tell you the truth.
As a person who recently (early this year) bought a video camera, and during that time got familiar with lots of video forums, I was expecting a totally different welcome for the video features in the new Pentax K7 from what I saw. I will try to answer to some criticism commonly thrown around in the photography forums. Finally, I will speculate about the reasons for this odd attitude towards Video-on-DSLR.
Complaint: If I want video, I’ll buy a video camera
There are lots of people who are very satisfied with the current breed of digital camcorders with their tiny sensors. They are relatively simple to use and do one thing reasonably well. But for most of the serious video enthusiasts, a video shooting DSLR around the thousand dollar mark is just about the holy grail. They do not want a tiny sensor and a fixed lens. They want DoF control, manual focus, interchangeable lenses. To put it simply: video for DSLR. In fact, there’s a whole movement grown around adapting 35mm photography lenses for the HD cameras by using a ground focusing glass that is imaged by the video camera. So just the same way you don’t say tell a serious photography enthusiast to go buy an Ixus, it is very ignorant to spout the line “If I want video, I’ll buy a videocamera”. The camera that can match the output of the new video DSLRs will cost a lot more than the DSLRs.
Complaint: the DSLR doesn’t even offer auto focus during video
In quite the same vein as the above rebuttal, the people who are serious about video as an art form really REALLY want good manual control (including manual focus). I myself bought a ring for my HV30 that helps me manual focus. Manual focusing is good, mmkay.
Complaint: The microphone sucks
Anyone serious about shooting video wants an off-camera microphone anyway, for the same reasons photographers want an off-camera flash.
Complaint: Adding video capabilities is waste of time that should be spent improving photography related functions
Too bad. There are lots of people that really want video on DSLR, and therefore camera manufacturers will offer the feature. Furthermore, features where video on DSLR is really pushing the envelope, such as powerful image processing pipeline and control of thermal noise are really directly beneficial for people strictly limited to photography.
Why get so angry about a feature?
I suspect photographers get so angry about video on their precious cameras because they are afraid of change. Afraid that photography will be made obsolete by the moving image. Afraid that they know so little about shooting video. I don’t pretend to be a great photographer, but now that I’ve shot a little moving footage, it’s painfully obvious I know nothing about shooting video.
Video is really quite another world, intruding into territory that has been relativey unchanged for the better part of a century. But if people would just keep an open mind, they might realize this is an opportunity to learn something new and wonderful. And in the worst case, we can take comfort in the fact that video features really do not make the camera ANY worse for shooting still photography.
