TJB

No sheep in this comparison video. [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfA2mTMt0u8#ws]The F%^&ing Nikon D800 vs. Canon 5D mkIII Shootout[/url]

Reading here and elsewhere it seems that many see this as an "either or" type thing. Right now we're enjoying an abundance of camera options with more to come in the months and years ahead. As stated by others it's often down to taste and if one has a few extra $ then two differently branded cameras can easily live in the same camera bag. Different tools have different strengths for different requirements. No such thing as the perfect camera. For me it's all good.

Or for $200 less just grab yourself a Nikon 800E. I'm passing on the 5DMK3 and sticking with the MK2 and a newly acquired GH2. The 5DMK2 for people shots and the GH2 for deep depth of field landscape shots. Pity though that the Unified and Vanilla patches don't work so well in HBR 25p mode. Anyone know of patches that are stable with HBR 25p?

I didn't stop reading at 16mm but my interest was halved. If this was announced pre-5DMKII or GH2 then I would have been very interested. I've spent 30 years shooting 16mm and 2/3 inch chip video and thank goodness things are changing! For me the super 35 sensor size is the best compromise for video today.

I enjoy your work Andrew...many thanks. I think mirrorless is a great idea, however just because the body can be made smaller by removing the mirror, that doesn't necessarily mean that fast, high quality auto focus zoom lenses can be made proportionally smaller or affordable. I believe it's simply a matter of physics. The NEX7 and the Fuji X-Pro 1 shows just how far smaller < full-frame sensor technology has come, but when I entertain the idea of using fast auto focus glass with an adapter, I end up with a tiny body and a large lens which for me is ergonomically silly. Cameras are getting smaller but my hands are staying the same size. I'm sticking with a DSLR for now.

If I didn't have a 5DMKII with VAF5D2 I would definitely go for the 5DMKIII for all the reasons Andrew mentioned plus some personal ones - including - -I shoot stills and video and it's pain to remove the VAF5D2 to shoot stills. -Focus on every lens I have behaves differently with the filter inserted. For example on the EF 24-105mm lens at 24mm - infinity focus is actually macro on the opposite end of the focus barrel. -Even slight reframing with the zoom requires a new focus check. I'm in no hurry to upgrade. But if I was building a new kit, I would go for the MKIII. If I wanted the magnificent 5X crop mode I would definitely go for the GH2. Getting the EF 24-105mm kit lens is highly recommended. It's image stabilisation is fantastic - very quiet and easily usable on the long end. f4 on a full frame body has a similar DOF as the GH2 with an f2 lens. I can't chase focus on moving subjects with a larger aperture than f4 anyway.

I wish Canon and Nikon would put their up-coming cameras into the hands of video professionals that have a clue. People post stuff on Vimeo without explaining basic technical details. What's the point? Right now a lot of this is just guess work.

Hmmm, very interesting!

Andrew, I'm a bit confused by the crop-factor on these cameras. Can you explain? I thought the D4 had a DX - 1.5x crop and something akin to the GH2 - 2.7 x crop mode whilst the D800 only has DX - 1.5x crop factor as an option to full frame? If the new 5D doesn't have at least a 1.6x crop mode then it's a big disappointment for me and I'll have to wait for the 70D, T4i or get a GH2 which effectively has a 5x crop mode at 1080p. Also can you explain about audio adjustments whilst recording. Is it right that the new 5D offers manual audio adjustments whilst recording and both new Nikons only offer manual audio adjustment prior to hitting the record button? Many thanks!

Very interesting reading. I too would wait on the new 5D until we find out for sure about video and audio quality. Great to have a headphone jack but if we still have to shoot double system sound because of the same old pre-amp noise then the headphone jack is not so valuable. One thing I don't understand. I thought the D4 has 1.5x and 2.7x crop and the D800 only has 1.5x crop. For me, one of THE most compelling features of the GH2 over everything else available right now is the amazing crop-factor.

It may be a dead horse or "a one trick pony" but it's still the cheapest and best full frame body around if only just for stills. I assume that many can't justify retiring camera bodies every two or three years just because something newer with incrementally better image quality comes along. I'll continue to enjoy riding my dead horse into the sunset.

I've been using the ME AA filter for a few months now. It really that it has given the 5DMKII better picture quality and a longer life. I originally bought the 5DMKII for stills and ignored the video because wide, deep depth of field shots looked so awful. Now with this filter I'm happier to shoot paid video jobs with the 5DMKII. One thing I've found is that focussing is a bit of a pain as each lens behaves slightly differently with the filter installed. Also, I normally use one-push "Quick mode" auto focus before I hit record - I can't do this with the AA filter installed. My Canon HF G10 still resolves more detail than the 5DMKII (with the AA installed and sharpening turned up to your suggested level) - so for those troublesome wide angle deep depth of field shots with fine detail, sometimes I opt to shoot on a real video camera. Overall I agree that it's a good product for the price.

Thanks Andrew - great overview. Apart from the cost, I find Canon L glass to be large and heavy. The 24-105mm f4 IS is an exception because this weather sealed kit lens is very versatile. Depth of field is approximately as shallow as an f2 lens on a GH2 body. In use it's noticably smaller and lighter than the 24-70mm f2.8 L lens. The best feature is very quiet image stabilization which is usable handheld through the entire zoom range. For under $500 my favourite wide prime is the very small and light Canon EF 28mm 1.8. Obviously it has less distortion than a 24mm lens and has full time manual focus meaning I can use auto focus check and then very quickly override with the wonderfully smooth manual focus ring. All photographic lenses are designed to resolve far more than 2K. So even if I think I may need L glass, my results show it's often unnecessary. My (non L) EF primes are mostly sharper than my L glass at optimum apertures. Many of these primes display very acceptable behaviour (bokeh, flare, distortion etc, etc) for the money. For under $400 I use the EF 50mm 1.4 and the EF 85mm 1.8. All are fast, light and very sharp with very good build quality. Smooth manual focus on the 28 and 85 is superb.

My guess is that the 3rd shot in (WS train over bridge) is the GH2.

An EVF as good as the Zacuto EVF means it's the future for monitoring which is great. Pity recently released professional cameras don't have the same quality viewfinders. The NEX 7 looks like the best camera for stealth. The GH2 (with hack?) sounds as though it still resolves detail better than any other DSLR. I recently tested my HF G10 against my 5DMKII with L glass, sharpness wound up a bit and AA filter. The HF G10 easily won in terms of resolving fine detail. I now use the G10 (which shares the same chip, lens, LCD and viewfinder as the XF100 series) for wide angle, deep depth of field shots. Thanks for very good review!

I'm just responding to what you wrote not me. Your title reads, "is the Canon C300 worth $15,000?" For what it's worth I gave my opinion like some of your other readers. It's not my job to try and understand who reads this blog and why. Although it's fairly obvious. I would imagine though that it's your job to realise that many different readers of varying backgrounds and experience frequent your website even if they don't login and register. You should be happy about that and try not to get too "tired of commercial filmmakers thinking that the only needs in the world are the professional ones!" I'm certainly not one of them. I shoot paid jobs on all sorts of cameras for different reasons. I also shoot home video. Maybe once you move from simply creating to creating and getting paid for it then you may see things differently. I think your readers are capable of realising that there will always have differing points of view that conflict with ones personal situation. If I was to advise a friend about camera choice under $1K to purely "create" then I'd recommend  the GH2 or the 5DMKII. If I was on a panel to advise a national broadcaster then I would certainly not mention the GH2.

Right now I think the C300 is the only camera that does almost everything required internally. As a freelancer workng for broadcast television, reliability is key. I'm not sure I'd be happy shooting daily with an FS100 or any other camera coupled with an external recorder.  Anything added on to a camera system can quite often be an invitation for problems on the job and expensive repairs. I need gear that I can trust day in day out under varying circumstances. Now if your shooting test video of your cat for Vimeo consumption then that's a different story. Broadcast standard gear is expensive. P2 cards are expensive because they meet military and broadcast standards. SD cards don't meet the same standards. Just try and name one camera under $20K that can do everything the C300 does straight out of the box. If I really needed to buy today and had the means - I'd grab a C300 without an after thought.

I don't know. From my experience, unfortunately, weight matters. It matters the most when the wind blows and your on the end of a long bottle. I wish you fair weather with your light weight rig.