Still photographers began shooting magazine covers with the RED camera. Jon Firestone explains how still and motion imaging collided and what it means.
The RED camera has found itself in the hands of still photographers in recent months and has been used to shoot several high profile magazine covers. Having the ability to shoot up to 30 frames a second in 4K resolutions continuously for long durations has made it very appealing for some photographers. The next generations of RED cameras are being designed to be even more friendly as still cameras and are part of their new DSMC (Digital Still and Motion Camera) philosophy. They are designed to be both still and motion cameras and can be configured in much smaller profiles similar to that of a large DSLR. I’ve often noted that the RED camera has more in common with a DSLR than a video camera, so it’s not surprising that we are now seeing these two worlds collide. But while RED is encroaching on the still photography territory primarily dominated by Nikon and Canon, these DSLR companies are improving the video side of their still cameras and might just take a bite out of RED’s market.
It wasn’t Canon that was first to bat with a video-enabled DSLR, but it was Canon’s newest line of Digital SLRs that really became contenders as digital cinema cameras. The first of these was the Canon 5D Mark II with a full frame 35mm sensor and 1080P video. While the 5D Mark II was the first to really make waves, Canon’s new 7D made an even bigger impact. While its sensor is smaller than the 5D’s, it is still roughly the size of Super 35 film and similar in size to the RED camera’s sensor. More importantly though, it featured another important quality that was crucial to a camera’s acceptance as a digital cinema camera and that is the ability to shoot at 24 frames per second giving the video the motion that we are familiar with in motion pictures. This, along with the camera’s lower price of about $1600, has made it extremely popular.
Digital Camera
What makes and puts the Canon DSLRs in the same discussion as the RED ONE camera is that they both could be classified as digital cinema cameras. There are several attributes that I recognize to be important in classifying a camera as a digital cinema camera. (1.) Sensor Size
(2.) Frame Rate
(3.) High Resolution
With all of RED’s innovations, one of its most significant features that set the RED apart was that its large sensor matched the size of 35mm film and gave it a very cinematic look. Other digital cameras with large sensors were extremely expensive. Smaller sensor cameras can only emulate the large sensor look by using lens adapters which project the image onto a surface and record that image, but these suffer from generally being clunky, sometimes difficult to use, and they lose light and quality going through the extra optics. The RED ONE had a large sensor and was much more affordable than the other options. The Canon DSLRs provide large sensors and their prices are a small fraction of the cost of a RED ONE.
When talking about the “film look” one of the first things that comes to mind is 24P. In order to seriously be considered a cinematic camera it must shoot at the standard film rate or 24 frames per second. There are some tricks to get to 24P from other frame rates, but it should be an option on any camera that wants to be in this category. It was the inclusion of 24P that made the 7D more appealing as a cinema camera to me over the 5D Mark II. Fortunately, the 5D Mark II will be firmware upgradeable to have 24P.
Resolution also has a lot to do with being considered a cinema camera to me. These days it should be HD resolution or greater, 720P is acceptable, but 1080P is much better. The extra resolution helps when projecting on a large screen. The Canon DSLRs shoot at up to 1080P. The RED shoots significantly higher resolution at up to 4.5K.
the RED camera was announced a few years ago, they claimed that it would be the camera that anyone could afford. And while they delivered an amazing camera for an amazing price, it was still out of the price range of many people. It has, without a doubt, changed the industry and none more so than the independent film scene. But there was definitely a demand for an even more inexpensive camera with a large sensor. The Canon DSLRs deliver this. (1.) 1080P vs. 4K. While many projects shot on RED will ultimately end up at 1080P, 4K is over 4 times the resolution of 1080P. This can seem like overkill when the final output is 1080P. However, there are several advantages to the greater resolution especially when doing compositing, and the resolution gives greater flexibility in post because the extra resolution can allow for pushing in on the image in post.
(2.) Line Skipping. This is to some people the greatest limitation with the Canon DSLRs. In order to produce a 1080 image from the sensor, instead of capturing an 18 megapixel image, and then, downconverting, they opt to skip lines instead. This form of down-resing has the advantage of reducing the amount of processing significantly, but can cause serious aliasing issues compared to other cameras. Most subjects will look fine, but there can be very bad aliasing and moiré issues especially on highly detailed patterns.
(3.) No Raw in Video Mode. RAW is great, and to me, one of the greatest things about the RED ONE. RAW gives me the ability to have a specific look on set, while maintaining a clean image that allows for more flexibility in color correction in post. I can push a RAW image much further than I can ordinary footage. While not a deal breaker for some, it is something significant that the RED does that the Canon DSLRs don’t.
(4.) No Timecode Input. Along with the other Audio issues, not having Timecode input means more tedious workarounds when working with Audio on the Canon DSLRs.
(5.) Bad Audio Inputs. With AGC, unbalanced inputs, no phantom power, no time code, etc., the Canon DSLRs are very weak in terms of their audio capabilities.
(6.) Inferior Monitoring Options.
The Canon offer standard definition output and HDMI outputs for HD. Most professional cameras offer HD-SDI outputs, which use BNC connectors which are more field ready connectors.
The cable is lighter and can run longer distances as well.
(7.) No PL Mount. Aside from a couple modified camera bodies, there are no PL mounts on the Canon DSLRs. The primary standard for 35mm lenses, (non-Panavision) is the Arri PL mount. The RED comes with this as the default mount, and that makes the camera capable of using most of the cinema lenses that the rental houses carry. While the Canon DSLRs can use still glass, lenses are generally much more suited for motion picture work than still lenses. They generally have a consistent F or T stop throughout the zoom range. The focus barrel generally must rotate much more from close focus to infinity for more precise control, whereas still lenses generally want to be able to focus quickly rather than smoothly. Cinema lenses are also less likely to breathe as much, meaning that the image will be less likely to change size significantly due to changing the focus. Cinema lenses also generally don’t have hard stops for the iris, unlike still lenses. This means that you can smoothly rack the iris during a shot if necessary. Cinema lenses are also generally fast lenses, meaning they don’t require as much light. Since most films are shot with a 180 degree shutter or 1/48th of a second shutter, they need a fair amount of light so cinema lenses are usually designed to be among the fastest lenses out there. While still lenses can work fine for some projects and can deliver great images, having the ability to rent or buy any of the standard cinema lenses that the DPs are used to is very helpful especially on larger projects.
(8.) More Skewing. Skew is a currently a problem with all CMOS-based image sensors, which are the sensors that are becoming the standard on cameras. There are two major problems with skew. The first is when the camera is panned quickly, upright vertical lines will become slanted due to the way the image sensor is refreshed. There is a time delay from the top to bottom of the sensor, and this delay causes artifacting including slanted lines. The other problem has to do with short-lived bursts of light such as flashes and strobes which often times only expose part of the image, such as the top third. It can look strange and can be very obvious. I’ve tested the RED ONE and the Sony EX1 cameras and found their skew to be similar, whereas the 7D that I tested had much bigger problems with skew. It’s not necessarily unusable, but definitely worth being aware of.
(9.) 12-Minute Record Times. As is stands right now, the Canon DSLRs can only record for roughly 12 minutes continuously before stopping. This has to do with a 4 gig file size limitation for each clip. They can be restarted immediately, but this limitation can cause problems in some situations.
(10.) Inferior Shutter Options.
Currently, the Canon DSLRs’ shutter speeds leave something to be desired. We generally shoot at 1/48th of a second shutter speed when shooting 24P. This is a familiar look, and it also gives us the advantage of reducing the flicker potential of some lights such as magnetic ballast HMIs fluorescent lights. With the RED, we have a great deal of control over the shutter speeds to achieve specific looks as well as sync to different sources. The Canon DSLRs currently give shutter adjustments for 24P video in much larger increments including 1/30th, 1/40th, 1/50th, 1/60th, etc. Once again, not necessarily a deal breaker, but it is still a little annoying, and we would expect more from a true digital cinema camera.
(11.) Inferior Frame Rate Options. The Canon DSLRs can record at 24P, 25P, and 30P at 1080P resolution and 50P or 60P for 720P. The RED can shoot from time-lapse speeds up to 120fps in 2K in 1 frame increments.
(12.) Inferior Form Factor. The Canon DSLRs are traditional SLR form factor, which is great for still shooting, but in my opinion, is not a good form factor for shooting video. hand-holding these cameras, they tend to be too short and pivot in the hands in a way to pitch forward and backwards easily.
They do much better when mounted to a set of rails with hand grips.
(13.) More Audio Issues. With no headphone output, no audio meters (besides AGC would make meters pointless), no phantom power and no professional audio inputs, the Canon DSLRs are very crippled for any professional on board audio recording.
(14.) No Live Histogram. The histogram is very important to getting proper exposure.
What Is Better About Canon
(1.) Price. The price of these cameras opens up a whole new market of people to large sensor digital video. Students and hobbyists can afford these cameras that can create very cinematic images.
(2.) 5D Mark II Has Larger Sensor. The 5D’s full frame sensor is even larger than the RED’s sensor. Sensor sizes are growing, RED’s future Monstro sensors will be full frame and some will even be medium format sizes.
(3.) Smaller. The size of these cameras allows them to mount on smaller tripods and other support gear which can also save a lot of money.
(4.) Lighter. It’s much easier to carry one of these cameras with you than a RED.
(5.) Low Light Performance.
The Canon DSLRs can shoot at surprisingly high ISOs with an acceptable image, however, RED’s new Mysterium X sensors are also very low noise.
(6.) More Traditional SLR Format for Still Photography. Most people will still shoot still photos with these cameras, and they are great at that.
(7.) Boots Faster. The long boot times of the RED can be annoying when swapping batteries or trying to grab a quick impromptu shot. The Canon DSLRs boot almost instantly. Fortunately, so do RED’s next generation cameras.
Making Your Canon DSLR into a Cinema Camera
While the base price of a 5D Mark II is about $2500, the 7D about $1600, and the 550D will be about $800, turning one of these cameras into a more usable cinema camera can add significant costs to the setup. You can easily spend more money on the accessories than you did on the camera.
If you want to turn your DSLR into a cinema camera, you’ll probably want the following accessories.
(1.) Rod System (2.) Follow Focus (3.) Hand Grips (4.) Monitor (5.) Shoulder Pad (6.) Audio Mixer (7.) Magic Lantern (Firmware)
Magic Lantern Firmware
magiclantern.wikia.com
Magic Lantern is a firmware that can be loaded onto the Canon 5D Mark II, and work is being done to make a version that works with the 7D as well. It is not a Canon product and was designed my Trammell Hudson to solve many of the problems people were having with the Canon 5D Mark II when using the camera as a cinema camera. Many of the features have to do with the audio side of the camera. Magic Lantern allows you to disable the AGC. It also provides audio meters in the viewfinder, and it provides a headphone output via the AV jacks. On the video side of things, it includes features such as a histogram, zebras, and custom crop marks.
The Future of 7D, Magic Lantern, and 5D Mark II with 24P
As of the writing of this article, the 5D Mark II does not do 24P. There will be an update shortly that will enable this frame rate. Also, as of now, Magic Lantern does not work on the 7D. So until the 5D Mark II firmware update comes out, or Magic Lantern for the 7D is released, neither camera is ideal as a digital cinema camera.
Problems with Audio on the Canon DSLRs
The Canon DSLR cameras have built-in microphones and headphone-style stereo input jack, however, there are no audio meters, and there are no audio level adjustment and no headphone jacks for monitoring audio. They employ AGC or Automatic Gain Control where the camera automatically adjusts the volume. The problem is that when there is silence, the AGC cranks the volume which boosts the noise. When someone talks again it drops down again. The constant adjustment of volume causes an inconsistent background noise and awkward volume adjustment during speaking. Unfortunately, you can’t turn AGC off in the camera, so even with a good field mixer hooked up, AGC will be negatively affecting the audio entering the camera. The camera also does not have timecode in or out, and is unable to sync with a secondary audio system. Traditional slating techniques can be used, but manually syncing every clip in post can be annoying. There are plugins that look at the audio waveforms from the onboard audio and sync to a secondary audio though that can help automate the process. Even if the cameras did not have AGC, they still lack professional audio inputs and quality pre-amps. So, it is likely that for professional quality audio, you will need to use a secondary audio solution and deal with syncing audio in post.
The new Canon DLSRs have large sensors, 24P video and use 35mm lenses. They can create beautiful, cinematic images in the right hands. And, yes, they can be used to shoot feature films. In a sense they are the poor man’s RED, but they are not a replacement for the RED cameras by any stretch of the imagination. The RED ONE camera was designed as a digital cinema camera, the Canon DSLRs were not. Canon wanted to give photo journalists the ability to shoot some video with their still cameras which is why they lack many of the features we would expect from a cinema camera. The RED is a professional cinema camera with all the options I’d expect from a professional camera including professional audio options, timecode, professional video outputs, and a cinema lens mount. To me, what makes the RED the RED is not only its sensor size, but the RAW capability, quality codec, flexibility, resolution and professional features. These SLRs will put large sensor video recording into a lot more hands, and that is great. But they are a far stretch from a RED camera in functionality and image quality as a digital cinema camera. Jon Firestone is co-owner of Asgard Entertainment and works as a freelance cinematographer visual effects supervisor. He is currently in post production on the action/fantasy film, Gathering of Heroes, which he Co-Directed. He was one of the first 150 RED camera owners and has been working with the camera both in the field and in post production for over two years. He is an avid early adopter of technology and enjoys developing workflows. He also developed and taught the 3D animation program at the Colorado Film School.
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