The National Association of Broadcasters convention is in Las Vegas this week. Among the satellite uplink trucks, camera booms, signal switchers and green screen backgrounds, I noticed a guerilla movement of sorts. There were several companies selling video rigs based around the Canon 5D mark 2.
Most of the Canon rigs were designed for run-and-gun, on location sort of news gathering, but some were designed for set pieces where the camera would be on a tripod rather than a steadicam. In the world of broadcast TV, where a video camera lens costs $150,000, the 5D can be purchased with the loose change found under the cushions of the couch in the station manager's office.
The 5D is gaining more credibility all the time. For example, the final episode of the popular TV series "House" was shot in 1080p using the 5D exclusively. Read one article about it here:
http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/13/canon-5d-mark-ii-used-to-shoot-entire-house-season-finale-direc/
And here's a comment from Jonas Pate, producer and director for "Caprica," the prequel to the "Battlestar Galactica" series. (Ever wonder where the Cylons came from?) The first season of the series was shown recently on the SciFi channel.
"We used the 5D a lot in the production of the first season. I became curious about the camera from a friend, and began to use it to shoot inserts, little things really, that would save us time because the camera is so light and facile. But the more I shot, the more I really loved the depth of field and the vibrancy of its images, so that by the end of the season, I was shooting entire sequences of the show with the camera. Go check out the show on Hulu; you'll never be able to tell what we shot with it and what we didn't. The camera's just stupendous."
So Canon is in the unfortunate position of inventing the technology that may make its high-end video gear obsolete. It's being replaced by Canon's pro still camera.
The word is: Downsize.
Most of the Canon rigs were designed for run-and-gun, on location sort of news gathering, but some were designed for set pieces where the camera would be on a tripod rather than a steadicam. In the world of broadcast TV, where a video camera lens costs $150,000, the 5D can be purchased with the loose change found under the cushions of the couch in the station manager's office.
The 5D is gaining more credibility all the time. For example, the final episode of the popular TV series "House" was shot in 1080p using the 5D exclusively. Read one article about it here:
http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/13/canon-5d-mark-ii-used-to-shoot-entire-house-season-finale-direc/
And here's a comment from Jonas Pate, producer and director for "Caprica," the prequel to the "Battlestar Galactica" series. (Ever wonder where the Cylons came from?) The first season of the series was shown recently on the SciFi channel.
"We used the 5D a lot in the production of the first season. I became curious about the camera from a friend, and began to use it to shoot inserts, little things really, that would save us time because the camera is so light and facile. But the more I shot, the more I really loved the depth of field and the vibrancy of its images, so that by the end of the season, I was shooting entire sequences of the show with the camera. Go check out the show on Hulu; you'll never be able to tell what we shot with it and what we didn't. The camera's just stupendous."
So Canon is in the unfortunate position of inventing the technology that may make its high-end video gear obsolete. It's being replaced by Canon's pro still camera.
The word is: Downsize.
