7d frame rates versus 5dII
 

When the 7d was announced, I thought I read (or perhaps I just assumed) that the 29.97 framerate option was being offered in addition to the true (or is that false) 30p framerate used in the 5dmarkII. As I read the specs today, that appears to not be the case. Or am I wrong?

We occasionally shoot multi-camera music and dance events, and music videos (shot to playback) and I was hoping to add a 7d as a second camera alongside my 5d. But it appears to me that it would be impossible to sync these two cameras.

Please....tell me I'm mistaken.

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"Brilliant planning, Mr. Canon."
"et, tu" Mr. Nikon

The 7D only has 29.97. The 5D only has 30.00.

It is not impossible to sync the two cameras, however. I used a Canon T1i, which records 720p30.00 - and synced it with some 1080p29.97 footage from a Canon HG20. In Sony Vegas, you just undersample the 30.00 video as 29.97 in the properties menu.

You're mistaken (about the 30p). They never said it was going to support 30 and 29.97. They have often described it as 30fps, and then added in the specs/small print etc that it's actually 29.97. Same for the 60fps (which is 59.94.)

I gather than even the 24fps isn't actually 24fps!

The 24fps is not 24.000 fps, no. It's 23.976, which is what every video camera records 24p as. 24.000 is not encountered very often in the video world.

What's confusing is that, for the most part, 24fps has ALWAYS meant 23.976fps, 30fps has ALWAYS meant 29.97fps... at least, as far as video in NTSC land has been concerned.

The Canon 5d II, by coming out with an "exactly" 30fps threw EVERYONE for a loop... because it was so off-spec. Other than the Canon 5D II (and some other dslrs in Canon's line, like the T1i) 30p always meant 29.97fps. It meant 29.97fps when they put it in the HV30, it meant 29.97fps when they put it in the HF10, etc.

Keep in mind that the reason for 30fps is to have progressive images (like 24p) that play back on TVs designed for 60i without weird conversions. That's 30p's big selling point.

You have the history and the pedigree wrong. Firstly, the T1i came after the 5D II; there was no movie mode in any Canon DSLR prior to the 5D II.

Secondly, look at the movie mode in any other Canon digital camera: it was 30fps in the PowerShot G10, it was 30 fps in the PowerShot S5 IS. It wasn't really a shock it was 30fps in the 5D II.

one of the nice things about the 7D is it shoots 25p, not 24.98888p (hehehe) but real 25p.
And that converts to 60i for broadcast just as easy as 24p.