The Monuments of Washington, DC (Canon 5D MK II)
 

***UPDATE*** Had some time to color correct the footage today. Check it out at SmugMug: http://tinyurl.com/6hck6z

The Monuments of Washington, DC (Canon 5D MK II) on Vimeo

So I gave myself a little challenge today...

1 Canon 5D MK II
1 EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM
1 2GB CF Card (4 minutes of footage)
1 Battery
1 Monopod
1.5 hours to shoot (or else my truck would get towed)

Lets just say it was harder than I thought!

This is a very rough cut that I threw together in an hour... There was no color correction or any adjustments made to the footage (although there are a few shots that could use it). It is all RAW from the camera, converted to ProRes, and compressed back out to H.264 for Vimeo. You can download the full 1920X1080P footage if you are a registered user of Vimeo. Just scroll down and you will see the link...

Thanks to MaestroRage for creating the audio. I know it's a little bit much but I wanted to have fun with it audiojungle.net/item/forces-united/21238

Thanks to Canon for letting me test out the 5D MK II for a week. It is going to be amazing for photojournalists that want to shoot video as well. It will not be beneficial for cinematographers who need 24P, manual ISO/Aperture/Shutter. With that said, artists will always find a way to create art. This is just a tool and nothing more than that. Amazing things are going to happen with this camera as more creative minds get their hands on it!

You must have run from place to place to shoot all those icons in an hour and a half!

I learned two things: 1) a monopod is not adequate for video (though the quick setup time would be nice), and 2) with fast cuts of statues to aggressive music, the edit needs aggressive motion. Ideas that come to mind are fast zooms and moving wide stills like Ken Burns on coke. :) Frame skipping for fast motion could work too.

With acoustic guitar music and long cuts, moving clouds and blowing leaves would be all the motion needed.

I'll be curious to see what you can do with a longer parking validation. :)

Tyler, did you use Image stabilization?

Yup, IS was on but I only had a monopod so that's why it's a little shaky. It was part of my challenge. I could only use equipment that we would have in Iraq. This video is being used to persuade the Pentagon and DoD VI of the possibilities of this camera. Since Combat Camera is dual capable (photo and video) this camera is perfect for our mission.

I would think that a great demo would be to use a 50mm lens followed by a 300mm+ lens to show the ability to get up close in low light. (You'd want a tripod though for stability.)

Hey, maybe you didn't have to run around DC. With a long enough lens, you could shoot all those locations from one position. ;)

Yeah, Canon only gave me one lens to try out with the camera so I was happy with what I got but a 300mm would definitely have been nice :) I posted a color corrected version to SmugMug: tylerginter : photos : Canon 5D MK II- powered by SmugMug Looks a little better...