I need a camcorder that is equal in picture quality and DOF capabilities as the Canon 5D MKII for video, Is the NEX-EA50 with a 18-200mm lens the right camera to fill that order? I love my 5D but for fast moving action shots I need the live automated focus of a camcorder.

Thanks much

It will do the job you're looking for - yes.

I need a camcorder that is equal in picture quality and DOF capabilities as the Canon 5D MKII for video, Is the NEX-EA50 with a 18-200mm lens the right camera to fill that order? I love my 5D but for fast moving action shots I need the live automated focus of a camcorder.

Thanks much

Not sure exactly what you mean by DOF capabilities, but if you mean you want to blur backgrounds you need to keep in mind its a slightly smaller sensor and the kit lens is a fairly slow so you would end up with a bit more DOF (Smaller sensor means you will be using wider lenses or backing up both will give more/deeper DOF)

Having said that I much prefer this imager size over my (now sold) D800... still plenty easy to blur the background to make subject pop, and I feel its leaps and bounds easier to use than a DSLR for video

The EA50 is an APS-C sensor size, which is 23.5mm. The canon 5D is a full frame 35mm sensor. Larger sensor allows for narrower depth of field. HOWEVER, one thing that might brighten your day is that APS-C sensor size is almost exactly the same as standard Super 35 movie film (about 24.5mm), so if you're going for a traditional cinematic feel, APS-C will get you there.

But there are other things that contribute to DoF. First, the aperture size has a large impact on narrowing DoF. The larger the aperture, the narrower the DoF. Even with a Canon 5D, if you've stopped it way up to a narrow aperture (for outside shooting), you're not going to get any DoF separation. The stock lens with the EA50 doesn't go very big, it's biggest f-stop is f/3.5, and only when all the way zoomed out. If you're really going to be gunning for super narrow DoF, you'll want to spring for a prime lens with a wider aperture. There are a couple 1.4 and 1.8 E-mount lenses out there. Sigma makes a few 2.8 lenses, which aren't substantially larger than the kit lens, but they're much faster (another bonus), and optically very good (and quite cheap!)

Finally, there's the old "stand back and zoom in" trick. To increase the perceptual DoF narrowness, stand back from the subject and zoom in, and the out-of-focus background will become much larger, and thus the blurriness will as well. This does change the geometry of your shot, make it difficult for off-tripod shooting and movement, and cause the zoom lens to stop down a bit (aperture has to close down to make room for the zoom), however, in many circumstances, one can set up a narrow DoF shot, if the situation allows. On the old standard 1/4" and 1/3" sensor-size video cameras, even this procedure didn't give you much DoF narrowness, but with an APS-C sensor size, even with the stock lens, it'll work great... so at least you CAN!

I use the NEX VG20 professionally and it has the same sensor as EA50. I recommend purchasing 'body only' if you can, or selling the kit zoom (mine brought $750 on ebay) and using instead, a selection of prime FF lenses or fast zooms. I have several Carl Zeiss primes which I use with the Metabones 'Speedbooster' adapter. This optical device restores the original Full Frame field of view as well as increasing exposure by an additional stop.

Thanks so much Craig! Would it be your opinion that the EA50 is a good enoungh quality image for shooting national Broadcast Commercials?

Thanks for all the info guys! Here's the question, does the EA50 have a good enough quality image to shoot national broadcast commercials even though it does not have a full frame sensor like the 5D????

Thanks

"National Broadcast Commercials" is a pretty vague term. I've shot video that has shown up in Ford's national commercials (Octane Academy on ESPN) using the Sony NX5U, a small 3-chip at 720p/60. In the right conditions pretty much any camera would be able to pull off a National spot, imho. Case in point: GoPro uses GoPro footage for their spots, though nobody would ever recommend GoPro for such uses, in their case it works very well.

So, yes, if you know how to use it, the EA50 will be fine for national spots. However, it's possible your client may or may not agree. I would suggest also looking at the FS100 with an LEA2 adaptor if you're interested in cinema-style broadcast work and want to maintain auto-focus. Currently both the FS100 and FS700 are used very frequently for such stuff (well, nobody I knows uses auto focus with them, though it's certainly an option with the LEA2 and some A-Mount lenses.)

Oh, and today I would NEVER use a 5D Mk II for broadcast work. It has too many issues with its picture. The Mk III on the other hand would be just fine.

Craig, will the speedbooster adapter work with any EF lense or does it have to be one made for a full frame sensor? I am thinking about getting one to go with a Tokina 11-16 AT-X Pro.

Hi,

only full frame lenses are meant to work with the speed booster.
And also max. with f1,2 aperture, not more.

Erik, thanks for the reply. Is there an easy way to tell if a lense is meant for full frame sensors?

I love my 5D but for fast moving action shots I need the live automated focus of a camcorder.

Thanks much

Large sensor camera"s combined with autofocus lenzes only perform well enough if you have a deep dof and then still, even with a slight bit of shallower dof your camera doesn't know where to focus on which can result in unwanted focus shifts and eventhough there are some useful aids like touch focus, manual focus is the best way to go if you want to have a shallow dof and correct focus. Don't expect miracles from the stocklens if you plan to run in it automode.

does the EA50 have a good enough quality image to shoot national broadcast commercials even though it does not have a full frame sensor like the 5D????

a full frame sensor alone doesn't mean a camera will give you a superior image, if you want "good image quality" you are better off with a ex1 type of camera, resolutionwise it will put a 5d to shame.

Large sensor camera"s combined with autofocus lenzes only perform well enough if you have a deep dof and then still, even with a slight bit of shallower dof your camera doesn't know where to focus on which can result in unwanted focus shifts and eventhough there are some useful aids like touch focus, manual focus is the best way to go if you want to have a shallow dof and correct focus. Don't expect miracles from the stocklens if you plan to run in it automode.



a full frame sensor alone doesn't mean a camera will give you a superior image, if you want "good image quality" you are better off with a ex1 type of camera, resolutionwise it will put a 5d to shame.

Thanks Noa, The DOF would not be required for the fast action type shots, it would be needed for my Commercial type shots. The auto focus would be needed for the Mixed Martial Arts training footage that I shoot frequently, pro UFC fighters. Manual focus is next to impossible with the fast moving fighters changing distance and directions very quickly. Would love the EX1 but it is about $2500 out of my price range (Wont buy used;) Hope that clears up what Im looking for. Thanks

Danny,

You have to recognize the EA-50 for what it is. I consider it a $3,500.00 general utility camera. It is feature rich and does many things very well. That also means it is not exceptional at some things. As prices fall and technology improves the crying and screaming about what any camera will not do grows louder on every internet forum. Some pro-summer video guys want perfection and the whole world in their hands for any camera over a thousand bucks. It isn't guna happen! I bring that up because for $3,500.00 I consider the EA50 to be an incredible camera with great value for the cost.

The kit lens, power zoom, and AF are slow. And I am not talking about aperture. If you are looking for a high speed sports action camera to run in AF this is not it. It sounds like you’re looking for a video camera that you could point at a MMA fighter and let the AF run to solve all the issues of sports focusing. If you find that camera please let me know what it is. Not to mention that in MMA your going to have a chain link fence in front of you to mess with the best AF systems in the world. The dedicated cable shooters have a stool to shoot over the fence and they are still in MF. I believe it is safe for me to say almost none of the credentialed shooters at the floor level of the octagon are using AF.

The EA-50 is great video camera for its class. I suppose you could say it is like a 5 D with everything done to it that should be done to it to make a still camera like that into a video camera ;) ;) :)

Steve

Hi Danny

I agree with Steven too!! There is no way an EA-50 is going to keep up with fighters in a ring especially thru the mesh that stops them bursting out into the audience. Compared with my Panasonic HMC82's the AF is a LOT slower but still fine for weddings but I woulded use the AF for action stuff...Then again a 5D is totally manual!! You probably need a faster AF on a wide angle to catch the general action ...if you can get close enough and wide enough then the DOF becomes so large you actually don't need to focus ..Something like a 16mm lens at F2.8 and your DOF is 5' to infinity so as long as the fighters are further than 5' away they will be in focus (that's why you don't focus a GoPro!)

Use a second cam like the EA-50 in manual focus to get your tight shots ...you aren't going to use all of them so if you keep a second cam running all the time during a round you basically use the wide cam as a base and then add the tights shots and cut out the blurry bits when you lost focus.

Chris

I fail to see how focus is going to be THAT much of an issue with ring fighters. One of the advantages of having a APS-C sensor is that you have to work for your DoF. This means that if you need clean, in focus shots like sports, you're going to have more leeway. I would just set it to manual, set your focus to the middle of the ring, and forget it. You'll probably be far enough distance away that your DoF will be quite a few meters. Many auto-focus's will be fooled by the fence or cage, anyway. The facial recognition seems to be good enough on the EA-50 that I bet it would do a fairly good job compared to most. The AF's slow speed is only a problem when it's making large adjustments.

Where the EA-50 would probably fail would be on a race car circuit getting incredibly quick changes in distance.

Hi Eric

It's wouldn't be the wide shots that need attention..it would be the tight closeups ...stick a wide lens on the camera and yes, focus in the ring centre and provided the DOF is sufficient, everywhere the fighters go will be in focus. The standard procedure to to fix your wide camera so it covers the ring totally and use that as your main timeline (you could also just use a GoPro which is always in focus and would look cool shooting from a fairly high angle)
Then just do the close ups by hand ...you are only using them to add interest to to the action so the bits where you are "getting" focus can just be cut out and then do cut ins of the clean footage and overlay that on your wide footage.

Chris

I would just set it to manual, set your focus to the middle of the ring, and forget it.

If you would use a large f-stop, a wideangle lens that can't zoom then yes, that would be an option, but then you just as well could stick a go pro to the corner of ring. Even with the stocklens focus can be tricky and you notice right away if it's off, even for a slight bit. You might not notice in the viewfinder but you sure will on a big screen. A lot depends on where you stand, how close the fighters will be to you when they move around, how much light you have and if you use any zoom. All factors that will give out of focus shots, the autofocus is also too slow to follow any quick changes, it will get there eventually but by that time the fighters might have moved to another position. :)