Thanks - I now feel like a trainspotter cross referencing all those shots to lenses.

Oh the joy of primes! The 50mm 1.8 did well, but definitely want the 50mm f1.4. That'll do, as they say. That'll do. Scratch that, I want the 85mm and that macro too...

But wait a minute - the best is last. The Canon /Kiss/ X4?

550D - very teutonic. Can't go wrong with that. Everyone happy. Rebel - mm'kay, T2i doesn't exactly trip of tounge and sounds like Tatooine's neighbor. But there is a region where this li'l puppy is called a Kiss X4?

They've always been the "Kiss" series in Japan, for quite awhile now. How sweet! Heh.

xxxx

DAMN!
I was looking at the 7D as well but this makes it a no brainer for my entry into the DSLR game. The fact it uses the same cards as my HMC-150 eases the strain too. I already have 144 gig of SDHC cards I could split between them!

NOW...my question since I know nothing about the variety of lenses out there (other than it's overwhelming) What would be a decent "bang for the buck" lens for the DOF effect, and what would be a good zoom lens for doing some distant shooting?

Yeah, I bet big, local (to some people) camera stores who also sell online like B&H get them pretty quickly. Faster than my local camera shop for sure. Oh, and they are sponsors too. The real contest is to see who can post the pictures of unpacking theirs so that Chris can put it as the first sticky in his brand new listing of EOS 550/T2i under "Canon HDV, AVCHD & EOS Camera Systems".

Canon usually ships to both online and local vendors at the same time. B&H will probably get several times as many units as a local store, though.

Well, I will just have to go for the Snog instead of the 7D now. My life would be incomplete without the 85mm and the 50 1.4. I survived on 135, 50 and 24 Nikkors for almost a decade (ohhh - going all misty-eyed), so the 85mm will be the talking heads lens and the 50 will get the 'doing stuff' shots... Got my adaptors on order for the Nikkor 11 and 17-55 2.8, so all set.

Right! (rubs hands)

Come on Canon, where's my camera?!

That will happen as we get close to the actual ship date. I still need to fire up the new Sony NXCAM forum first...

Don't think they'll be shipping until early March. I do know there are test models out there, as youtube has a few sample clips to view (most of which aren't that great...can't wait for Bloom and Laforet to get their hands on one and give it a go). I've heard the vid specs are quite similar to the 7D. I'm interested to see how it handles low light, rolling shutter, etc. with both the L-glass and the cheaper lenses.

I was ready to buy my 7D, lenses, support, etc. Now I'm left wondering if it'd better serve me to save that extra $800 by going with the 550D... Is it roughly the same size as the 7D--enough so that the support, VF, etc. will fit without having to buy a bunch of extra plates and stuff? And with single processing versus the 7D's dual processing, how will that affect my video?

It's very exciting to see new stuff come out. A little more complicated for new buyers, but exciting nonetheless.

Ahhhh nice shallow DOF!!! Sharpness, color and indoor low light look great. I'm sold!

Philip Bloom is at it again. This one is even funnier than the 7D Downfall video:

Mr Hitler is really not happy about the new Canon 550D/ Rebel T2i

It has a great ending.

Phil claims it'll be his last one... which should be a relief to Bruno Ganz.

Does that mean Phil thinks we've seen the end of innovation?!!

I think it means he finally realizes just how played out all of those numerous "Downfall"
parodies are -- there are scores of 'em on YouTube (well over 100), and I think their
day is pretty much done. Phil's versions always had the best dialog, though.

It's been almost like a variation of Godwin's Law. New technology comes out,
somebody does a "Downfall" parody. Not knocking Phil because his were funny,
but the saturation level was exceeded quite awhile back.

Yes, it has been discussed many times and you are still wrong. For any storage device that has been formatted with FAT32, the maximum possible file size is 4 GB minus 1 byte (232−1 bytes). That is a fact.

I imagine the reason that Canon and Nikon don't employ the more modern NTFS file system is because even though it would allow for larger file sizes, it adds an additional layer of compression to the data. This extra layer of compression probably wouldn't degrade the image quality but it would definitely overload the processor in HD mode.

Canon is a manufacturer of electronic devices for a worldwide market. They do not globally "hobble" devices to circumvent the import duties of a small portion of their market.

What's strange to me is that the same FAT32 rules apply to their solid state consumer cameras, but they are able to deal with it by "chunking" the data. For example, on my HF100 no individual file is larger than 4GB, but the camera can create many of these files without dropping any frames while recording for long periods of time.

Why not do the same thing on their DSLRs? Why am I forced to push the record button every 12 minutes?

The 29:59 limit in SD mode is not due to the 4GB limit.

Because your HF100 is a camcorder and is defined as such.

D-SLRs are not defined as camcorders, they are still-photo cameras. That is the distinction, and that is the reason why they are hobbled with 30 min. video recording, to prevent classification as a camcorder and therefore taxed higher (in the EU, but affects all cameras worldwide as there is only one model worldwide, and not a separate model for the EU). In other words, the limitation is there to keep the price down.

Guys, we're not going to debate the reason why the file size limitation is there, because that debate is not going to change anything... the fact is that the 4GB limitation exists, and yes it will be present even when recording to SDXC cards. For what it's worth, I've been told by more than one person at Canon USA that the reason is due mainly to the EU restrictions. Let's stop arguing about it please. Arguing about it doesn't change the fact that it's there.

For all we know it could even be some Canon internal agreement enforced between the still camera division & camcorder division so that the former doesn't steal customers of the latter.

Canon has completely re-organized last year and those previously separate divisions have since merged together. Within Canon USA, high-end camcorders such as the forthcoming tapeless replacement to the XH series plus all existing HDV models, together with the entire still photography EOS Digital SLR line and the imagePROGRAF large format printers are now all under the auspices of PPMD (Professional Products Marketing Division). Blame it on convergence, but those product lines are not competing with each other.

The original parody about the D3x was the best:

YouTube - Hitler rants about D3x

Some of the subtitles even matched what Hitler was saying. All of the other camera/Downfall parodies were probably derived from this original one since they seem to follow the same basic script.

As for the T2i, looks like a nice camera. I've been waiting for something like this at this price point. I'm most likely getting this one!

30 minutes sounds pretty good to me! is there any reason people dont think we'll see an increase in recording limit with the new cards?

(sorry chris i know you said you dont want to discuss it but i think its kind of a big potential selling point, for me at least - but i agree theres no need to argue about it!)

edited post.

That sounds like a Canon USA (marketing) re-org. The structure in Japan might be different.

So being a complete newbie to the DSLR front... The 4 gig limit that we are talking about literally means that you have to hit record every 12 min or so???? I had assumed that it just recorded continuously but no file was larger than 4 g's. ( A whole bunch of 4 gig that you later stitch back together.)

how the heck does anyone shoot a whole ceremony with one of these!?
ha! :o)
I guess it will still be amazing for the cutaways, B-roll, etc but I probably wont be tossing out my XHA1s anytime soon...
I had hoped I could mount a few around the church inconspicuously, hit record, and then let'em roll... all the while roving with a 5th 550D getting the creatives....
32 gig card at 4 gig per 12 min = 96 min... That's plenty for the ceremonys I shoot.
What are others doing for this then? manning all cams? running them in intervals?
Very excited to see how this plays out for my wedding business....
:o)

Darrick,

That's a better question to post in the Weddings forum.

Personally I use the dslr for b-roll at weddings, though there are a few that use only dslr.

Dslr are just another tool in the box. There are certainly situations where the traditional camera is still superior, though I find myself more and more reaching for the 5d2 instead of the XLh1.

Canon USA is Canon Inc.'s biggest customer. As far as the US market is concerned, the pro video and D-SLR product lines are managed by the same team of tech reps and sales managers. In other words, they don't compete against each other -- they're all under the same roof.

My point is that R&D, engineering, and product planning could be organized very differently, and those are the groups that most influence the technology and products that we enjoy. Personally, I have yet to work in a company in which marketing drives products. They're usually focused on selling what they've got rather than envisioning what we could have in the future.

Among most major corporations including all of the major camcorder manufacturers (not just Canon), marketing drives products. Marketing determines what the product will be. They are the product planning division, and it is very much a customer-driven approach.

Don't forget that these cameras can overheat. A colleague has switched to DSLR from HVX (lucky he didn't sell it!). Leave them on, shoot lots, and the li'l red thermometer starts flashing, and if you don't do anything about that, the camera will. It shuts down. The end. No switch back on until IT is ready, not you.

Luminaries such as Dan Chung and Philip Bloom mention it in passing, but that immediately will discount DSLRs from some shoots - half way through speeches?

Got a spare body for that moment? Not even that would really work.

Remember, Philip Bloom shoots only 15% of his work on DSLR. For videographers, it's an additional, special effects, crashcam, arty GV, sneaky stolen shot, night-time camera. It gives good 'interview' too. But long form? I'm glad I've got two EX1s for that.

Over-heating is a concern - though with the price of the Rebel, buy two bodies and switch them through the day to keep them from overheating!

I agree though, there's a lot of stuff that I wouldn't use a DSLR for.

That's not entirely true. My 7Ds do not overheat all the time. I've shot an hour long ceremony with 3 7Ds running and not one had the red light indicator come on. Same with the 3 hour long reception.

Now have my cameras overheated? Yup. 3 out of the 4 times it was in 30P. I shoot in 24p so it's not as much as an issue to myself.

These cameras are great for weddings. Sure there is a file limit, but work around it. Stagger your recording times. Set up a wide safe cam. Use external audio. It's not a big deal. ;)

I haven't got a chance to read the previous pages but if the t2i has a longER recording time at 30 mins, definitely will pick one up.

Where do you get that number from? Maybe his corporate gigs, but I guarantee he is shooting most of his personal stuff on DSLR's, every time I have seen him in person, he has had a DSLR cam, not an ex1, etc...

The number comes from a couple of recent podcasts he's done with Chris Jones (Living Spirit Films).

And for some of us here, shooting corporate gigs is what we do for a living.

The point I'm making is that DSLRs are not the best solution for every shoot, and have disadvantages (like overheating, shot length limits, audio, yada yada yada) that mean that enthusiasm to ditch one's A1 or EX1 or whatever and forever bathe in the glory of DSLR video should be tempered with a little understanding that these are not exactly perfect and have gotchas.

Of course Phil will carry a DSLR more often than an EX1. So will I. And I'll use it on my corporate gigs for the special effects it's good at. Just not recording long-form stuff, chromakey stuff, video-look stuff, quite a lot of run and gun stuff, and so on. It's not an 'All or Nothing' thing, and just because they're NOT used on corporate gigs as much as some would think doesn't mean they can't be used or should be used.

Most of Philip's work doesn't go onto his site for corporate reasons. But from what I've seen, they are beautifully told stories and the fact that some don't use DSLRs does not detract from them. We see a lot of his DLSR stuff as that's the stuff he does between the actual money-earning stuff.

I just did a corporate gig for my employer with the 5D2 that included green screen stuff, and the keying was no problem at all. I shot it all with a shoulder rig, mostly with the 24-105/4 IS.

This particular video was a product demo/lifestyle example. I used AE for motion tracking a fake user interface on various screens. By keeping the aperture at roughly f/4, the DOF was reasonable - not hard to deal with, but with some softness on backgrounds. On one shot I used the 50/1.4 and an ND to direct the eye with a rack focus. I rented a four light kit, so lumens were no problem.

While a DvSLR would not be the weapon of choice for recording live speeches and presentations, it's perfect for promo stuff, HR training films, and product demo/lifestyle stuff. Just make sure you have enough light to stop things down a bit. Artistic, razor-thin DOF isn't generally appreciated in the corporate world.

You use two. At this price its a no brainer. Cam 1 shoots the first full 10 or 11 minutes, while cam 2 is b cam, and takes infills of the congregation/close ups etc. Switch to cam 2 on B & G for the next long shot, And cam 1 becomes B cam. Sync them up with Plural Eyes. Simple.
(Sorry, I know it should be in The Weddings forum)

Can someone please clarify something for me. I've had the Panasonic GH1 in my sights for some time but debating whether I could justify the cost. Now this T2i comes out, and I'm excited about the lower cost and larger sensor but also reading about 4GB file sizes and limits in recording time due to taxes, etc.

From what I've read the GH1 has no limit on record time other than the card size. Is this true?

Also, why would the 4GB limit be present when recording to SDXC cards when they don't use FAT32 but, rather, exFAT?

The GH1 doesn't have a limit.

Does the t2i finally have manual audio levels for the stereo inputs?.. this is the only thing stopping me from ordering a half dozen of these things!

'The GH1 doesn't have a limit.'

(if its non EU version)

No. It does *not* have manual audio level control.