Why not wait and see if the GH2 arrives in the next weeks (Photokina or IBC?)

You can't tell. I considered myself wanting to join the party late in July. There're still people getting the 1.2 firmware from B&H at that time. When I got mine in mid July from Amazon, it comes with the 1.3 firmware.

I wanted to like unhacked GH1. But the low bitrate, clunky operation, and extremely bad footage in low light turns me off. Then I bought T2i. Love it!

Just to elaborate... I've shot with a HVX on P2 & Firestore, EX1, & Sony Z7U (tape / CF), all of these format cards in Fat32 which run into the 2GB file size limit. But all of the cameras just start recording a new file w/o missing a beat.

If you have a good NLE system & all the plug-ins, then when you bring the video in the files get stitched back together seamlessly. I use FCP w/ all these formats & it is better than capturing from tape, IMHO.


I like my Z7, but partly b/c the 12min record, the audio, the... etc. etc. I use it as a limited tool & don't view it as a real video camera. The 7D is a video camera like a SUV is a home entertainment system. First & foremost the 7D is a still camera, first & foremost a SUV is a vehicle. Can they do more? Sure thing boss, but they have their limitations, and depending on what your needs are, there are other options out there.

The right tool for the right job.

it looks like i'm going to do just that now.. can't take the risk of getting an unhackable GH1 :(

Hi Taky,

I'm not familiar with the T2i or the 550d as I believe its called here. How does this compare to the 7d and 5dii? Is it the same size sensor as the 7D?

I'd never considered this one in the past but a friend of mine is buying one shortly so I'll have the opportunity to try it out first which interests me.

Thanks

Hi David.
I have a 550D, its every bit as good as the 7D, yes, same size sensor.The 7D is of course a much better camera. Its build quality is far superior to a 550D, exceptional weather sealing , clean, in betweem ISOs etc etc. It also costs twice as much. The under development Magic Lantern firmware for the 550D will give you.
Audio meters
AGC over ride
Manual audio adjustment
Zebra
Histogram
You will not get these features with the 7D.
These cameras, and dedicated video cameras are going to move on in leaps and bounds over the next year or so. In buying a 550D you will be saving money, and still have an extremely usefull tool in your kit bag.
I shot a gig last week, used the EX1 as A cam and roamed the stage with the 550D, amazingly good match, mind you with stage lighting you get away with a lot.
Niether camera will dissapoint, but one of them will save you a lot of cash.
Hope this helps.
Colin

I tested T2i video quality against 7D. There is not visual difference. 7D has some superior features over T2i as in photo mode. Since I mainly need the camera for video, I go with T2i.. and bought 3 of them.

Thanks guys. The only thing is I play on using it for a split of photography and video. Is there magic lantern in the pipeline for the 7d?

in the UK yax goes up at christmas so i have to get my camera soon! were there any announcements at those exhibition that would be worth considering over a hackable gh1? I'd particularly like something with a full frame sensor

At present, the Canon 5F Mark IV is the only full frame sensor HDSLR.

A little bit of searching will show you that Panasonic announced the GH2 at Photokina that addresses many of the issues with the GH1 discussed here and in other threads (including bitrate) and were the reason the GH1 was being hacked.

There were additional new models from Sony which also are not limited to 12 minutes of recording as the Canon's are. A listing at B&H will show you the models that are expected to ship over the next few months.

thanks Les, I will certainly look into the GH2 and sonys.

At present the full frame element does interest me so does anyone know if there is/will be a magic lantern hack for the 5d that will allow it to do everything you can currently do with the hacked 7d?

@David Payne - I think maybe you mis-typed. Currently Magic Lantern is only available for the 5D (with the 550D / T2i in progress.) ML development for the 7D seems to be on permanent hold. As it stands, the Canon firmware update for the 5D enables just about all of the features that ML originally made available - minus the histogram.

thanks Jeremy that clears it up.

The reason for the confusion was that I was talking about getting a 7D and someone recommended a 550d because of the magic lantern in development (I got confused and thought he's recommended a 7d over a 550d but obviously not)

Thanks again

FAT file systems support 4GB files
 

The limit is because the FAT file system on the memory cards support files up to 4GB. And 12 minutes of HD video makes about this 4GB ... thats why.

the FAT file system is at best coloration & not causation.

if FAT file size was really the limitation to the record time then P2, SxS, AVCHD, & the MRC-1 would all have record limits. yet all of these can record until you run out of media because as soon as the file gets too big it just starts a new file seamlessly w/o missing a single frame.