So how does the math work on these cameras?

the 12mp Red sensor only needs about 8 mp for a 4K image. The 5DII apparently uses a full size 16:9 crop of a 21 mp sensor. That ~6 photosites per output pixel. Or perhaps they read alternate lines and it's ~3 photosites per output pixel.

Red has the future possibility of using all the phorosites for 2K, instead of a crop. This change could/should reduce noise.

I don't believe the lower noise DSLRs are using "classic" bayer algorithms anymore. I think when constructing a pixel the algorithms look at more surrounding sata to determine if a value is noisy.

You should see this: October 19, 2008 on Vimeo

Where's the PAL flicker some have mentioned??
 

In response to "You should see this: October 19, 2008 on Vimeo"

comment: That footage looks really beautiful!

question: This was filmed in the UK, and a few posters have mentioned that the 50hz lighting in PAL land would flicker when shot with 30P. I didn't see any of that in the praticals such as the street lights. I've never used NTSC in PAL land or vice versa so i really have no experience with light flickering.

So my question is where is the flicker???

If there's no flicker, this camera is fine for us living in PAL land! Soon i'll be shooting a lot of nighttime scenes for a TV show here in PAL land (china) and the thought of using HDV with its nighttime noise makes me cringe and could be a deal breaker when it comes to finding a distributor to sell the show!

A PS question: Film camera operates at 24 frames per sec and they use practicals all the time to supplement film lights, don't they? Say for example a household table lamp in a living room setup. I know they might replace the bulb in the fixtures with a higher wattage but still are they not running at a normal 60/50hz - wouldn't we see the flicker all the time in motion pictures? Do the gennys they use run at 24/48hz? AND if so, does the genny run all the power to a location, even to the practicals?

I really hope the answer is that it DOESN'T matter!!

perplexed
mike

I liked the images themselves but if I saw one more rack-focus I might have pitched the monitor off the desk. I'm not really sure why camera tests have to appear like music videos these days--the idea is to show off the imagery, so what's the point of quick cutting? Sorry to be negative here but I want to see what the camera can do and was frustrated and distracted by the way this was shot and edited.

The all-mighty power of the rack focus. At least they aren't showing you crash zooms.

At least it was mostly shot on a tripod. I have looked at so much HMC 150 footage recently that was hand held and of the family/pets I got motion sickness.

Charles, I think this link actually IS a music video the vimeo poster just forgot to encode the audio. (He mentions it further down the page) However I could only sit through about 3 minutes before I felt like I was looking at really well shot vacation footage, and scrubbed through to the end.

I think this thing is going to be the closest I get to what I ask for in my signature so I can't wait for it to be released to us plebeians!

Yeah, I saw the bit about the music. I'm all for making camera tests more watcheable--I made a short film to demo the EX1 and Redrock M2 that was hopefully as entertaining as it was demonstrative--but this became more about the cutting and the rack focuses and less about seeing what the camera could do. My feeling would have been to pick 1/3 of the better shots and just let them play.

It's hard to tell much about the camera with this video. Every shot is a rack focus and just as soon as the focus goes onto the main subject of the frame... the shot is cut. I would have loved to have seen longer, in focus shots as the low light once again looks great!

the main problem in PAL countries is not the 50hz flicker, which may or may not appear depending on the light conditions, well all we know about murphy's laws.

the real problem in PAL, is that 30p cannot be converted to 25p (or 24p) in a professional way. 30p footage cannot be used for PAL TV, HD or SD, and cannot be used for even create PAL DVD.

so in PAL contries , if canon won't relaease a 25p firmware forget to use the 5DII for anything else than home videos.

Is it just me, or is the latitude absolutely rubbish on the 5DII? All the test clips I've seen so far have crushed blacks and blown highlights that smack of a phone camera. Brilliant DOF, etc etc etc. Clarity is great. But I'm getting a bit nervous about what I've seen so far. (and I have recently sold my existing camera to replace it with a 5D2 or HVX, and now the $AUD has dropped so far the HVX has dissapeared from my budget constraints!)

Oliver I don't know exactly what you're talking about in the few clips that I've seen the exposure lattitude has been on par or better then most HD Cameras I've worked with. It may not reflect the true abilities of the still portion of the camera but it looks about right to me (especially with the web encoding thats been done) as far as the video clips.

I do hope you're basing these conclusion on observation of the camera's output and not on footage crushed out of all recognition for web streaming Oliver.

Of course you are, you wouldn't have sold your current kit to buy a 30p camera for a 25p county unless you'd made careful analysis of the image and audio quality and deemed them up to scratch.

If at all possible, avoid being an early adopter.

tom.

I fully agree. 25p is (24p might be) mandatory.

30p to PAL 50i
 

You can convert 30p to PAL... Just keep it interlaced (50i). Looks perfectly smooth if you do...