Remote 5DmkII trigger thanks to Vincent Laforet
 

Vincent is my new hero Tips and Tricks for the 5D MKII - Part I Vincent Laforet’s Blog

A simple IR remote will trigger the camera start/stop in Live View, the wifi pack will allow remote trigger too! Suddenly there are so many things I can do that I couldn't before!

Dan

Thanks for the link, Dan -- I knew about the WiFi grip, but I didn't know that the little Canon IR remotes could trigger the movie mode, as described on page 125 of the manual (guess I should start reading the manual). The Canon parts are the RC-1 and RC-5; each is about $25.

Yep, and I'm thinking 3rd party $15 clones from ebay should work just fine too. If someone is clever they could build an optical cable to run to the IR port so the trigger could be used from behind the camera too. I see plenty of custom options here.

Dan

This would only be useful if you're happy with auto exposure.

In practice, I almost always need to turn the rear dial (exposure compensation) and push the exposure lock button each and every time before I start recording. When you stop, you lose the exposure settings and need to do the same thing all over again before you start again.

Sometimes, I just let the camera continue recording in between shots/scenes instead of stopping/starting just so that I don't lose the exposure lock/settings.

GADS!!! That's AWFUL!!! TERRIBLE news!!!
For consistency, that's a frighting prospect to have to set exposure for every shot.
Don't get me wrong: I'd do a white balance and exposure for every setup, but not every shot...
Bummer, that...

Dan uses Nikon lenses with manual aperture, so he's not using auto exposure. The biggest risk might be ISO or shutter being off by a stop. Acceptable in most situations.

It's still autoexposure (aperture priority).
And the shutter and ISO are auto.

If Nikon lens is used, does the 5D Mk II still have auto focus in movie mode?

With Canon glass it really t doesn't really have autofocus in movie mode. It's more like a blind person looking for a lost item.

With 3rd part glass you can zoom and focus before recording, but that's it.