1DmkIV low light video now online

[Dan Chung]

Not sure where I should post this really , but anyway seeing as I draw a load of comparisons with the 5DmkII I guess here is as good as anywhere.

Dan Chung shooting horses in slow motion with the Canon 1D mk IV DSLR News Shooter

Dan

[Glen Elliott]

I wouldn't consider those conditions particularly "low light" but it looks fantastic none the less!

[Dan Chung]

Glen,

True, my second video is a really low light test, should be up soon enough. That said a lot of this was shot on a 300mm f2.8 with 1.4x convertor, so essentially at f4. Also to shoot 60p you need 100th/sec so that cut the light down again.

Dan

[Reggie Moser]

Dan, did you use the 300mm f2.8 lens to get those low angle panning shots?......they look awesome dude

[Glen Elliott]

Cool, looking forward to it. So, Dan, how do you feel the mkIV stacks up against the 5DmkII and 7D respectively?

[Dan Chung]

Glen,

In terms of video I think the 1DmkIV has essentially the same video mode as the 5DmkII and 7D but with better low light performance and handling. In video mode the 1.3x crop is a happy compromise for me between full frame and 1.5x. I think the added bulk and grip actually helps handholding the camera 'naked'. As a stills camera the 1DmkIV is in a different league but we're not talking about that here.

Dan

[Jon Fairhurst]

I wonder if the 1D4 would accommodate a PL mount? If so, it would be the DvSLR to have for high end productions that need to cover shots in tight places.

[Chris Barcellos]

Originally Posted by Dan Chung

Glen,

In terms of video I think the 1DmkIV has essentially the same video mode as the 5DmkII and 7D but with better low light performance and handling. .

Traditionally, the bigger the chip, the better the lower light capability. Any idea why the smaller chip of the 1D Markiv is able to perform better in low light ?

[Dan Chung]

Chris

At a guess I think its that it has fewer pixels and a newer design with less gap between photosites. Don't quote me on that one though, best to ask Canon.

Dan

[Jon Fairhurst]

My guess is that the sensor is faster, so they're reading more pixels than on the 5D2.

[Tony Davies-Patrick]

Powerful footage, Dan. I really liked it.

The clips edited together of horses and jockeys leaving the stalls didn't match, but this didn't matter because the different camera angles and editing made it all flow nicely to the eye.

Probably the big thing missing for me was sound. Even dropping the background sounds of hooves and some of the crowd noise onto parts of the time line, and then adjusting sound levels would have lifted the sequence to an even higer level.

But even as it stands with just a music backtrack the video has a strong atmosphere to it, and also goes to show what the camera is capable of producing when in the right hands.

[Khoi Pham]

Uh he put up some footages so we can see the video IQ in low light at high ISO, not for you to critique his editing skill.

[Tony Davies-Patrick]

No problem, Khoi, you can tar & feather me for even thinking of saying what I liked about the footage and not sticking to pixel counts and shutter speeds. I'm sure Dan doesn't mind though and understands that it wasn't critique at all but more in praise of his work. :)

Regarding the low light levels, I agree that the floodlights help reduce the need for upping ISO too much, but the video does still look quite clean in fairly low light. Maybe not D3s clean, but still very nice. I'm looking forward to viewing more from Dan.

[Chris Barcellos]

Dan and Jon:

Thanks for your responses. I was wondering where this was going to outdo the 5D, and this looks like one of the areas. Dan after you shooting, any can you compare the the two camera's capabilities in any detail ?