The lens thing is huge.

If I get a 5D MkII, I will will buy it for video, but will use it for stills as well. I'll buy mostly primes. I want the lenses to do all the AF tricks for stills, but I MUST be able to control aperture manually for video. Cost is another factor.

So... can I do it all with the latest Canon glass? Do I need to get manual Nikon glass for manual aperture control? Am I now screwed for stills? Will I end up with a Canon zoom for stills and Nikon primes for video?

Clearly, Canon and I are BOTH better off if I buy the latest Canon glass and I can use all the lenses to their full potential on both stills and video.

Unless Canon issues a firmware update adding manual aperture or at least aperture priority movie mode, yes.

Guys,

Some of you may remember the debacle over the pro level Eos1dmkIII DSLR autofocus issues and Canon's failures to address successfully what was one of the primary functions of the camera for about a year. Rob Galbraith DPI: An analysis of EOS-1D Mark III autofocus performance

They lost a lot of sales to Nikon over that one but they still didn't rush to fix it.

Now the 5dmkII functions exactly how it is specified to in video and so from their point of view nothing is wrong with it. If they take so long to fix known problems why would they rush to fix problems that don't think are problems.

About three years ago I used to attend Canon Europa's pro round tables with a select group of top photographers from the major news agencies. They spent two days letting us test the cameras on a race circuit and in the studio because they wanted to know how to make them better. At that time we told them about many improvements that should have been made to the original 5D and Eos1DmkII for stills work. Many of those improvements could have been made in firmware but actually you had to wait until the 5DmkII and 1DmkIII came along to see most of them.

These are the reasons I can't really see them rushing to add features to the movie mode. I hope I am wrong. I think it will take Nikon or Sony to introduce new models with video before you see a big change.

Dan

Thanks for the insight, Dan. I suppose our hopes lie with CHDK or someone else to figure out the firmware...

CHDK - CHDK Wiki

As for the new RED announcement, it's nothing that really affects the full-frame, low-light shooter currently evaluating the 5d MkII for video. The $3k RED is a hell of a deal, absolutely -- no denying that. But you've still got to shell out $7k plus lenses and accessories (bringing it to $10k, absolute minimum) to even get to a Super35-sized sensor.

http://www.redgrabs.com/up/1228299243.jpg