I completely agree with you on that note, Bob, and that is why I'll be looking very closely at the Nikon D3s, Canon D1 Mk IV during the winter (and Nikon D4 next year). At some destinations I have to cut down on weight and bulk of my equipment. I hope to be able to carry a couple of DSLR bodies with me during a few of my future expeditions instead of the need to carry one complete system for video and another for stills images on the same trip.

Although I have yet to be convinced that any of the DSLRs so far released offer enough in terms of handling and sound options to make me give up my camcorder systems.

I have been photographing with the Mark IV and trying to record clips whenever there is a fine natural history moment. In the past, I have regretted not having the ability to record video, as I have seen many rare behaviour that has not been seen before.

This camera is certainly promising with shallow depth of field, and high quality HD. It is easier with one system to record clips as well as stills. However, if I suddenly need to change to slow motion, it won't be possible. I have to stop, delve into the menu and change it and then shoot. Sound is a major issue I am grappling with at the moment. Refinements will come with time, however, I must say that this is promising and exciting.

Actually I am suprised that nobody has mentioned the Panasonic GH1, it has a 2x crop and there are plenty of adaptors for most available lenses. The downside is the codec / data rate is not up with the Canon 7D & 5D Mark 2.

Are there any members of the forum using this camera?

The excitement is due to the bigger sensors in DSLRs. The smaller sensors of the Pansonic with their higher depth of fields completely negate the shallow dof excitement. My 2 cents.

Hi Bob
I have been using the GH1. It was the cheapest way for me to get into to HD at the time and have the ability to change lens. So far I have been fairly happy with it. I don't have anything to really compare it to. I came from the original XL1.

Gordon

I'm using a Canon D7 but I wonder: how much depth of field do you get on a GH1 with a 300mm lens? Isn't the DOF still really shallow?

They don't have interchangeable lenses but the new Sony NXCAMs do come with a 20x Sony G lens, lots of manual controls and a range of HD record settings in AVCHD at up to 24mbps. They're also quite a bit cheaper than the EX1.

For portability the Canon HF S100 has excellent HD image quality, and what they describe as a built-in 1.7x teleconverter - sampling full HD 1920x1080 image resolution from the middle of the sensor without digital enlargement. That gets you 17x from the 10x lens - very useful for wildlife subjects. They claim image qualty isn't reduced but I'm not entirely convinced. No viewfinder on this model but later variants have one.

You get the same dof on every camera with a 300mm lens. It's just that with a 4/3 sensor it has the same field of view as a 5DII with a 600mm lens.
For wildlife a 4/3 sensor camera will provide dof control. I like the size from 4/3 to APS-C. Even 2/3 Scarlet with very long glass will blur the background.
IMO Canon and Nikon "full frame" sensors, as well as the 1D sensor size, are at a disadvantage with wildlife.

Good evening,

The sony 20x g lens is nice. There is no substitute for being able to change lenses!!!

Any form of multiplier willalways damage the images, glass or otherwise.

If you ahve a fixed lens you are going to have to become an outstanding hunter, Should work on that anyway.


Dale Guthormsen