a was wondering about the same thing

It gets amnesia when you do just about anything. Try focusing, for example....

Victor,

You're right. Each time you stop recording, the camera loses its memory. However, with Nikon lenses, you can zoom and focus without upsetting the camera. With Canon EF lenses, you can try the "twist" method -> 1) Set the desired aperture, 2) Hold the DOF Preview Button and release the lens by about 3mm. Now your Canon lens will behave like a Nikon. Manual Nikons are easier, however, because you can change the aperture with the ring at any time - and you don't risk dropping the lens.

Canon NEEDS to make the camera operate properly in video mode. Otherwise, I'm spending my money on Nikkor glass.

Thank you very much for your fast answer, and very detailed too!! Really appreciated

Any comment or suggestions, are more than welcome!
Best regards!

PS.: could you tell me at what store you bought the camera?

Glad to have helped. After we finish our current project, maybe we'll do more analysis and tutorial videos.

Hi Sam,

I guess it depends on how strong your light is, and what you are trying to do.

To get 1/40 I generally give the camera enough light to go above 1/40, and then take the light away. When the shutter display hits 1/40, I hit AE Lock immediately.

To get 100 ISO, I go from dark to light and press AE Lock as soon as 100 ISO is reached. If your aperture doesn't allow you to get to 100 ISO, you'll need to open it up.

Hi Alexander,

I've found that we can get any shutter speed with 100 ISO and any ISO up to 3200 with a shutter speed of 1/40. It's odd that you can get 1/50. I'm guessing that you have Highlight Tone Priority enabled, as that changes things a bit.

Then again, as the video shows, when the camera displays 1/50, you get the same shutter speed as when it displays 1/40. In general, I figure that it's roughly 1/45.

I sure hope we get a firmware update soon. The new GH1 offers full manual control at half the price of the 5D MkII.

yeah , me too.
i will probably skip the GH1 as i have nikon lenses and dont want that magnification factor. i think nikon will release something full frame someday and we will get something more in 5D

so for the film look, its best to aim at 1/60th shutter? (when answering this, consider that I will either be putting a video on vimeo which converts to 24/25p or will manually be converting to 24p using different workarounds), so with a goal of such conversion in the end, what is the best shutter choice for the most film/narrative look when shooting on 5D 30p? is it 1/60th?

Ideally, we'd get 1/60th, but the camera won't deliver it. At 1/40 and 1/50 (displayed), you get 1/45. At 1/60 and 1/80 (displayed), you get 1/80.

One guy at DV Info had the plan to use Highlight Tone Priority, giving him 1/60 (displayed) at 200 ISO or 100 ISO. That's no problem outdoors in daylight (use ND filters as needed), but you need lots of light indoors to get away with 200 ISO.

The thing about 1/45 (actual) is that it gives you about the same "open" time as film, but with a short "closed" time. That makes it too smooth. If you shoot 1/80 (actual) the "closed" time is the same as film, but the "open" time is shorter. This can make things a bit stuttery.

I think 1/80 (actual) is best for 30p display. For 24p display, it depends on the conversion that you use. I'd say test both.

Certainly, the most flexible approach is to go with 1/45 (actual), since you can get any ISO up to 3200, though I've found that it's best to limit ISO to about 1000.

We bought an M-Audio Microtrack II for recording audio separately. Unfortunately, it's a bit noisy, but it supports phantom power mics with a simple adapter cable. Also take a look at the Zoom H4n. It has XLR inputs and phantom power.

Hello Pablo,

Yes, it's recording at 30fps. Lately, I've been using Cineform's NeoScene ($99 at VideoGuys.com.) That software encodes that video so it can be easily edited on a modest computer. It slows the video by 1.001, so it conforms with 29.97. The latest version also slows the audio by the same (imperceptible) amount.

Yeah, I read about the iPhone method of setting exposure. Frankly, for most natural lighting situations, I just open the aperture of the Nikon lens, lock the exposure (which generally selects 1/40) and dial the ISO up or down as needed.

Hi Pablo,

The 5D Mk II restricts the shutter speed to 1/40 at other ISOs. You can also get 1/30 at 3200 ISO.

If you enable Highlight Tone Priority, you can get many shutter speeds at 200 ISO. Unfortunately, my tests are only at 100 ISO without Highlight Tone Priority.

Regarding Cineform, they confirmed that the camera shoots 30.00p. To get 29.97p, they slow down the video by 1.001. No frames are dropped or processed, it's just a slower playback. They slow the audio to match.

This is good for NTSC users. However, if you try to mix with other cameras, there will be some drift.

All the best!

The camera should be in Movie & Stills mode.

* Go to the 2nd yellow wrench icon, select Live View/Movie func. set.

* Select LC func. setting

* Select Stills+movie

* Select Movie display

And just to be sure, the AE Lock button is on the back of the camera; 2nd button from the top, right corner.

I hope that works!

Thanks, that worked.
I am still a bit confused by one thing.

I am using a manual exposure Nikon lens, and I seem to be able to set the shutter speed, but the ISO seems to jump to random values.
Is there a way I can lock the ISO down and just control the shutter speed.

Select a higher ISO speed so that the shutter speed jumps to 40 or 80. Instead of a lower ISO and a way too higher shutter speed.

Unfortunately, the shutter speed is only controllable at 100 ISO, (or, if you enable Highlight Tone Priority{HTP}, 200 ISO.) Any time that the ISO is above this minimum, the shutter speed will be nearly 1/30, regardless of what shutter speed is displayed.

To enable HTP, select the camera icon (custom functions), select C.Fn II: Image, and HTP will be the third item.

The bottom line with this camera is that every time that the light is too low to achieve 100 or 200 ISO, we are stuck with a very slow shutter.

You might need to shine a light into the lens to get a low ISO, then fine tune with exposure compensation (the Big Wheel on the back.)

can you make a test like that using 1/500 shutter speed and 3200 iso setting?
This would look nice I think.
Just depending to get around this issues to buy one for me.
Thanks

Sorry. It can't be done with the current firmware. If you turn Highlight Tone Priority on, you can get fast frame rates at 200 ISO. At higher ISOs, the shutter defaults to its slowest setting.

Also, the rolling shutter is the same regardless of settings. The one trick to reduce it is to crop your video to 720p, rather than scaling it.

Hi Scott. Let me know your results. I've done some other tests, and it looks like a 1/50 displayed shutter might be the ideal setting for a film look - as well as slowing the result to 24 fps.

Best of luck!

Sure the 5D2 can do 24p - just slow it down by 20%!!!

I'm planning an art film short. It will have no dialog. All of the sound will be done offline (like our film The Last Outpost.) We will slow everything down to 24p. I'll just direct the actors to move quickly when we want real time. If it looks strange, that will be an advantage for our film!

And, of course, you can do timelapse at 24p. See our lawnmower film for an example.

BTW, there is a guy who has already hacked the audio auto gain and seems to be on the hunt for more 5D2 goodness...

dvinfo.net/conf/canon-eos-5d-mk-ii-hd/235535-homebrew-firmware-5d-mark-2-a.html

dvinfo.net/conf/canon-eos-5d-mk-ii-hd/235578-poll-name-new-firmware-project.html

If the shutter speed is too slow, the image is blurry. If it's to fast, the video will stutter. Ideally, we want 1/60 in the US/Japan, and 1/50 in Europe/China/Australia so that the motion looks good, and lights don't flicker.

You are probably shooting under fluorescent lights in Europe or some other 50 Hz region (China, Africa, India, Australia, Eastern Japan...)

Hmmm think you have a point there. I'm from Malaysia (Asian region). My friend who's got 7d also reports the same. What kind of lights or Hz do you shoot under? Just curious. And thanks for the info!