EOS 5DmkII users rejoice!

[Stuart English]

Max record time.

Max record time.

...I'd love to know what about a 12 min record limitation makes the 5D perfect for documentary interviews? This is one of the bigger sticking points for me along with audio when it comes to making docs with a DSLR.

Agreed. A DLSR may be smaller, but 12 minutes is just plain daft.

With a 320GB drive, a single take on a RED ONE can be up to 3 hours - similar to (albeit much lower resolution) tape based camcorders.

 

[hunterrichards]

Nothing personal Stuart, but If someone needs a 3 hour take to eek out what they need in an interview, that person needs to try another line of work! ; )

 

[Ethan Cooper]

Nothing personal Stuart, but If someone needs a 3 hour take to eek out what they need in an interview, that person needs to try another line of work! ; )

Well that certainly helped the conversation along, thanks for your input.

 

[Steve Sherrick]

Nothing personal Stuart, but If someone needs a 3 hour take to eek out what they need in an interview, that person needs to try another line of work! ; )

Well, I've had 45 minute takes and the RED worked beautifully for that, even better than BetaSP days.

12 minutes is limiting for a variety of reasons in documentary, although you could certainly work around it. I just like the ability to keep rolling when need be.

 

[Tom Lowe]

It's unlikely, but possible, that Canon or a hacker might be able to add a clip buffer and roll-over option to the 5D2, so it could basically keep recording for hours to a single 32GB x133 CF card, for example. It's basically the 4GB FAT32 that is preventing clips longer than 12min, I think, but I don't see anything that would prevent some type of spill over to keep the thing humming along.

 

[Isaac Brody]

If you think of it like shooting 400ft of film then it's not so bad. There was a time not too long ago when docs were shot on film. People managed to work around that limitation...

 

[David Swan]

I think, and I may be wrong, that part of the reason for the 12 min limit was due to EU taxes on cameras vs camcorders.
Though since they saddled us with 30 fps rather than 25, I'm surprised they cared enough to notice.
David

 

[Yannick Hagman]

Like film pushing photographers to better pictures.

 

[Tom Lowe]

I don't think it has anything to do with Europe, although who knows for sure. I think it is simply hitting the 4GB wall of FAT32?

FAT32 sucks.

 

[Ethan Cooper]

Has there been a rapper named FAT32? If not there should be.

 

[Rick Darge]

I love this camera. I can start rolling in less than a second. 35mm DOF. Full Frame video recording, wow. My 17-35 vignettes at 17mm now.. Lightweight. Shoots to CF cards. Awesome 21 mega pixel imager. I've never owned a dSLR before so I am quite stoked on the possibilities. My production partner and I are making a doc about cyclists, so this is a perfect fit for us. We'll use Red for overcranking and beauty shots but this will be the work horse.. Can't wait for 24p

 

[Isaac Brody]

Rick, let's see some footage!

 

[Rick Darge]

I'll get a little sample up soon, hopefully later tonight! I'm going to be running around all day so don't have the time right now.

I just went out last night on the bicycle, shooting stuff in Santa Monica, mainly with the Peleng 8mm. Fun stuff..

 

[David Swan]

I think we have to decouple the FAT32 4 gig limit from the recording limit. Canon could easily have spanned recording over multiple clips.
Unless sensor overheating has something to do with it.
And yes, FAT32 sucks.
David

 

[Tom Lowe]

I love this camera. I can start rolling in less than a second. 35mm DOF. Full Frame video recording, wow. My 17-35 vignettes at 17mm now..

:smash: <--- Nikon 14-24G
:ack2: <--- EF 17-35

 

[Simon Blackledge]

I think, and I may be wrong, that part of the reason for the 12 min limit was due to EU taxes on cameras vs camcorders.
Though since they saddled us with 30 fps rather than 25, I'm surprised they cared enough to notice.
David

Correct. Limit set due to tax bracket according to Canon Rep. Anything over a certain limit in recording time and the unit is considered a video camera thus the tax code changes and people buying for just a dslr (imagine that!) pay more.

s

 

[Patrick Tresch]

Agreed. A DLSR may be smaller, but 12 minutes is just plain daft.

I remember a time not so far I had a producer asking for those 8 gig CF cards limitation... How long was it? 4 ridiculous minutes?

More than stopping the 5D to make another take. The 5D reacts strangely on long takes in hot environement. It seams it gets overheat (my interpretation) and makes the picture jump (like there where some frames dropped).

I interpreted this as an overheating problem because I shut down the cam for a while (5min.) and the problem dissapeared.

Patrick

WHERE IS 25P?

 

[Tom Lowe]

I'm probably going to be instantly banned for suggesting such a ludicrous sacrilege, but does anyone else think Reduser needs a Canon forum?? hahaha. :banned:

 

[Ethan Cooper]

The explosion of Canon chatter in this forum hearkens back to my old Grandpappy's saying, "a bird in the hand..."

 

[Shawn Nelson]

I'm probably going to be instantly banned for suggesting such a ludicrous sacrilege, but does anyone else think Reduser needs a Canon forum?? hahaha. :banned:

hmmm, as the third top poster ever on here (without ever owning a Red or...even shooting with one?) I think your purpose has now been made clear! :rofl: