High Quality Video Camera for 2-3 Pounds?

[Alan Dixon]

First, please excuse me for not perusing this forum for all the posts on the 5d and 7d. I can see there are many post here and I am sure some have excellent content.

Camera weight (and size) is a critical issue for me. I am an Ultralight backpacker and climber. I sometimes go out for 9-10 days at time traveling off-trail, and climbing. With the weight of 10 days of food and all my backpacking equipment, my pack is already heavy. The full RED setup is not going to make its way into my pack on a trip like this. That being said, I would like to shoot some decent clips with a video camera that has some dynamic range.

From the little research I have done it appears that the 7d and 5d are two large(er) sensor choices with decent dynamic range and support for an external microphone (essential for getting good audio and reducing noise from ever present wind on high peaks). The 5d has a larger sensor and higher resolution. The 7d is less expensive and may have a slightly more sophisticated video implementation (but may also have less dynamic range due to the smaller sensor?). Weight appears to be the same for both cameras.

So is one camera the clear choice? Are there other options either DSLRs that support video that I should consider? Are there some straight video cameras that might fit the bill?

Oh, and the Canon 5d is about double the weight I would really want for a backcountry camera. What would be great is if one of the u4/3 cameras like the Olympus E-P1 or the Panasonic Lumix GF1 supported decent video with the capability for an external microphone. Not for now I guess.

Alan Dixon
Co Founder
Backpacking Light
The Magazine of Lightweight Backcountry Travel
www.backpackinglight.com/

 

[Tom Lowe]

7D with some fold-panel solar chargers maybe? You can shoot on super-cheap SD and (32GB Transcend) CF cards and don't bother offloading till you get down the mountain. That will provide you with nearly unlimited hours worth of shooting media. Lenses will weigh more than the body, probably.

I suppose you've looked at the GH1?

 

[Alan Dixon]

GH1 doesn't support an external microphone

GH1 doesn't support an external microphone

> I suppose you've looked at the GH1?

No support for an external microphone....

 

[Tom Lowe]

Yeah. Really, the 7D is bleeding edge for this. Might as well go with it.

 

[Alex Dobbie]

> I suppose you've looked at the GH1?

No support for an external microphone....

It does have support for an external microphone, it just uses the same connector as the remote release.

 

[Alan Dixon]

And does does the GH1 camera actually produce solid 1080p 24fps video with no glitches, problems or gimmicks?

 

[Alex Dobbie]

It doesn't have a great codec but it depends entirely on what you are doing with it, fast motion and the codec breaks up on fine detail but on calm motion it looks fantastic. Have a look at Joe Shaw's stuff on vimeo. I think that it looks better than the 5d till the codec breaks up but I understand that I'm in the minority on that.