I’ve been following the use of DSLRs and their video capabilities for a while now. It’s become apparent that these cameras are becoming more and more useful in a journalistic sense, as this video eport from Cairo – shot on a Canon 5D MkII – proves beyond any doubt.
This news report from the violent demonstrations in Cairo, Egypt, aired on Sky News in the UK, is really quite remarkable. All the atmospheric audio was taken in through the camera’s internal microphone. Considering the chaotic nature of the ambient sound, it’s a quite remarkable capture. The voiceover was obviously done in post, but the versatility and portability of a DSLR as opposed to the usual ENG cameras that TV crews use is surely a sign of things to come. While they are getting smaller and tapeless, I can’t imagine why you’d cart one of those things anywhere when you can produce stories like the one above with what is essentially a hand-held camera.
As you can see in the notes, the camera had no support gear on it. Many rigs have been built to stabilise DSLRs for shooting news stories or more high-end productions, like Danfung Dennis‘s forthcoming documentary Hell And Back Again, which was recently awarded at the Sundance Film Festival. Here’s a trailer.
It looks spectacular and is clearly more polished than the Sky News report. But Danfung’s set-up looks pretty cumbersome. However, Sky News has clearly shown that in the heat of the moment, when you need to work quickly and uninhibited on the fly, an unmounted DSLR is still a viable option for broadcast-quality news reporting. I think you’ll agree a DSLR has to be an increasingly attractive and not to mention cheaper option for these news gatherers around the world. And not only that, but you can take some schmick-looking stills with them too and potentially double your income and worth if you’re working as a freelance news reporter.
On the topic of Egypt, I hope everyone in Cairo, no matter what side they’re on, finds peace and safety soon. What’s happening there has been shocking to witness from afar, so I can only imagine the tension and fear that exists on the ground. May you all get through it without harm, and I wish you well.
Mate, you sure all atmospheric audio was captured on the camera’s internal mic?
After all, crap audio capability is one of the main arguments against DSLR video. Normally you’d have to go for a preamp from juicedlink, or an external audio recorder.
Don’t get me wrong tho, video from DSLR is a game changer. Me wants to play wiz zat.
That’s what it says.
It sure does. I was lazy and didn’t check the VJ’s comments on Vimeo. He did use a lapel mic for the voice-over tho, which explains a bit. Simplicity does the job.
So cool that the gadget freak Philip Bloom is the first one with a “good job comment” on Vimeo. Don’t get me wrong, Bloom does great stuff, but I can picture him asking for a pause in the demo to tune his dolly for the shot.
[...] Minds. I was fascinated by the technical nature of the shoot, achieved entirely on a Canon 5D MkII. A subsequent post in February last year again mentioned Dennis in the context of DSLRs increasingly being the weapon of choice for video [...]