Tomorrow I will be taking delivery of my new Canon 5d MarkII digital SLR camera. This camera has been in development for a very long time and pre-orders for the camera after it’s announcement were staggering. Its is in VERY short supply around the world but I am lucky enough to be taking delivery of one of the first to make it into Canada. The camera shoots 22 megapixel full frame stills but this post doesn’t concern the still photo capabilities which will be covered in later posts once I have had a chance to test it out.
As well as taking still photos, the 5DMKII can also shoot 1080p HD video with its 35mm sensor allowing you to capture incredible quality video at a fraction of the cost of other camera systems that produce a similar “look”. With the 35mm sensor and ability to use Canon’s vast array of quality lenses, this camera is quickly breaking down the barrier between two industries. Look no further than Vincent Laforet’s website to view an incredible short film shot with the camera.
For a stills photographer such as myself it poses some interesting questions, until a couple of weeks ago I knew very very little about video production and what tools are needed to get the job done. I’m sure that I am not the only photographer going through this learning process right now so I’m going to keep track of what I am learning on my blog here. I should also point out that at this time I do not know if video will play a part in my business, but it doesn’t hurt to be prepared! The question that I am primarily covering with this post is “What accessories are we going to need to shoot quality video productions with the Canon 5d Mark II?”
Initial tests from various photographers indicate that the video quality is excellent, but the sound quality from the on board microphone is poor, not only that but it also picks up noise from the camera mechanisms such as the IS, aperture and just simply touching the camera body. Not to worry though, the 5DMKII has a separate 3.5mm mic input so that you can attach a much higher quality external mic;
Sennheiser MKE 400: This microphone comes highly recommended from several sources. Features that are useful for us are the hot shoe mounting capability and also its relatively small size, easy to stash in your
existing camera bag. The casing is all metal so it should be rugged and it has the 3.5mm jack that is necessary to plug into the 5D. This type of Mic is known as a “Shotgun” style mic and is very directional. Another interesting feature is the rubber mounting points above the hotshoe which help to isolate noise from the camera. Also available for it is the MZW400 wind muff kit which fits on the mic for use outdoors to eliminate wind noise. The mic and the accessory wind muff can be yours for about $250 which seems like a decent deal to me and I will be ordering one soon to play with.
UPDATE: Now that people have taken delivery of their 5dMKIIs it seems there may be a problem with using the Sennheiser MKE400. I haven’t had a chance to play with one just yet but several people have reported 
hearing a considerable amount of hiss. This is somewhat strange, the mic itself works fine with many other video cameras so it would seem to be a compatibility issue with the MKII, perhaps something to do with the impedance? I’m not sure but you can find info on the problem on the Cinema 5D forum. Perhaps a workaround will be thought up soon and I will update this with new info as it becomes available.
In the meantime, several people have reported much greater success using the Rode VideoMic instead. Similar in design to the senheiser but powered by an onboard 9v battery. There is an interesting comparison video here on Vimeo.
Some microphones do not have a 3.5mm jack on them, instead they use a plug called an XLR. The XLR plug is generally used in professional audio applications so I can forsee a lot of people wanting to use XLR terminated mics for the 5D. To do this you will need some sort of converter and the perfect solution is manufactured by a company called BeachTek. The DXA-2s compact XLR adapter allows 2 XLR microphones to be plugged into it and the resultant signal is output through a stereo cable with a 3.5mm jack right into the 5dMKII. The small converter requires NO batteries and also has a further auxillary 3.5mm input so you could still attach a mic like the Senneheiser MKE400 to it and balance that with an XLR mic. This little box will allow you to record 2 audio inputs onto seperate audio tracks in the video so that they can be edited individually on your computer. I also have word from the guys at BeachTek that they are in the process of designing a NEW model specifically for the 5DMKII! This product will be called the DXA-5D and will include a headphone monitor output to allow you to check on your sound levels, as well as an LED level meter for both channels so that you can check input levels at a glance. The new product is expected to ship in the first quarter of 2009 and if you contact them via their website they will put you on a mailing list to keep you up to date on developments.
If you are looking for a good way to mount various audio devices to you DSLR then you should also check out my review of the IKAN Cheese Stick JR and 10″ Articulating Arm HERE. With these 2 products you can easily mount a shotgun mic or lavalier receiver to your camera, as well as LCD monitors.
In upcoming posts continuing on this topic I will be looking at more accessories that will be useful for the 5dMKII as I discover them!
UPDATE : Check out another cool accessory for the 5d – the Glidecam HD-2000
you might also need a matte box and follow focus. This camera is better in manual focus while shooting movies. And the matte box and some filters can really help you. You will almost most defiantly need some ND filter to get shallow depth of field in day light. I have found that the exposure is trick with this camera but the exposure lock kinda helps good luck.
Hi Matt,
Yes now that I have the camera I can appreciate the need for those things too. I think I will write a follow up post with more accessories soon. I’m just working on a post about video heads and a review of the Manfrotto 701HDV.
Great info! I just picked up a $30 Radio Shack mic and a stereo-to 1/8″ jack converter. Works like a charm…I think. It records voices well with minimal static or hiss or “room noise.”
Hey There,
I am a professional TV photographer and amateur still photographer who has sold both his Canon 5D and 1D Mark II to purchase the 5D mark II. I just wanted to offer my advice in regards to the importance of sound when shooting video, and the limitations and workarounds I expect to be dealing with in the new 5D Mark II.
Audio is SUPER important in the over all quality in, and at least half the emotion you feel when watching a moving piece… and the fact that the 5DMII only has a “mini-plug” mic jack is a serious downside… one issue is that in many camera systems(video or still) any time that you touch or bump the “mini-plug” it can and often does cause breaks, spikes or hisses in the audio quality. The best option is using a “Beachtek” adapter so that you can get a professional standard XLR plug mic system working, that you can monitor and adjust, and that can use two audio source tracks. In addition I have read elsewhere that when you plug in headphones to monitor audio you loose the viewfinder, which is disconcerting since, that makes it especially difficult to monitor both audio and video at the same time. So long story short… hissing or any other audio issue can be a result of the compatibility and or quality of the “mini plug” going into the 5DMII’s 1/8th” mic jack. Good quality audio is such an important and hard to achieve issue especially in a journalistic fast paced news gathering environment that I almost considered holding off buying the 5dMKII but I will probably end up buying the 5dMII anyway just to shoot with that stunning still and video quality, and I will just be as careful as I can and get the best mic system I can afford and hope cannon comes out with some firmware to fix the audio monitoring with headphones shutting of the viewfinder issue.
Regards,
H
Thanks Harlan, thats good advice for sure. I must admit i havent hear about the video monitoring shutting off when monitoring audio….i actually didn’t think you could monitor audio on the 5d? There isnt an audio output so how would you do this? Please enlighten me!
I guess when it comes down to it, an external audio recording device is the solution to the problems but they are fairly expensive.
what i am really looking for is something to smooth out the zoom and manual focus while shooting video. using your hand to zoom and focus really detracts from the beautiful HD quality. Very jumpy.
Anyone know of any motorized solutions for the 5D2 to handle this problem?
Brad
I’m going to get a portable WAV recorder and use that. I can line up the audio on the timeline and have the benefit of being able to be recording even when the 4 gig 5D video file limit has been reached. I can then fill the gaps with ‘cut aways’ etc.
I recently purchased the 5D Mark II and I am impressed with the camera. I didn’t want to spend money on a new field monitor and I was hoping to use an HDMI to HD-SDI AJA converter box. No go though, when you press record on the camera, the signal turns black. When you stop recording, it reappears. I also tried this on another monitor with an actual HDMI input and the test turned out fine. SO, the problems lies with any adapter boxes. It just won’t work so I just ordered an Ikan V8000HDMI.
About the sound issue, I did connect an 1/8″ adapter to XLR. I then connected one of my boom mics to the adapter and did some test sound recordings. I was able to apply some filters within Soundtrack Pro and it actually sounded great. I’m excited to see the Beachtek adapter so I can monitor the sound. THE ONLY CONCERN… from what I understand is that the 5D Mark II will adjust the levels AUTOMATICALLY. Does the BeackTek adapter fix this feature. I would think this couldn’t be changed within the software of the 5D.
mgstudio.com
I am unsure as to whether or not the video shuts off with audio monitoring… it was something I read on another forum. I didn’t think you could monitor it either. That is useful information about the new beachtek for the 5d though with a headphone plug…
I will definitely be getting that, however it still doesn’t solve the overall issue of having to rely on a mini plug into the camera, anyone who has ever shot ENG or fast paced hand held style videography in the field knows what can happen to your sound when a mini plug is bumped or loosened by accident. So it is a limitation to the camera but a small one. Alot of the cheaper con-sumer video cameras only have mini plug, and the pro-sumer cameras have XLR for that very reason. The point about the issue of the 5d AUTOMATICALLY adjusting the sound is something I read about as well and is of concern to me too… more information on that would be very useful. I finally found a 5d in stock on Adorama and it is shipping today so perhaps I will get some answers soon.
Here’s the Canon EOS 5D audio sync issue or problem.
Last Wednesday I used my two 5D MkII’s in a 3 camera music video shoot. The third camera was a Sony PMW-EX1. Audio was recorded on two additional devices. One audio recording device was an Edirol R4 Pro. The other audio recording setup was a Tascam USB Interface to a MacBook Pro.
The Sony Camera, Edirol, and Tascam/MacBook Pro devices all synced sound perfectly over the full duration of the shoot (just over 20 minutes). To clarify – once the different sources are sync’d quickly and easily to the slate clap on the waveform at the beginning of the shoot they all stayed perfectly in sync for the rest of the video.
Both Canon cameras audio and video sync’d perfectly to each other but drifted significantly from the other 3 devices even over a 3 minute segment. The is a very serious problem for me and one that introduces significant post-production trouble and expense.
This issue was so unexpected (I haven’t run into this in years of working with a range of equipment) that I performed 3 subsequent tests to confirm that the 5D MkII’s run too fast. The results from the tests show both of my 5D Mark II run about 14 frames too fast in 10 minutes. Audio that is 1 full frame out of sync is noticeable on sharp sounds causing an echo. Audio that is 2 or 3 frames out of sync causes echo on any sound and looks odd in terms of lip sync.
That the two Canon cameras audio sync’d OK to each other tells me that the cameras can be calibrated to a standard. Evidently they are just calibrated to an incorrect standard.
Anybody else experience this? Does anybody really know if this is likely a chip issue or a firmware issue? Does anyone know an easy reliable way to get the clips to conform to the standard without time-consuming constant tweaking?
I contacted Canon tech support and the girl there couldn’t care less. She said: There is no fix and that the 5d isn’t really a video camera so what did I expect? Nice!
dancarrphotography.com – now in my rss reader)))