Would This Have Been Better As a Video?

Here's something to ponder. If Tiger Woods accidentally chips a golfball straight at you, would you rather be looking through the lens of an SLR camera or a videocamera? (No ducking -- you're a pro!)

(Click on image to enlarge)

Mark Pain, sports photog for UK's Mail on Sunday, was pointing his Nikon D3S at Tiger at the Ryder Cup when the ball loomed ever larger in his viewfinder. Pain had the wherewithal to fire off his own shot, at 1/1000th of a second, with a 24-70mm lens -- and better accuracy than Tiger's, it turns out. As his newspaper noted, he "didn't flinch, and captured this extraordinary picture just before the ball hit his camera, bounced on to his chest and came to rest at his feet."

Tell us, would it have been better had the same coming-at-you perspective been captured on video? Admittedly, the video would have been exceedingly short. Whereas the photo draws you in, invites you to relish the moment. For instance, watching a video, it's unlikely that you would have noticed that wonderfully surprised face of the mustachioed guy on the right with the stogie... much less Tiger's own chagrined expression.

On the other hand...

Nikon vs. Canon: DSLR Video Quality

We're often asked which hybrid DSLR camera we'd recommend for shooting both stills and video, the frontrunners invariably being Canon and Nikon.
In his Photofocus online magazine, Scott Bourne -- who has been writing authoritatively online about photography since 1998 -- makes the case for Canon.

Here's the gist:

Canon DSLRs have the lead in the fusion space. Comparing the video from a D3s to a Canon 1D MKIV, serious video/filmmaker types (and those who aspire to be serious like me) prefer the Canon.

I’ve spoken with several filmmakers about this as well as some software engineers and other tech types. They’ve all confirmed my findings. The Nikon suffers from several drawbacks.

1) Short HD clip duration (5 minutes) – the Canons shoot 12 minutes.

2) No 1080p video – Yes 720 is fine for most situations, but serious filmmakers are all fixing their sites on 1080p, which will soon be the minimum standard for HD. The Canons shoot at 1080p.

3) Motion JPG – this codec has crippled Nikon’s video. The quality just doesn’t compare to the H.264 wrapper that comes around Canon’s video. Using a program like MPEG Streamclip, you can convert the Canon video to Pro Res. You can’t get true Pro Res out of the Nikon video. Those three letters “JPG” say it all.

4) Manual control over exposure – There are manual controls but they are far from user-friendly and you have to know the secret handshake to make them work. I’ve asked 20 or more D3s/D300s owners if they know how to get the camera to allow manual control over exposure when shooting video and none of them knew how to do it. This is not reason enough to rule the camera out for video, but it does not help. Ergonomics matter.

If you’re shooting video for your kids, or for your high school film project, or something casual, the Nikon footage will work. But for serious filmmakers who want a professional caliber tool, changes have to be made to Nikon’s video. There’s a reason that major motion pictures like the latest Terminator movie are using Canon DSLR’s for video and not Nikons.

Read the full post here.

Introducing the J-Rod CUBE Solution

We've previously introduced you to KobreGuide sponsor Jeff Rhode, creator of the J-Rod videocamera mounting systems that will dramatically improve your shooting experience. Jeff just alerted us to a new product in his line that sounds worthy of your consideration, the J-Rod CUBE:

I have a brand new bracket called The J-Rod CUBE which will allow a microphone and a radio receiver to be mounted on your camera and leave a shoe open for a light, flash, hard disc, or extra receiver. I am really excited about this mount, and think it will be a great solution for a mounting problem that many people have. This is an awesome solution for HDSLR cameras like the Canon 5D Mark II, 1D MkIV, 7D, Rebel T1i, Rebel XSi, Nikon D300, D3S, or D90. Additionally if you have a video camera such as the Canon GL1, GL2, or the Sony FX1 or VX2100 that has a shoe mount, but no mic clamp, this is for you!

Check it out here ... and tell him Kobre sent ya!