His words: “Do the math! You know, none of us have 50 thousand dollars laying around, maybe 2 in the audience do, but I can take a lot more of the cameras on the right than I can of the cameras on the left, that’s why it becomes much more versatile.”



I feel like Canon wants to sell their dslrs in a way that is very misleading.The Phantom model shown in that slide was a highspeed camera that records 1500fps uncompressed 1080p to be exact.

"Seb" completely missed the point - I was showing that while a Canon w/ all of the kit may be intimidating - all motion pictures can look intimidating.

- @Vincentlaforet

Since getting the AF101 I hardly flipped the mirror on my 5DmkII. I'm using it as what it's meant to be - a still camera.

[...]

Another thing that's great, when having a video camera, is you don't have to get all of the things you need on a DSLR. All by itself the AF101 is a one box solution. Just peeking inside my numerous boxes of things reveals what hassles I've gone through to get DSLR to work like I want them to.

DSLRs are far from dead

[...] there’s no denying the buzz of 18 months ago has receded. Large sensor filmmaking has been subsumed into the grand melée of filmmaking in general, closing the gap between the haves and the have nots, a much needed kick of adrenaline to an industry that was innovating far too slowly.

So that brings me to the final point of this slightly meandering post. It’s time to say goodbye to this blog as a DSLR beast. The grind and graft of finding something new to say about this funny little community of ours really isn’t that much fun anymore. I’d rather talk about filmmaking.

I guess this is as good a time as any to announce my retirement from the DSLR blogging scene. Been fun gang, but this dog is moving on

@elskidblog

Different - very different. I'd take a Canon HDDSLR over an AF-100 anyday in terms of IMAGE purely.

-@vincentlaforet

Rather than “killing” the HDSLR, it seems the large sensor HDSLR market has been killing the prosumer video camera market. They’ve stepped up and noticed. They’re taking on the best of the DSLR features and are crafting cheaper video cameras with DSLR sensors in order to be competitive in the low budget cinematic market.

If you want everything in one package, and you can afford it, then the Sony FS100 may be the camera you should use. If you’re on a budget or prefer the smaller form factor of a DSLR, use it. Nearly twenty percent of the films at 2011 Sundance were shot on DSLRs. They’re not going away. Not even close.

For me NAB 2011 marks the moment when even some DSLR advocates upped sticks and realised that there was no such thing as a 'DSLR shooter', that 'timelapses were all a cliche' and that 'gear tests are irrelevant'.

'DSLR shooter' is just as valid as 'documentary filmmaker', 'video journalist' or 'sci-fi filmmaker'. For the zero budget indie film community DSLRs have come to mean a certain thing.

large sensor - shallow depth of field

small size - makes for guerrilla shooting

lower cost - though only if you don't buy lots of accessories!

References

Using a DSLR to shoot video? That's so 2010! DSLR's are dead; they were pronounced dead at NAB 2011!Its ironic really; 2010 had been "the year of DSLRs" at NAB, but this year everyone agreed that their moment had passed. Attention moved to the large sensor video cameras; from the expensive RED's and Alexa's, to the more price conscious Sony, Sony, and PanasonicNot everyone was happy about this change, but before we get to that, let's review how we got here.It's hard to believe that it was less than three short years ago, in August 2008, that Nikon announced the, a DSLR with a 720p HD video mode. Just a month later, Canon announced the, which captured 1920 x 1080 HD video. Canon had added the video capability because of requests from the Associated Press and other news organizations, who wanted their news photographers to be able to shoot short video clips for use on the web.Canon was surprised - maybe even shocked - by the excitement generated whenshort "appeared on the web. He'd shot it over the course of a weekend using a borrowed prototype he wasn't supposed to have seen and he literally begged them to let him use it.While the Nikonwas - just - first, it's lower resolution, less sensitive chip, and more obvious rolling shutter issues meant that it didn't get the attention thedid.Thewasn't perfect by any means. Originally it shot at only 30fp; it wasn't even 29.97 to match video's frame rate. BUT, it had a really large sensor, making it possible to do dramatic shallow depth of field effects, and produced amazing pictures in low light. The commonly used video cameras - like the Sony- have 1/2" sensors which have a diagonal length of 8mm; while the's 35mm Full Frame sensor is 43mm across the diagonal.Cinematographers likequickly started using theto produce spectacular shorts and demos, and in a comparatively short period of time, it was adopted by indie filmmakers, used on the TV seriesto shoot plates and other effect shots, and was even used to shoot the opening sequences for last season of. Perhaps the peak came when thewas used to shoot an entire episode of the TV seriesMost people recognize that DSLR's, while they are comparatively inexpensive and offer some advantages over traditional video cameras, still have many limitations; they can be difficult to hand hold, monitor, focus, and record audio. In short, for the video shooter they are a great imager in the wrong package.With the Canon DSLRs enjoying remarkable success, speculation arose in late 2009 that Canon would put out a "true" video camera with a large sensor, and many wondered when companies like Sony would come out with a video camera with a large sensor? Most theories were that the video division's of those companies didn't want these DSLR cameras to kill their regular video camera business.After several months where it was thought that Canon would release a new video camera, there was some surprise when the Canonwas announced last year and they did not use a large sensor.When Panasonic finally rolled out the- a large sensor camera in a more traditional video camera package - people whispered that it was a DSLR killer. While the picture quality wasn't considerably better than the DSLRs, many professionals started to move to the, though not always eschewing their DSLRs.Then Sony came out with theand - more recently - the. Sony hasn't officially said either camera is intended as a DSLR killer;described theas Sony's response to's and's buyers switching to DSLR's. Rather than intended to "kill" DSLRs, they are a defense move against the inroads that DSLRs were making.It's important to consider who has been buying DSLRs, and why.In one camp, you have people like, who prior to the arrival of the DSLR were shooting with a Sony, and using a Letusto create shallow depth of field. The ease with which you can create shallow-depth of field with the 5D sensor, and it's low-light performance were clearly what attracted Philip. But if thehad a similar sensor (i.e. theor,) would he rather use that, or a DSLR? It seems pretty clear that unless he needed to be really stealthy, he'd rather have a serious camera, and it's worth noting that he did just purchase aClearly Philip will continue to use DSLRs for time-lapse work, and for situations where small size is important, but otherwise, why would he want to use the? Maybe if the Canoncomes out with RAW capture and even better low-light performance he'll switch again, but for serious projects, why continue to use a DSLR?Alternatively, for the low-budget indie film maker, the DSLR's are still attractive; buy aand an inexpensive lens or two, and you can produce some outstanding visual work for less than the cost of thebody. You have to work a lot harder, but you can save money and make up for that savings through your hard work.Really, who was surprised that the DSLRs day in the sun was past? At NAB,ran a series of articles entitled "Death of HDSLR" even though the three parts were a somewhat less than coherent argument; grouping together two digital recorders and the Sony. I'm not sure how the digital recorders spell the end of the DSLRWe also seem to be suffering from some internecine warfare. In a post originally titled "" [now titled ""]attook issue withcomparing a Canon DSLR to a Phantom camera.Vincent shot back viaTwitter:The DSLR community seems to be splintering intro three groups: those who are moving on, those who see it as continuing to be a viable - though limited - tool, and those that are mounting the ramparts in its defense.Those who are moving on, and don't regret packing away the DSLR include:atblog wrote an inflammatory post: "":, a self-described "professional stills photographer" writes atthat DSLRs for shooting motion are dead, though he then clarifies it by saying that for the cinema crew and the corporate video shooter, the DSLR is dead, but for stills photographers and for the Indie shooter:, (also known as), wrote after returning from NAB:and went on to announce that he's moving on, or at least the topic of his blog posts is changing:If many pros are eager to move on, some others are a little more circumspect.isn't exactly on record, but he did tweet:Similarly,after announcing his acquisition of adid tweet that he will continue to use DSLRs, though I wonder if it will be mostly for the beautiful time-lapses that he creates.And then there are those who are mounting a vigorous defense.atwrites:And points out that:atnoted:and adds:Is DSLR Shooter a category like documentary filmmaker, or an aesthetic, or is it just a gear label like "Sony Shooter" or "Canon Shooter?" And by the way, it's ironic that Andrew Reid could take a stand on people and labels; since at hiswebsite he's spent a lot of time recently bemoaning Canon and advocating for the PanasonicThe identifiable characteristics of the DSLR video shooter are:Of those, the small size and lower cost are the two characteristics not duplicated by the DSLR killers; the, and the slightly smallerBut really, was that all? Or was also a sense of excitement, experimentation and amazement, as people experimented and turned out amazing footage? Was it was also a little subversive? And like all subversive ideas, if they catch on, do they not become subsumed within the mainstream and lose some of their appeal?We may look at these cameras as DSLR killers, but really it was success that killed the DSLR. When everyone was doing it - when you go to an event and the only people shooting video are doing it with DSLRs, you know that the moment of the "new" has passed.And maybe that's what people are really mourning.