Full manual control for the Canon 5dmk2 on the 2nd June! Also H264 native editing coming to FCP7?

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We have all been begging for it and it seems Canon are going make us all very happy! Full manual control. That’s right, aperture, shutter and ISO with new firmware in early June. Can’t wait. I can now buy some Canon lenses and take advantage of all the features they can offer me!

Fantastic news! Shame no mention of 24p yet!!

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Other great news, although still just a strong rumour is the new version of Final Cut Pro will allow native editing of H264 files, what the 5dmk2 shoots, as easy as any other quicktime format. This is great news!

This is from the UK press release:

Canon Enables Manual Exposure in Video on

EOS 5D Mark II

LONDON, UK, 27th May 2009: Canon announced today it will release a firmware

update for the EOS 5D Mark II allowing users to manually control exposure when

shooting video. The new firmware will be available for download from 2 June 2009 on

Canon Europe’s support web site.

Following the launch of the EOS 5D Mark II in September 2008, Canon’s Research and

Development team has listened closely to customer feedback to develop additions to

the camera’s movie recording functionality.

Allowing EOS 5D Mark II owners to achieve even more stunning video results with the

camera, the firmware update will include the following manual controls when shooting

video:

• Full aperture selection

• ISO speed: Auto, 100 – 6400 and H1

• Shutter speed: 1/30th – 1/4000th second

The EOS 5D Mark II integrates full HD movie capability into a high-end 21.1 Megapixel

camera; opening a multitude of new possibilities for photo-journalists and news

photographers. Since its launch the camera has proved its appeal to professionals

working in diverse fields, from studio and wedding to nature and travel. Now,

following customer feedback, Canon has improved functionality for professional video

users, further unleashing the potential of the EOS 5D Mark II for cinematographers and

photographers alike.

The below text is from http://www.canonrumors.com/2009/05/h264-realtime-editing-coming-cr1/

Native 5D Mark II Video

“Folks. I think I have been sitting on this news long enough. As you all know, one of the most frustration thing about video editing in HD is that you can never work directly with the original clips without some serious performance hit and frame skipping.

The solution to this issue, so far, has been to either use proxies or transcode the clip into a format that can be rendered in real time (ex: ProRes 422). Each of these solutions has a disadvantage. Proxies add complexity to the workflow (I wish Premiere or FCP would handle them like After Effects does) and if you transcode to another codec, you are losing some image quality (they don’t handle the color the same way). The lost might be minimal but it is there. That is why some people just keep editing in H.264 and accept the ever present render bar as a necessary evil.

Well, it is time to rejoice because very soon all of these issues are going to be history! I have learned that the next version of Quicktime (coming with Snow Leopard) is going to allow real time editing of the Canon 5DMrkII H.264 clips!”

Thanks to SERKOART® for the tipoff twitter.com/mobile_divide

18 comments

  1. With this news, now I will buy the 5D Mk2!

    An unrelated question: does anyone know if I can hook up an external NTSC focus assist monitor on the HDMI output of a European model 5D Mk2? Or can I only use PAL monitors?

  2. Just FYI: AVC is just another name for H.264 (aka MPEG-4 Part 10), just like AAC is just another name for the MPEG-4 audio format. AVCHD is the H.264 codec used with an MPEG-4 movie at higher-than-SD resolution, hence AVCHD.

    I believe iMovie can edit this format already. Just because FCP adds it doesn’t necessarily mean it will be any less processor intensive. It’s a long-GOP codec like MPEG-2 / HDV except that it’s a much more advanced codec and therefore much more intensive to rebuild the missing frames on the fly.

  3. I’m so happy about this and can’t wait to update my firmware. Great news about FCP7 too but how did you know? I am really gagging to find out more about FCS3 but will have to wait till Snow Leopard I’m sure. I have been counting on it arriving next month? Any ideas on arrival dates?

    Kaveh.

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