8 Reasons to Buy a DSLR for Video

Recently, I wrote “8 Reasons NOT to Buy a DSLR for Video“. This piece was written not as a malevolent piece meant to destroy the fledgling DSLR market. I do not work for RED or Arri and am not bent on forcing gear down anyone’s throats. Instead, I believe the best way to use a product is to better understand weaknesses, to better understand what it can’t do. Knowing what isn’t or shouldn’t be possible gives you the knowledge and drive to push boundaries, gaff tape impossible fixes together, and make art. Furthermore, there are undeniable problems with DSLR’s, especially for high-end digital video acquisition – these are deal breakers for some, others never notice. Regardless, by identifying and discussing these problems, we urge manufacturers to work towards solutions in their second and subsequent generation cameras. The hype is well deserved, but so are the critiques. In the end, these are all tools which matter far less than the artist behind them.

I own a Canon 7D and love it. For me and many others, DSLR’s offer a perfect combination of features and price point and while we may have gripes on their many real and occasionally serious problems, the fact is they are fantastic tools to help get from the vision to the screen.

1) Ergonomics – On both the lists, DSLR ergonomics are an incredible strength and weakness. The strength lies in the diminutive size and familiar photo shape of the cameras.  The size of DSLR’s are what has initially pushed them into the professional market. Sets that need Super35 imagers and above in small spaces can easily turn to DSLR’s which are pint-sized when compared to even the next smallest alternative.

This size, when combined with the camera housing, offer an additional and enormous advantage for documentary and guerrilla filmmakers. DSLR’s are still cameras and consequently look like still cameras and provided you aren’t using a full studio rig complete with rods, rails, mattebox, and every other piece of filmmaking paraphernalia you could latch on, it is assumed that when using them, you are in fact simply taking stills. What this means is that is far easier to capture surreptitious footage. This means filming on subways, with police or authorities present, where stills are allowed but video is not, and a myriad of other possibilities. This makes the DSLR the filmmaker’s clandestine weapon which when combined with the camera’s many other strengths, really give the guerrilla filmmaker a chance to grab shots which would otherwise be impossible without a big budget.

2) Depth of Field – I’m sure this will catch some flak from the flock of bokeh haters that roam about the twitter and blogoverse, but the ability to shoot with (often extreme) depth of field is one of the biggest draws of the DSLR’s. The smallest sensor of the pack is found in the Pansonic GH1 (and soon to be in the Panasonic AG-AF100) and is 4/3″, far larger than cameras like the Sony F950′s (modified to shoot Avatar among other features) 2/3″ chip. The APS-C cameras which include the Nikon D90, Canon 550d/T2i, and Canon 7D have sensors that rival the size of Super 35 film, the APS-H sensor in the Canon 1D MKIV offers even more focus area, and the master of the realm is the full frame 35mm sensor as found in the Canon 5D MKII with the largest sensor sub specialized cameras like those capable of VistaVision and IMAX.

These large sensors, as we all know after years of agonizing over 1/3″, 1/2″ and 2/3″ sensors, allow the shooter to obtain a shallow depth of field close to, the same as, or greater than 35mm film. Beyond 24p, this has been the holy grail of low-budget filmmakers for years as evidenced by the flood of 35mm adapters of both DIY and professional variants. In fact, the draw of film-like depth of field may be even greater than 24p. Thousands flocked to and filmed with the Canon 5D Mark II far before it was 24p capable, instead suffering through painful and convoluted workflows to get the 30.00 framerate the camera shot in to a more manageable 29.97 or 23.976.

Immediately following the release of the cameras, and continuing today, Vimeo and YouTube were flooded with new users shooting footage at f/1.4 and below with millimeter deep depth of field just because they could. This fetish was termed Bokake by Stu Maschwitz. Beneath is a beautiful example by Philip Bloom filmed with a Canon 5DM2.

I want to pause for a moment and remind both lovers and haters of extreme shallow DoF that just because a camera is capable of it, does not mean it is forced to shoot it exclusively. The cameras do benefit from less focus and definition as it helps to hide aliasing and moiré, but deep shots are possible and encouraged. If you’re going to push a tool, push it both ways. Don’t wear out the effectiveness of a shallow shot by making an entire “test” film filled with nothing but micro DoF. Shallow depth of field is just another tool in the cinematographer’s box to better tell a story. It is not a crutch or a gimmick to sell a shot or a product, an idea which cheapens the art.

3) Low Light - There is not a camera made that can touch video capable DSLR’s lowlight performance. There is no better illustration of this than the recent Zacuto Shootout part II which tested the high ISO capabilities of the Nikon D3s and Canon 1D MKIV (skip to around 14 minutes in to view the high ISO test). The Nikon D3s, in particular, was able to create usable, and some might even say clean, footage at ISO 10,000 and footage usable for documentary, journalism, and forensics work at ISO 102,000.

This does not mean you can shoot your indie project with no lights, it does not mean it’s time to fire your gaffer. What this does mean is that for shooter without options, those working live events and filming life unfurling before them, you don’t ever have to worry about low light ruining your shot. This is especially important for journalists and documentary makers who are often in situations where lights are not an option and may in fact be a danger. For them and others in similar situations, the lowlight capability when combined with the clandestine footprint and still photo disguise make DSLR’s a powerful tool to film the impossible, to capture what some wish to remain unseen.

While the D3s and the 1DM4 are almost magical in their lowlight capabilities, Stu Maschwitz tells how he was “giggling like a dork every time I pointed the camera down a dark street only to discover a supernova of illumination on the LCD” when testing a prototype version of the Canon 1D Mark IV discovering it could see far more in the dark than his own eyes, the other DSLR’s are all capable of incredible performance with a minimum amount of lighting. This ability has opened up vast new areas for filmmakers to experiment within: unlit alleys, dark warehouses, and empty city streets late at night no longer need banks of HMI’s to shoot a night scene. More flexible and faster is the promise of the DSLR lowlight capabilities.

Below is Nocturne, the film shot by Vincent Laforet, Stu Maschwitz, and David Nelson on that previously mentioned prototype Canon 1D Mark IV using solely available lighting (and a reflector).

4) Price – For me, the winning feature of DSLR’s and proof that the order of this list is arbitrary, as nothing can touch the lowlight of DSLR’s, nothing can touch the value. We can deride the codec, complain about the issues created by line skipping, rant about shutter rolling, but what other camera has a Super35 sensor with world-class lowlight, a 45mbps codec, and interchangeable lenses in an $800 body (as found in the Canon T2i/550d)? No camera has ever offered so much for so little. This is why the DSLR’s have captured our hearts, why Vimeo and Youtube are flooded with test films. A remarkably film-like image that is almost always more than enough spare the die-hard 4:4:4 and RAW purists is now available to anyone with a few hundred dollars before.

For years, every new development in the film industry, major or minor, has heralded “a new era in filmmaking” or been labeled “a game changer” unparalleled. DSLR’s, hyped as they are, are certainly deserving of this title. Independent and student filmmakers finally have access to a camera that can be easily mistaken for film to the untrained eye for a cost similar to a midrange prosumer camera. What these cameras, and the subsequent generations and hybrids they will spawn, promise for thousands of no and low-budget filmmakers and would-be directors and cinematographers the world around is democratized filmmaking – the look of the films they grew up watching in a camera and post workflow they can finally afford. For students of film, the opportunity to learn with the proper depth of field behavior, the possibility to change lenses to match the scene, and the many movement possibilities of the camera make them the perfect learning tool that can be purchased on a student’s budget.

The DSLR revolution is not a revolution of technology or of marketing, but rather a revolution of price, of making the dream of becoming a filmmaker universally accessible terrifying professionals and delighting hipsters the world over.

5) Photos – A fact easily forgotten once live mode is enabled, DSLR’s are first and foremost still photo cameras. For photography, there are no better, more versatile tools than SLR’s. While initially not important to the filmmaker, the ability of the camera to take print worthy still images is important. Would-be cinematographers can improve their knowledge of the manipulation of light with solely a photo camera, testing ideas, capturing setups, and preserving life for recreation on set. Directors can storyboard their film through on location photographs using the exact lenses and imager which will eventually capture the performances of the actors. VFX professionals have been using DSLR’s for years for plates and lighting. And not to be forgotten, you can simply use the cameras to photograph the world around you as they were originally intended to do.

Most intriguing, however for any red-blooded cinematographer should be the incredible imaging properties of these still photographs. 10 stops of dynamic range, full RAW files, 18MP or 21MP (~5.6K), and incredible detail that is lost on the line skipping and downresing the sensors must perform in order to capture video. The best use of this image prowess is timelapse. When combined with a relatively inexpensive intervalometer, the videos these cameras are capable of would feel right at home on an IMAX screen or airing on the BBC’s latest documentary. Below is an incredible set of timelapses by guru Tom Lowe shot on the Canon 5D Mark II.

It’s easy to forget the other (ironically intended) applications these cameras can have, so get creative and see how far you can push the tool and medium.

6) Lenses – Also on the other list of 8 Reasons NOT to Buy a DSLR for Video, still lenses are a huge advantage of these cameras. While not the quality of cinema specific glass, still photography lenses are (relatively) affordable and come in a huge variation of focal lengths, apertures, and builds. Numerous 3rd party manufacturers, decades of research and development, and a health market of 3rd part adapters give you access to years of glass and thousands of options. Everything from normal lenses to tiltshifts, fisheyes, and super telephotos are covered and in ready to supply. Furthermore, the standard lens kit of always necessary, high quality glass can run as low as $500 – $2500 purchased, not rented. If you choose to rent, lenses do not cost hundreds of dollars a day but rather ~$40 for three days plus shipping from a variety of online lens rental companies who ship your orders right to your door. There is no excuse to be caught without a necessary lens for a shoot with so many inexpensive and readily available options open to the filmmaker.

7) Media - Film is a pain to buy, load, develop, and store. Tapes aren’t much better (though storage is fantastic). I’m a total convert to the tapeless workflow following P2, then SxS, and now Compact Flash and SDHC/SDXC. For the cash-strapped would-be filmmaker, DSLR’s possess the ideal recording media: compact flash or SDHC/SDXC (depending on the camera). Cheap, reliable, fast enough, and available in large capacity and growing (SDXC is capable of up to 2TB) these flash media cards are a welcome alternative to the cringe-inducing price of P2 or SxS cards. Granted, both P2 and SxS are extremely reliable and blazing fast, but for the budget filmmaker, journalist, or documentarian, CF and SD cards are a sweet point of price and perfomance, much like the DSLR’s which use them.

8 ) Magic – No, it’s not a copout. I did not throw this in here to get to eight reasons (which is an oddly arbitrary number anyway). Magic, instead, is why we’re all (well, mostly all) in love with these little cameras that could. Magic is why these cameras have found their way onto sets to be used next to 35mm film and even replacing it in some instances. Magic is why there are tens-of-thousands of posts in thousands of forums and blogs arguing the merits and failings of these humble tools. Magic is why we all say “Wow” when watching Philip Bloom’s latest film.

I’ve seen it happen hundreds of times to both people with years of technical knowledge and those who camp out for Twilight and Transformers 2. When the footage from these tiny cams plays on their monitor, their television set, or the theatre screen they smile and sit back, pupils wide, palms sweaty, overcome with “it” – that peculiar quality with which these DSLR’s paint light.

The air around these diminutive digital cameras is one filled with fear and excitement. Fear of a changing industry, lost jobs, and the democratization of knowledge and ability. Excitement for the images, the price, and what is now possible. In the end, I hasten to remind all the readers who have made it this far that cinema is story and the images exist to further this. We can all make test films and fluff our reels, but filmmaking is telling a story and cinematography is the art of creating the world, the character, the situation, the event, the subtext, and the meaning with nothing more than light. I believe John Boorman said that filmmaking is the process of turning money into light, but it doesn’t stop there. Filmmaking is turning money into light, light into magic, and magic into dreams and as filmmakers, we bring those dreams to life.

~David Torcivia