Will Head
Digital cameras have offered a movie mode in addition to still pictures pretty much since they were introduced. However, just because you could shoot video with a digital cameras, didn’t mean you should. The result tended to be low resolution, low frame rate shots that weren’t really usable for anything other than watching back on a tiny camera screen.
As digital cameras have advanced, however, so have their video capture capabilities. Most offer some variety of HD video capture as well as multi-megapixel snaps, but Canon’s new Eos 550D (also called the Digital Rebel T2i in the US) offers high-quality video capture at an extremely affordable price.
Available from around £750 (£638 ex VAT) if you shop around, the 550D doesn’t just record in high definition, it offers a range of picture sizes and frame rates. It will capture 1080p (1920 x 1080 pixels) content at either 24fps, 25fps or 30fps, and 720p (1280 x 720 pixels) at 50fps and 60fps, as well as VGA (640 x 480 pixels) at 50fps and 60fps.
The advantage of using a DSLR is that you can easily create effects using a short depth of field – for example, blurring out the background. Shooting at 24fps will give your movie a film look, while 25fps and 30fps mean you can use the footage in Pal or NTSC projects without a problem.
That’s not to say the Eos 550D isn’t without its problems when it comes to capturing video: it’s very good, but it’s not perfect, so it won’t be suitable for all projects.
Video is captured in H.264 format with uncompressed audio and stored on an SD card. Canon recommends using Class 6 or higher cards, due to the high data-transfer rate involved for high-definition video.
Perhaps the first limitation you’re likely to run into is the record time. You can only capture 29 minutes and 59 seconds or 4GB of data, whichever comes first. That works out at 12min for either 1080p or 720p video or 24min for VGA resolution. When the camera hits this limit, it stops recording, rather than starting another file so if you’re working in HD, you have to be sure nothing that you’re filming will last longer than 12 minutes.
Focusing is also a bit of an issue when it comes to video. You can use the autofocus capability, but you’ll need to activate it by half-pressing the shutter button. It’s not very fast and it’s pretty noisy, too – these are less of an issue for still shots but not exactly ideal for video. You can still focus manually, however.
One way to get around the focus sound issues is to use an external mic – there’s a 3.5mm socket on the side so you can plug one in. While the mic socket is a welcome addition, there’s no way to adjust the audio levels and no headphone socket for monitoring. It’s more a case of crossing your fingers and hoping the results are fine when you get the content onto your Mac.
Once you’ve finished shooting, you’ll need a fairly powerful Mac if you want to edit the files produced. The 550D produces QuickTime files encoded using the H.264 codec, which means the results don’t take up too much space, but they’re not particularly suitable for editing directly.
On a 2.8GHz Core 2 Duo MacBook Pro with 4GB of Ram, the clips dropped into Final Cut without a problem and largely played back smoothly, although there was the odd dropped frame here and there.
If you’re using a less-powerful Mac, then you’ll need to transcode the files to a more edit-friendly format before you start chopping them around, which obviously takes time and potentially reduces the quality in the process. Canon has made a plug-in for Final Cut that lets you use the Log and Transfer feature to transcode clips from Eos 1D Mark IV, Eos 5D Mark II and Eos 7D cameras. However it doesn’t support the 550D as standard. If you follow the instructions from Nathan Beaman at Final Cut User (finalcutuser.com/?p=1829), you can manually add support for the 550D by simply editing one file in a text editor. Final Cut will now recognise files created by the 550D and let you transcode them to ProRes or Apple Intermediate format.
You can download the Eos Movie Plug-in-E1 by following the instructions on the following page on Canon’s website: usa.canon.com/dlc/controller?act=GetArticleAct&articleID=3249.
Switching over to Premiere Pro CS4, there’s no problem importing footage, but playback is severely limited – it can only manage the first second or so of a clip before grinding to a halt. Using the newly released Premiere Pro CS5 was a huge improvement, with the ability to play back and scrub through clips without a problem.
The 550D is a stills camera first and foremost, but despite the glitches mentioned here, its video capture capabilities are impressive, especially given its price. It gives you a lot of control over your shots and lets you create effects that would be difficult using a dedicated camcorder.
If you mostly shoot live action, then the audio and file size limitations mean you’re probably best sticking to a normal camcorder. However, if you’re creating something more arty or want more control over specific shots that you’ll use in conjunction with a normal camcorder, then the Eos 550D has a lot to offer for the money.
