Seriously... has Canon introduced full-time AF (autofocus) during video shooting starting from 5D Mark III ? I have been longing for this feature for a couple years now.
I highly doubt it, there are too many situations that you would want manual control for that. I do suspect there are some video features that we don't know about just yet, as the spec list didn't talk much about that aspect of it.
OK. Having the feature and not using it is fine. But not offering the feature is a total different story. Just think how seldom you have been switching to manual. I guess most people stay on AF most of the time.
And the argument would be while all point-and-shoots, Micro 4/3s, and Nikon have it for a couple years, why is Canon not offering it?
hows this for food for thought... Lets say they get it in there... it's finicky, but it's there... Lets say you are filming your kids recital or even better, lets say you film your kids graduation outdoors... the kid is walking across the stage, all of a sudden a bird flys by, the AF freaks out, focuses on the new object, you lose focus that critical moment, then it's over... I've seen a lot of video cameras that do continuous AF do just this... The noise and grumblings about the feature would be so great it would be deafening... And secondly, the 60D, 7d, 5d2, etc... when you have IS lenses, you can hear the freaking IS buzzing in your shots... if you have regular lenses, you're going to hear whirling of the lens, even USM has some movement noise, all that's going to be picked up by the video feed... so unless you then have an external mic or get rid of all on board mic audio, it creates more havoc then good. In theory it sounds good, but this camera, in particular, is geared for pro's and semi pros and advanced amateurs... Even the weakest indi shooter wants their own control. If you want a dumbed down video camera, buy a $200 walmart special.
Again, you are thinking in a pro-Canon way.
I have been using a Canon T1i with MF video of my kid. You wouldn't understand how hard it has been.
Don't find birds flying through as an excuse because there are no birds in 99% of the time.
Yes I am a pro shooter and "pro" canon, and I fully understand where you're getting at... I'm just explaining there are more liabilities and roadblocks that is to be hand, let alone the fact that it can go through more lenses AF motors even more quickly and depending on the lens, it could be more bad than good. Canon TYPICALLY dont half a$$ things and if there is something that could cause them any more bad press, they may be more inclined to not partake.
Although knowing advantages, I'm not sure if I would use it at all in fact. Why? Because it should be really much better than manual (if you know howto).
1 - battery use. Imagine IS and USM working constantly.
2 - quality of it. Will it work really fine with narrow DOF without constant hunting?
3 - neccessity. There are indeed rather rare cases, where it would help me and not disturb. In most cases maybe not bird but there is always something (person, dog, wall, etc.) what would make AF out.
I find high ISO more important and for this I'd pay. Why? Yo can close lens a bit, get wider DOF and don't care. If you wish great control of focus with lens open, then better do it with manual focus with viewfinder on a screen.
Presetting focus distances (like D.Sim) mentioned makes more sense for me as well.
Just my 2c.
