5DMK3 Video Zoom

[jeffdo]

Is the video digital zoom of the T3I possible on the 5DMK3? I know it's mostly a gimmick feature and probably not right for the audience of this camera but curious.

[bp]

no, the mk3 doesn't do digital crop zoom

[LetTheRightLensIn]

Is the video digital zoom of the T3I possible on the 5DMK3? I know it's mostly a gimmick feature and probably not right for the audience of this camera but curious.

It's no gimmick, sadly it lacks it. It's really a shame it didn't have a 2x2 blocked 1.6x cropped mode. GH2 has a super useful zoom mode, the nikons have zoom modes. They are fantastic for wildlife, for one. But for whatever reason, Canon is the maker who left it out.
 

[Matthew19]

The lack of this feature was a deal breaker for me. Think of how us full a prime would be if you could do a 1.6x and a 2x crop like the D4. The Magic Lantern guys (Alex) told me that this feature is hidden and locked in the 60D, maybe its the same with the mkiii and a firmware update fix is int he future.

[jeffdo]

Is the video digital zoom of the T3I possible on the 5DMK3? I know it's mostly a gimmick feature and probably not right for the audience of this camera but curious.

It's no gimmick, sadly it lacks it. It's really a shame it didn't have a 2x2 blocked 1.6x cropped mode. GH2 has a super useful zoom mode, the nikons have zoom modes. They are fantastic for wildlife, for one. But for whatever reason, Canon is the maker who left it out.

Yeah I thought it was a really cool feature myself, someone else blasted me over it on another forum though. I guess I can hope if they do a 7d mark2 they include it there.

[NAshby]

It's a shame they didn't add it since when shooting video it's the quickest way to make sure you have critical focus if you lack a HD monitor on your rig.

~Nathan Ashby
Photography Apprentice Coordinator
http://www.brovadoweddings.com/blog/photography-apprentice/

[bp]

It's a shame they didn't add it since when shooting video it's the quickest way to make sure you have critical focus if you lack a HD monitor on your rig.

Huh?  Not sure I'm following this.

They did (of course) still add the ability to look at 10x magnification in live view to check focus.   You just can't record at that magnification.  The T2i/T3i have the ability to record a low resolution video using only the center portion of the sensor, which is what the OP is referring to.  Some HD purists call it "gimmicky" primarily because it only records in standard definition, not 1080 or 720, so they find it to be useless for their highbrow purposes.   I've played with it on my T2i, it's pretty impressive - I could see inside the eyes of a spider whose body was about as big as a grain of rice

I was surprised to see that my 5d3 didn't have that feature - although I probably wouldn't ever attempt to use it in a professional shoot due to the poor resolution, it would still be fun to play with.   Which may be why Canon decided to leave it out - just one more "silly feature" for the stills-only crowd to gripe about having to pay for

Are you talking about switching recording modes just to check focus?

[JasonATL]

The T2i/T3i have the ability to record a low resolution video using only the center portion of the sensor, which is what the OP is referring to.  Some HD purists call it "gimmicky" primarily because it only records in standard definition, not 1080 or 720, so they find it to be useless for their highbrow purposes.

bp is correct. The 5D does have the 5x and 10x "zoom to focus" feature. But you can't record this. I understood the OP to be asking about recording, not punching in for focus.

Just to clarify: The 550D/T2i does not record the zoomed/cropped video at HD resolution. However, the 600D/T3i DOES. The T3i has a digital zoom feature that essentially uses a cropped part of the sensor, effectively zooming in. This is recorded at "full resolution." Indeed, the 3x zoom is actually a bit higher resolution than the T3i not zoomed in (both record at 1920x1080 but their actual resolutions are in the neighborhood of 1600x900). Because the sensor is not downscaling, the zoom feature also eliminates moire - a very nice feature to have sometimes.

[LetTheRightLensIn]

It's a shame they didn't add it since when shooting video it's the quickest way to make sure you have critical focus if you lack a HD monitor on your rig.

Huh?  Not sure I'm following this.

They did (of course) still add the ability to look at 10x magnification in live view to check focus.   You just can't record at that magnification.  The T2i/T3i have the ability to record a low resolution video using only the center portion of the sensor, which is what the OP is referring to.  Some HD purists call it "gimmicky" primarily because it only records in standard definition, not 1080 or 720, so they find it to be useless for their highbrow purposes.   I've played with it on my T2i, it's pretty impressive - I could see inside the eyes of a spider whose body was about as big as a grain of rice

I was surprised to see that my 5d3 didn't have that feature - although I probably wouldn't ever attempt to use it in a professional shoot due to the poor resolution, it would still be fun to play with.   Which may be why Canon decided to leave it out - just one more "silly feature" for the stills-only crowd to gripe about having to pay for

Are you talking about switching recording modes just to check focus?

They could do 1.6x crop mode at full 1920x1080p using 2x2 blocking as the C300 does, it would probably be even sharper than the main video mode. A HUGE shame they didn't do this. And even the line-skipped 640x480 center mode would've been nice too.

Video wasn't the place to playing tricks and leaving things for the future or for high-end cinema EOS, the 5 series is where they had the revolution.

[LetTheRightLensIn]

The T2i/T3i have the ability to record a low resolution video using only the center portion of the sensor, which is what the OP is referring to.  Some HD purists call it "gimmicky" primarily because it only records in standard definition, not 1080 or 720, so they find it to be useless for their highbrow purposes.

bp is correct. The 5D does have the 5x and 10x "zoom to focus" feature. But you can't record this. I understood the OP to be asking about recording, not punching in for focus.

Just to clarify: The 550D/T2i does not record the zoomed/cropped video at HD resolution. However, the 600D/T3i DOES. The T3i has a digital zoom feature that essentially uses a cropped part of the sensor, effectively zooming in. This is recorded at "full resolution." Indeed, the 3x zoom is actually a bit higher resolution than the T3i not zoomed in (both record at 1920x1080 but their actual resolutions are in the neighborhood of 1600x900). Because the sensor is not downscaling, the zoom feature also eliminates moire - a very nice feature to have sometimes.

yeah it's truly astonishing they left it out of the 5D3

add a crisp 1.6x crop mode, a full zoom mode with max res and they'd be getting raves from all the video bloggers instead of extremely mixed reviews

[Mt Spokane Photography]

4X Digital Zoom.  Read all about it 
 
http://en.akihabaranews.com/110923/toy/thanko-releases-its-mini-canon-5d-mk-iii-clone-with-the-mame-cam-xl-dslr

[peederj]

Just to clarify: The 550D/T2i does not record the zoomed/cropped video at HD resolution. However, the 600D/T3i DOES. The T3i has a digital zoom feature that essentially uses a cropped part of the sensor, effectively zooming in. This is recorded at "full resolution." Indeed, the 3x zoom is actually a bit higher resolution than the T3i not zoomed in (both record at 1920x1080 but their actual resolutions are in the neighborhood of 1600x900). Because the sensor is not downscaling, the zoom feature also eliminates moire - a very nice feature to have sometimes.

Yes it is quite possible the humble t3i in 3x mode is recording a better resolution than the 5d3. I confirmed the lack of moire days after the T3i shipped. I would like to do that test given I now have one of each and lenses capable of the task but I need to figure out how exactly to do it and get some time on my hands. But that will be absolutely explosive if it comes out that last year's Rebel does better video than the 5d3. The Rebel at least has the zoom feature which the 5d3 hasn't. I think the next Rebel will have even more features the 5d3 hasn't and Canon is going to be seen as saying "you either buy our most expensive (C300) or our cheapest (Rebel) but we don't want you buying anything in between for video! Go away!"

[Axilrod]

Yes it is quite possible the humble t3i in 3x mode is recording a better resolution than the 5d3. I confirmed the lack of moire days after the T3i shipped. I would like to do that test given I now have one of each and lenses capable of the task but I need to figure out how exactly to do it and get some time on my hands. But that will be absolutely explosive if it comes out that last year's Rebel does better video than the 5d3. The Rebel at least has the zoom feature which the 5d3 hasn't. I think the next Rebel will have even more features the 5d3 hasn't and Canon is going to be seen as saying "you either buy our most expensive (C300) or our cheapest (Rebel) but we don't want you buying anything in between for video! Go away!"

Uhhhh I wouldn't count on it.  And who cares if it is higher res at 3x crop?  Good luck getting any wide shots in that mode.  And I'm sure it may appear to be "higher res" to some people simply because there is more detail when you're zoomed in a ridiculous amount. 

[JasonATL]

Yes it is quite possible the humble t3i in 3x mode is recording a better resolution than the 5d3. I confirmed the lack of moire days after the T3i shipped. I would like to do that test given I now have one of each and lenses capable of the task but I need to figure out how exactly to do it and get some time on my hands. But that will be absolutely explosive if it comes out that last year's Rebel does better video than the 5d3. The Rebel at least has the zoom feature which the 5d3 hasn't. I think the next Rebel will have even more features the 5d3 hasn't and Canon is going to be seen as saying "you either buy our most expensive (C300) or our cheapest (Rebel) but we don't want you buying anything in between for video! Go away!"

That's quite a leap, Peederj. I've done the tests and the 5D3 kicks the T3i's ass, zoomed in or not. Plus, the T3i's resolution at 3x zoom is only barely better than at no zoom (I think it is on the order of 25-50 more pixels in width and height that is being taken from the sensor in crop mode -- you can check the Magic Lantern code to see the actual resolutions).

You can see all of the resolution tests (e.g., 5D3 vs. 600D/T3i and T3i zoomed and not zoomed) on my Vimeo page: https://vimeo.com/album/1866033.

[peederj]

I didn't know you had already done the test Jason thanks. I just thought it was possible if Canon was intentionally crippling the resolution that they may have forgotten to when they added the zoom feature.