Tinky said:
Autofocus and contiguous moving pictures do not mix.
Autofocus can be as precise as is scientifically and technically possible, it can be as seemingly instantaneous as one could want.
On a consumer small sensor camcorder you might just get away with it for most of the time. On a large sensor with fast lenses you will not.
I'm appalled at the arrogance of stills users who think they can become cameramen by virtue of hitting record.
The apparatus may be identical, the terminology may be similar, but they are worlds apart in terms of technique and approach.
I've spent 20 years as a hobby photographer and I think I'm at a stage where I'm alright. I've worked professionally in video for 12 years and did a university degree then a 2 year vocational course after that.
I would never consider doing stills and video on the same job (i'd be unlikely to do stills on any job unless as an unpaid favour) they are totally different.
The folks who think AF will solve their issues aren't even scratching the surface.
^^This. If you're worrying about video (which means running sound as well as image) you're not taking stills at the same time. You just can't do both justice on your own. In fact just doing the image and audio simultaneously is bad enough, which is why most video crews will have at least two people.
DSLRs have a place for video, and it includes niches such as crash cams (Mad max, Avengers etc - they're practically disposable, small and will be easier to match to your A/B cameras than a GoPro) and prosumer video where being able to spend money on one device that does still and moving images makes economic sense.
For most professional video though, I'd be hard pressed to choose a DSLR over a dedicated cinema camera, even an entry level model like a C100. The ergonomics, built in ND filters, and XLR inputs just make life so much easier than using a DSLR if you aren't on a big crew. And if you're on a big crew with a decent budget you should be able to use something in the FS7/C300 bracket. In 2008 that wasn't an option, you had the 5DM2 or a Red One. Now there are a range of dedicated cinema camera that fill most of those spaces.
As an aside, I've only ever had horror stories about the Blackmagic cameras from DoP's. So many people whose opinions I respect told me that they had bought the internet hype bought or rented one and ran screaming after they lost footage, crashed mid-take, or lacked basic features they'd assumed would be there that I've stopped paying much attention to their annual new camera announcements. And as someone who is mainly interested in documentary, the BMCs high ISO material looks awful compared to the competition. They make cameras which are adored by internet gearheads but appear hated by DoPs. Which seems to be the antithesis of Canon, who were told by hundreds of Internet experts that the C300/C100 would fail horribly as they were hopelessly underspecced, and yet both went on to sell very well and are still heavily used for tv.
