A grateful end to the DSLR video "revolution"

[gibbygoo]

I saw this on a video production forum in my home town. Not sure if I agree with it all, but it sure gave me a chuckle. Enjoy:


Too bad, Canon. Sony (and panny to some extent) beat you to it. The big-sensor pro video cams are upon us. The DSLR is now in its rightful place--as a consumer toy for "aspiring" whatevers to pretend they are video professionals.

As soon as the 5d2 splashed (or even before), Canon should have gone into overdrive to bring the large sensor to the professional video market. Now they're just playing catchup (assuming they're even playing). Unfortunately, now we've got this uneducated client base who see all the pretty shallow dof clips of flowers and sunsets and closeups of people smoking to some funky soundtrack on vimeo. Only catch is, they have ZERO awareness of just how comically inadequate these contraptions are as production video cameras.

Go ahead, tell me how I'm wrong, and the DSLR revolution is still upon us. The truth is that persistent ignorance of the now well-documented "shortcomings" have created a chaotic marketplace in which any photo-joe now thinks he can handle a professional, commercial-grade video project because he has a $800 toy and learned imovie on his mac mini. Yeah, you know who you are. You're the same bottom feeders who charge $200 to shoot a wedding with your nifty new "professional" camera and single on-camera speedlite.

Consider: I just lost a job to some doofus who (for 1/8th the price of my bid) shot a series of 16 dirt-bike tests over three days. The job called for on-camera interviews, run-and-gun captures and a few other requirements. The end result is now scattered on vimeo (with glowing comments to boot). No nat sound of course. Just some pirated commercial soundtrack, a circus of half-assed pull-focusing, seizure-inducing moire patterns and jello cam up the wazoo. All beautifully titled in a canned, comical spinning serif font. The client called me, actually, TO APOLOGIZE for their ignorance and greed. But they had already re-allocated their budget. I have no idea if I'll ever land a contract with them in the future. They were pretty sour about video projects of any kind.

Oh, you want your car engine rebuilt? Forget the trained mechanic down the street. Go to my buddy. He does good engine repair. He just bought a new engine repair kit that is all the rage right now.

Oh, you want a tummy-tuck? Forget the ..... oh... blah....

My biggest complaint about the new large sensor cams (hs100.af100.f3) is that they don't cost enough to keep out the riffraff. Now my marketing costs are going through the roof just so I can convince my current and prospective clients that there is still a huge diff between professional visual arts and fly-by-night hobbyists.

Anyway, hats off to Sony, especially, for the F3. (Jury is still out on the NEXFS.) Between a super 35 sensor and my workhorse ex1r, I think I'm set for the foreseeable future. As long as I can afford to stay in business as the overpriced a-hole who doesn't appreciate the "game-changer" of DSLR technology. (Yeah thanks "Reverie," thanks a lot. Can't wait to see the next gen of redrock micro/zacuto frankenstein rigs on your blog. Freaking joke.)

 

[traveller]

You sound like you're very bitter with the world right now.

It's getting ever more difficult to justify charging professional prices in a world that is flooded with cheap equipment and jonny-come-latelys. I really feel for all out there who are trying to make a living out of photography and videography, but venting you spleen on forums is not going to get you business. Focus your energy on marketing your business to people who can afford the prices you need to charge; justify to them why it is worth paying for someone who knows what they're doing.

I'm not a pro, so I won't presume to offer you any advice on this other than recommending you read some of Keith Cooper's thoughts:

http://www.northlight-images.co.uk/stuff/

Good luck, it's a hard market out there right now. I have a friend who is struggling to make ends meet with commercial clients, who are reluctant to pay out for professional photography in the current climate.

 

[motorhead]

Gibbygoo,

I have to say I agree with every word you've written. The dSLR video was never going to be more than the latest gimmick. Real professionals will always want the proper kit and be prepared to pay for it.

The skills required to plan, shoot and then edit together a good film are very different to those we still photographers practise and I really don't see anyone being good at both. And thats before we start to consider the soundtrack, which is a whole other skill set all of its own.

But there does seem to be a dumbing down of skills. I watched a recorded TV programme of the British Superbikes at Croft a week or so ago and the whole thing was a complete mess from beginning to end. Remember this was not live, the producers had time to have cleaned up the footage and get a sense of watching a battle at the front develop, instead all we got was the handheld cameras waving around after every bike. The result was we learnt nothing at all. Thats without the hysterics of the commentators!

 

[JDMism]

You two realize that Gibbygoo actually didn't write this? :-\

 

[DuLt]

Isn't this something that has happened for ages now?

I saw a movie of a guy with a leica m9 taking pictures with the lens cap on! AND he didn't figured it out! He just kept refocusing.

When something becomes acessible to the masses quality drop big time, but that isn't all that bad.

Hollywood puts allot of cash into "hollywooddesk" productions but keeps the themes and content "safe" for audiences, they need to earn they money back.

Indie productions don't have to worry about the minimal quality to put out risky work, it's assured by these cheap cameras.

There will allways be tossers, there will be allways de jack-asses with pro gear calling themselves artists when they can't even think, that's 90% of the world, or more.

 

[DJL329]

You two realize that Gibbygoo actually didn't write this? :-\

Apparently not!

 

[foobar]

It's the same rant we're read from professional photographers 5 years ago when DLSRs went mainstream.
And that's the same rant we've heard from music producers 15 years ago when digital recording went mainstream.
...


Technology gets cheaper, that's just the way it is. Does the auther think the availability of cheap, large-sensor video cameras will solve his problem? Why should it? It's just another tool that used to cost five-digit sums and is now available for the masses. In fact, it will make his problem even worse.

The only way to differentiate from the crowd is by delivering high quality work and nothing else.

 

[lol]

There's two halves to that, the commercial side, and the technical side. On the technical side, the claim there is that Sony/Panasonic have jumped Canon in "affordable" big sensor video is partially right. The Panasonic AF100 is "only" a quarter the sensor area of a 5D2 so if you want the stronger shallow DoF effect, it is no substitute. The Sony F3 is more interesting I guess, but it is also over 5x the price of a 5D2. Fundamentally the 5D2 is still the only value really big sensor option around. But, there is at the end of the day a "good enough" sensor size argument too. In a similar way, APS-C is "good enough" for the majority of DSLR photographers, but that doesn't rule out the fewer cases where full frame is needed.

And in a case of possible optimism, who's to say Canon are not also working on their own interchangeable lens video big sensor camera? At the minimum they could just repack the 5D2 core into a better form factor. Maybe they're holding out for their next generation sensor to fix some of the shortcomings of existing sensors too.

 

[Gothmoth]

A grateful end to the DSLR video "revolution"

must be a prety lame loser that guy who wrote this.
whining about losing jobs...LOL... well let me tell you something.. if your GOOD you will always have clients.

The only way to differentiate from the crowd is by delivering high quality work and nothing else.

100% agree... unfortunately the guy who wrote it is unable as it seems.
it´s always the bad or mediocre artists who complain.

and thats because today his grandma can deliver the same quality with new technology has he could 5 years ago. that is frighten these guys.
they don´t evolve in their arts the same way technology does .... otherwise they would have no reason to complain.

why would somone complain that technology gets better and cheaper so everyone can use it?
todays 800$ "toy" cameras are better then the pro stuff we had years ago.

 

[NormanBates]

the revolution doesn't mean anybody can do it

what it means is that the difference between a pro and a wannabe is no longer the equipment, but the skills

 

[unfocused]

It's the same rant we're read from professional photographers 5 years ago when DLSRs went mainstream.
And that's the same rant we've heard from music producers 15 years ago when digital recording went mainstream.

It's also the same rant we read from painters when Daguerre announced his discovery.

I suspect that some monk somewhere in some monastery wrote a similar rant when he heard about Gutenberg. Probably a similar rant from the cuneiform union, when they found out about that cheap, amateurish papyrus.

 

[distant.star]

Adapt or perish. It has always been so, sort of a Darwinesque thing.

Complaining about that tribe over the hill using those new "spear" things instead of clubs to get their meat won't get you more meat.

If you want to do art, get yourself a patron and do art. If you want the masses to support you, mediocrity must be your master. This has never been more true than today when our society has elevated mediocrity itself to an art form.

 

[gene_can_sing]

The DSLR revolution is the BEST thing to ever happen to video. Why? Because it allows talent (and not just people with money) to rise to the top.

My day job is I'm a director and designer for multi-media based commercials and TV spots (generic label of Motion Graphics). Until the Macintosh became powerful enough to do this type of work, it was solely the domain of companies who could afford computers like the Inferno or Flame (250K +). But around 2000, the Macintosh, along with After Effects and affordable 3D programs came along, and all of a sudden everyone could do it. It was a revolution.

The result, a HUGE explosion in creativity and the BEST ARTISTS rose to the top, and that's how it SHOULD BE.

Even with all the cheap equipment and competition, I still make a very, very good living. Why? Because I'm good. it has nothing to do with equipment, strictly talent.

The DSLR revolution is the exact same thing. It's going to allow the VERY BEST to rise to the top. It's no longer about whether you can afford a RED, it's about how creative and good of an artist you are.

And just like Motion Graphics, the evolution of video is going to be the same thing. If you suck, you can no longer hide behind expensive equipment because everyone can now afford it. So you have be good because there are going to be tons of hungry, talented people chopping at your heels.

And the best people will always make good money and have a good career. Darwin's law applied to video.

The 5D3 (if it ever comes out) is not going anywhere. It's the only full-frame video camera, so it has a very special, artistic type look with it's very shallow DOF.

With that said, Canon truly BLEW IT! They could have owned this new market, but their conservative, glacial pace, allowed Sony and Panasonic to take over what was rightfully theirs. I'm baffled by Canon, because they had to be really stupid to lose that market, and they somehow did, or are well on the way to losing it. Canon as a company, truly baffles me. How you can blow something that was such a sure bet, is beyond comprehension.

 

[DuLt]

The DSLR revolution is the BEST thing to ever happen to video. Why? Because it allows talent (and not just people with money) to rise to the top.

My day job is I'm a director and designer for multi-media based commercials and TV spots (generic label of Motion Graphics). Until the Macintosh became powerful enough to do this type of work, it was solely the domain of companies who could afford computers like the Inferno or Flame (250K +). But around 2000, the Macintosh, along with After Effects and affordable 3D programs came along, and all of a sudden everyone could do it. It was a revolution.

The result, a HUGE explosion in creativity and the BEST ARTISTS rose to the top, and that's how it SHOULD BE.

Even with all the cheap equipment and competition, I still make a very, very good living. Why? Because I'm good. it has nothing to do with equipment, strictly talent.

The DSLR revolution is the exact same thing. It's going to allow the VERY BEST to rise to the top. It's no longer about whether you can afford a RED, it's about how creative and good of an artist you are.

And just like Motion Graphics, the evolution of video is going to be the same thing. If you suck, you can no longer hide behind expensive equipment because everyone can now afford it. So you have be good because there are going to be tons of hungry, talented people chopping at your heels.

And the best people will always make good money and have a good career. Darwin's law applied to video.

The 5D3 (if it ever comes out) is not going anywhere. It's the only full-frame video camera, so it has a very special, artistic type look with it's very shallow DOF.

With that said, Canon truly BLEW IT! They could have owned this new market, but their conservative, glacial pace, allowed Sony and Panasonic to take over what was rightfully theirs. I'm baffled by Canon, because they had to be really stupid to lose that market, and they somehow did, or are well on the way to losing it. Canon as a company, truly baffles me. How you can blow something that was such a sure bet, is beyond comprehension.

Has people mentioned, normaly the one's who complain are the one's that are bad, that had that job because they were the only one's with the equipment.

I see allot of "self-taught" "Pro's" with 5d markII, 24-70 F2.8 and 580 Flashes shooting weeding in full auto mode whose work isn't bad in the sense that the image is blurry or under/overexposed, but the image is so god awfully bland, cliché or "cheap" that makes their work bad, though most people wouldn't notice it.

 

[nex-s]

The DSLR revolution is the BEST thing to ever happen to video. Why? Because it allows talent (and not just people with money) to rise to the top.

My day job is I'm a director and designer for multi-media based commercials and TV spots (generic label of Motion Graphics). Until the Macintosh became powerful enough to do this type of work, it was solely the domain of companies who could afford computers like the Inferno or Flame (250K +). But around 2000, the Macintosh, along with After Effects and affordable 3D programs came along, and all of a sudden everyone could do it. It was a revolution.

The result, a HUGE explosion in creativity and the BEST ARTISTS rose to the top, and that's how it SHOULD BE.

Even with all the cheap equipment and competition, I still make a very, very good living. Why? Because I'm good. it has nothing to do with equipment, strictly talent.

The DSLR revolution is the exact same thing. It's going to allow the VERY BEST to rise to the top. It's no longer about whether you can afford a RED, it's about how creative and good of an artist you are.

And just like Motion Graphics, the evolution of video is going to be the same thing. If you suck, you can no longer hide behind expensive equipment because everyone can now afford it. So you have be good because there are going to be tons of hungry, talented people chopping at your heels.

And the best people will always make good money and have a good career. Darwin's law applied to video.

The 5D3 (if it ever comes out) is not going anywhere. It's the only full-frame video camera, so it has a very special, artistic type look with it's very shallow DOF.

With that said, Canon truly BLEW IT! They could have owned this new market, but their conservative, glacial pace, allowed Sony and Panasonic to take over what was rightfully theirs. I'm baffled by Canon, because they had to be really stupid to lose that market, and they somehow did, or are well on the way to losing it. Canon as a company, truly baffles me. How you can blow something that was such a sure bet, is beyond comprehension.

I can't agree more. It's the same like with education. Many years ago truly genious people had to do dirty work for the whole of their lives just because they could not afford to attend a fancy university. Now everything has changed and it is only to the good. If you are loosing clients that means either you are not as good as you think you are or the client does not need such a professional work done. And ACTUALLY thats the same thing as with being able to afford expensive equipment. Why would I, for example, pay someone with proper equipment to make a video or smth if I don't need it done so professionally but I just need the picture itself be technically good. Previously such clients would have to pay huge amount of money or they just could not afford it, because only the richer could afford such equipment and everything else, that a simple person could afford was rubbish.

And there is no end to DSLR video, everything will continue. Ok, videocameras WILL become better than DSLR video, but still. If you can get a good video quality and amazing picture quality in one gadged that is affordable, why not get it, rather than spending huge amounts of money for two gadgets. Moreover if you don't want to carry those two big gadgets around. Nonsense. I love DSLR and I love it's video opportunities.

 

[sailingmunch]

"I see allot of "self-taught" "Pro's" with 5d markII, 24-70 F2.8 and 580 Flashes shooting weeding in full auto mode whose work isn't bad in the sense that the image is blurry or under/overexposed, but the image is so god awfully bland, cliché or "cheap" that makes their work bad, though most people wouldn't notice it."

Exactly,
The people who don't understand photography say oh what a great picture! although to the seasoned photographer they can tell whats wrong with the photo right off the bat

 

[Admin US West]

Having run a business for many years now, I can tell you that you must change with the times. You cannot stay still, because the competition sure won't.

Products that once were rare and expensive (and profitable) attract those who want to get in on the profit, so I must find a new niche that isn't yet exploited. Pretty soon, they are competiting with that product as well.

This has been going on like forever, its adapt or offer a product that is so clearly superior that its in demand. I wouldn't even consider a photography business, but lots of people who need cash, plunk down their last dollar to buy a DSLR, and start selling and, of course, finding out that they can't make money as well as driving the good photographers out of business. Photo journalism is in even more dire straits, every one has some sort of a digital camera, and can upload photos to a TV station website for instant on the air use, and they are paid nothing!

It used to be that selling prints and albums was a big money maker, but now, its old hat, and many do not even want prints.

I'm retired, so I only do photography for fun, but life is tough for all but the elite photographers, and they can't drive off the business with a stick. Local ones like Chase Jarvis do very well.

 

[Bob Howland]

Is it the DSLR video revolution or the cheap video revolution that is important?

I bought a Panasonic HDC-TM700K video camera in the middle of 2010, mostly to become familiar with shooting video. Given enough light, that camera, costing $700, can take excellent video. A couple things were immediately apparent though. First, the controls on a camcorder and the controls on a DSLR posing as a camcorder are radically different. And it seems that the camcorder controls are as they are because they work better that way. Second, there is a lot of extra equipment that has to be purchased to do video well. Just consider the difficulty of doing a smooth pan (i.e. buying a tripod head that costs more than the camera), or zooming smoothly and slowly (i.e., buying a remote control so the camera doesn't have to be touched) or even holding a camera still for a minute or more without resorting to a tripod (i.e., buying a $1000+ shoulder rig).

Quite honestly, I would be more likely to buy a Canon XF100/105/300/305 camcorder than a 5D3 that uses my current still lenses. Shallow DOF may be nifty, but I'm not seeing a lot of it used in the shows and movies that I'm seeing.

 

[DuLt]

Having run a business for many years now, I can tell you that you must change with the times. You cannot stay still, because the competition sure won't.

Products that once were rare and expensive (and profitable) attract those who want to get in on the profit, so I must find a new niche that isn't yet exploited. Pretty soon, they are competiting with that product as well.

This has been going on like forever, its adapt or offer a product that is so clearly superior that its in demand. I wouldn't even consider a photography business, but lots of people who need cash, plunk down their last dollar to buy a DSLR, and start selling and, of course, finding out that they can't make money as well as driving the good photographers out of business. Photo journalism is in even more dire straits, every one has some sort of a digital camera, and can upload photos to a TV station website for instant on the air use, and they are paid nothing!

It used to be that selling prints and albums was a big money maker, but now, its old hat, and many do not even want prints.

I'm retired, so I only do photography for fun, but life is tough for all but the elite photographers, and they can't drive off the business with a stick. Local ones like Chase Jarvis do very well.

It's like most buisness's. One thing is to find a good spot were people only look at the money, not the results.

 

[4jphotography]

I've seen people with their first point and shoot with more natural talent than 10 year vets with a photo degree and all the hottest gear, and vice versa. For all our techie hang-ups, at the end of the day what comes out has very little to do with what you're shooting with as it does how you use it, and no matter how many megapixels you have it can't replace a good eye. Now, I know this post is about video, and honestly I don't do video, never have, and would actually prefer my pro grade DSLR to come without it and maybe cost a bit less or the development dollars be spent on something that pertains to, you know, photography (no insult intended, vid folks). That said, I think it's the same with any artistic venture... You will always have blow hards who bro'd their way into a gig with all the hot goodies and not a gram of talent talking smack and being arrogant, and you will also always have some kid or guy just playing around with their p and s or hell iPhone blowing your mind. I think the important thing is to not worry about what everyone else is doing or what they're doing it with and just focus on doing the best that YOU can, with what you have. I make a living with photography, and have seen a lot of folks come and go. But I work hard and treat people with respect and kindness, and you know what? Haven't had a slow spell in years.