Ever since buying my 60D, in the back of my mind I’ve wondered how shooting an event video would go using dSLRs. It’s not something that people necessarily recommend doing, for various reasons:
• Record limits. Canon dSLRs have 12 minute caps due to clip file size and FAT-32 memory formatting.
• Overheating. Some cameras have issues with this after shooting for long periods of time.
• Sound quality. Or lack thereof, with the onboard audio options…
• Focal length. Regular video cameras have a huge range in focal length… dSLRs? Ever seen a 10-300mm lens? Didn’t think so.
Can covering an event work using dSLRs? Definitely. A couple weekends ago I was hired to shoot the Peoria Bach Festival’s performance of Bach’s Easter Oratorio and Motet III: “Jesus, Priceless Treasure.” It was shot completely on Canon dSLRs.
First off, sound was no issue; it was professionally recorded by someone else. Focal lengths were also not an issue, thanks to the rental of Canon’s EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS lens… It was a three camera shoot (a 7D and two 60Ds), and each camera covered a different focal length.
Record time limits? It never would have worked with only one camera. Having three cameras greatly reduced the chance of a footage gap because of restarting recording or changing a memory card. Plus, when you think about it, recording to and changing a 16GB SD card makes for maybe 20 seconds of lost recording time. That’s as fast or faster than a tape change. The only hitch we ran into was having only two 16GB CF cards for the 7D (definitely not enough for a nearly 2-hour concert); we ended up having the second camera operator’s younger sister nearby the 7D to dump footage as soon as a card filled up.
And we had no problems with overheating, either. To be on the safe side we turned off our cameras during an intermission, but we probably wouldn’t have had any issues had there not been an intermission.
Considering that there were only two days to prepare for the shoot after returning from being in Haiti for a week, it went fantastic. The worst problem we ran into was my lack of finding out where the soloist singers would be standing during the concert… I had a shooting plan all worked out, coordinated with my second operator, and then the soloists walked in. Amid the applause of the audience, I realized in horror that they were arranged exactly opposite from what I had been planning on! I ended up having to lock down my camera, and quietly walk all the way around the auditorium to my other operator to tell her to shoot the exact opposite from what I had previously said.
So does event coverage work in the world of HDSLRs? Absolutely. The thing is, you have to be prepared to work around the dSLR’s limitations, and utilize its strong points.
This entry was posted by chadstembridge on Friday, June 24th, 2011 at 8:00 am and is categorized under All, Filmmaking, Projects and tagged as 60d, 7d, concert, ef 70-200mm f/2.8L IS, event, hdslr, overheating, peoria bach festival, record limits, videography. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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August 2, 2011 at 8:56 am
Yep, it’s definitely possible. DSLRs wouldn’t be my first choice to record events, but they can definitely be used if you’ve got at least two. Gotta love the picture quality you can get with ‘em!