5d MK2 vs 7D for Skateboard filming.

[Skate]

Hey guys,

I've been saving my pennies to buy a 5d mk2.

The camera will be used primarly for shooting video of skateboarding for use in adds, dvds etc.

I've been told the 7d is a better camera for this purpose (Sports in general) due to having better focusing.

I understand the different frame rates, and understand that the 5dmk2 has a firmware upgrade coming (When is that?)

The main issue is i need the widest possible fisheye lense. I understand that i can really only get the effect i'm after with full frame, which has to be the 5d.

Please watch this video to understand how wide/the effect i'm after -

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b85sPdW3Tn0]YouTube - DVX Lens Test Plazatage[/ame]

So from what i can understand, the 7D is a better camera for filming sport (Due to focusing), but i really need the widest possible fisheye lens, so i may have to go with the 5D for full frame to get the effect i'm after.

What are your thoughts and opinions?
Thought i'd ask the experts!

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Ejazzle]

do you know who nick mullins is? His filmer steve uses one of those 7d's now.

Canon doesn't make a fisheye with good distortion for a cropped camera. They just have that 15mm which is an awesome lens for Full frame. I would check out skatepercetion.com and here is that guy steve's youtube channel
YouTube - cky2k04's Channel

If you can I would go 7d and not look back. I think you would be happy later.

 

[brileyphotog]

This may be a really stupid question, but back when I used to skate guys that shot video used something like this: HVRZ7U Sony HVR-Z7U 1080i HDV Camcorder with Interchangeable Lens

Is everybody using the SLR's with video function now? It seems to me if you want to shoot video you would use a video camera. I can't image getting a steady shot from an slr while riding behind somebody.

 

[cfusionpm]

The 7D and the EF-S 10-22mm would work excellently. It wouldn't give the fisheye distortion, but 10mm on a crop is still pretty wide angle.

 

[Ejazzle]

briley, I dont think any kid would be running around with a z7u
I forgot the 7d isnt full frame is it? I would go with the FF 5d

 

[RyanLilly]

I don't think that most skate videos are quite as wide as most people think. There are some 7 and 8mm fisheyes that offer a 180 field of view. The video has a lot of fish eye distortion, yet its not very wide. 10 or 11mm on a crop sensor is pretty darn wide, and fisheye distortion can be added in post.

Fast and accurate focusing is important in sports, and is where the 7D does very well, but many fish eye lenses are manual, and most anything you shoot with a fish eye, your subject will be past the hyper-focal distance anyway, so you can just focus and forget about it.

 

[jaquefisher]

I've been using the 5dmk2 to film skateboarding recently because it's a FF camera, and this is important for fisheye users. Focusing is no issue at all because in video mode you should always use manual focus.
I've been using a 16mm f2.8 AIS nikkor via nikon to eos adapter. It works brilliantly. And a good tip is to shoot at f8 for a star patterned sun instead of a blobby shaped one that you get from f5.6, 4 or 2.8.
Some footage can be seen here:
http://vimeo.com/10077529
and some downconverted stuff here:
http://vimeo.com/9126870
As for camera shake, yes it's harder to keep an HDSLR steady compared to a video camera due to the generally great image stabilization found in most video cams. But with a fisheye on a FF sensor, it's much easier than longer lenses. An 85mm is impossible to hold steady without any assistance.
Always have a tripod with you, you need it for filming anything except fisheye runs.
It's not hard to learn to keep the camera steady either. Just practice and use a handle of some sort. For now I use a 3 handled manfrotto 804RC2 head and film with the cam upside down, flipping the image in post. U just offset all of the angles to balance it correctly. It allows me to get the body really close to the ground without breaking my back. (I'm not a short guy)
I'm still working things out for myself, but I hope this much helps!