I shot a short film last weekend to enter into a contest.  I got a friend to shoot it for me, and he used his Canon 5D.  I love these things as tools for low-budget Production.  They started turning up on small shoots a couple of years ago, but I had never used one myself until now.  It’s funny that the camera manufacturers added video capabilities as an afterthought, but they have become wonderful tools that have expanded the ability of amateurs and independents without big budgets to produce first-rate imagery.

The main difference between the DSLRs and an inexpensive video camera is the size of the sensor inside.  Most small video cameras have sensors that are around 1/3 of an inch wide, whereas the DSLRs are typically 4 times larger.  That means that the sensor is about the same size as an old-fashioned 35mm film frame.  And that means that you can get the same shallow depth of field that we used to get shooting film.

Plus, you can use all of your old SLR lenses, as long as the mount is the same.  (most of us who have an interest in photography have a drawer somewhere filled with nice lenses that have been collecting dust for the last few years).  They all work on the new cameras, and they don’t need to be autofocus either.  So dig out those expensive old primes and put ‘em to work!

So this week I’m shooting a group of commercials for a major national retail chain, but the project is a bit “budget-challenged”.  Guess what we’re shooting it on … a Canon 5D.  Why not?  It’ll look great.  Not that I wouldn’t rent an Arri Alexa if we had the money, but we’ll do just fine with the DSLR.

Technology is a wonderful thing.