Source:  Digital Photography Review

The lines have blurred between high-end digital photography and Full HD video.  One of the first DSLR camera manufacturers to go into Full HD video was Nikon.  Now it’s Canon’s turn. With the release of the Canon EOS 5D Mark II there is a lot of pressure for every other camera manufacturer to follow suit.

An interesting sidelight of this development is that traditional digital video cameras have been based on the mini-DV format.  One limitation of the mini-DV cameras was that not all the pro model cameras had interchangeable lenses.  Except for Canon.  The top-end Canon pro model mini-DV video camera had an adapter which allows EOS lenses to be fitted to the video camera.  This extended the quality of the video beyond the standard camera lens.

With Nikon leading the way with the release of a full HD video capable camera, Canon is trying to catch up. This is an evolutionary step for DSLR cameras.  Capable of capturing at 1920×1080, it can save the file to Quicktime MOV format.  At 30fps and 1080p HD, it can store up to 12 mins of video.  Maximum file size is 4GB.  More than enough for saving and editing purposes.

One thing missing from the EOS 5D Mark II is a built-in flash.  Though it has the necessary software for controlling flash and white balance compensation for the use of flash.  And it has a relatively low 3.9fps burst mode.

By all means this is not a shabby camera.  This may not be Canon’s top of the line, but it definitely ranks higher than other camera manufacturer’s top of the line model. It’s important to note the direction these two camera makers are going.  The hefty $2,700 price tag (body only) is relatively  cheap considering that it is a full-featured HD video camera.  Now if only CompactFlash disks were able to catch up with faster and larger capacity flash drives then this would be a well-defined niche with the other major players coming in with their own full-HD video DSLR camera models.

Official Website:  Canon Press Release