Something I’ve recently been enlightened to is shooting HD video on DSLR cameras. I had no idea people did this professional. I always thought that since video was an afterthought added to these cameras, that it would be crappy and not work right.

Then I started reading a lot of professional blogs with people testing and using these cameras for video. They’ve built special mounts for them, special add-ons, equipment, etc. They’re constantly improving the workflow. They’ve posted lots of tests that have totally convinced me that I need a DSLR for ANOTHER reason now. A great example of how well some of these cameras operate, particularly in low light, look at Vincent Laforet’s “Nocturne”. Not only can you get crisp video with such a huge control on DoF, you don’t even need lights with some of these cameras.

Today I saw Phillip Bloom’s test footage that he shot at Skywalker Ranch. They asked him to come and show them how to use DSLRs properly and test out the footage on their 40 foot screen. Here’s what he came up with:

Skywalker Ranch from Philip Bloom on Vimeo.

It’s freakin’ amazing what you can get out of the DSLR.