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Compressed video vs Magic Lantern RAW etc..

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  • 16-01-2015 9:54pm
    #1
    condra
    Registered Users Posts: 3,849 ✭✭✭


    Hi folks,

    Hope someone can point me in the right direction here..

    I've a background in professional photography and have been looking into shooting some creative video, with a view towards advertising or short features.

    Right now I've a couple of Canon cameras (5d3/60D), lenses etc.

    From what I can tell, my options are to shoot with the h.264 compressed video, or use Magic Lantern to shoot RAW, which introduces rather a lot of new headaches and post production requirements.

    As important as image quality is, I love the convenience of shooting compressed.

    It feels like my options are either a Fiat Punto or a Ferrari, when I would really just like a Ford Focus.

    Is it worth going to the extra trouble of shooting RAW? Are there other options worth exploring, even another system with a compression format that doesn't sacrifice quality so much?

    Hope I'm not opening a can of worms. Thanks for any thoughts on this.


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    #2
    11811
    Registered Users Posts: 1,731 ✭✭✭11811


    condra wrote: »
    Hi folks,

    Hope someone can point me in the right direction here..

    I've a background in professional photography and have been looking into shooting some creative video, with a view towards advertising or short features.

    Right now I've a couple of Canon cameras (5d3/60D), lenses etc.

    From what I can tell, my options are to shoot with the h.264 compressed video, or use Magic Lantern to shoot RAW, which introduces rather a lot of new headaches and post production requirements.

    As important as image quality is, I love the convenience of shooting compressed.

    It feels like my options are either a Fiat Punto or a Ferrari, when I would really just like a Ford Focus.

    Is it worth going to the extra trouble of shooting RAW? Are there other options worth exploring, even another system with a compression format that doesn't sacrifice quality so much?

    Hope I'm not opening a can of worms. Thanks for any thoughts on this.


    The RAW workflow for the the 5d iii is a bit of a pain alright, but the image quality is great. As always, there is a trade-off... Another option might be to use an external recorder and use the uncompressed HDMI out on the 5diii to record YCbCr 4:2:2 8-bit to Pro-Res. This would give you more detail and post processing options, and is far more straightforward than using RAW.

    If you're looking at a different system Sony's XAVC-S codec is pretty good. The a7s is a fine camera for video shooting... Although, photography wise not quite on a par with 5diii. Again, trade-offs...


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    #3
    condra
    Registered Users Posts: 3,849 ✭✭✭condra


    Thanks for the reply. I've been looking into ML workflow more, and I'm kinda thinking, I'll stick with the h.264 for documentary stuff, but go the extra mile and shoot RAW video for short features.

    In saying that, I wasn't aware of external recorders, so I'll check that out right now :)

    Cheers again


  • Options
    #4
    11811
    Registered Users Posts: 1,731 ✭✭✭11811


    condra wrote: »
    Thanks for the reply. I've been looking into ML workflow more, and I'm kinda thinking, I'll stick with the h.264 for documentary stuff, but go the extra mile and shoot RAW video for short features.

    In saying that, I wasn't aware of external recorders, so I'll check that out right now :)

    Cheers again

    The Atmos Ninja or the Convergent Designs Odyssey 7 would be good ones to look at. A bit of an investment, but great piece of kit to have.


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