Camera
Interview: Learn how robotics company MRMC puts cameras where photographers aren’t allowed to go
| MRMC pods containing Nikon D5s and 80-400mm lenses, set up for coverage of the inauguration ceremony at the US Capitol on January 20th 2021. |
How do you cover an event where photographers aren’t allowed? Last month saw the inauguration of Joe Biden as president of the United States, an occasion which would normally see huge crowds of people, from officials, politicians and members of the public, to representatives of the world’s press.
Obviously that wasn’t going to happen this time around, and after the storming of the Capitol Building by a pro-Trump mob on Jan 6th, it became even more clear that Biden’s would be an inauguration like no other.
UK-based and Nikon-owned company MRMC has been creating robotic solutions for event photography for years, putting cameras where it wouldn’t be safe – or permitted – for photographers to go. Since the global pandemic started to bite last year, their remote camera pods have been popping up all over the place, including at the US Capitol on January 20th. To find out more we spoke recently to Sascha Kunze, Broadcast Services Director at MRMC, and Molly Riley, Technical Solutions Manager at Nikon Inc.
The following interview has been edited lightly for clarity and flow.
What does MRMC do?
SK: We have a team of people that supports photographers all over the world, with remote photography solutions. So we design and manufacture the pods that you’ve probably seen installed at various events, including the recent presidential inauguration in the US.
How are robotics used now?
MR: in the context of imaging, we’ve been able to use the robotic pod that MRMC designed in certain locations in the same way as static, remote cameras, where photographers can’t be present. They allow photographers to have more creative control in those locations, and shoot from different vantage points.
Is that a new requirement? Or has the technology only recently become available to meet an existing need?
SK: There’s been a need for remote control for quite some time, and we’ve supported a lot of events now, where there’s been a requirement to put cameras where humans can’t go, like the beams in a roof structure for example. With our pods you can control the camera angle and reframe from that position, whereas with a traditional static camera it would just be guesswork..
We didn’t have a plan for COVID, I don’t think anyone did. But there has definitely been a need this year for photography with social distancing taken into account, too. Because of the global situation over the past year, we’ve continued to develop the product to make everything COVID-safe.
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A closer view of one of MRMC’s pods at the inauguration, showing the motorized positioning controls and data connection leading out from the pod, which enables remote control over practically any distance. |
Your team just recently installed cameras to cover the presidential inauguration. Clearly it was a very different kind of inauguration this year, how long were you planning for the event?
MR: We started planning for the inauguration back before COVID, when we were looking at various different scenarios and different angles for the various news agencies covering the conventions. The MRMC pods hadn’t been used for conventions before so we were in planning for that. And as the conventions got whittled down because of COVID, the robotics became more important, because we could put a robotic pod in a place that a photographer was no longer allowed to go.
We started thinking about how we could help capture the imaging that everybody wants, but without having photographers present
Pre-COVID, our plan for the conventions was to have the pods up in the lighting trusses in the roof, for a different viewpoint. Then that changed, and we were going to position the pods in areas where only a pool photographer was allowed to be. We were working on that plan when the conventions were canceled altogether.
Then we started to think ahead to the inauguration, because we knew access would be very limited. So we started thinking about how we could really help to capture the imaging that everybody wants, but without having photographers present behind the cameras.
Obviously you’ve been working on this for a long time, well before the storming of the Capitol in early January – did the events of Jan 6th affect your planning?
MR: The only thing that changed was the additional security. The planning for this inauguration was always quite last-minute, with changes being made constantly. The events of the 6th definitely increased security concerns, but the original plan still went ahead.
At the inauguration, where were the pods and the camera operators?
MR: We had three pods, and they were all on the center stand. That center stand normally holds about 11 camera positions, which was significantly reduced, restricted to only a small number of media and official government personnel. Two of the photographers using the pods were in a trailer on-site, and a third was inside the Dirksen Senate Office Building, with their own exclusive network. The other operators were in the media compound to the right of the steps and the inaugural platform. So they were approximately 200 feet from the stand where the cameras were located.
At the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, the photographers were in the press center, taking photographs of the coastal compound, 70 miles away
SK: At previous events we’ve operated over far greater distances. For example we had them at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, and the photographers were in the main press center, taking photographs of the coastal compound, 70 miles away. It all depends on network infrastructure. We could, for example, and we have, operated the pods from the other side of the world.
How adaptable are the pods in terms of what cameras and lenses will fit in them?
MR: The pods that we used at the inauguration had a D5 in them with an 80-400mm lens, and there are pods available for mirrorless cameras as well, depending on the client’s needs. There are five different lens configurations, so we can go from 24mm all the way to 500mm.
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| This cutaway shows a Nikon D5 with a telephoto zoom. Both the lens and camera can be entirely controlled via special software, which interfaces with the camera and lens inside the pod. |
This is a perfect time to come up with creative solutions for remote working – has this technology been given a boost as a consequence of the global COVID situation?
SK: Absolutely, from our perspective we’ve seen a huge increase in the number of enquiries. And looking ahead at some of the events coming up, we’re definitely planning on roLling out a lot more robotics, and making them available to any photographers, really, to help them at events and to create a safe environment while still capturing the event. So you could use them at any event, even a wedding.
When you have the remote pods set up, how does it work? How are you actually capturing images?
SK: Inside every pod is a Nikon camera with a Nikon lens. We’ve created a software solution that interfaces with the cameras, which gives full control over all of the standard controls. So even if you’re operating the camera from far away you have the feeling of looking through a viewfinder. You have all of the operational information that you’d get if you were on the ground, but it’s just done over ethernet. The photographer uses our software, called MHC, which stands for Multi-Head Controller software, to operate the pod. And you’ve got all the shooting controls.
How many pods would one photographer be operating?
SK: It really depends on the use-case, but at a typical event we’ve found that in most cases, it’s usually 1:1, so one photographer per camera.
Do you do any automatic or scheduled triggering, or is it all manual remote operation?
The idea is that we give the operator a remote capability, so at this point the pods are not automated. There’s still someone sitting there creatively controlling what the robot is doing and firing the shutter. All we’re doing is adding distance.
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| A typical installation for an MRMC pod – high up, and out of the way. |
A lot of photographers reading this interview are probably thinking ‘oh no, something else that’s going to put me out of a job!’ Do you think that the 1:1 relationship between camera and photographer will continue to be important?
SK: That’s a very real worry, but we do see it as a 1:1 relationship. The robots don’t make the creative decisions – that’s still done by a human. Those special moments that they’re trying to capture, that’s something a photographer has to decide on and look for. I think giving photographers an additional creative ability is a positive. To go back to talking about PyeongChang, there were some events in the evening where the temperature dropped to minus 25C, and we were able to give the photographers the ability to shoot from a warm office.
MR: It’s important to add that with so many outlets now, and so much demand for coverage, agencies want more and more content. So this solution gives them the ability to do that. They’ll be able to shoot from angles that they wouldn’t otherwise be able to.
How are you planning for major events this year? Obviously the Olympics being the main one.
SK: Our planning for the Olympics started long before COVID hit. We actually started planning right after the last Olympics. Press agencies and photographers are allowed onsite visits during the preparation phase, to see where they can shoot from, what the angles are and what lenses they’ll need. We work with photographers to help them understand what robotics are capable of, and also what they need, so that we can develop solutions.
We’re planning on the assumption that the Olympics will go ahead
A lot of our customers who were involved in those initial conversations, we’re still talking, plans are still moving forward, and they’ve made additional robotics requests since then. So we’re ramping up, and our original plans are largely unchanged. We just make sure that the network infrastructure is in place, and the customers have all the technical information they need to build their setups.
We’re planning on the assumption that the Olympics will go ahead, but the robots are so flexible that we can be ready at very short notice.
How important are solutions like this, strategically for Nikon?
MR: I can’t speak on behalf of the company as a whole, but we enjoy having an additional avenue for capturing images. It’s adding to the tools available for our photographers, and it’s important to be able to offer more and more solutions. We have robotic pods up at Fenway Park, for example, for the Boston Red Sox. They can’t put photographers there because of COVID, so they decided to use the pods.
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| A remote pod set up in the roof of a baseball stadium – typically a ‘no go’ area for photographers, for a unique angle on the action below. |
In general terms, where do you see this technology going in the future?
SK: Take the soccer world cup. The roof structures in the stadiums are no-go zones for humans. So you have to have robots there. And because you have the creative control with the robotics, the need is going to increase for creative angles looking at formations or getting the action from behind the goal, and reframing to get crowd celebrations, for example. Those editorial images are really striking, and photographers are realizing that they can get cleaner shots and angles that haven’t been seen before.
We’re constantly talking to our customers and we have a lot of bookings already for big events that are coming up
At red carpet events, for example, you can put a camera in the lighting trusses, and get your subject surrounded by carpet. We’re constantly talking to our customers and we have a lot of bookings already for big events that are coming up. There’s a huge demand, so we’ll probably have to manufacture more hardware at some point!
We’ve been at the Olympics, we’ve been at the soccer World Cup, we’ve been at the Australian Open, the Commonwealth Games, and at Wimbledon, at film premieres, and at so many events around Europe. I couldn’t list them all, but that gives you some idea of the events that we’re doing. We’re continuing to grow year over year, and motion control is a key part of our strategy [at MRMC].
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| Images: Tamron |
Tamron has announced a firmware update that it says will ‘significantly’ improve the autofocus tracking performance on the Sony E-Mount versions of its 70-300mm F4.5-6.3 Di III RXD and 18-300mm F3.5-6.3 Di III-A VC VXD lenses. The company’s press release says the lenses should now ‘keep excellent track of moving subjects.’
The updates also add support for Sony’s AF Assist function, which lets you manually focus even when autofocus is enabled. That should be handy for videographers who want to use autofocus to initially grab focus but then rack focus to something else in the frame, provided they have a Sony body that supports the feature.
The firmware is now available to download from Tamron’s site.
| Image: Apple |
It’s that time of year: Apple has announced its new suite of iPhones, raising the question of whether current owners should upgrade or stick with their older model.
There are many factors to consider – those still using the Lightning port could potentially justify an upgrade for USB-C alone– but we’ll mainly focus on the cameras for this article. This year, more than ever, the price premium on the Pro phones doesn’t make much sense if you’re not using them for photography and videography, so we’ll be trying to answer a straightforward question: will upgrading let you take better pictures?
Note: unlike last year’s models, the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max appear to have identical camera setups. We’ll talk a lot about the ‘iPhone 16 Pro’s’ cameras in this article, but anything we say will apply to both size options.
Scenario 1: You have an iPhone 15 Pro
We’ll start by comparing the 16 Pro to the last-generation 15 Pro since it lets us talk about the brand new features that will be an upgrade over the 14 Pro and 13 Pro too. However, we’ll start by saying it’s hard to recommend the year-over-year upgrade unless you have a specific use case that requires the new features.
Even Apple quietly admits this; during the announcement, whenever it compared the iPhone 16 Pro to previous models, it was usually put up against the iPhone 14 Pro instead of its direct predecessor. The iPhone 15 Pro is also the only other phone in Apple’s lineup capable of running all the Apple Intelligence features, which are the main selling point of the iPhone 16 line.
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| Image: Apple |
However, there are still some improvements to be found in the iPhone 16 Pro’s camera system. Apple says that the 16 Pro uses a ‘second-generation’ sensor for its main camera, which can read out data two times faster, ‘enabling zero shutter lag’ even when taking Raw photos.
The 5x, 120mm equiv. camera from the 15 Pro Max is also now available on the regular-sized iPhone 16 Pro, replacing the 3x, 77mm equiv. camera from the 15 Pro. That’s not necessarily a clear win, though. The extra reach may be useful if you often shoot far-away subjects, but it makes it a little bit harder to take portraits; you’ll have to stand further away from your subject if you want to get the classic 80mm portrait framing, which will also compress the foreground and background more. However, if you want a 5x camera in a smaller phone, the 16 Pro is Apple’s first model to offer it.
iPhone 16 Pro cameras vs iPhone 15 Pro cameras
| iPhone 16 Pro / Pro Max | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Focal length | Pixel count | Sensor size | f/number | Crop factor |
| 24mm equiv. | 48MP / 24 / 12MP | Type 1/1.28 (9.8×7.3mm) | F1.78 | ~3.5x |
| 13mm equiv | 48MP | Type 1/2.55 (5.6×4.2mm) | F2.2 | ~6.2x |
| 120mm equiv | 12MP | Type 1/4 (4.5×3.4mm) | F2.8 | ~10.8x |
| iPhone 15 Pro / Pro Max | ||||
| Focal length | Pixel count | Sensor size | f/number | Crop factor |
| 24mm equiv. | 48MP / 24 / 12MP | Type 1/1.28 (9.8×7.3mm) | F1.78 | ~3.5x |
| 13mm equiv | 12MP | Type 1/2.55 (5.6×4.2mm) | F2.2 | ~6.2x |
| 77mm equiv / 120mm equiv. (Max) | 12MP | Type 1/3.5 (4x3mm) / Type 1/4 (4.5×3.4mm) | F2.8 | ~8.7x / ~10.8x |
There are a few other minor improvements to the 16 Pro’s camera system compared to the 15 Pro’s. It can now shoot 3D-esque Spatial Photos, and Apple has upgraded the Photographic Styles system, which lets you apply different looks to your photos straight out of camera. Previously, they were baked-in, meaning you couldn’t shoot a picture with the ‘Warm’ Photo Style and then change it to the ‘Cool’ or ‘Rich Contrast’ one – now you can.
The 16 and 16 Pro also have slightly larger screens than their predecessors, which makes taking and viewing photos nicer, and the QuickTake video that you can access from the photo mode is now 4K60p instead of 1080p30p.
The most significant changes relate to the iPhone 16’s ultrawide camera and video modes. That brings us to a few reasons you might be able to justify an upgrade.
Scenario 1a: You’re a macro/wide-angle photography enthusiast
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The ultrawide camera used for macro shots now has a much higher-resolution sensor.
Image: Apple |
The iPhone 15 Pro’s 0.5x, 13mm equiv. F2.2 ultrawide camera uses a 12MP, 5.6×4.2mm sensor and produces broadly disappointing photos. While the ultrawide camera on the iPhone 16 Pro appears to be using the same size sensor, it’s now using 48MP quad-Bayer technology.
This will allow for pixel binning, though the real-world effect remains to be seen. Given that the sensor is the same size and will likely bin down to the same resolution, it’s hard to imagine there being much of an improvement in low-light performance, which is where the previous iteration of the camera struggled.
If the 0.5x camera is your favorite, it’s probably worth waiting for the reviews to see how much of a difference the resolution bump makes. We’ll be sure to update this article as soon as we can with some wide-angle comparison shots.
Scenario 1b: You are going to shoot The Weeknd’s next music video with your iPhone
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The Weeknd’s new music video is the latest addition to the Shot On iPhone gallery.
Image: Apple |
The next-generation sensor in the iPhone 16 Pro’s main camera enables a big jump in video performance: it can now shoot 4K footage at 120fps, double the speed of the previous Pro. You can even shoot at 120fps in Apple’s ProRes codec, provided you’re recording to external storage via USB-C.
Apple also claims the 16 Pro has much-improved audio with the addition of a ‘studio-quality’ four-microphone array. The microphones allow for wind noise reduction and some fancy software tricks called ‘Audio Mix’ that enable you to fine-tune how a video’s subjects sound.
As with the iPhone 15 Pro, Apple showed off the 16 Pro’s video prowess by having a famous artist shoot a music video with it. This year, it was The Weeknd, whose video for ‘Dancing in the Flames’ (seen above) was shot with the iPhone 16 Pro, making heavy use of the new slow-motion features. Feel free to judge how the footage fares, though do keep in mind that the video was shot by top-tier professionals using thousands of dollars of lighting and grip equipment.
Scenario 1c: You can’t live without the Camera Control
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| Image: Apple |
We get it: new buttons are exciting, especially when they’re providing a new function. Apple’s new Camera Control button promises to let you launch the camera from anywhere, will act as a shutter button once you’ve opened the app, and you can slide your finger across it to adjust parameters like the focal length or aperture.
Apple also promised to improve the button via a software update that will make it act like a traditional shutter button that locks focus and exposure with a half press, and takes a picture with a full press. The Camera Control will also be available for third-party developers, so you may get some milage out of it even if the default iOS camera app isn’t your go-to.
There will be some people who call the Camera Control a gimmick, and who say that there’s no way it’d be worth upgrading from a perfectly good phone that’s only year old for it. And sure, it’s possible it won’t end up being very useful because of its placement, or its relatively complicated control scheme, which mixes gentle taps and press with swipes.
But if it actually improves the ergonomic experience of taking pictures with an iPhone, it could a real nice-to-have – though it’s up to you whether it’s ‘immediately upgrade’ compelling, or ‘look forward to it the next time you get a new phone’ compelling.
Scenario 2: You have an iPhone 14 Pro
The iPhone 14 Pro introduced the 48MP, 9.8×7.3mm quad-bayer sensor that Apple has iterated on for the iPhone 16 Pro, but that doesn’t mean that there haven’t been improvements in the past two years. The 16 Pro’s faster readout speeds should provide the same speed boost compared to the 14 Pro as they did to the 15 Pro.
The lenses on the 16 Pro’s cameras also have a variety of coatings not found on the 14 Pro, and, similar to the 13 Pro, the 14 Pro is stuck with the slower Lightning port instead of the near-universal USB-C one found on the 16 Pro.
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The 16 Pro can shoot slow-mo ProRes 4K. The 14 Pro can’t. (The 128GB 14 Pro can’t shoot ProRes 4K at all; it’s limited to 1080p.)
Image: Apple |
For the main camera, many of the iPhone 16 Pro’s upgrades lie in software, not hardware. The 14 Pro can only shoot 4K ProRes at 30fps, which rules out the possibility of using it for slow motion like you can with the iPhone 16 Pro’s 120fps 4K mode. The 16 Pro also has a ‘next-generation’ portrait mode, which Apple says offers ‘2x better low-light performance.’ Given that the iPhone 16 Pro’s camera hardware isn’t taking in any more light, that’s almost certainly down to changes in how it handles multi-shot photography.
By default, the 16 Pro will also bin images to 24MP, versus the 12MP that’s the only option for the 14 Pro. You also no longer have to shoot in ProRaw to capture a 48MP image, as the 16 Pro has a ‘HEIF Max’ mode that offers compressed images with higher resolution. (Do note that it’s not available in all modes, though; night mode and flash photos are still binned to 12MP.)
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The ultrawide camera is one of the iPhone 16 Pro’s most notable upgrades.
Image: Apple |
The iPhone 16 Pro’s other lenses have more notable improvements. The iPhone 14 Pro’s ultrawide camera is the same as the one found on the iPhone 15 Pro, so any jump in quality provided by the 48MP sensor will apply here as well.
The 16 Pro’s telephoto lens also has a larger sensor, and tighter focal length; the 14 Pro’s 3x (77mm equiv.) camera has a 4x3mm sensor, where the 16 Pro’s 5x (120mm equiv.) camera bumps that up to 4.5×3.4mm – a 27.5% increase. Both cameras produce 12MP images, and have F2.8 lenses.
iPhone 16 Pro cameras vs iPhone 14 Pro cameras
| iPhone 16 Pro / Pro Max | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Focal length | Pixel count | Sensor size | f/number | Crop factor |
| 24mm equiv. | 48MP / 24 / 12MP | Type 1/1.28 (9.8×7.3mm) | F1.78 | ~3.5x |
| 13mm equiv | 48MP | Type 1/2.55 (5.6×4.2mm) | F2.2 | ~6.2x |
| 120mm equiv | 12MP | Type 1/4 (4.5×3.4mm) | F2.8 | ~10.8x |
| iPhone 14 Pro / Pro Max | ||||
| Focal length | Pixel count | Sensor size | f/number | Crop factor |
| 24mm equiv. | 48MP / 12MP | Type 1/1.28 (9.8×7.3mm) | F1.78 | ~3.5x |
| 13mm equiv | 12MP | Type 1/2.55 (5.6×4.2mm) | F2.2 | ~6.2x |
| 77mm equiv | 12MP | Type 1/3.5 (4x3mm) | F2.8 | ~8.7x |
Overall, the 16 Pro’s cameras are iterative improvements over the 14 Pros. However, if you take tons of images on your phone or are serious about video, there’s probably enough there for you to notice a difference. If you’re more of an occasional shooter, though, it may be worth sitting this one out.
Scenario 3: You have an iPhone 13 Pro
If you have an iPhone 13 Pro or one of its predecessors, the 16 Pro’s cameras should be an upgrade in pretty much every way. The 13 Pro has a 12MP F1.5 main camera, while the 16 Pro bumps the resolution up to 48MP. While its F1.78 lens is slower, its 9.8×7.3mm sensor also has 65% more area versus the 13 Pro’s 7.6×5.7mm sensor – that equates to around 0.3EV more light gathering ability, even with the brighter aperture.
That extra resolution enables a lot of camera features on the 16 Pro that the 13 Pro doesn’t have. The most obvious is the pixel-binned 12MP or 24MP shots, as well as the 48MP ProRaw mode. It also allows for the 24mm, 28mm, and 35mm ‘faux-cal’ lengths for the main camera, which work by taking different crops off the sensor. The iPhone 13 Pro also lacks the ‘2x’ option, which crops in to the 12MP middle section of the sensor.
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The 16 Pro’s main camera is a notable improvement from the 13 Pro’s.
Image: Apple |
The ultrawide and telephoto cameras also use larger sensors, and the 16 Pro’s 5x camera offers a 120mm equiv. focal length compared to the 13 Pro’s 3x 77mm equiv.
The iPhone 16 Pro also includes the latest iterations of Apple’s image stabilization and HDR systems, though the company hasn’t said much about what benefits they offer over the predecessors found on the iPhone 13 Pro.
iPhone 16 Pro cameras vs iPhone 13 Pro cameras
| iPhone 16 Pro / Pro Max | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Focal length | Pixel count | Sensor size | f/number | Crop factor |
| 24mm equiv. | 48MP / 24 / 12MP | Type 1/1.28 (9.8×7.3mm) | F1.78 | ~3.5x |
| 13mm equiv | 48MP | Type 1/2.55 (5.6×4.2mm) | F2.2 | ~6.2x |
| 120mm equiv | 12MP | Type 1/4 (4.5×3.4mm) | F2.8 | ~10.8x |
| iPhone 13 Pro / Pro Max | ||||
| Focal length | Pixel count | Sensor size | f/number | Crop factor |
| 26mm equiv. | 12MP | Type 1/1.7 (7.6×5.7mm) | F1.5 | ~4.6x |
| 13mm equiv | 12MP | Type 1/3.5 (4x3mm) | F1.8 | ~8.7x |
| 77mm equiv | 12MP | Type 1/3.5 (4x3mm) | F2.8 | ~8.7x |
The 16 Pro has several video features not found on the 2021 model, such as Apple Log, Spatial Video, the super-stabilized ‘Action Mode,’ and access to 60 and 120fps frame rates when shooting 4K. And if you’re shooting a lot of video and want to offload it to a computer, the iPhone 16 Pro will offer a much better experience; its USB-C port can transfer files at 10Gbit per second. That’s 20 times faster than the USB 2.0 speeds that the 13 Pro’s Lightning port provides.
Outside of the camera, the 16 Pro has a lot of quality-of-life improvements. To name a few, there’s satellite SOS, tougher front glass, faster charging, an always-on-display and both the Action button and the new Camera Control button. It’s also 5g lighter despite being physically larger because its frame is made of aluminium and titanium instead of stainless steel.
None of this is to say that you must upgrade your iPhone 13 Pro. In fact, two of the winning photos from this year’s iPhone Photography Awards were shot with an iPhone 13 or 13 Pro. If you’re happy with your phone, by all means keep using it. However, if you do feel ready for an upgrade the iPhone 16 Pro should offer enough features and camera improvements to make it well worth it.
Just five days after the arrival of first Mirrorless camera, and 16 years ago today, Canon revealed a camera that would help define the final years of DSLR dominance: the EOS 5D II.
This was no simple upgrade to the original EOS 5D, though in a move from 12.8MP to a better performing 21MP CMOS sensor, the addition of an improved viewfinder and the gain of features such as liveview, it was that, too.
What famously set the 5D Mark II apart was its ability to capture Full HD video, the first DSLR to do so. The Nikon D90 had added 720p HD capture about two weeks before but it was the Canon that caught the world’s imagination.
This was helped by the option to download the Cinestyle color preset developed by film processing company Technicolor and a successful PR stunt that involved an entire episode of the TV show ‘House’ being filmed using the camera.
In hindsight, the 5D II is a relatively basic filmmaking tool: all is footage is 8-bit, so has limited grading (an official Canon Log option wouldn’t arrive until the Mk IV), there were no tools such as focus peaking to help with focus and to monitor your sound you needed all manner of adapters to get at the audio feed from the A/V socket. It didn’t even gain full manual exposure control in video mode until a post-launch firmware update.
The 5D II became a popular video camera at colleges and schools around the world
But the 5D II became a popular video camera at colleges and schools around the world, putting the flexibility and ‘look’ of a full-frame sensor in the hands of budding film makers and letting them use relatively affordable EF lenses.
Beyond this, the Magic Lantern open source software project created an extensive array of video support tools to boost the 5D II’s capabilities way beyond those that Canon had developed for it, including focus peaking, false color and control over the A/V output level.
There are plenty of people that used the 5D II solely as a stills camera, and it certainly represented a major step forward, compared with its predecessor: it had a larger, higher resolution screen, a sensor happier to shoot at higher ISOs and could shoot 30% faster than the Mark 1, despite the much higher pixel count. It also gained features that we take for granted, such as Auto ISO.
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The newer sensor in the 5D II allowed a maximum expanded ISO of 25,600: three stops higher than on its predecessor.
Image: Don Wan |
Its top speed of 3.9fps looks disappointing once you got used to the option to capture the 30fps burst that its spiritual successor, the EOS R5 II can manage. But, even though 4K and 8K modes have become commonplace in the sixteen years since the 5D II’s launch, a well lit, well-exposed and interesting video shot with the 5D II still looks pretty great, even on a big TV.
In the original review we referred to its video capabilities as its ‘party trick.’ Well it proved to be quite the trick, and over a decade and a half later, we’re all still at that party.
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