great points. I agree that dslrs have resparked my love for video and I am dreading the end of the revolution.

It’s a nice sentiment that for once we hard to work hard and learn how to get great images out of these cameras and once we knew it really paid off.

I’m givin it a few more years though. I’d say one more year and the honeymoon is officially over.

mass = force times distance

as soon as you rig a Panny to a car you have to get serious

as soon as you want a stabilser for a panny you cant use a $500 glidecam

as soon as you pack it up with some grip you pay excess baggage

As soon as the chip goes out of date you throw the whole thing away and cant keep your sound recorder

The whole package take the hit of technology depreciation

As soon as you want a 20mm FF35 FOV you need a muliti thousand cine lens

it still doesnt do raw so will be a pain to match footage across multi cameras and require careful and costly onset monitoring

(as a stills guy I can shoot all day on ‘tungsten’ in the sun without buggering up my footage)

Sure its is this weeks finest sub $10k ‘large sensor camera’

Sure it is better than this weeks DSLRs

But I doubt it will hold that value

the future is small, light, raw and modular and ideally FF35 with some crop modes

First brand to get that will get more than $2k out of my pocket

Wow that was an enjoyable read. I liked the nightclub analogy and it’s true that DSLRs have opened the doors, and now that so many people are doing it it’s no longer a special trick or a magic potion that bonds the world together in peace. But the truth is it never was. DSLRs are one step on the way in a process of convergence that will never really stop. AF100s cater for a minority and DSLRs cater for the majority. The community around DSLRs is a niche right now, and it’s going to become more mainstream. But that’s always what DSLRs have been about – taking filmmaking and making it a mainstream activity rather than an exclusive one which only a few selected pros have the keys to.

Plus the product cycle of DSLRs is much shorter than pro stuff like the AF100. By the time the 5D Mark 3 comes out in just under a year, the AF100 will be 2 years off being replaced and already a step behind the consumer gear in the image quality stakes.

I agree with the seniment, but I don’t think the video community will go back to being video and stills go back to being stills. The hybrid stuff is here to stay, people aren’t going to stop using DSLRs for video, and they’re going to keep getting better.

But if we need it, we’ve got an awesome camera in the Af100. I say the future is bright, all around.

You do know that even the RED cameras have rolling shutter too, right? It’s not a DSLR thing, it’s a CMOS thing.

I think the great thing about DSLRs is not really what you can do with them, it’s what they are inherently.

They are testbeds for cheaper, yet useful, designs that take the snobbery and arrogance out of the high-end products(read: too expensive for common folk to use) and place the artistry of making movies firmly above simply being able to afford “better equipment” and then thrust this new ability into the hands of everyone, not just those who can afford it. Unfortunately for some it also takes away a person’s ability to feel superior to his peers due to use/ownership of some token piece of equipment.

Even better though, is how this DSLR revolution reset expectations throughout the industry. We had the high-end guys who make professional cameras that honestly cost too much for most everybody to use. They need lots of support and just aren’t practical aside from the fact that you just can’t buy one even if you had the money..

You have the mid-level guys who, at one time, were the up-and-coming Davids to the high-end Goliaths. They brought their cocksure-ness along for the ride and looked like they were going to dominate in a market that had not really been tapped before. Unfortunately for them they were too ambitious and their narcissistic self-image led them to believe that they were invincible. Slowly they have turned into a Goliath of their own while cursing this new DSLR revolution as it moves in and takes their low-end development’s breath away, leaving it stillborn before being delivered.

As for the low end guys, the DSLR revolution will probably eventually meander into and out of popularity for a while until the next big thing comes along, which probably won’t be a bulky camcorder type of device. It’ll be a smaller hand held device that offers more features for less money. I don’t think the AF100 will affect the DSLR sales at all as their prices are drastically different enough that most won’t financially be able to make the move. I do foresee DSLRs being utilized more as B and C cams on productions, perhaps along with the AF100, we’ll see though.

“The best thing about the DSLR movement has been the community and not the technology.”

If you don’t want the revolution to end, then don’t buy the hype … keep making beautiful images with whatever you have.

“It’s the filmmaker, not the gear, who makes the film.”

‘J-dog

I am hoping since the bridge between the photo and video worlds has been built it will continue to exist even when HDSLR’s are not the hottest tool. We have all learned too much from each other to forget.

it’s “the community and not the technology”

- – - > you can’t express it any better in a short sentence

The best camera is the one you have in your hands right now.

Great article and in fact you echo the sentiment a lot of us do. The DSLR will never die, nor can it be killed. Its here and its here to stay. Just depends what side you are looking from.

I will never sell my 5D nor can you take it away. I hear you though, all I can say is I wish DSLRs were around when I was 16, i wonder what career I would have 25 years on.

I love this article. So true, it’s not the technology. It’s the community. This past few years has been great, DSLR meetups and workshops where you meet fellow filmmakers you followed online. Meeting people you met through common interest online in the community in video conventions. I have some faith we can keep this going.

I am Leica thru and thru, for video I have used and continue to use the Sony Z1U. Stills for stills video for video. Horses for courses. love the idea that my Leica lenses will fit the new Panasonic, it is going to be sad to let my Z1U go after 5 years of flawless shooting.

The Bloom footage had me in hysterics. What is he doing? He burns himself at one point and then cuts the shot (presumably to walk off and run his hand under cold water). The funny thing is, a whole load of people including me will probably buy this camera based on some match-lit footage of a slightly camp jet-lagged man staring into a camera whilst listening to Aphex Twin.

@ Rob; Well Mr Bloom does what he does and he’s also very good at what he does. Ton of useful info on his site too.
Gotta admit the camera did seem to perform very well under those conditions.

@VillageBoi, don’t get me wrong – I love the Bloomster.

So, if (/when) the HDSLR thing dies, what will happen to the crowds? Will we all go to the after-party, or slump back home in cabs..?”

Now that there’s suddenly a whole world of people that are addicted to great looking images, will we all stick together, embracing the newest technology as it comes? Or will we suddenly stop reading blogs (this included) because they no longer talk about Canon cameras.

I think that this community sprung up because suddenly there was a way to get great looking images, after the years and years of shitty, expensive video cameras. The fact that it came in a stills body helped the stills guys get excited too, for sure, but now that the revolution’s happened, it’s no longer about the brand. If people want to jump ship to the AF-100, that’s totally cool. The crowds didn’t come because it was a Canon, and they won’t go home because it’s a Panasonic. As long as there’s technology to make great looking films for cheap, people will stick around.

The camera may change, but people aren’t going to stop making films. For the first time in aaages people are excited about watching short films online, because they finally don’t look rubbish. I think the ball’s rolling now, and while HDSLRs will inevitably be usurped, I sincerely hope that a change in technology won’t send people home. The DJ hasn’t announced the last song Robin, they’ve just put on a fresh track. And that’s not enough to send me home.

No doubt, the camera tides are changing.

BUT, what does Canon have in store for the 5Dmk3, 7Dmk2, the full frame 1D?

I’m not counting out DSLRs yet. Canon realizes the form factor is a huge bonus.

And RED is adamantly pursuing the DSMC idea.

It’s an unsure time.

As some other comments state, I also wonder if the DSLR, in it’s current state, will truly disappear from low budget sets with all of the ridiculous rigs we can build from cheap materials… or mount the camera on a car and blow it up….

Thought provoking. Thanks,

I told you so….

I think the DSLR is here to stay myself, because no one will be able to bring out any camera of the same quality for the same price. The panasonic might be the best thing since the invention of celluloid (I’m sure its not!) but will it cost less than a grand. Nope. And will it match the sheer versatility of stills lenses, nope.

I’ve seen the proliferation of DSLRs through all levels of production in the last year, from broadcast TV companies asking me how to use it for documentaries, DOPs going from I’m never going to touch this to buying loads of gear for it, this has never happened before and it’s brilliant. The band wagon is only just getting going and I think its here to stay.

Also how can anyone get more out of H.264? the enormous bottle neck of transcoding footage is not something thats going to be fixed overnight and until the software boffins work out how to get better quality video that you can edit quicker I think technology can’t change that quickly when we have such storage and processing issues to overcome.

Also a big thing for me is that stills cameras give you the most amazingly intimate access to filming real life that we never got before. People think you are taking pictures and leave you alone and behave far more naturally in all the docs we’ve been shooting. This is a massive benefit, even with the massive amount of stuff on the red rock on your shoulder its still more intimate with the contributor and this also can’t be underestimated.

Look how many hits The Bridge has got on Vimeo and tell me that interest in DSLRs is waning!!

here you go matey

http://www.vimeo.com/14866982

enjoy!

I’m back, your blog has obviously had an impact on me. I come from the professional angle. Having been in the industry longer than I care to admit, part of what I offered my clients was a vast backlog of technical knowledge, to the point of it being a black art. The DSLR has not only demystified this, it has completely re-written the rules. Its ok.. been there before.. adapting is the key.

Tech was not always accessible and getting that knowledge was a lot of work. The DSLR yes has created a community out of nothing but I believe its that combined with the internet and access to this previously difficult to access information. Add the fact that its easy to form a spontaneous community on Twitter + internet based on like minded people and Voila!

Bloom provides a service granted, but he also provides an inspiration that you have so eloquently captured in your opinion piece. That if you have an idea you can make it into a video, any video. Without a project or money or purpose because the internet will provide you an audience. Its brilliant.

The DSLR will never die, I’ve said it before but coming at it from a pro angle, a person who works with these tools every single day I can tell you, working with a piece of gear that is not designed to be used in that way, however satisfying is not a great way to work. Some have made it work.. but its not easy. So I am thrilled that manufacturers are creating proper tools to do proper jobs. It does create a bigger divide between the enthusiast and the wanna-be; sure but that divide is and always will be there. The DSLR simply closed the gap and in my opinion, the gap will never be what it once was.

Yes you can demonstrate talent by shooting something beautiful, that is great but reality is there is little money in art/music/poetry or pretty montages. Money is in magazine, sport, reality, drama etc… be it on TV/Internet/DVD or whatever. The way I see it is not professionals are snooty towards the talented enthusiast but that the DSLR is is cultivating a wider field, more people with talent can enter the “daily grind” of TV and Film making. Some really talented people are emerging out of nowhere. Might I add there is alot more crap out there too. Its a big field so its ok.

Yes the community of the DSLR/RED/HVX you name it .. will indeed evolve, my feeling is it will evolve to something much better.

Don’t hate the new camera, guess what there will always be a new camera and there will always be one to service every end of the market, dictated by the users.. us. No more black art is not such a bad thing and means the pros simply need to work a bit harder to maintain their positions.

I’ll agree with you wholeheartedly. Its interesting your view is actually very well placed.

The pros can be a bit hoity toity about this stuff but the natural order works when your feeding your family. But not so long ago for me, I was the one fully doing it for love and in fact as I said earlier I would have killed to have a 5D type tool when I was a kid. The landscape will forever be different.

I think you are right, the 100 is definitely a demarcation point where the pro market is regaining control again. Truth be known, its not over. All the pros I talk to love their 5Ds but on a paid job will probably sway the way of the 100 or Sony equivalent or whatever else.

I did a meet-up a few weeks ago, I never had such a cross section of people in my life. Everyone in the bar drinking and laughing afterward. Wedding guys next to Movie DOPs, a reality shooter like myself talking shop to church shooters. No other venue has ever had such a cross section in my business.

We’ve seen so many cameras over the years, we don’t test all of them, I am usually pretty picky as to what the guys evaluate as a group, looking for leaps in tech rather than simply the next greatest thing. We are buyers not reviewers so going public with our findings and distributing our test footage is a bit of a new thing. I’m glad you liked it.

Now that all the top reviewers have their hands on it, I’m keen to see what all the real tests yield. Its been fun, I’ll keep checking in on your blog.