One of the first to receive a shipped camera is Rick Young. In this video, he shoots and explains the features as he goes.As he says, you can use just about any lens with the right adapter, but the Canon EF glass works right away, including auto focus and auto iris. Rick also explains how to easily work with the crop factor.
By taking us through the menus, he shows how easy the camera is work with. Not only is it simple, but there’s a nice big hi-res built-in monitor to work with. None of the menus have too many layers like many other cameras.
Rick is shooting and demonstrating the camera without reading the manual. That’s a good sign.
One thing Rick didn’t address is whether you can handhold this camera. Hand-holding a camera is not something I recommend you do often, but sometimes it’s the only way to get the shot. I did see on the B&H site there’s a hand-holding rig available, but it keeps all the weight out front.
I know that no has said this was a documentary camera. It’s always been touted as ideal for low budget features and commercials. I can imagine a rig that has weights and keeps the weight of the entire unit more on your shoulder rather than out in front where your arms will tire sooner. Since there’s no view finder, you couldn’t put your eye up against the monitor. So maybe you shouldn’t even think of it as a possible doc camera. What do you think?
I like it! I used to be a Canon guy, but went back to Nikon when I went for a new camera that shot video–a D7000. I have some really neat manual focus lenses with aperture rings. I just bought a 20mm 3.5 in virtually mint condition. That would be like a 46mm on this camera. I suppose my 10-24 DX lens would work, too, since it’s a smaller sensor. I realize I would need a Nikon-to-EF mount adapter, of course…
I didn’t realize the crop factor was that huge, 2.3x
Nice if you do event video from behind the audience but makes for a very limited choice of lenses to achieve wide angles.
All else aside, the ability to shoot Raw or 10bit ProRes would make a huge difference in image quality. I’m making purchasing decisions right now for my company, and this camera is within our budget, but I think this is going to move the bar and force Canon and Nikon to respond, so I think I’ll wait a while to see what comes of this very exciting development.