There is no denying, that for all its faults, the Canon 5DMII, now with its firmware update to enable manual control of shutter, aperture and ISO during video, has become a popular dSLR video camera.<\/p>\n
It allows high quality video with low image noise at high ISO, and shallow depth of field which is just not possible on consumer camcorders.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, though, its not really designed as a video camera<\/strong> which makes taking quality videos a touch more difficult – unlike the Micro Four Thirds options such as the Panasonic GH-1 and Olympus E-P1, there is no image stabilisation<\/strong> and no auto focus during video<\/strong>, furthermore there is no electronic viewfinder<\/strong> as on the GH-1, so you are forced to use the rear LCD screen which makes manual focus more difficult<\/strong> and perhaps worse, keeping the camera steady hand held, much more difficult<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Fortunately, there are some after market options which videographer Philip Bloom has just created a blog on and which I felt is worth mentioning here:<\/p>\n The Hoodloupe 3.0<\/strong> and Zacuto Z-finder V2<\/strong> – a couple of options to help you view the LCD screen in daylight<\/strong> and at the same time allow it to be held to the eye to help steady the camera.<\/p>\n