[Micah Mcdowell]

True that it’s not fast to transcode, but it is faster than I anticipated, and easy too. I suppose it’s render first on import, or render later… in my workflow rendering first seems way more efficient, and then it’s already ProRes for later color correction/compositing.

Of course it’s great that DSLR video plays back realtime via graphics cards, but not much help when you’re trying to edit via a monitor connected via analog component. Otherwise there’d be no need for that pricey AJA Kona.

[Micah Mcdowell]

Having just started using a Mac with Premiere and an AJA card with DSLR video, I’ve had the same question…. as far as I can tell you HAVE to render/convert first for it to work smoothly if you want playback on a monitor. If someone else knows a different way, I’d love to hear it.

I finally decided I’m sick of Premiere today and I’m now using the AJA with FCP and the Canon EOS log and transfer plugin… it automatically transcodes to ProRes 422 REALLY fast when you import and then everything plays flawlessly on the Kona. Might be an option for you.

[Micah Mcdowell]

@Alex… the problem occurs in both the source monitor and in the timeline window. Will check soon to see if it loops at the same point every time; not at that machine at the moment. I’m guessing it might.

@tonygil… thank you for your time in replying. It’s a live switched show recorded to miniDV master (our local station doesn’t take anything else… sorry we’re behind the times unlike you fancy folks). Capturing the show to add lower thirds and graphic opens/credits in post, trim and tweak a bit, and print to tape. I’ve captured files that length via Firewire for years on Avid, FCP, and Premiere alike, on Mac and PC both, with never an issue, hence my frustration. And the files work in other apps, just not in Premiere… I do think Premiere has a bug. I don’t think we deserve any problems, thank you.

[Micah Mcdowell]

Your 100mm EF lens will be equivalent to a 162mm… roughly 1.6x crop factor, not the 7x (actually closer to 8X) that you had on the XL. Might need some new glass, or prepare to have to get way closer.

The moire pattern on Canon DSLRs haven’t bothered me for the most part. Especially since you’re generally shooting organic subjects, you probably won’t have too many issues.

[Micah Mcdowell]

Could you be specific as to which Canon XL? Could be an XL1, XL1s, XL2, XL-H1, or ???

The first thing I’d consider for a “filmic look” is frame rate. The XL1 and XL1s have “frame mode”, which is a lousy simulation of 24p film motion, that you may or may not want to use. The XL2 and later have true 24p capability, which you’d almost definitely want to use.

[Micah Mcdowell]

Interesting… looks as if it has a ton of consumer-ish features added but no real improvements other than the articulating LCD screen, manual audio gain (which can be done on T2i anyway with firmware), and the 10x digital “zoom” which may or may not be as awesome as it sounds.

Seems that Canon keeps remaking the same basic camera again and again. T2i, 60D, 7D, T3i… they’re all much too similar with the same sensor, video capabilities, and resulting quality for us video folks. There’s zero innovation there.

[Micah Mcdowell]

It appears that every lens that seller has listed is specifically what you do NOT want to use on a Canon 7D or T2i.

They are all Canon FD lenses (FD being the mount that Canon used before the modern EOS autofocus cameras). Almost every vintage camera mount from every manufacturer is easily adapted to a Canon DSLR; ironically, Canon FD is one of the few that are impossible to adapt usefully. They can be mechanically adapted, but the flange distance is too deep so it’s impossible to focus to infinity. You don’t want this. Lenses that are easily adaptable with mechanical rings from eBay are old Pentax K-mount, Olympus mount, Nikon F-mount (manual focus only), Fujica/Fujinon (what I use), M42 screw mount, and many many others. And, obviously, any Canon EOS (EF or EF-S) lenses will work… no adapters needed.

So to answer your question, all of the lenses that seller has would be terrible.

[Micah Mcdowell]

Sounds like that’d be a great deal at $600, as long as it’s in great condition with no issues.

You can use any MiniDV tape brand you desire (it used to be rumored that the lubricants of different brands didn’t intermix well, so once you pick a brand you should probably use it consistently).

Regardless of how good a deal it is, make sure you NEED the camera before you buy it. It’s never going to be worth more than it is now, so you don’t want it just gathering dust on a shelf and depreciating. Since purchasing a Canon DSLR, my DVX has ONLY been used as a roving stage camera for live video at a couple concerts, grabbing B-roll at a few events where the zoom range of the DSLR wouldn’t cut it, plus being brought along on a few shoots as a backup. If you have regular access to an EX-3 and don’t need a B-cam or backup, I’d lean towards not purchasing it. Is $600 a good price if you do need it? Yes it is.

[Micah Mcdowell]

Thanks for the info… I’m completely in agreement that MPEG 1 is a lousy codec, but for some reason this software won’t read much else, reliably anyway. Telestream Episode looks excellent, but for the price we’d likely be better off replacing the presentation software itself (and possibly several computers it gets run from as well).

I’ll have to experiment some more… I think I might get it to read an MPEG2 file if it’s configured just right (has been very hit and miss so far, but I think I got one to work). FYI, the presentation software in question is called MediaShout. The newest version allegedly supports various flavors of Quicktime natively without any codecs, but so far I’ve only gotten one out of the several machines we run it on to play anything but a very simple MPEG1.

[Micah Mcdowell]

Thanks for the information: that Adobe doc seems to reinforce my opinion that those big processors need more RAM to stretch their legs, but I’m not complaining; it’s still rendering approximately 10x faster than my previous system (no exaggeration).

The disk cache was something else I was going to ask about but forgot, so thanks for the tip. I have it on the RAID right now, so I’ll move it around and experiment.