Photo Fusion: A Wedding Photographers Guide to Mixing Digital Photography and Video

Chapter 3. The Cameras

The age-old debate about photographic gear rages on in the Fusion world: HDSLRs are pitted against the RED cameras which are pitted against camcorders, and so on. It's no different from the Canon/Nikon, RAW/JPEG, Mac/PC debates that have also been going on forever. While there are definitely compelling reasons why you should choose one platform over another, in the hands of a competent and creative artist, the tools matter less than the vision of the person using them. But that's no fun is it? The gear really does matter when it is time to choose the most appropriate means to create a Fusion project that fits with your creative vision.

Figure 3.1. As with all art, the tools matter less than the vision

CANON 5D MKII

Without doubt, the Canon 5D MKII is the camera that initially put Fusion on the front burner. Combining HD video recording in a DSLR with the look of expensive Hollywood cameras at a prosumer price, Canon set the photography and videography worlds on their respective heads.

Figure 3.2. Canon 5D MKII

Photographers were enamored first with the high ISO of the 5D MKII. To photographers, video seemed more like an add-on, without any real purpose. Videographers, on the other hand, were amazed by the quality of video the MKII produced, the ability to pull focus, ...