Inversely, will a high end DSLR make me long for a P&S's small size?

July 2, 2012 9:14 AM

For motion itself, will a new canon point and shoot (digic5) have the same movement quality as the 5d mark 3 (their nice digic 5 slr)? I understand that the lens quality will differ (chromatic aberration, etc), but what about seeing how the video handles movement, skew, and motion?

Hos much of it is the card itself and how much is the post-card processing? Will a $200 camera's video sample give me a good sense of the $3500 camera's video capabilities?

posted by history is a weapon to media & arts (5 answers total)

There are many review sites who post sample videos. Sure, they won't be of the same scene, but you'll get a general idea. You'll find hundreds if not thousands of amateurs who like to show off their new wares postings video clips to youtube, vimeo and the like.

After about five minutes of perusing samples from P&S cameras (you haven't specified which ones) and the 5Diii, it's safe to say that the order of magnitude in price difference is easily seen. Not to mention how much nicer the handling is on a 5Diii compared to a P&S.
posted by Brian Puccio at 10:34 AM on July 2, 2012

For what it is worth, the 5Diii isn't Digic5, it is Digic5+. Even without that distinction, I wouldn't count on a P&S being representative of the video quality of a 5Diii. If nothing else, I would think that the 5D's larger sensor is going to have inherently less noise, which will have a positive impact on video compression, by allowing more bitrate and processing to go to motion compression quality.
posted by Good Brain at 11:25 AM on July 2, 2012

One thing to keep in mind (which you may have already thought of), is that the smaller size and weight of a point and shoot camera means there will be significantly more motion and shakyness carried over to the camera, so your video will look more shakey even if you are just standing there not moving. This issue goes away if you are using a tripod, but if you are just going to be holding the camera and taking video, it will be more shaky than on a larger camera (assuming it doesn't have any sort of built in image stabilization).

Also, on a DSLR there are lenses with image stabilization. That makes a huge difference with video, and if the smaller camrea doesn't have that built in, you will have a lot more issues with a stable image. Just turning the image stabilization on and off while shooting video on my 60D makes a world of difference, as it does on my camcorder.
posted by markblasco at 12:32 PM on July 2, 2012

Let me be clear. I know that people are hosting their own videos online and that the camera size will affect how it handles. I'm specifically asking if the chip's handling of fast motion will differ between low and high end cameras with digic5s. I hadn't noticed the difference between digic5 and digic5+, which I'll look up, but does anyone know anything else?
posted by history is a weapon at 6:22 PM on July 2, 2012

I have a canon elph 100, and its video is surprisingly good.

There's so much more that goes into this (if you're asking a question this technical, I'm sure you're aware). What is the final output platform?

Have you looked at mirrorless dslr's? Such as the Sony NEX 5n and up, which can do 60p. But that only matters if your audience can view the work in 60p.
posted by victory_laser at 5:32 AM on July 3, 2012