Dan Chung: Another Night in Beijing

This phenomenal video was shot entirely with a brand new Canon 7D by filmmaker Dan Chung, just hours after he purchased the camera at a local retailer in Beijing. Chung used some top notch L lenses and a professional video setup to make the film, but because of the low light most of the video was shot in the ISO range of 1600 – 6400! I have to say I’m very impressed.

To read more about Chung’s experience making the video and working with the 7D, and to learn about the equipment he used check out his website, DSLR News Shooter. You can also view the video in HD and read Chung’s write-up on Vimeo.

Philip Bloom: Sophia’s People

Philip Bloom shot this beautiful video with a Canon 5D mkII while on a short trip to Sophia, Bulgaria to teach filmmakers about 35mm adaptors and DSLRs with HD video capabilities. If you haven’t seen video from the 5D mkII yet, it’s pretty amazing. Bloom states in his article Video DSLRs, the death of 35mm adaptors? that there are still quite a few issues to be worked out with the HD video DSLRs, but this video shows that a lot can be done with a camera ultimately designed to take amazing stills.

I’ve been a bit of a purist when in came to HD video in a DSLR, believing that adding video was just a publicity stunt and that the quality wouldn’t be there, but my view is starting to change. It would be really nice to have video on my next trip, and it’d be great not to have to carry a separate video camera. If they can improve the video capabilities without sacrificing anything in the core still shots, then maybe the camera companies are on to something after all.