Originally posted by wll With the news and rumors of the K-7 (and other makers) it comes apparent that photographic tools are now becoming an "Imaging device". No longer will we see dedicated "Still Cameras" or "Movie Cameras" as we did in the past.
What are your feelings on this .... I for one, growing up using film still cameras, was never much a film movie guy.
I think people are forgetting about some of the downsides compared to dedicated video cams. It really is NOT a direct replacement for a dedicated video camera. Its something new.
Yes you can use fast lenses for shallow DOF, but you would also need huge telephoto lenses to cover the range of a normal video camera, and at long focal lengths shallow DOF is a real pain. Try keeping up with a racing car or BIF with a 600mm lens - an SLR's normal PD optical system can just about manage (though its not smooth) but a contrast detect system? Dream on.
SLR autofocus is nothing like as smooth and quite as video AF. It doesnt need to be - it needs to be fast and accurate. Perhaps the contrast AF system is being developed just for this, but its not "free". Do you want stills lenses to have smoother and quieter AF at the cost of speed? . Do you want to have buy new lenses just for video, especially as most of the old screw drive lenses will drown out any sound? Pretty soon it gets expensive.
You have to manually zoom, which means you really require a tripod much of the time.
You cant use the VF when shooting which means on really bright days you cant accurately verify exposure and focus. At least with micro 4/3 you dont have this problem. In fact without the mirror assembly, I see video as a far more natural extension of the micro 4/3 and micro APS concept. It just makes more sense to me.
Plus your still camera is carrying the additional cost of lots of technology licensing on the video side. Without this, the K7 would likely be a couple of hundred dollars less.
Now dont get me wrong, if I was a photojournalist, wedding or event photographer I would pretty soon need one to compete with all the other guys offering video. I could even see the point in it. But I just dont think most people other than indie movie makers are going to be able to exploit it that well. Its quite technically challenging to shoot movies on larger formats.
Personally I would like to have the OPTION of a camera without all this for a couple of hundred dollars less. Perhaps the K7 limited?