The Canon 1D Mark IV looks like a still camera - It is a Stills camera. and if you bring some talent out on the streets with you and some cool camera dollies and tripods, you can also make movies.
But I left something out.... oh wait you need to bring a truck with your lighting setup... you'll have to rent a few thousand dollars worth of lights... oh yeah.. and when you turn them on, you need generators... oh yeah, and you'll need probably need to get permits because of all the noise and attention you'll be getting with all those lights. If your are renting a crew for the lights, and committing to a location (because it takes a long time to setup lights), you'll need food, and security gaurds, and probably police to shut down a street or two. If you rent all that stuff, then you should probably rent the cheapest part of the production, a RED One camera or Sony setup and some prime lenses. And do not forget the insurance! Now you are filmmaking! Hope your script is good, and hope you have fun shooting because it's very likely (like most filmmakers) you will NEVER recover the cost of this production.
Small Game Changer: Canon 1D MKIV
Now consider this. You pick up a nice new camera capable of taking pro photography stills, you know, so you can get some great shots of the family on vacation. Between your colleagues, friends, and their friends and colleagues, together you already own basically a movie set's worth of gear. And between the rest of the people you know, you can probably get a few "favor" loaners of some high quality camera mounts/setups. This new camera you bought is also capable of filming 1080P/24fps in almost ANY lighting conditions, yet looks just as innocent hanging around your neck in the shopping mall. With this new clandestine filmmaking rig, a walk thru the mall, downtown suburbs, or busy city streets can yield limitless possibilities - car chases, foot chases, romantic comedies, restaurant dialogues, walking shots in the park... at night!
This is what Canon's new camera announcement is allowing you to do... for $5000! (body only)
Consider this: In 2004, Michael Mann directed Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx in the motion picture Collateral , shooting in and around the streets of Los Angeles, using mostly available light for many shots. He was an early adopter of HD fillmaking 5 years ago and used Sony HDW-F900's and Grass Valley Viper cameras - These are $200,000+ setups even today! Five years later and $5000 gets this capability in what looks like a consumer/prosumer camera package!
All hail competitve markets! Canon has announced 24P/25P solutions for their existing 5DMKII and their newest extreme low light 1D MKIV in the same breath. This comes strategically before RED Camera announces their latest "giant carrot" product development cycle and features list on OCT. 30th, 2009. Canon has been able to captialize on RED's quietness by delivering two cameras that can do a lot more than take pretty still pictures.
I believe that Canon has reached out to a broader market, where RED will continue to preach to its choir - A pretty big choir consisting of mostly professional filmmakers and up and coming industry pros. While RED will most likely not compromise with a few key quality features (RAW Capture), Canon is willing to make drastic compromises in quality (H.264) and in turn gain the attention of an ever increasing multitude of frustrated filmmaking enthusiasts. This is a big crowd of "potential filmakers", the people who want to try and make creative content, without the need for all that "pro" stuff. Canon may be getting this one right - "Good enough" usually wins.
But RED and Canon may be heading towards two different users ultimately, with occasional crossover users for both camps. Some pros use Canon DSLR's and some enthusiasts use RED's products (although not many). RED is not easy to use, and a Canon 1D MKIV does NOT make you a filmmaker. RED has never led its usrs to believe their camera was for everyone - it's a digital cinema product. Canon makes cameras (and other stuff) that are targeted at anyone with interest in capturing images - a lot of people indeed. So what would you expect? Only pro stuff from Canon - No. An inadequate lens and high compression capture from RED - No. RED has obviously pushed Canon to do better, however, and Canon has made RED re-evaluate its strategy - a very healthy and beneficial atmosphere for the consumer!
Remember, a free market will always take the path of least resistance.
Exciting times for creative people using technology for sure!
October 30th will bring a new insight on this discussion. :)
