The Photo Shop at the 5-100 Foto Source

When movie directors start shooting feature length films with digital single lens reflex (DSLR) cameras instead of dedicated Super 35 Film format cameras, you know it’s time to upgrade your old DSLR to one of the new offerings that are redefining today’s digital photographer.

Gone are the days when you needed three men and a grip or gaffer to haul equipment, if you wanted to shoot both photographs and videos. Now you can do it all with one camera without conflicting choices between shooting stills or video. It’s as simple as pressing a button in these DSLRs to go from still photography to high definition (HD) video and back again.

Weight and easy operation aren’t the only reasons to consider upgrading. Lenses also play a determining factor. Lenses on standard camcorders are chosen to appeal to the broadest possible range of consumers. As a result, they offer more limited shooting options, as far as angles of view go.

With a DSLR capable of shooting video, you can use all the lenses that you already have in your gadget bag from the widest super-wide to extreme telephoto. Even perspective control (PC) or tilt shift (TS) lenses, like Nikon’s 24mm PC-E or Canon’s TS-E 90mm, work well in the video mode.

• Think of a trip-of-a-lifetime visiting London’s St. Paul’s Cathedral and panning your camera to capture Christopher Wren’s spectacular dome in its entirety without fall-off or other distortion.
• Imagine following your child as they run the length of the soccer field, and zooming in to capture them scoring the winning goal.
• Or picture yourself in a marsh in spring, when a pair of Western grebes performs their mating dance.

Shooting in high definition video, you can capture the expanse of the dome, the expression on your child’s face changing from determination to jubilation and all the intricate movements of birds. You can get sharp, still frames from the video to make prints, enlargements or use in Foto Books or on Foto Gifts. It’s all possible, and the advantages of this new generation of DSLRs don’t end there either.

With high-end units like the Canon EOS 1D Mark IV or Nikon’s D3s, you have huge sensors. The Nikon FX sensor is a full-frame 36 x 23.9mm sensor while the EOS 1D Mark IV is an APS-H sensor which measures in at 28.7 x 19mm. The professional Super 35mm format is smaller than either at 24.8 x 18.6mm.

With sensors, this is truly a case of bigger is better. The larger sensor coupled with the correspondingly large photo-sites (the component that actually records the light striking the sensor) of both cameras means you can actually produce video clips that are superior to their film counterparts.

Enhanced photo-sites also mean that these professional cameras are capable of ISOs as high as 12,800. This would let you shoot downhill skiing by moonlight and get usable video clips of up to 14 minutes in length with standard memory cards.

Price is a factor with these two cameras. Their price tags put them beyond the range of most, save the working pro or dedicated amateur. But Canon, Nikon and Panasonic offer pro/am and amateur level DSLRs that won’t require raiding the kids’ education funds.

Canon’s low-end (and that’s only price point, not feature or quality-wise), high definition DSLR is the EOS Rebel T2i. It features MOV (movie file format) files that can be recorded in true HD video at 1920 x 1080 pixels resolution.

Nikon’s equivalent is the D5000 and Panasonic’s is the Lumix DMC-GH1. Both offer true high definition video as well as dozens of other features.

For the serious amateur or pro, Nikon and Canon produce more advanced cameras. The Nikon D300s and the Canon 7D are comparatively priced and have excellent shooting capabilities.

Most DSLR cameras are equipped with the APS-C sensor. This digital chip is smaller, and therefore less expensive, than the über expensive pro model APS-H and FX-sized sensors. The APS-C is the standard DX sensor. Despite being slightly smaller, they produce crisp, brilliant images and deliver high ISOs.

All of the new DSLR video-capable cameras shoot the industry standard cinematic frame rate of 24-frames per second. Some offer variable frame rates.

So if you’ve ever wanted to shoot video as well as stills, the next technological revolution has just made it all that much easier and definitely more affordable than carrying several different cameras to do the jobs that a single DSLR can accomplish.