Foreword

by Helmut Kraus

Many photographers will be asking themselves why they should use their DSLRs to shoot video at all. Perhaps this is just the marketing people's latest clever strategy? The most obvious reason to do so is "because you can", but there are other reasons, too, for using the same camera to shoot photos and video. Both activities satisfy the human need to communicate visually, and both media enhance and extend human perception of time, space, and aesthetics.

Nowadays photographers and filmmakers no longer have to decide in advance what form their finished work will take. A DSLR can be used to shoot both stills and video, and both media can be mixed at will when presenting the results on a computer screen or using a projector.

We are currently witnessing the birth of a new medium which combines the advantages of both conventional art forms, creating a new, potentially more powerful hybrid.

Technology

The simple reason so many camera manufacturers are suddenly offering HD video functionality in their products is that it is relatively cheap and easy to do so. The ever-increasing sensitivity and resolution of image sensors make shooting video a snap, although the processors built into today's cameras have also had to develop in step in order to process the huge volumes of digital information high-resolution sensors produce.

But the really important development that made shooting digital video popular was the increase in speed and capacity (and the decrease in price) of memory media. Video data requires large amounts of memory: one minute of HD video requires between 80 and 150 MB of memory, and a single minute of Full HD footage can use as much as 256 MB.

Compact and bridge cameras began to fulfill these important criteria several years ago, and many older compacts have a built-in video mode, usually only capable of shooting in VGA quality. The DSLRs available back then didn't have video functionality at all. One reason for this was the developers' concentration on popularizing digital photography—video functionality was seen more as a gimmick than a feature that would convince serious photographers to abandon analog photography in favor of the new, digital medium. One technical reason for the delay was the simple fact that a DSLR has to raise its mirror during an exposure to allow light to reach the image sensor. In order to shoot video sequences, the mirror would have to be raised for the entire shot, and the photographer would be unable to follow the action being recorded. The advent of so called "Live View" functionality was the crucial step. For the first time, the photographer was able to view a constant monitor image, even with the mirror raised and the viewfinder dark. Live View works in exactly the same way when shooting photos or video.

The parallels between the two media are not really new, and the conventional photography and film worlds have always shared the same recording medium. A press photo shot using a Leica was quite possibly recorded on exactly the same 35mm film material as an entire documentary film. Today, technology has come full circle and enables us to shoot photos and video using the same camera and a single image sensor.

Aesthetics

So—we use our DSLR to shoot video because it is technically possible. But does it actually make sense to do so? Every photographer has to answer this question for himself, but the basic idea is certainly more appealing than toting an SLR and a video camera in every shooting situation. Constantly having to use two completely different tools to record two different types of media is a challenge, and often results in low-grade results for both. Budget is also a limiting factor that prohibits the parallel use of two separate media. Nowadays, the basic question is a lot simpler: do I set the dial to photo or video mode?

New technology has led to the birth of new, hybrid shooting techniques, even in the world of professional movie making. A well-known example is the so-called "Matrix Effect" (named after the famous Wachowski Brothers film), in which the camera appears to fly around the scene in extreme slow motion. This effect is produced by setting up a large number of (stills) cameras around the scene and taking a long series of slightly time-delayed shots that are subsequently merged into a single movie sequence.

Every photographer at every level has at some point realized that the limits of the medium have prevented him from achieving his intended result. Newer techniques allow a photographer to circumvent these limits; for example, merging multiple images into a single panorama image can help you to work around the limited angle of view of a conventional lens.

A video-capable DSLR allows you to replace a panorama with a pan, or to capture a moving subject more meaningfully than a motion-blurred (or super-sharp) photo can.

But the most convincing reason for using a DSLR to shoot video is probably the ability to shoot video that looks like film. You can now capture video with a photographically broad tonal range, and with equally sharp detail in bright backlit or shadow situations. Videos shot using conventional video cameras have much greater contrast, and consequently a much narrower tonal range. Many video-based filmmakers and artists use this video "look" deliberately. Speaking as a photographer, if I really need to produce a video-style effect, I prefer to generate it using a softwarebased change in tonal values rather than limiting myself at the shooting stage. Remember, footage shot using video equipment can never be processed to look like film, and tonal values that are not present in the original material cannot be produced artificially later.

Presentation

In the analog world, photos and film were always presented separately. Most photos were either exhibited as prints or published in print media, and slide shows provided a way of presenting still images to a larger audience. Slide and film projectors are completely different devices, and the two media developed largely parallel to one another until TV began to merge still and moving images.

The digital age has seen a significant move from paper-based to monitor-based presentation of photos, whether on a computer, a mobile phone, an iPod, or using the camera itself.

The fact that digital photos and video can be presented using one and the same device is another good reason for experimenting with moving pictures shot on your DSLR.

Although film and photo equipment (and professional training) are still quite different to one another, they are—viewed historically—closely related, and have strongly influenced each other's development over the years. Photography only became an interesting and affordable hobby when Oskar Barnack came up with the idea of using comparatively cheap 35mm movie film in stills cameras.

We are currently witnessing what could be the start of the total fusion of the film and photo media. We already have the cameras and presentation media that can handle both. Now all we have to do is get on with breaking down the existing barriers.