Canot
Wednesday, March 25, 2009 at 12:05AM 
The 500D, AKA the Digital Rebel T1i, was indeed announced, and as expected it features various things, and stuff, and what the fricking hell?
That was my reaction anyway, when I got way, way down to the bottom of the specs, to the place where the leaked details of its “video” are confirmed: 720p at 30fps and 1080p at, seriously: 20fps.
I know I keep saying less is more, but there is such a thing as too much less.
Oh, whatever. I feel like the nerdy kid played by Michael Cera who finally realizes that the popular girl has been mistreating me and I need to get on with my life. I’m tired of hanging out on your lawn with a boombox Canon. Where the heck is Kat Dennings?
From cameratown.com’s post entitled Canon EOS Rebel T1i HD Video Misses the Mark:
While the EOS Rebel T1i does indeed capture HD video, it does so with lackluster monaural sound. If that isn’t bad enough, Canon decided NOT to add an auxiliary audio input, making the video mode on the Rebel T1i less useful to virtually anyone interested in capturing high quality footage. Canon also didn’t place any emphasis on getting full-time AF working in video mode, so the average dSLR user who might buy this camera in hopes of capturing precious family moments in HD will be disappointed when they realize that they’ll have to set up focus prior to recording. This was barely acceptable on the professional 5D Mark II and is unacceptable for a second generation model aimed at the consumer market.
It is also surprising that Canon crippled the video mode of the Rebel T1i knowing that Panasonic will start shipping their Lumix DMC-GH1 this summer. The DMC-GH1 promises cinematic 24fps 1080p video, 60fps 720p video, a more advanced auto focus system, internal stereo microphone, AND an auxiliary microphone input.
It seems that Canon was more focused on getting the phrase ‘HD video’ into their literature and less on actually creating a usable HD video mode.
The article continues with the popular theory that Canon is intentionally crippling the video on their SLRs to avoid sabotaging their camcorder market. Because, uhm, it’s bad when people buy one Canon thingy instead of another? Or instead of a Panasonic thingy? Or a Nikon one?
Whenever I hear a conspiracy theory like this, I think of Hanlon’s Razor. Never heard of it? Oh, it’s good. It goes like this:
Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.
Canon is not shrewdly crippling this to protect that. They are blindly stumbling into this “video” world. Which is fine, but what’s not fine is that they are blatantly ignoring their flagship users who are patiently explaining to them the few simple things they need to do to wipe the floor with the comptetion in this new space that everyone is certain marks the future of making pictures.
Reader Comments (26)
So it's a Mexican't rather than a Mexican.
Bummer, 20 fps, what a joke and no external audio input, it's official then - Canon are protecting their camcorders by hobbling the video modes in their DSLR's.
How long before we some some professional looking footage from the GH1? Anyone out there got their hands on one yet?
Yup, exactly. I knew this camera was going to be announced today, so I was looking forward to it. I scanned through the press release to see some magic words like "1080/24p" and "manual control in video", etc. I saw "1080"...yes, good...then directly after "20fps"...wait...WHAT?!? It makes no sense. Definitely going for the GH1 unless Panny totally drops the ball on it somehow.
I think with this Canon started advertising Panasonics GH1...
Ohh this is intentional I reckon. Market segmentation through cripple ware and all that. It's what the mobile phone companies have been doing for years until apple stepped in and gave them a good spanking with the iphone. Hopefully Panasonic land some big punches to stir the rest into action.
Yeah, my husband showed me the Gizmodo article tonight, and my first reaction was "20 fps???". He said "well, going to 24 fps would have required another 20% speed boost and that was probably not possible or would have made the camera too expensive". And I replied, "whatever. Maybe then they could have just only offer us 720/30p and 720/24p and not even bother with 1080p. Right now, it's like they are laughing at our face".
I feel that Canon's photography division just doesn't have a clue what it's doing with video. They seem to be one of these disjointed corporations where one department refuses to work with another. Jeez.
Yeah, I kept searching around figuring the 20fps must be a typo, but no, I found footage on Gizmodo with an early hands on. Footage looks good...but 20fps is just crappy for most any use. It's obviously unusable for pros but I think consumers are not going to be nuts about the 20fps frame rate on their bigscreen TVs.
It's one thing to watch 15 to 20fps video on tiny web screens or 640 X 480 video on your computer, but this will be unpleasant viewing, especially handheld with rolling shutter skew. I think most will end up with the 720/30p.
I would like to have been excited about this new Canon T1i or 500D, but alas, they obviously do not get it. 20fps, still no manual control(that I can see), no audio input, wow. You would think they would have been listening to all the hubbub, and probably more press(5D mkII) than they've received from any other Canon product in recent years... I think they've really missed an opportunity to sell LOTS of these cameras.
Ok, so we know 20fps is useless for pros(what pulldown is that? ) How on earth will the consumer market even deal with a non-standard frame rate- how will iMovie look at 20fps- uh, don't think so, give me 24 or 30 right? So I think they're messing with even the consumer market in an unwise way...
GH1 looks better and better.
Shouldn't complain though, I remember shooting with tube cameras trying to get a film look;)
Canon = Epic Fail. I give up, Really. I've been waiting for well over a year for Canon to come to their senses and release some innovative cameras. All for naught. I'm more and more convinced cameras like the HV20 were just a pure mistake on Canon's part. Oh well, I still have hope for the GH1.
20 fps!!! LOL this is the most stupid frame rate ever built in a device! :-D
It's hard to believe Canon managed to screw this up. I still rely on my first gen rebel (a great camera after all these years) and was looking forward to an upgrade. I'm not a professional photographer but I like taking pretty pictures and after 10 years of Canon bodies I'm seriously considering moving over to Nikon. They seem to understand the prosumer and the D90 is looking better by the minute.
Anybody looking for used Canon lenses :)
What is in the picture? A cannon?
I read somewhere that it can do 24fps. You shoot a scene at 30, then shoot it again at 20, then you send the camera to a man in the Ozarks who performs a ritual. The footage you get back is a 100x100 thumbnail gif that runs at 24.
Seriously, I don't see what everyone is upset about.
<homer> stupid canon! </homer> I got my first nice prime a few months ago (28mm f/1.8 for my Rebel XTi), and was salivating about the idea of shooting some video through it. But canon just keeps missing the mark. Maybe the 5D Mk III will do it... a friend of mine just got a Mk II, though, so I really want to borrow it for a weekend to futz around with...
Oh well, I still shoot very nice footage with the HVX, and my employer isn't going to be interested in replacing their camera investments any time soon, so I've got a few years before I seriously start looking at new shooting gear for anything other than my own amusement.
GRaarble grarble grarble !!! (choking) coff cofff . That's me "filmmaker" being water boarded by canon!
And it seriously isn't a typo? Seriously? How can it be anything other than a typo? I just don't get it. It isn't even...on this planet. What use is 20fps to *anyone*?
Gawwwd, Canon... are you THAT stupid??? Talk about FALSE advertising with "Full 1080 HD". There isn't a single legal HD spec for, gasp, 1080p20. WTF. Do you think we're stupid? How are people even going to use 20 FPS video on HD sets?
To add, this ultimately PROVES that frame rates other (lower) than 30 FPS are possible with the Digic IV processor in 1080p; a 24p/25p firmware update in the 5D Mk II is overdue.
Canon's already dwindling dignity is very quickly going to hell. I'll bet money that Canon's lens engineers are gravely pissed off at the DSLR engineers... or at least the marketing and executive idiots.
I'm thinking we need a variation on Hanlon here:
Never attribute to malice or stupidity that which can be adequately explained by business strategy.
1080p20 in this camera clearly indicates Canon's willingness to stratify their product offerings in order to encourage sales of additional or more expensive equipment. If and when their current stratification becomes a liability they'll adjust it just enough to bring them back into competition - at which point their competition will do the same, and so on and so on. It's closer to indifference rather than malice, and it's certainly not stupidity - in fact I'd argue it's just the opposite in terms of business strategy. We may not like it, but that doesn't make it a bad strategy.
No Stu, this is not "stupidity" - it's the usual workflow of "we'll take something our other More Expensive Product does and cripple it's functions at random by 20 percent, independently of which functions they might be". Clear as day.
GArrble grurrglle gurgle( gasp) Me: " No please stop!" Canon : " are gonna go buy an XL HI now" Me : "NOO!! never I'll never put up with those little 1/3 chips agian!!!!" Canon: "looks like he want's to do the hard way then" * canon continues to torture filmmaker*
I think we should just go with Panasonic, after all they made the DVX100 didnt they?
nikon will get it right on there second Video DSLR
Here is a side by side test of the Canon 500D vs 5dMk2. Of course, view in HQ mode.
Canon500d vs 5dMk2 Test
Thanks for your blog on this, Stu.
Regarding, "Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity." Maybe you're right, and they're just "stupid." Maybe the Canon video and DSLR departments really don't communicate.
But I still think Canon's behavior on these DSLR's is deliberate so they don't mess up the rest of their line. You're comment about the inadequacy of using video DSLR's for general video make sense. Canon WON'T mess up the rest of their line by giving us straight 24P, a usable codec, and mic inputs, because video DSLRs are nice for filmmakers, but are not suitable for general video use (not enough zoom, etc.).
Looks like Panasonic has got this year's camera, unless Nikon breaks Canon's tradition. Still think Panasonic would have had a jewel of a camera if they made the GH1 with 6 megapixels (for higher dynamic range) with native 24p (no pulldown), and a slightly higher bit rate. But with the 10x zoom, that may very well have infringed on their prosumer line...
I guess this gives Sony a chance to nail it when they come out with their next Alpha DSLR.
^ Sony is in the same (greedy) position as Canon by "risking" their video lineup, namely the EX1/EX3 arena. Even Panasonic will probably tread lightly. Olympus could do it, but Nikon is the best poised at dwarfing all video DSLR companies since they have no video camera lineup to worry about (and take over). Why they're waiting so long is beyond me. Maybe it's because Nikon and Canon are the same company, just like Pepsi and Coke are, lol. ;-)
20 fps? bad AF? terrible sound? It's like witnessing a train wreck!