EOS cameras at the movies, which features are in each camera?

Canon first introduced EOS movies in the the EOS 5D Mark II in September 2008. Many photographers thought movie mode was a gimmick, some still do. A few photo journalists were thinking that the movie mode meant they only needed to carry one camera for both the stills and video being requested by their clients.

The unexpected success of EOS movies came from a part of the industry that Canon probably hadn’t though to consider in the planning of the EOS 5D Mark II. The movie industry and independent film makers suddenly found a surprisingly good, low-cost camera with amazing low-light performance and a range of lenses not normally found in the movie world; they loved it.

A few years on in the spring of 2011 and the EOS 5D Mark II is still being sold. Since the early days, firmware updates for the camera have provided new controls and features requested from the market. Other cameras have been launched with more and more features already built in.

So which one would or should you choose?

The table gives a current, firmware update inclusive, state of the EOS movie features.

Camera	Sensor	Exposure	Frame rate	Audio	LCD
EOS-1D Mark IV	APS-H 1.3x crop	Manual & auto	1080p: 24/25/30 720p: 50/60 SD: 50/60	stereo mic input auto levels	3″ 920K dots
EOS 5D Mark II	Full-frame	Manual & auto	1080p: 24/25/30 SD: 25/30	stereo mic input auto or manual levels	3″ 920K dots
EOS 7D	APS-C 1.6x crop	Manual & auto	1080p: 24/25/30 720p: 50/60 SD: 50/60	stereo mic input auto levels	3″ 920K dots
EOS 60D	APS-C 1.6x crop	Manual & auto	1080p: 24/25/30 720p: 50/60 SD: 50/60	stereo mic input auto or manual levels	3″ vari-angle 1.04M dots
EOS 600D	APS-C 1.6x crop	Manual & auto	1080p: 24/25/30 720p: 50/60 SD:25/30	stereo mic input auto or manual levels	3″ vari-angle 1.04M dots
EOS 1100D	APS-C 1.6x crop	Auto	720p: 30/25	no MIC input auto levels	2.7″ 270K dots
Older models
EOS 550D	APS-C 1.6x crop	Manual & auto	1080p: 24/25/30 720p: 50/60 SD: 50/60	stereo mic input auto levels	3″ 920K dots
EOS 500D	APS-C 1.6x crop	Auto	1080p: 20 720p: 30 SD: 30	no MIC input auto levels	3″ 920K dots

The sections of the table with the green highlight are the best in class features. As all the cameras have a built-in mono MIC this is not described in the table.

Quite interesting is how well the newer EOS 60D and EOS 600D fare. If you don’t need the ultra-shallow depth of field and low-light performance of the bigger sensor EOS 5D Mark II and EOS-1D Mark IV you would be well advised to look at the less expensive cameras in the range for shooting movies.

23rd March UPDATE: Something odd came up yesterday after Brian published this post on Monday. He was chatting to some old colleagues and the EOS 600D came up in conversation. Specifically the movie function. In looking at the camera, it turns out its SD quality is a bit of an odd-ball – according to the manual, the SD (640×480) frame rates are 50 or 6, but in reality, with a camera in his hand, Brian has discovered that it is actually 25 and 30 – the only camera apart from the EOS 5D Mark II that has these options.