Canon 5D Mk II vs Sony PMW-EX1 

Haha, I owne both but you have to learn how to use the ex1, why would you use one in auto and the other in manual?

@OccanKant, yes you are correct but the XLR has to go from XLR - x.mm jack which is not the same as direct XLR. However it is also true that many (like myself on occasions) record audio separately, so this is not necessarily a problem as you say. I will admit as a 5D mk1 owner ive been tempted by the Mk2 but as a working 'mediaorapher' I would struggle to use a mk2 for both my stills and video. There is absolutely no doubt the mk2 has broken new ground, but if it's to be taken seriously, it nee

Thank you for this really useful comparison.

Theoretically sound comparison although flawed in it's process. We've shot on both cams but dumped the EX1. Using the 5D for 2 years now with several modified glass rigs and focus mods. Fast Pan, pull focus, dolly zoom, not a problem and looks fantastic. Use external audio but used to that from years of shooting straight 35. Will probably move it into our TV department this year for some fun. Great camera and only limited by ones imagination.

@lyris1 The resolution of the 5D mk ii is 5,616 x 3,744 pixels. Every 3rd line is used when filming 1080p video. There is still a full 1080 pixel for pixel data set there. While there are concerns that this can produce a Moire pattern (like when filming a screened in area), I don't see this a a big issue for most projects. So you are actually getting 1080p resolution. Its sub-sampling, not down-sampling. They obviously can't use a whole 3744 lines for 1080 lines without taking a few out.

@OccamKant err actually it does make a difference as the wires on the 3.5mm jack (or whatever size it is) adds to the noise. Look it up on Google, there are White papers on this sort of thing. The box you describe just ebables you to make the physical connection; some try to eliminate noise but it's just added to again when passed down inferior connections.

@OccamKant I'm referring to the Picture Profile setting adjustments in-camera. It does not introduce noise, I have my "detail on" nearly all the time. My images from my EX1 are very clean and very detailed, much more so than what your comparison is showing. It dosn't really matter to me so much (don't mean to make a big issue of it for the sake of argument), I just wanted to point out to those watching this video that the EX1 looks much better than portrayed here if properly set up.

This comparison isn't trustworthy. For sure Canon have it's own advantages and Sony it's owns. For example, to compare details you have to use manual focus on both cameras!!

@PBQSC The point is to do exactly what I said in the video: To compare the sony camera on full auto with the Canon 5D. I didn't do anything to try to skew the comparison, I don't have any vested interest in either camera. I own a 5D and had an opportunity to borrow an EX1 for one day for comparison. It's as simple as that. Yes, the EX1 would look somewhat better with a real DOP and manual settings, but it makes no sense that the auto mode should be completely useless, like some people say.

I apprecite your comparison. I own both the 5D Mark II and EX1. Over the years, the EX1 has sat on the shelf. I used it last night where everyone else had 5Ds which were easier to maneuver with and had better lighting for the dark-lit event. I'm not a pro videographer, so that seriously changed my mind about the EX1. I'm getting rid of it in favor of the Mark III.

@OccamKant According to Philip Bloom it does. They're the same settings you use for shooting JPG images.

man, the reason why you see more blured background on the canon is because of the sensor being larger. it is the size of a real 35mm film frame. that is a factor that is relative to the DOF as well as the F-stop, the distance to the object, and focal length of the lens, (all of which need to be the same if you want to compare them fairly and do them both JUSTICE)

There are several reasons, but two come to mind immediately. First, the canon is a couple of generations newer than the EX1. Second, companies have a bad habit of not putting their best stuff out there if they don't have to. It's less expensive for them, and gives them an easy "upgrade" next year, by meting out their tech. RED showed that the true state of the art is far ahead of what sony was doing with the EX1. The canon is closer to what the current tech level was.

@OccamKant Yes, and that's why comparisons like this are not effective in terms of how the cameras look/shoot. An experience videographer will not use any default or auto settings. I just wanted to point out for those watching that this comparison should not be used to determine what you prefer by looking at these split screen differences. The Sony EX1 is razor sharp with lots of detail and contrast and color saturation if you want it to. It's flat 'on purpose' using default settings.

Thanks! Yes - you can spend a ton on glass - but that's where you should be spending your money anyway, and you can keep the lenses even if you upgrade the camera, so it's all good. I love having choice in lenses - all my cameras prior to this were fixed lens, and I always felt really limited.

@FCPWHAT I don't know what drawbacks you're referring to. The latest firmware update solved the 24p & manual audio control issues I had with the camera - now I guess the only thing that could really count as a minus is the lack of autofocus in video mode. But that's really only useful for self-vids, like youtube here, and you can solve that by picking a focal position and then just not moving. Anyway, I would hope the next version would be better (otherwise why do it?) but I'm happy with this.

The record time was originally limited to 15 minutes in a single take, but that was before the 1.1 firmware upgrade, which changed a lot, so right now I'm not certain. An 8 gig CF card will hold about 20 minutes of hi def footage, so that is one limit to shot length right there, though of course shooting a single 20 minute take is pretty unusual unless you're doing time lapse or something like that.

@unemployicus I'm not biased, actually. Before I got my Canon, I managed to borrow another EX1 and was very impressed by the imaging. It's just that it doesn't stand up to the canon. That's not my fault.

No prob, and thanks for your feedback. I have to say that the 5D absolutely rocks. There are only two things that make it slightly less than perfect. First, the audio is terrible - well, servicable for youtube videos, but not for real movies. The automatic gain control is a major pain in the ass - though apparently Canon is going to release a firmware patch to disable that. The other is it only records in 30p, not 24p. But that's going to be fixed too. Other than that, it's awesome.

@lepetitprinz I understand the purpose of a polarizing filter perfectly. It filters out light. It filters out specific orientations of light - since light from reflections tends to be mostly at the same angle, you cut down on reflections by orienting your filter appropriately. But it is still dark, which means it still has an impact on your fstop, which means it still has an impact on your dof. Smaller aperture = larger DOF, not smaller. Larger fstop numbers = smaller aperture, btw.

@BuckForester "You can adjust detail levels easily in-camera." You mean by enhancing sharpness? That's just a post processing filter, and it introduces noise.

The Sony Ex 1R now uses standard compact flash cards too. Also, one disadvantage of the Canon 5D Mk II and a lot of other digital cameras I think, is that one scene is limited to 4 gigs. Not very useful if you are recording a long interview or anything over about 12 minutes or so.. The Sony EX1 will record as long as your card will allow.

@TIGERGRIP1 "Why weren't both cameras on the same mode?" Because at the time, the Canon had no automatic mode for shooting video, and I didn't know enough about the Sony's operation to run it manually.

It's real amazing how these DSLR cameras like the 7D and 5D can hold up to such expensive cameras.

Hi, Thanks for the effort but there is no fear comparison here. When you compare the beer glasses it seems there is more light hitting the glass on the Canon clip. Lenses are also different. Also you can buy 32 GB of memory for the EX1 for $70.00 and a card adapter made by Sony for $110.00

@ObamaJoker There are no XLR inputs, no, but I bought a BeachTek adapter which works fantastic. I'll do a video on my equipment soon. Also - you can now put the canon in semi-automatic mode, if you want, though I think you still get more interesting results going manual. The recent firmware upgrade gave us 24p, manual sound control & usable video in semi-auto modes. You still can't do autofocus though, so if you're doing "talk to the camera" shots, you have to set your focus and keep still.

@OccamKant drawbacks are more in the way of camera design. E.G no XLR audio; Fiddley menus for video control access; AutoFocus (which is not just good for self-portraiture) but good for an 'auto-assist' when you need it. As a working photographer I can tell you I use this all the time in difficult conditions, both on my video cam and stills camera. In addition, ergonomics need to be addressed which is going to be the hardest one to solve I would guess. SLR's just don't handle as well as tradit

Thanks alot for this comparison! I was actually wondering if I could combine both on a budget-fiction film, using the 5D for 'beauty' and 'establishing' shots, ... and it seems to me that I could get away with it. The way I see it: take down the 5D saturation a bit, the EX1 saturation up a bit, make them do a white balance on the same board, and if you make sure not to use the EX1 on any wide shots, we've got something here... Thanks again for trying out!

@FCPWHAT "yes you are correct but the XLR has to go from XLR - x.mm jack which is not the same as direct XLR." Actually, it is exactly the same in this case. The whole point of an xlr cable is that it is noise free over any distance. Once you plug into the sound board (or camera), you're going to be going down to teeny tiny wires anyway. Open up your camera and look at what the xlr connectors are soldered to - tiny wires, just like my mini plug.

@lepetitprinz And the only reason an ND filter reduces depth of field is because you have to open up your aperture to compensate for the loss of light, and the wider the aperture the smaller the depth of field.

No problem, have fun playing. I'm intrested in seeing what else you can come up with for comparisons on these. I shoot EX1 cameras too, but I'm more of a Nikon guy when it comes to my SLRs. I've been considering the possibility of picking up a 5D Mk2 and a Nikon lens to EOS mount adapter though.

@ObamaJoker I only use 8gig cards because i was able to get them relatively cheaply, so I carry 4. That's almost 4 hours of high def shooting. That's quite a bit. Considering a single take is limited to 12-15 minutes, 8 gigs is not a problem.

It's not that it performs worse, it just wasn't a equal comparison. The sony was on full automatic(which is never good for a review). Nobody who spends $8,000 on a camera will shoot in full automatic, at least i hope. The cameras both had a different lens which effects the depth of field drastically. The white balance and picture style were not addressed on the sony, making it look worse than it is. All in all, the 5D mark2 in most situations produces a more visually stimulating image:)

Yes, I brought up house, a few days ago because it nicely directly contradicted someone's nonsense. I'm well aware of the camera being used in other productions, and even some hollywood epics. The 5D was used in Captain America, for example, during the forest motorcycle chase. Snobbery about cameras, particularly dslrs, is counterproductive and only going to limit your options. There are plenty of good reasons to use one on a shoot, even if it's not your A camera.

The fact that it records only Compact Flash cards ($44 for 8 gigs), is amazing. The sony records onto SxS cards, which are about 10x as much ($400 for 8 gigs), and CF readers are more common than SxS readers. The interchangeable lens factor absolutely ROCKS, and the fact that I have a full 35mm sensor kicks ass too - the Sony is only a 1/2" sensor (12.5mm). The sony does come with 2 built-in ND filters (1/8 and 1/64), which is nice.

@lepetitprinz Light intensity/sensitivity only plays a part, as I said, in how open you can make your aperture before you blow out your image. You can tune that with ND filters, so in bright daylight you can go with a wider aperture if you choose. A polarizing filter can also help by cutting down on light from the sky, allowing a smaller f-stop as well.

For video applications I would rather a little less resolution, and smooth panning/good IS to an SLR camera that has the video functionality added in as an extra. For video, image quality and effective resolution isn't the only determining factor, even though it's definitely important.

great test shooting! thank you

@OccamKant Where the Canon 5D MKII really shines is awesome DOF (if you have lenses that will take advantage of it). The Sony EX1 codec is more robust and it enlarges much better. Busy backgrounds can cause the 5D to have aliasing artifacts. You also mentioned no interchangeable lenses for the EX1 but you can buy adapters... I have wide-angle and fish-eye adapters (you can also get telephotos), but the Canon lens selection for the 5D is definitely a plus.

@FCPWHAT XLR audio is addressable with the addition of a beachtek (sp?) adapter -- it would be nice to have that built in, but there is only so much space on the camera body. I don't really have a problem with the menus, but I guess that's a personal thing. I'm not pooh-poohing autofocus, just that I haven't really needed it except for self shots. You can get a shoulder mount for it if you want - I have one, and a steadicam too. Anyway, for me, I'm super happy with it. Maybe you wouldn't be.

I didn't do it to be biased - I only had the Sony for one day, and didn't have enough time to really get familiar with it. I felt that it could probably do a better job setting itself automatically than I could fumbling around with it. The white balance was fine - the roof was dim because of the aperture, not the white balance. Also, upon watching my video again, I overexposed the Canon on that sequence, because the sky is blown out.

@OccamKant I wouldn't recommend an EX-1 for Joe Sixpack for sure. The EX-1 isn't marketed for a consumer market as well. You really need to know what you're doing to get an excellent image from higher end video cameras. A better comparison would be Sony's DSLR camera that also shoots video.

If you want to do low angle moving shots I have an excellent way to do that. You can either get a Glidecam (I have one - they rock) or you can do it on the cheap with a tripod. You mount the camera on the tripod or the glide sled, then you just invert it. This allows you to get the camera really low to the ground, and still move it around smoothly. Then you just invert the video afterwards with an editor, and voila! Looks great. ;)

@lepetitprinz MMmm not quite. Light intensity has nothing to do with depth of field. It just affects how open you can make your aperture before you wash out your shot. As to the rest of the calculation, I'd have to drag out my photography texts to get the specific formulas.

@OccamKant These comparisons are not really effective simply because you can make any camera look any way. The Canon 5D MKII has factory default settings that are much higher contrast than the EX1. The EX1 factory settings are flat, which gives you much more flexibility in post to add whatever look you want. But you can also use the Sony EX1 profile settings to get an in-camera look you want too. You can also make the 5D look flat... it's all about settings.

Actually, I had only borrowed the EX-1 for a day. This is why I had to leave it on automatic - I didn't have enough time to really learn it's ins and outs.

Canon 5D mk3 rumours seem to be coming from important places now (Canon's own staff), saying the Mk3 irons out all the mk2's audio and focusing drawbacks, whilst adding new features specific to video. Hmm, well time will tell.. But I'm holding off on the Mk2.

The footage of the sunset with the Sony is much warmer and red in colour, while the Canon has more of a slight purple hue. I notice educational institutions and news organizations still use EX-1s in 2017, but Sony doesn't make/support them anymore. You can't even really get replacement parts, unless you cannibalise another camera.

this is amazing i always thought a video camera was better but but i am changing my mind with d800 and starting with what canon did with 5d/1dc etc. full control is better however the sony and canon and black magic are coming out with a full frame sensor....this in a 35mm format will be a show stopper......liked you presentation just starting in on d800 film shorts with Vimeo thank you for confirming what i already suspected.

@egeefay Actually, I believe this has tax or import duty implications. If you can record more than 12 minues it's classed as a video camera and taxed/dutied at a higher rate. At least, this is what I heard somewhere. I've done zero research, so I could be completely wrong.

@kelvintwt That wasn't a rolling shutter - that was me bumping the tripod.

@formattester6 Cool - I certainly didn't post this video with an intent to trash the EX-1 - and in fact, I was deeply in love with the EX-1 before I got my 5D. A bunch of comments seem to think I'm trying to skew the comparison unfairly, but I wasn't. I'll see if I can get another EX-1 for a sunny day comparison, now that I'm a little more familiar with the 5D (and there has been some firmware updates to it too). Also - what do you mean about the 5D in FCP? I use FCP, and it's fine with it..?

@federicagregotti I would have compared both in automatic if I could -- but the firmware for the canon at the time didn't have an automatic mode. It does now, so I guess I could redo the comparison. I did it in auto mode because I only had the camera for one day, and only had so much time to actually do the shooting.

I do wedding videos with Canon T2i and I usually meet old school videographers that don't like or accept DSLR for video. New kats are raving over DSLR and me too. Long live DSLR!

you are very sensible guy talk very genuinely ,

@federicagregotti You're wrong about filmmakers using the 5D for video -- watch first the independent movies coming out this and next year, and then start looking for it in the larger productions. As to sound -- sound is typically recorded separately and sync'd up later anyway, so no big deal. About the only thing now missing on the camera to make it perfect for movies is to allow a smpte timecode input into the camera. Yes, I know the ex-3 is better than the ex-1, but I didn't have that one.

@formattester6 What's the point to stop down any lens @ F11 or 16, use a matte box or the internal ND filter. Most lenses are at ther best @ F4/F5.6 5d has more D.O.P. if you are not using a 35mm adaptor on the EX1, depending on which aperture you use.

@SonyHC3 np - I'd be happy to do the test, but I don't think I can get ahold of the XF. I have a friend who works at a professional AV company, but they don't have an agreement with Canon, so they're not a canon distributor. They carry a lot of sony gear.

Go into negative gain and loss a stop on the Ex-1 and the daylight image is amazing. EX-1 is a small fast easy to use camera. Turn off automatic- the automatic on the EX-1 is rubbish- the reason for the dark and fuzzy image above is the filter the EX-1 has added. Turn off automatic and set this up properly. The 5D is excellent and like all cameras they have limitations, but for film making the 5D in my opinion has too many.

@OccamKant sorry for the outburst it was uncalled for:) Your right the 5D is superb for close ups but canon need to work on it a little more. Can you do a test on the new canon XF 300 and your 5D. that would be interesting to see how sharp the XF 300 is with its 50megabit compression. :) cheers.

Neither of them have a CCD sensor. Canon has a one inch CMOS, the EX1 has 3 half-inch CMOS, and your hvr-z7u has 3 third-inch CMOS. 1. The 5D shoots 1920x1080p using the H.264 compression codec to get great compressed video. 2. The EX-1 shoots 1920x1080p using MPEG2, a more lossy codec on already inferior sensors. MPEG2 is used for compressing movies onto DVD. 3. Your hvr-z7u shoots 1440x1080p onto MiniDV. Also, check out the final episode of House Season 6. It was shot on a 5D Mark II.

That's fine - I know it's not an exhaustive or scientific test. It's just what I was able to throw together only having the EX-1 for a day. And yes, my comment is incorrect about the exposure of the sky and the roof -- I should have had a polarizing filter on to cut down the glare from the sky. Anyway, take it or leave it, it's up to you. ;)

@BuckForester Do you have a reference to something talking about the 5D's sensor, and specifically how it's use while shooting video is different from shooting stills? And please define a "big screen" - I have a 67" HD television, and the 5D looks perfect on that. Are you talking a theatre type projection?

@rawfmradio Think of this as a "Joe sixpack" comparison - if you were to buy an EX1 off the shelf, and a 5D with a lens or two, this is what you'd get on your first day of shooting. The lens comparison would be difficult anyway, since the EX1 has a fixed lens, and I don't have one that matches the same range.

it is maybe interesting for those who's choosing between two, but to compare full frame to 1/2" is not really fair competition:)

5D is hands down the best, and half the price too

Bear in mind you have the 5D Mk2 in MANUAL mode, and the EX1 in Auto mode, the EX1 is obviously giving a higher exposure value and the contrast settings aren't anywhere near as high. Try setting your 5D Mk2 sharpness to completely off, and contrast to minimum for a more reliable comparison, with identical exposure values and white balance on both cameras. :)

@photronic This video is not a plant by Canon - I made this myself simply because I had a friend who worked in a pro audio video shop and could lend me one of their EX-1s. It's entirely possible that the camera was out of tune, but you'd have to blame the shop, not me. This was an honest comparison. As many people have pointed out, the Sony would probably look better if operated manually, but I only had the camera for a day and didn't have time to learn its ins and outs.

@BuckForester "that the EX1 looks much better than portrayed here if properly set up." That's as may be - and I certainly hope I didn't give the impression that I tweaked out and optimized the ex1 and this is the best it could do. I basically took it out of the box, turned it on, and this is what I got. Same for the Canon. So I guess it's more fair to say that this is what the default settings look like.

It's not about camera snobbery, I look down on misinformation, not cameras. The 5D on forest motorcycle chase were an experimental way of trying to do crash-cam, and no 5D shot ended up in the movie because of jello. The 5D has it's place - in the hands of a student learning production, when stealth is very important (although the new BM mini cam I like better for that) maybe when you need a crash cam. But it's simply not sharper and cleaner than an EX1 - That's just not true

I dont quite understand the use of automatic mode for the Sony PMW-EX1 The default for all Sony PMW's are factory set for Broadcast TV Color Gamit which is a fairly flat broadcast legal profile (STD3) ? So many tweaks are available in Sony PMW Picture Profiles you could match the Canon identically.

@johnaudio im a little confused at what your trying to say here. i agree that most lenses, especially the EX1 will suffer @ F11 or F16. the canon 24-105 though is at its best by around F8 & not @ F4.0 if your looking to get "sharp". its not as sharp as other "L" lenses wide open or @ F5.6. sometimes there is a desire to have deeper DOF so you have to stop down. Of course the 5DmkII has more DOF that the EX1. whats your point? thats not news to anyone here.

@BuckForester It's true that the sony has 3 sensors and the canon has 1 - but I haven't dug into the technology behind either, so I don't know what the effective surface area is per colour per pixel relative to each other. To do a really full comparison, I would need a lot more time with the EX-1. Since you have both, why don't you do the same thing I did here - a side by side comparison? I've seen other comparisons on youtube, but they're useless, since they're shot at different times.

@formattester6 Please feel free to make your own comparison and post it as a response to this. I've seen the exact opposite results. The lens that I shot the 5D footage on was a standard Canon L lens - the 24-105. I didn't write down what the automatic mode had the aperture set to on the Sony, so I can't tell you what it was set to, but it was an overcast day, so not as bright, but the Canon had to deal with the same lighting conditions.

It isn't the size of the card. Digital cameras apparently all stop recording video after about 12 minutes..depending on the format you are shooting. I think it's an issue with the cards starting to overheat. Check me out to make sure this is correct. I know this happens on my own digital camera.

0:35, raw untouched footage... Except one has manual WB setting and the other is automatic. The water is smoother on the left because the shutter speed is lower, so it mashes more frames together. BTW at 2:20 you're burning out the image. And the detail difference on water is again, the shutter speed settings.

5D Mark II looked alot better, just cause of it's portrayal of bright saturated colours etc

@lepetitprinz Actually, the DOF has to do with the size of the aperture, not the size or type of the sensor. A pinhole camera, no matter film, cmos or ccd, will have an infinite depth of field. A large f-stop lens will have a very narrow depth of field. Take a look at my granville island bridge tour video. That was made with my 5D, hand held while I drive. Doesn't look as crappy as that motorcycle video.

Actually, the season finale for season 6 of House was shot on the 5D, the very camera I shot this with, and it looks fucking amazing, and the director himself said that shooting with cameras like this is the future. So eat that.

@kush757 I have several lenses -- the main one I used in this video was a 24-105 mm EF-L lens.

Nice test! I was surprised than the canon have more definition than sony. I heard the opposite in anothers chats.

@lyris1 "The resolution of the file is 1080p, yes, but it doesn't resolve 1080 lines of resolution." Yes it does. What are you talking about? I've edited these files, and they have 1080 lines of resolution. Or are you trying to say that the chip can't do 1080 lines and it's upscaled or something? Because that would be nonsense too. The chip is capable of resolving about 3700 lines, so if anything it's downsampling to 1080.

@lepetitprinz Well, I also have some footage where I got a tripod situated in the back seat of my car, and video'd while driving. The only shock dampening would be that one of the legs was on the seat, the other two were on the floor. But the motion is just as smooth. Maybe it's the fact that I'm doing this in a car instead of bolted to a motorcycle. But I'm suspicious of that motorcycle video you linked to - I'd like to see the connection in both cases, and any stabilization settings.

@kaouthiavideo Unfortunately, the 5D doesn't have contrast and sharpness controls, so I can't really do this particular comparison. Thanks for your reasonable comment -- I get a lot of EX fans who slam me for this simple comparison.

-- Little or no motion shots, stable/ very controlled environment/ conditions (lighting), tripod mounted (definitely not hand-held) & preferably indoor. It sounds like autofocus is not usable either and in fact the camera need be in 100% manual mode for any decent shots. Also it seems that sound is a huge issue as I assume it would be being that there are no XLR ins on the Canon. Does all this sound about right?

@OccamKant For video, the Canon's sensor is not far superior because the full sensor is not being utilized in the Canon (lines of detail). For stills, yet, but not for video. The Sony EX1 has three 1/2" chips. For stills, yes, the Canon is no doubt much better. I'm not trying to downplay the 5D MKII, I have one and love it, but the representations here are not accurate if properly set up. The EX1's resolution on a big screen is MUCH better. On web you can't tell. I shoot and edit both.

I really like the look of the Canon, especially the beer shot. I like the Bokeh look in the lights. I'm quite new at this. I'm wondering what the best HD Video camera in the sub $3K range (excluding lenses), any suggestions? I was looking at the Nex VG10. I'm new so perhaps some people out there can help me. I shoot mostly low light music performances. Sound quality is not an issue what so ever.

Sometimes I have a crazy idea: disassemble 5d mark 2 and insert it's guts to any cheap soulder mount camcoder (Canon XL1, for example).

@Deanzsyclone Same Chipset, different lens. That makes kind of a big difference in the quality.

@Sbsns I love the way the canon looks - but there is one catch to it. If you pan a lot, there can be stuttering - it doesn't seem to handle pans all that well. Other than that, I think the picture is stunning, and it takes fantastic stills too. I absolutely love this camera more than when I got it. The opposite of buyer's remorse. :)

3:54 You can get less yellowish color with the Canon if you use faster shutter speed. Try 1/200 or something. The red channel gets over exposed. The light in the background looks bigger with the EX-II because of are using large aperture, let's say you are using f/2.8. Now if you use an even bigger aperture, like f/1.2, then the light in the background will be even bigger (more blurry). The lenses of the two cameras are too different. What lens did you use on the Canon? That's quick explanation.

I meant "everyone else had DSLRs," not 5Ds.

Sorry but you need to use both full manual on same setting plus focus. Cause I think ex1 is out of focus however it is catching way more detail in the water and sky than the 5d.

This is a pointless comparison shooting one camera in fully auto mode and the Canon in manual. I would like to see this again with both cameras in manual. There is stunning footage on here shot with the EX1!

Thx for the effort. But I don't think that a manual vs. Full Auto does say much. Also its no surprise that a DSLR got a better Bokeh than a CMOS-Chipped Videocamera. And you totally forget to talk about handling and dimension, or audiocapabilities. Again, i like the effort you put in the video. But considering the facts I just mentioned, its more like comparing apples with oranges.

You're right. Sony hates their product so much, that they make the automatic settings create garbage! If you take it off automatic, the scene suddenly pops right out of your monitor into 3D on your desktop in front of you! It's like magic! And also, you're right! The video from my 5D isn't video at all! It's an illusion, because the 5D can't do video! You saw through my ruse. How clever you are!

A correction in your video... you said the Canon has a 35mm sensor and the Sony has a 1/2" chip. Reality is the Sony has THREE 1/2" chips and the Canon's 35mm sensor is not fully utilized in video mode. The ultimate resolution is significantly higher with the Sony EX1. Also the Sony EX1 has higher dynamic range, you said otherwise. They both are great cameras but for different purposes.

@erett2000 It's very true that the different cameras would have strengths that apply to different situations. For my purposes, the 12 minute per shot limit is no problem, and the interchangeable lens feature is huge. Also, I'm in love with the 5D's image quality. ;)

Wow, you have my 2 dream cameras. Not fair at all :(

@lepetitprinz A polarizing filter cuts out some light - so how does that NOT reduce the light? I have a polarizing filter and it looks darkish to me, so I really don't understand what you're talking about. Light intensity and sensitivity has nothing to do with depth of field. Look at an explanation as to why a pinhole camera has an infinite depth of field and you will understand.