How much better is 5dmkiii footage with an external recorder?

The short answer: a little bit. But it’s hard to tell the difference without enlarging the footage. Here’s some examples (click images below to get a closer look):

Below: Enlarged to 200 percent, can you tell which one is the Prores 4-2-2 and which is H.264 4-2-0?

The one on left is 4-2-2. You can see the compression artifacts if you look closely at the image on right.

A note on methodology: I shot the above clip about 1.5 stops underexposed, at 24p, with Hyperdeck Shuttle II. I had to boost the gain to get it to look normal. So what you’re looking at are images that are being pushed around a bit to see how well they hold up respectively.

Is this amount of improvement worth the extra hassle of lugging a portable recorder, and living with 3:2 pulldown judder in your 24p footage?

But wait, there’s one more thing…

My last test was to try pulling a key. Check this out.

So. There you have it. For greenscreen work, it’s the way to go.

4 thoughts on “How much better is 5dmkiii footage with an external recorder?

  1. Jerry Greer

    Dan,

    According to Atomos it is an issue with the recording device and not the camera. The Ninja 2 has specific instructions to make certain the it detects the pulldown method so that it can properly remove. Once this is done it remembers the setting. They seem to have the issue corrected because they helped design the firmware update. I’m certain that BM will fix this problem soon. I’ll soon know for certain being that I have the new camera and the Ninja 2 on the way.

    Reply

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