I ended the above headline with the word “Print”… but perhaps I should have said “Publishing,” because I don’t think that most of us will care whether or not a magazine feature lives on paper or on a screen a few years from now…

VIV Mag Interactive Feature Spread - iPad Demo from Alexx Henry on Vimeo.

I think that what Alexx Henry did for Viv Mag is absolutely brilliant.   Sure some mags may say this is too big of a production for them to realistically aspire to - but I’ll go ahead and say more power to him to truly pushing the envelope right into the future - and for pulling it off masterfully.

Some magazines editors may think:  ”We can’t possibly afford to do this kind of thing…” or maybe “this is too over the top for us… ”

My answer would be:  producing original content such as this (and fabulous photo essays and stories as well of course)  is the way you will THRIVE!

While a magazine obviously can’t produce this type of work for each article - and while many of us still love to read printed text, or to see wonderful 8 1/2 X 11 photographs - offering different and new content is critical.  Technologies - and the level of talent out there - are begging for it.

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Finally - it’s available - 24 fps on the Canon EOS 5D MKII.

So many of us have been waiting well over one year for this to happen.

So now one might ask:  which camera should I use?  The Canon EOS 5D MKII, The Canon EOS 1D MKIV, or the Canon 7D?

Well  - as usually is the case - there isn’t a clear answer…

The Canon 5D MKII would be the clear choice for me BUT for two things:

Both the 7D  and 1D MKIV offer two very important options - they allow you to shoot 60 fps at 720p (which is great for slow motion footage) but more importantly - they offer a consistent output via the HDMI-out port - from the time you are previewing to the time you hit “record.”   This is not the case with the 5D MKII - which outputs a lower resolution output (of around 480p) when you hit the record button.

To some - this may not be a big deal - but if you are using external monitors, or the IDX Camwave wireless video transmitters for example - you will see the monitors jump each time (go blue) you hit record.  The IDX Camwaves often lose their wireless signal altogether at times.  More importantly - achieving critical focus on the 5D MKII while it’s recording - is significantly more difficult for this reason - if not impossible.   The output resolution while recording is simply too low to achieve critical focus in my opinion.

Therefore - and this is definitely ironic - the camera with the largest sensor (and least depth of field) - is the toughest to focus while you’re filming.

My flight back to the States was cancelled today so I’ve got a rare bit of time to slow down and think of things. There’s been a lot that I’ve wanted to post on in the past few weeks and I simply haven’t had time - so here goes… consider these a random collection of thoughts that come in no particular order (lots of gear/tech tips towards the bottom of this post:)

1. Too Much High Tech? - I’ve had some pretty interesting discussions over the past few weeks with a variety of people following my post on a recent HDDLSR shoot. My good friend Joe McNally called me flat out “crazy” when he saw the gear we had at the Gulf Photo Expo this past week - which is a pretty fantastic compliment coming from him - given that he too has gone to the top of the Empire State Building (Joe and I are BOTH crazy for the record)  - and has shot images hanging from a helicopter as well.  My type of guy really - someone I’ve looked up to since I was in my teens…   So when he calls you “crazy” - you know you’ve hit the jackpot.   And to be honest:  it is crazy.

Some of you may have seen Robert Rodriguez out with his Franken-Rig out there this past week - needless to say we’re all gravitating towards these cameras because they do something absolutely exceptional.  Nobody would do this otherwise.  I’ve never lost sight of the fact that one of the main strengths of this camera is that it’s light and small.  I love going out with a bare body and shooting video as much as the next person.  BUT - once you start to move towards producing “professional” looking video with these cameras - you’ll find you need good camera support to stabilize this camera that given the size of its sensor and lack of image stabilization - EMPHASIZES every single movement (intended or not.)   So while I too have doubts some time as to whether or not I’ve gone off the deep end… when I see the final results the introspection ends.

That being said - I & this blog have been perhaps a bit too focused on technology to date.  Expect that to change… I’ll keep the gear heads happy - but focus more on other things to - time permitting!

For now please look at a quick video I put together with 13 fantastic students at GPP last week - most of the students were still photographers who had never shot video before - and while I gave them as much guidance as I could in terms of gear and movement - each of these shots had a student operating the camera in a 3-Day shooting workshop (followed by 2 days of editing/grading.)

GPP 2010 Student Workshop Video from Vincent Laforet on Vimeo.

Nine more thoughts / gear tips / pleas below… i.e. click on “more”

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