Just watched Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations S6E22 they are using 7D's for video

Was just was watching an episode of Anthony Bourdain's: No Reservations, Season 6 Episode 22, this episode seems to be more about the making of an episode on site...the tech folks lots of photo talk too....but they are shooting most of their episodes with 7D's now...seriously it's what they are using, even over the 5D mkII used for that episode of House last year...that's pretty cool...

I just shot some photos of Bourdain whilst he was in Cambodia for a travel piece. They aren't using the 7D's all the time. They are generally brought out when the lighting isn't so good.

The rig they used the night I was there was a Zacuto DSLR Z-Cage with the Marshall 5" Small HDMI Monitor. They only used it for a small walkthrough of a night market then moved to more traditional HD vid cam. Didn't get the model.

But it is interesting that you bring up that they don't use the 5D II. My cousin who works as a DP bought a 7D instead of a 5D II because of the framerate flexibility so this could be the big factor for video guys. I found an interesting article on DVinfo about comparing the video capabilities of the 7D and 5D II

i can only imagine that greater depth of field from a crop sensor would be a benefit as well.

I just saw the episode today. It's interesting how they use a mix of video equipment. I think they are using at least 3 different camera models. I imagine that it would be a pain to deal with in the edit room where all of the cameras and lenses would be producing different quality and styles.

opus13 wrote in post #11208340
i can only imagine that greater depth of field from a crop sensor would be a benefit as well.

Myth. A FF camera has the same DOF,at the same diffraction level and noise. You just need to use a smaller aperture.

luigis wrote in post #11238390
Myth. A FF camera has the same DOF,at the same diffraction level and noise. You just need to use a smaller aperture.

... resulting in a slower shutter speed, so not myth after all. It all depends on what matters most for the shot.

Back to the 7D for shooting TV shows, I've noticed some awful jellycam effect on some shows on Cooking Channel. I wonder what camera they were using for that? Looked very phone-camera-ish. Maybe the phone camera jellycam effect is the new lomo/cross-process/insert-your-favorite-overused-faux-old-look effect for video.

brecklundin wrote in post #11062077
Was just was watching an episode of Anthony Bourdain's: No Reservations, Season 6 Episode 22, this episode seems to be more about the making of an episode on site...the tech folks lots of photo talk too....but they are shooting most of their episodes with 7D's now...seriously it's what they are using, even over the 5D mkII used for that episode of House last year...that's pretty cool...

No surprise there. No Reservations has some great cinematographers, it makes their show stand out from other travel shows. Not to mention Anthony Bourdain is one of the few good travel show hosts on T.V., unlike Samantha Brown who is one of the most boring travel hosts I've ever seen. She seems like a nice enough person, but her show is basically watch me travel the world and see beautiful places while offering no information about the culture or people that live there.

As far as the 7D thing goes, you might be reading a little too far into it. I think you have to realize these guys are not really obsessed with technical specs or the finer points between the 7D and 5DII. They probably tried the 7D and 5DII and found they liked the ergonomics and control of the 7D better... I doubt these guys are running benchmarks/test charts between the cameras and making choices based off specs. They're cinematographers, not camera reviewers.