Hey Jay!

We have been shooting professional video on a Canon 5DmkII all year now, including some television commercials, and we are extremely pleased with the results. I JUST got a Canon 7D (amazing alternative that was released a week ago and actually shoot in 30P, 60P AND 24P where the 5DmkII actually only shoots 30fps (it's actually 30 frames per second, not 29.97 like video cameras and the 7d).

There are limitations, of course... and your question about audio has a few answers.

The built-in mic sucks. They always do. Fine for run and gun shooting of quick snippets that are going to be masked a bit by a soundtrack or for videoblogging purposes, but nothing more.

The audio input is a stereo 1/8" mini-jack. The audio capture is ok in quality... but you have a build in Auto Gain Control that you can't shut off... so no matter what mic you use you'll have issues with the AGC going crazy at the beginning of a sentence and whenever there is a quick change in levels. Beachtek sells an XLR adapter that emits a low tone (below audible) that regulates this, and is supposed to be pretty good. But it's $300 or so just for the adapter. It's a good solution, just not cheap.

We prefer capturing audio separately. We have both a Zoom H4n and a Zoom H2 and capture our audio through whatever mic we need directly into the Zoom recorder. We then use Pluraleyes (software) to automatically sync up the audio with the video in post in Final Cut. It looks at the audio captured by the camera's built-in mic, then the good audio from the Zoom, and matches everything up perfectly. I mean PERFECTLY. We couldn't be happier, and Pluraleyes is a deal at $150. It can also be used to create multiclips from multiple video sources... also using the audio to sync the clips.

As for the codec used, it's H.264 and it doesn't edit well (after all, it's a display format, not an editing format). We use MPEG Streamclip (free) to convert everything before editing. For professional stuff we use Apple Pro Res, and for regular web stuff we use Apple Intermediate Codec, which is 1/4 of the size and high enough quality for most web applications.

Although we mostly shoot with primes... I am growing more fond of zooms for video on an SLR. I would highly recommend the Canon 24-105 f/4 L series lens. It's fantastic. On a budget, however, the 28-135IS that you can get for $200 with the 7D in a kit is a great lens for the price. It doesn't have quite the large aperture, but it has optical image stabilization and literally can't be beat at that price. Then you can pick up a 20mm f/2.8 for wide shots, or go with the slightly more expensive 10-22mm and have a great full range to shoot with.

I would also like to mention that I have a Nikon D90 AND a Canon T1i and they both shoot decent quality video, but don't have audio input. That's not a problem if you capture your audio separately, of course. The D90 allows for control of your aperture, but shutter speed and ISO are controlled automatically. The T1i controls everything for you. Both have exposure lock, though, and 2 stops in either direction of exposure compensation. They are great cameras, but the D90 skips a line for every 9 lines of horizontal resolution, so you can see some stepping on diagonals. There is a free plug-in for FCP that fixes this and runs in real-time (no rendering) but it's another thing to consider. Either way, for the price, they are a pretty good deal (Under $1k for each).

I just returned from a 1 week trip to Hawaii shooting exclusively with the Canon T1i to show people that you can do professional quality photos and videos with a sub-$1,000 camera, and the results are slowly being compiled and posted to my site (http://vubui.com). You'll be able to see examples from this entry-level camera there.

Oh, one last thing... the formats for each camera (just the highest res, they all res down):

5DmkII - 1080p 30fps
7D - 1080p 24p 30p 60p
D90 - 720P 24fps
T1i - 720P 30fps OR 1080p at only 20fps

I have a Panasonic Lumix GH1 and I love it for shooting HD video as well as stills. But I really believe that so much depends on what kind of shooting you do and the eventual destination of the video should determine whether or not to use a DSLR for shooting HD video.

That said, I love working with this camera, there is a real question as to whether it should be lumped in with the other DSLRs by Canon and Nikon at all. It is not really the same kind DSLR at all. Unlike the traditional DSLR there is no mirror that swings up and reveals the sensor when an exposure is taken. The key to the GH1 is that the sensor is ALWAYS in the clear. There is a viewfinder that is like that of the SLR but it is actually a high resolution LCD display. It is not at all optical, but all electronic and shows pretty much exactly what is coming from the sensor rather than going to it.

For shooting video, this has lots of advantages. You can look through the viewfinder and brace the camera against your face for a very steady shot. You do not need to hold the camera out and away from you in order to see the rear panel LCD display (although you can do that). People have no idea what you are doing, whether you are shooting stills or videos and they certainly cannot look over your shoulder at what you are seeing. It's sharp and clear in bright sunlight, too.

This means that you are free to zoom and focus the 10:1 kit zoom lens while you are shooting video. Auto focus is possible while recording sound because the lens has been specially designed for that purpose. So you really have all the controls you would have on a conventional video camera.

The sound, so far, has been excellent even in adverse conditions. I have just recently received the accessory external mic, but have not used it yet other than for some tests.

I shoot documentary cinema verite video for the web. I do not make commercials or dramatic films (anymore) and I might have other opinions of the camera if I did.

I'd be glad to put up some links to video and stills I have shot with the GH1, but at this hour I just wanted to make the point about the way the camera works without a mirror. I'll be glad to answer specifics!

I feel a bit queasy about raving about the camera, though, because they are still so hard to get!

I have the Nikon D90. While the quality is excellent -- and the easily interchangeable lenses mean a lot of flexibility otherwise not attainable with prosumer HD camcorders -- the camera has a lot of limitations.

First, the sound quality leaves a lot to be desired -- and since this is a still camera primarily, there's really no provision for external microphones.

Second, there's a 5 minute limit on videos being recorded. While this may be alright for short takes, it makes the camera very difficult to use in more casual situations.

Finally, the camera requires manual focus on the lens while filming -- it will not adjust focus for you. For amateur movie shoots this may be acceptable, since you may have a dedicated focus puller. Otherwise, when doing shooting by yourself, it's nearly impossible to control both the framing, the zoom (if any), and the focus -- all while (probably) mounted on a tripod.

In short, the limitations of the D90 for video shooting make it more of an added bonus for very infrequent situations when you just need to record "moving pictures" rather than have the camera be your principal method of videography. The one exception applies to movie sets with more than one person shooting, but even there you would likely be better off renting an actual camera instead.

Hope this answers some of your questions.

"The default format is (.mov) Apple QuickTime video format."

While this is true, it doesn't say much about the compression codec used, since lots of different codecs can be saved as .mov files. I haven't cut video footage coming out of a DSLR, but I'm fairly sure it's h.264, with interframe compression, and thus it may be quite processor-intensive and sluggish to work with, unless you convert it to Apple ProRes in FCP.

"First, the sound quality leaves a lot to be desired -- and since this is a still camera primarily, there's really no provision for external microphones."

Sound quality's never great, even on proper digital video cameras, you'd want to use an auxiliary microphone and run it through a mixer. My DSLR doesn't shoot video, so I don't know what the audio-input capabilities are like. But you could use a solid-state recorder and record sound for each take separately, sync it in post with a clapper or timecode output to slate, a la actual film production. It's a pain, but it'd certainly be possible to get fantastic sound while shooting a film on DSLR. Plenty of sound devices that record in 16 or 24-bit by themselves, irrespective of camera hardware.

But yea, the focus pulling and general handling of such small cameras seem to be the biggest problem, not that I've tried. That and the fact that (on a Canon 5D, at least) the LCD display cannot tilt or pivot.

Check out Panasonic’s Lumix DMC-GH1. An indie film Rejouer used it for their shoot. This was featured on a couple ofindustry magazines.

Full-HD Movie Recording in AVCHD

With the GH1, shooting incredible photos is only part of the fun. You can also shoot beautiful, richly detailed movies in full HD (high-definition) (1920 X 1080) at 24 frames per second, or smooth HD (1280 X 720) movies at 60 frames per second in AVCHD format (MPEG-4/ H.264) with continuous auto focus.

External Stereo Microphone for Outstanding Sound Quality

For more creative sound recording, an optional stereo microphone (DMWMS1) is available. Ambient sounds can be clearly recorded in higher quality and from greater distances.

I have a Cannon 5D Mark II. It has a built in mic. The over all quality is good but it cannot compare to my Cannon XHA1 HD Camcorder. It has great color and I use it often when I don't have space for the larger video camera. The default format is (.mov) Apple QuickTime video format.

I have the Canon 5D Mk II and it is outstanding as an HD video recorder. You need to use and external mic to get excellent sound and for maximum control there is a wonderful free app called "Magic Lantern" that provides on screen audio monitoring, headphone monitoring and numerous manual controls not as yet available otherwise.

It is still a bit of a kludge but does work and is very cool. Conversion to ProRes 422 is a must and the easiest method is using the free application "MPEG Streamclip".

For a lot less money you might check out the new Canon 7D. It has a smaller sensor but has been highly rated.