2010 was one of those years that I think we will look back at as a key turning point in our industry. While HD camcorders have been around for 5 years, it was in 2010 that we hit the tipping point that made HD editing a reality for everyone. Many professional videographers migrated to HD years ago with an HDV camcorder that delivered great looking footage. The resolution was there, but the camcorders lacked the optics and focal controls, and flexibility, to make your video look like something shot in Hollywood. Today we have affordable DSLR cameras that have incredible HD video capability, with interchangeable lenses, that give you full control of your exposure and focus. This means that your productions can all have a level of cinematic excellence that would have required a professional camcorder costing $10,000 or more!
2010 – The year of the DSLR!
Before we even list the Videoguys’ 2010 Top 10 products, I have to give Special Honors to the Canon EOS family of DSLR cameras for their breakthrough technology and revolutionary impact on our industry.
The introduction of the Canon EOS 5D Mark II in 2009 was a landmark release that lead to an expanded line of Canon DSLR cameras including the EOS 7D (my personal DSLR camera of choice) and the affordable Canon Rebel T2I. Nikon, Olympus and others soon followed and traditional camcorder manufacturers like Sony and Panasonic jumped in as well.
What makes a DSLR camera such a great choice for HD video shooting? The answer is simple – it’s the flexibility and tools they give you to unlock your creativity and take you from shooting video into digital film making. Interchangeable lenses and the manual controls for focus, exposure and lens settings give you the ability to create looks you never imagined!
We were so impressed by what we saw coming out of Canon back in January of 2010 that we partnered with them to create our “Videoguys Guide to DSLR workflows.” This article has been referenced by websites and user groups all over the world!
The final piece of the puzzle that made HD DSLR video viable was the introduction of non-linear editing software that can edit the native footage created with these cameras. The # 1 spot in this year’s Videoguys’ Top 10 Products of 2010 is a tie between two professional software suites that excel in DSLR and other tapeless workflows: Avid Media Composer 5 and Adobe CS5 Production Premium. There are also two other applications that made the Top 10 with improved native DSLR editing capabilities – Grass Valley Edius 6 and Sony Vegas Pro 10. Any of these native tapeless workflows will save you hours of work since you no longer have to capture your video footage, or wait for the files to be encoded into a format that you can edit.
Videoguys.com Top 10 of 2010!
1) Tied: Avid Media Composer 5
1) Tied: Adobe CS5 Production Premium
3) Matrox MXO2 Mini
4) NVIDIA Quadro 4000 by PNY
5) Grass Valley EDIUS 6
6) SONY Vegas Pro 10
7) Pioneer BDR-206MBK Blu-ray Disc Writer with BDXL
8) G-Tech G-SPEED with Enterprise Class Drives
9) Red Giant Magic Bullet Suite 2010
10) Avid Pro Tools 9
Click here for the full article and a look at what to expect in 2011!!