Most HDSLR videos are made by solo cameramen. Long takes, single camera positions, and lots of attention on extras such as the Glidetrack or a Redrock shooting rig with focus and zoom pulling aids have created a one-camera look.

In conventional film and TV work, two or more camera positions are common. Sound is recorded separately and has no relationship to the camera angles; you don’t hear a change in the sound when the point of view shifts, even though that is not true to life. Canon’s new EOS 600D is so low in cost, yet fully featured for both video and sound recording, that the single operator armed with the right lenses and a couple of tripods can make multiple camera position videos easily.

While the EOS 5D Mk II is the industry-standard HDSLR camera, for the same price you can buy three 600D bodies and a suitable audio setup for far better interview or studio filming. The video quality from the 600D’s 18-megapixel APS-C sensor (as found in the 550D, 60D and 7D) is some of the best I’ve seen.

Wired for sound

The 600D also offers full manual control of shutter and aperture, defaulting to an auto ISO when this is selected and, like the more expensive 60D, has the option to adjust stereo audio input over 64 levels with a graphic display in 22 steps from -40dB to 0. Although Canon’s official line is that the stereo 3.5mm 5v phantom-powered jack input is for microphones only, it is also quite capable of accepting the signal level from a microphone preamplifier. There are now many affordable stereo preamps that provide 48v phantom power for studio condenser mics, together with headphone monitoring and adjustable output intended for PA or recording systems.

As a test, I used a Mackie Onyx Satellite, which can mix two inputs such as the typical crossed pair stereo mic rig. This little box can send the audio by Firewire or USB to a computer, and simultaneously feed two sets of headphones and one main stereo out. In theory it could take the mic sound and send it to three EOS 600D bodies in perfect sync. If you’ve ever tried to edit multiple camera position video with lipsync sound, the benefits of doing this will be familiar. To send one mic, or one mic pair, to all three cameras used in a studio interview is a massive time-saver.

Excellent image quality and the 600D with the 55-250mm kit lens (set at 70mm here) makes for a small, unobtrusive combination, ideal for candid journalism. Image © David Kilpatrick.

There are many other interfaces or preamps that can do this today, from companies such as M-Audio or Roland’s Edirol brand. Because the last generation Mackie Onyx supports three complete stereo audio outputs plus audio to a laptop, Mac or PC, I’m likely to keep this one around. The same setup can be achieved with any good small mixer offering main, monitor and send/return output. If you are shooting a live concert, it’s quite possible to take a stereo feed from the mixer (as found in many theatres and concert venues). With control over levels, this overcomes all the sound pressure problems, which can create distortion and clipping.

The only issue I found was that sound adjustment takes time, and the setup screen switches off too soon. I could have done with having it active for several minutes to get the sound level correctly set up. Nevertheless, the manual control of video, higher quality, and, above all, the control of audio via the mic input combine to make the EOS 600D unrivalled at less than £700. Everything else the camera has to offer can be found on either the 550D (the same small size and lightweight build) or the 60D (bigger but no more rugged). I’d argue that the 600D almost forces an update to the 5D Mk II and the 7D because these more expensive models are, in a way, more limited.

Kit lenses

This is really the main point about the 600D. But of course, it’s also a lightweight, compact DSLR shooting a professional-grade image as far as its CMOS sensor goes. ISO 100 to 6400 (12,800 with an H extended option) is more than acceptable and, until you get above 1600, there’s not much noise. Auto ISO can be constrained to prevent use of too high a setting, but can be allowed to range from 100 to 6400 in professional (“Creative”) modes.

One of the kits sold includes the low-cost 18-55mm EF-S f/3.5-5.6 IS II zoom and a unique Canon portrait-to-tele zoom also aimed at the budget-conscious. This is the EF-S 55-250mm f/4.5-5.6 IS. Its closest match in other systems would be a 55-200mm, but on Canon’s 1.6× sensor, the extra on the tele end makes it equivalent to a 90-400mm in full-frame terms, not the usual 85-300mm. I opted to try out this kit because those 55-200mm lenses for other makes (including both Sigma and Tamron designs) have proved unexpectedly sharp and well behaved. The 18-55mm I already know well enough.

While repeated tests using a tripod and turning off the IS function proved that the 55-250mm is indeed a pretty good lens, I found an intermittent problem with it. At 250mm, using IS handheld, it could sometimes give a violent brief vibration of the IS unit just as the shutter was fired. This happened without my noticing it, and produced such unsharp results that I thought the IS was failing to compensate for advanced delirium tremens. Turns out it could have been wind instead… I was testing the camera in very windy conditions. It seems the wind was managing to make the lightweight lens barrel vibrate, enough to put the IS system into overdrive.

One issue I found with the 55-250mm was its tendency to show colour shifts in defocused areas. This is “colour bokeh” (bad bokeh, not good), and it can happen with non-apochromatic tele lenses. Most shots will be perfect, and then occasionally a situation will throw up some very strange colour effects.

The AF system of the 600D is not particularly easy to control, especially if you want to use just the central spot (which requires a separate button press then selection via the rear controller). It can be better to use AI Servo AF even for static subjects, as this always defaults to using the central AF point – normal One-Shot AF uses all nine points and is programmed to prefer the closest one.

Added extras

As with all current Canons, you can save setups for rapid recall as Custom modes, but it seemed intent on lighting up AF points that I was not using. This is supposed to indicate that these points are also in focus (or within depth-of-field, a function also used by the A-DEP setting, which uses readings from two or more AF sensors to adjust both focus and aperture). I got a higher proportion of poorly focused images than I would have expected whenever any mode using multiple points or intelligent tracking AF was used. The errors are often very small, but with an 18-megapixel small sensor, the 100 percent view of the image is more than demanding. Small errors show up.

This is not a real setup, it's merely to show a cross pair of condensor mics (normally used horizontally) and a Mackie microphone preamp with a stereo cable leading into the Canon 600D, and the manual sound level display. Image © David Kilpatrick.

The 600D offers live view with a live focus mode (for stills, or to preset video focus, not to track focus during video filming), and this is the best way to ensure critical sharpness. It defaults to a moveable central contrast-detect focus zone. Unlike early generations of consumer EOS, the 600D’s built-in flash will act as a controller for remote wireless flash. I tried out a Canon Speedlite 430 EXII, which worked well, and is a good match for a smaller DSLR like this. The pop-up flash of the camera does the controlling and can handle setups in any normal room size. For outdoor work or very large interiors, a wireless system, such as Pocket Wizard may be preferable and can now control the Canon Speedlites with TTL.

Other enhancements to the 600D are present, such as picture styles with Ambient Looks, along with advanced features. These include the ability to pre-measure a test flash and lock the power of onboard or accessory flash to this reading, to program between two and 10 continuous shots fired after a self-timer delay, a menu-operated mirror lockup function, white balance bracketing set using a twin-axis matrix display, Eye Fi card functions and more.

For a reviewer not supplied with software or manuals, Canon’s free download of the Digital Photo Professional software and thorough 328-page PDF user manual were welcome. They were easy to find on Canon’s website and involved no registration barriers. Anyone can access them, just as it should be.

I preferred to use Adobe Camera Raw, though. DPP may handle lens shading and accurately copy the countless adjustments that create JPEG image looks (previewed on the live view screen, not just seen after shooting), but ACR is faster and cleans up noise with finesse.

Conclusions

Since the 600D offers exactly the same 3.7fps and the same SD card storage as the 60D, and seems to pull a reasonable life from its smaller battery, I might prefer it. The viewfinder is not as bright, but using the 600D alongside a Sony Alpha 580, it didn’t disappoint (it’s bigger and brighter than the Alpha despite the smaller image size).

So, I have to recommend the 600D as a great option for lightweight travel and general use, and an even better one for video work, where your money can buy you two or three bodies and enable more sophisticated editing with or without second camera operators. Tripods are your friend...

Visit www.canon.co.uk.