The Ultimate Test Comparing Video DSLRs to 35mm Film Is Here

Anyone that knows me understands how passionate I am about the latest trend in professional videography; the move away from standard video cameras and towards a new breed of digital DSLR still cameras that happen to also film beautiful 1080p high definition video.

Video DSLRs give you that classic film-look shallow depth of field, interchangeable lenses, affordable storage and much more while starting at just $900 with lens compared to the many thousands typically need when buying professional video gear like the kind I use. But the question remained, just how good are these cameras really?

What would happen if you closely compared Video DSLRs to the gold standard; 35mm film?

Well a group of really outstanding video and film professionals including famous directors of photography, colorists and producers are going to start releasing the results of their extensive "shootout" comparing such cameras as the Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 7D, Canon T2i, Nikon D3S, and the Panasonic GH1 to professional film cameras used to shoot movies.

The best part is that it's being released in a video format so that you can see for yourself. The first episode will launch tonight on the Zacuto Web site but you can get a flavor of it now by watching their spoof Western "trailer" for the test at http://bit.ly/dihMQW - it's quite funny actually.

The trailer shows us that we are in store for some big surprises including a comment "I didn't know it would look THIS good!" Let's find out tonight what he was referring to.