This is a big deal: I am reliably informed the BBC has aired its first hard news piece shot mostly on a Canon 5DmkII. It’s a nicely filmed report on Burma’s Kachin army by correspondent Alastair Leithead and shot by a BBC cameraman. Much of the footage has the DSLR look but I’m told they also used a small Sony A1 HDV camcorder for the interview sections. The piece is a great use of the camera as they were travelling to a remote location – the 5DmkII makes it much easier to keep a low profile.
Up till now the only 5DmkII or 7D material I’ve seen on the BBC have been a snooker promo and a piece about Phil Bloom and his filmmaking. Now the BBC are joining numerous major news organisations in using DSLR for news footage; others include PBS, MSNBC, Al Jazeera, Channel 4 (UK), Reuters, AP and Agence France Press.
