Why couldn't older DSLRs like the Canon EOS 30D record video?
Asked 11/27/2012
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I know later Canon DSLRs added movie mode, but my older EOS 30D does not. Is this mainly a hardware limitation or just a missing software feature? Specifically, could a camera like the 30D theoretically record very low-resolution or low-frame-rate video, or do older DSLRs lack the ability to continuously read the sensor and provide a live image stream? I'm not asking how to enable video on the camera—just what the main technical reason is that it can't do it.
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
13y ago
2 Answers
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Older models like the 30D simply lack the hardware required to continually read from the image sensor. These models cannot support video, except at very low framerates by opening and closing the mechanical shutter continuously.
Since the introduction of live view with the 1D mkIII in 2007, Canon DSLRs have been equipped with an electronic shutter and can continually read from the sensor and display the image on the screen for focussing. Subsequent models (1D/s mkIII/IV/X, 5D mkII/III, 6D, 40/50/60D, 450/500/550/600/650D, 1000/1100D) are thus intrinsically capable of producing video (since it's essentially the same thing, just output to a memory card instead of the screen), all that is required is the software to take this data, encode it and store it on a memory card.
Models prior to the 5D mkII (1D/s mkIII, 40/50D, 450D, 1000D) don't have this software as standard but have the potential to record video via a firmware update, or an via HDMI with an external recorder, though these methods will likely have some drawbacks.
Originally by user1375. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user1375
13y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
Mostly hardware, not an artificial restriction. Older DSLRs such as the 30D were designed to capture single still frames, not to continuously read the sensor for a live image stream.
Video recording depends on the same core capability as Live View: the camera must be able to read the sensor continuously, keep the shutter/mirror system out of the way, process that stream in real time, and then encode/store it. Pre-Live View DSLRs generally lacked that full pipeline.
In principle, you could make a sequence of stills by repeatedly firing the mechanical shutter, but that is not practical video and would be extremely limited. What later cameras gained was the ability to use the sensor electronically for continuous output, plus enough processing power and firmware support to turn that stream into video.
That’s why video arrived as camera technology evolved rather than simply being “switched on” in much older models. Some later cameras with Live View were close enough in hardware that unofficial firmware could enable video, but that does not mean all earlier models were capable of it.
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