Are you able to control how much compression is applied to the video while it is recording? Watching it at 1080p show considerable jpeg compression artifacts. I would think shooting in HD would be less compressed looking, and more pixel perfect. Or was the compression applied post-production? The video was beautifully and artfully filmed. - Jim Bergman

Jim Begman - Well, first, it was filmed in H.264, not JPEG or MJPEG, so I doubt they're JPEG artifacts. :) Secondly, the camera records at ~40Mbps (same max. bitrate of a 1080p Blu-Ray), but since very few people have 40Mbps connections at home, SmugMug encodes 1080p video at 6Mbps. So there are multiple levels of potential artifact generation - low-light ISO imagery, H.264 encoding on the camera, H.264 encoding after editing but prior to upload, and H.264 encoding after upload. Whew! Complicated! :) - Don MacAskill

Thanks for the explanation! It does clear up the question of compression. I wish my bandwidth was ~40Mbps. T3's for everybody! - Jim Bergman

Holy crap! It looks gorgeous to me; I don't see any compression artifacts at all. Beautiful stuff. - Glen Campbell

Also, Jim, you did click the 1920 link, right? I just figured out that some people were simply hitting the 'fullscreen' button on the 640p embedded version and expecting it to automatically use the higher-rez versions - which it doesn't. - Don MacAskill

Excellent video! Thanks for taking the time to make, post and describe the lenses used in making the video. - Jeff P. Henderson

I want one, but can't afford a new DSLR right now. Wow, what great quality! - Robert Scoble

@Don, where did you get your cameras from? Did you by on line or retail? I placed my order for one on Sept 17 and am still waiting for it to ship from Amazon. - Jeff P. Henderson

That is truly amazing and beautiful! - Brendon Wadey

So how much is this camera in USD? - Brendon Wadey

@Brendon $2699 for the body only. - Jeff P. Henderson

Those are things where I wish I was rich. I would love to have that camera, but I can't even afford a normal/cheaper DLSR. Thanks for the info. - Brendon Wadey

WOW! That is great footage! & from a DSLR makes it all the more amazing! Thanks for sharing! - Chandler

@Brendon, You can get great deals on used gear a KEH.com. I have sold old camera gear to them on several occasions and they are very honest with the quality of the used gear they sell. You might be able to pick up a used Rebel or depending on your budget a used 5D for a good price. - Jeff P. Henderson

Oh yes I know many places to find good deals on DLSRs, but my budget still can't exactly afford them lol, maybe after Christmas and not so busy. Thanks for the KEH.com suggestion, I didn't know about them. I will for sure check them out. - Brendon Wadey

Man, I can't wait. I ordered mine from Adorama on September 25th, and it hasn't shipped yet. Go Go Go.... Hopefully it'll ship this week. :| - donato

Amazing quality. Anyone want to buy a 40D? :) - Andrew Smith

Great stuff, I really hope I get mine soon from Adorama, they told me it would ship Saturday, but no ship notfication so far, bleh! - Bill Pennington via twhirl

Don, yes I clicked the the full 1080p resolution link: http://cmac.smugmug.com/gallery.... Here's a PNG screencap to show what I'm seeing: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3003... However, if I watch the video in HiDef, the image is much better: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3143... FYI, these screencaps were made while the video was in playback, not at the opening still image. Thanks for sharing the beautiful video! - Jim Bergman

Looks like the same issue as the commenter on the blog post (Another) Andy. The video is the 480p version upscaled, not the 1080p video, which I can't seem to find a link for. Sorry, I'm good at breaking things! Love what you've done to show off the 5DMII! I hope to get one soon too! - Jim Bergman

Damn, that's gorgeous. Grrr, I'm still waiting for my new 5D MkII from Adorama. Now I'm really going to have to bring my tripod wherever I go again! - David Sifry

Wow. The quality is amazing! - jh

Somewhere, a storage company CEO just smiled a little wider. 40Mb/s!! - Mike McMurray

Jim Bergman - Dang, I had a stupid stupid bug. Thanks for helping debug it. It should be fixed now - give that link another shot. Sorry for the hassle!! (Anyone else trying to watch it on Windows, you might want to look again. Sorry about that!) - Don MacAskill