24 May 2008
New Canon Commercial is a Must See - TWIP
Posted by
Scott under:
News
Okay - I don’t usually post stuff like this, but this is so cool I can’t help it. Canon has a new commercial that was actually shot almost entirely with their Canon EOS 1DS MKIII cameras. 10 photographers made 70,000 images to build the show.
If you go to their page and click the middle link you can see how they did it. The photos were shot from different angles and then sequenced together. The visual effect is simply stunning.
I think this is a sneak peek at how still cameras may be used in the future. With a 21.1-megapixel image, there’s enough information there to use in motion pictures!
(Thanks to the dozen or so TWIP listeners who sent this link to me.)
30 Comments so far...
howard Says:
24 May 2008 at 7:43 am.
Great commercial. I guess this means they are marketing the XSi as a sports camera.
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Shawn Says:
24 May 2008 at 7:49 am.
Isn’t this misleading? I would assume all the photo’s were shot with the new XSI although it says on the canon site it was shot entirely with EOS cameras. Cool commercial though, wonder about the ethics.
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Arun Says:
24 May 2008 at 7:53 am.
That is an incredible ad. The soundtrack gives it quite a lot of emotion as well.
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Ralph Berrett FullMetalPhotographer Says:
24 May 2008 at 8:01 am.
It is a great commercial, but for one minor detail. It was shot with a Canon EOS 1DS MKIII not a Rebel XSi. The images, the production is great, but it is for the wrong camera. For me that is like seeing a car that is selling a ford Fiesta with a Dodge Vipers stats. If they were pushing the Canon EOS 1DS MKIII or the Canon line in general it would be Fantastic.
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Ashley Ng Says:
24 May 2008 at 8:13 am.
Pretty cool, Scott. Now, is there an equivalent Nikon D3 site? 
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Derek Says:
24 May 2008 at 8:55 am.
This commercial makes me want to go out and buy a 1DS…..maybee an Xsi.
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Derek Says:
24 May 2008 at 9:00 am.
The behind the scenes video is very cool too. Think marching band when watching.
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Mike VD Says:
24 May 2008 at 9:15 am.
“With a 21.1-megapixel image, there’s enough information there to use in motion pictures!”
Did you know that the entirety of Corpse Bride was shot with a 5D? The blu-ray is stunning.
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Graeme Smith Says:
24 May 2008 at 9:20 am.
Hehe, it would be ironic if they shot this on a D3! 
On a more serious note, I’m not quite sure what I think of using images from the IDs Mark III in a XSi ad…
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Mike VD Says:
24 May 2008 at 9:21 am.
Well, I’ll correct myself. The Almighty Wiki says Corpse Bride was shot with a Canon EOS-1D Mark II
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David Says:
24 May 2008 at 9:59 am.
This is TOTAL bait and Switch……Like everyone said, they are shooting images with a camera that is far superior image wise then the camera they are advertising. Canon is not the only people that do it, but it is false advertising in my eyes.
Reminds me of the Canon Banner I saw at the Future Shop (Best Buy owned Canadian electronics store) It states “Shoot like a Pro” with a picture of a Canon Rebel….Made me laugh out loud really.
As for the production value of the commercial….Yes it is very cool!
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Scott Says:
24 May 2008 at 10:09 am.
I put this up because I thought the concept and how they did it was very cool. I am not making any judgment of the ethics of it. But I would point out that Canon has been pretty open about this project being photographed by 1DS MKIII cameras. It’s advertising folks - you should automatically discount ALL advertising in my opinion. Like I said, to me, the cool thing is the idea - 10 photographers shooting tens of thousands of images, etc.
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Miguel Says:
24 May 2008 at 10:27 am.
i don’t see what 21.1 mp has to do with it. HD is significantly less in terms of absolute resolution.
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Owpuz Says:
24 May 2008 at 4:48 pm.
The corpse bride is a mor or less a puppet movie, and could be shot with any still camera. The idea is cool though. What if canon could produce a monster that could produce 24fps with 21.1mp full sensor. That would be like shooting on film but not on film….
Maby there is a monster out there already I havn’t really been following the video front lately. My mind just went berzerk thinking about it, it would be sweet!
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Lance G. Says:
24 May 2008 at 7:16 pm.
@Everyone I do agree that it seems somewhat misleading to shoot the pictures with a camera that is different than the camera advertised. But I really think that the point of the commercial was that there is an easy to use, inexpensive EOS camera that will now allow people to go out and shoot, shoot, shoot the events in their life. I don’t think they were advertising total image quality. But I do see the point you guys are making.
@Mike VD
Funny thing about that Corpse Bride movie…
They originally invested a lot of money in Nikon SLRs and Nikon glass to shoot the movie with, but realized that the Nikon couldn’t respond to their satisfaction. So they went with a MUCH faster camera in the 1D Mk II. But here’s the funny part…
They did not re-invest in Canon glass. They actually used an adapter that allowed them to mount the Nikon lenses onto the 1D Mk II.
It pains me to tell you that part, since I work for Canon as a Technical Training Specialist for Cameras at their U.S. Tech Support Center. And we like to stress the L glass advantage. Cheers!
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SeanB Says:
24 May 2008 at 9:20 pm.
The actual commercial video is quite amazing, but the 2nd video showing the making of the commercial is just amazing.
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Kendall Lister Says:
25 May 2008 at 12:03 am.
Heh, I just came here to mention the ad but I was soundly beaten to it. But on the topic of “bait and switch”, since the images have been presented at such a small size on the web site, is it really a big issue? I would certainly be more compelled by the ad if they made a big deal out of it being shot with with camera they are promoting, but they really don’t seem to be pushing the image quality at all.
Actually, I’ve just re-read the ad and this sentence does kind of stick out as slightly disingenuous: “The TV commercial for the Digital Rebel XSi demonstrate the power of photography in a unique way - by actually showing real photographs taken by Canon digital SLR cameras”. Right, but not the ones we’re trying to sell to you…
Ok, I’ve changed my mind - I don’t think this is dishonest, but it is certainly clumsy marketing. It reminds me of the mobile phone ads on television that clearly have a fake image super-imposed after the fact on the body of the phone to make the screen look brighter and clearer - not exactly wrong, but still leaving a bad taste in my mouth.
But as Scott suggested, the ads certainly do make photography look and sound cool
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Richard Says:
25 May 2008 at 2:16 am.
I agree with Scott - it’s a great video and concept. It’s a shame that they didn’t use the rebel, but that’s marketing for you.
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Roger Says:
25 May 2008 at 7:28 am.
It was a moderately interesting commercial. Why did it need to be made with 1Ds III’s ? I don’t know.
Full HD screens are only 2MP. Why does now having a 21MP camera make it possible to make movies with a still camera?
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kj.image Says:
25 May 2008 at 2:40 pm.
I saw that ad yesterday, was really cool. But thought aout the poor guys camers shooting in the pooring rain and all. Really nice ad though.
kj
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Ryan Brenizer Says:
26 May 2008 at 7:58 am.
I think the ad is misleading, since the implicit message is of superfast frame rate, making it a kick-ass sports camera. That’s when the fact that they actually did take it with a kick-ass sports camera is germane.
Minor correction to OP: The commercial was shot with the 1D III, not the 1DS III, which is where the frame rate comes in.
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Scott Says:
26 May 2008 at 8:57 am.
I know most of the people (not all - but a majority) of the people who took the time to say the ad is misleading are Nikon shooters. Just saying…
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R.L. Judge Says:
26 May 2008 at 8:42 pm.
In addition to not being offended by this ad, I am also not shocked and appalled when a commercial for a camcorder has not in fact been shot with the camcorder being featured.
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Ron Says:
28 May 2008 at 10:51 am.
I love when I see still images being used to create action scenes in video.
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Ryan Says:
28 May 2008 at 11:19 am.
Just sayin’. Still, it’s not quite as funny with the Sony A700 ad that used a photo that had been taken with a Nikon … in the late 60s.
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Gary Says:
28 May 2008 at 11:55 am.
I am enamored with the XSi, I had an XTi and it was a huge step up. I agree that the ad is a little misleading to a photographer, but probably not as much with a soccer (or football) mom, who it seems the ad is targeted.
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Sean Galbraith Says:
30 May 2008 at 12:46 pm.
Wait… you’re telling me that ADVERTISING ISN’T REALITY? You just blew my mind.
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Ulf Ã…gerup Says:
31 May 2008 at 2:49 am.
The point is not the image quality but the usability of the cameras. To me, the ad implies that the Rebel is good for action photography. It might be, but it is not backed up by anything in the ad. I feel it is mildly misleading, but more importantly, I think Canon missed an opportunity to actually shoot the photos with the Rebel which would raise the credibility and impact of the ad.
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