My wife and I took the dogs up to the park today. I took the T2i and a monopod and my lenses. Here are my thoughts after actually shooting with it in a run ‘n gun capacity with no support (except the monopod), no filters, no follow focus and no audio:
1. Focus – This will be impossible in a run ‘n gun capacity without viewfinder amplification (I ordered the Z-Finder)
2. Exposure – This will work without a histogram if you a) use the built-in light meter by b) practicing.
3. Support – You will not get a steady shot without some sort of support, I thought my monopod was awesome, not to mention cheap. I would like a single handle though.
4. Focus 2 – Trying to keep steady and focus will not happen if you don’t have some sort of follow focus assembly (still looking- traditional FF’s are just way to big and appendage-y for what I need.
5. Exposure 2 – Forget trying to do anything faster than F/2.8 if you’re a one-man band and moving- you simply WILL not be able to focus well- MAYBE F/2 but that’s pushing it. Static interviews will probably be okay though.
What I have noticed is that anything out of the HDLSR also has a hybrid “look” and by that I mean, it’s not quite your typical DV look but it has a crispness that lends itself to almost looking fake. The following shots are simply colored in First Light by adjusting lift, exposure, saturation, and contrast. I wanted to make the mailbox stuff look a little vintage but wanted to see how colorful I could make this piece in it’s “crispness.”
FYI: My T2i settings are pretty simple- I pulled every setting down to it’s maximum decrease 
I am VERY pleased with what I can do with this H.264 stuff after I transcode to Cineform. VERY pleased. The results I get just frankly, blow me away and I’ve worked with about every codec out there now. I’m VERY happy and struggle to really find that I need anything more than this.
I have a whole bunch of real gear coming and a couple real gigs. In a change from what I usually do, I’m going to look at a workflow where I edit in Avid “offline” then do my final online in Premiere and After Effects. Avid just blows Premiere away in terms of easy use, and responsive editing.
