http://mpora.com/videos/Zb1YZUVGu There’s a revolution going on in the film world right now. Thanks to the clever guys at Canon, it’s now possible to film HD footage on a stills camera.

“So what?” You might ask. “I’ve been able to film on my point and shoot for years.”

Well, the point is, Canon’s new SLR models like the 5D and 7D shoot in high definition, and more importantly, you can switch between the zillions of brilliant lenses, from fish-eye to telephoto. Essentially, you’re getting the top quality image of a still photograph but in video form – and it’s way more affordable than cinefilm.

From a snowboard perspective, this means that we’re now seeing more and more high quality footage from snowboard crews around the world. The video below is a case in point. It’s not bad – there’s some good shredding going down on the famous rails of Bear Mountain near LA, and if you’re into your hair rock you’ll probably dig the soundtrack. But the standard of riding is certainly no Mack Dawg or Absinthe. Thanks to the 7D camera, though, the shots themselves look super crisp and colourful.

I guess it’s pretty damn cool that amateur crews and up-and-coming filmers can now get footage like this, but I wonder what it’ll mean for the traditional video producers? Of course the superstar riding should still stand out, but with big budgets giving them less of a technical advantage – and kids everywhere thinking up creative new ideas and posting them to the web – will the latest Standard or Absinthe movie still stand out as they used to, or be lost in a sea of HD web clips…?

Let us know what you think in the comments section.

P.S Watch out for the ‘hernia’ on 2.03!!
P.P.S If you wanna see just what the new Canon cams can do, check out this fresh footage of the infamous Iceland volcano…