I saw Michael's video clip today and I'm very excited about this new camera, but all of his videos did not show any zooming during the recording. Does anyone know: Will the 5D allow zoom lenses to function while recording? I realize that we'll have the issue of accurate focusing perhaps, but I would like to know whether all the video clips would have to be from one focal length point of view. I've always like the zoom in capability of video cams. My Canon G9 allows me to zoom while recording if I'm not in the highest video setting...

Theres nothing to stop you using a zoom, but all the zooms are manual. Video cams have power zooms and that means there is a consistency to the zoom speed. I expect that with the 5DII mounted on a tripod, manual zooming will be viable, but it might be difficult hand held, or on a figrig or gyro.

Brenda, although I use my own G9 infrequently in movie mode, this is one of the features that I want to learn more about. My understanding is that the G9 zoom is digital rather than optical/mechanical. In the few times I've tried it, the results have been acceptable to me.

Accurate focusing won't be an issue if you use a parfocal lens (a lens that stays in focus when focal length is changed). The problem here is that not all photography zoom lenses are parfocal lenses; in fact, few are.

A list of Canon parfocal lenses:

http://www.rogercavanagh.com/helpinfo/30_parfocal.stm