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Yikes! And thanks. Now let me re-think my life as vestigial movie maker...
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I was really thinking about this camera, but now I need to know how this is going mach up with my NX5. Is there any raw footage I can download? Does 24p and 60i match up? What a shame because I have so many Nikon lenses.
Dan Forever Moments Video Productions |
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Somebody is suggesting me to wait for the next Nikon for video.....
I'm planning to buy a DSLR next year, but now i ask you: Is Canon 7d still the best one on the marked compared to this new baby? thx |
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The D7k footage is H264 1080p24 only (in 1080), no 60i. That's about the only shortcoming I can see thus far. Like you I have a slew of Nikon lenses. Only the non-AI lenses won't work - there is a mechanical aperture sensor on this body, like the older FX bodies. Unlike some of them, the sensor does not retract into the body so you can't mount a non-AI lens. However, it will meter with the AI/AIs lenses, so that's great news. I'm nearly 100% shooting 24p narrative and commercial footage so the frame rate doesn't bother me any. Or else I'll use Twixtor to change frame rates. Still working the video part out - the auto focus is useful, but only in very limited situations (like most video AF, IMO, so no better or worse - it'll still try to go for the closest thing in the frame, or the furthest, or wherever you set it). The metering is okay, but as you know most of this stuff on the Canons with the Nikon or PL lens adaptors (which is how most DSLR videographers shoot) is full manual. And the main complaint about the D7000's predecessor, the D90, was that you couldn't get the body to go full manual. Well you can now with the D7000. Which means, apart from the frame rate situation, there's not a lot left to distinguish the Nikon from the Canon. We're down to the usual jello/codec/yadda yadda discussions common to most all DSLRs. So for me, that's more than enough to stick with Nikon through the transition. There have been various D7000 vs 7D clips posted on the Internet. Check them out. One in particular isn't fully color corrected on the Nikon side so the Canon side looks more vibrant. To make a point with a friend, I took that same clip and added 5% more color saturation on the Nikon side to match both image halves properly. They looked pretty much the same, close enough that as a film maker / story teller it makes no difference - the camera, either camera, works well enough not to get in the way of a story told in pictures. Now that the Scarlet is officially vaporware, it's just the D7000 and the Canons (5Dii, 7D, T2i, 60D). Plus of course the Sony Alphas and the rest. But mainly the D7000 means that Nikonians are back in the running. Oh yeah - audio. Well, I have a 4 track digital location audio setup and on the more critical shoots it comes with me, even when I'm shooting high end video cameras with balanced audio inputs. (just so's I have backups. BTW, I do like the D7000's twin card slots, which allows me to shoot onto two cards simultaneously if I want, or over-run from one card onto another, or have one card take JPEG and the other RAW/NEF or video - pretty cool!) Even though you can adjust the D7000's auto gain preamps (essentially low/medium/high/auto), it's still auto gain preamps in every setting, and so you get that creep over time as it turns up, etc.. But having said that, it's pretty good audio in most common situations. I'm pleasantly surprised, let's just say. But I'd still record separate audio on critical shoots, regardless. That's of course just my way. Definitely on that one YMMV. Good times! |
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Also as to the Nikon being 'full manual' the truth as we know it is its a ham-handed ill thought out way in which you get there. The work around to set aperture is pure stupidity. Also to gloss over the fact that Nikon only allows you one frame rate at 24p as if its nothing is letting them off the hook IMO. Canon provide you with the tools to shoot in 24, 25, 30 or even 50/60p in 720p which gives amazing slow motion which you simply cannot get in the Nikon. For me there is no excuse - to be this late to the party and show up with something so 'underdone' and 'underwhelming' is unforgivable. |
Scarlet:
Well it surely won't be the under-$5k all-in-one pocket wonder it was originally set out to be, whenever it does eventually arrive. What I was referring to was that the Scarlet seems to have moved upmarket and is now not longer a factor in the DSLR price range of cameras to be considered. And while I totally agree with you that Nikon has come late and light to the party, it's still here. And for those of us who have been Nikon users since day 1, that's good news. The rest of it will be catch-up, for sure. But Nikon will catch up, eventually. (I sure hope someone from Nikon is reading this who gives a darn) Those of us who are still battling with the non-HD HDMI monitoring of the 5Dii and the only recent 23.97 and 5994 firmware will continue to battle onwards using whatever camera is best for the job at hand. But all the lenses I own have always been Nikons, and I have owned and used a D40, then a D90, and now a D7000. Which Nikon has always considered, and represented all along and openly, to be a stills camera first and foremost, with video tacked on the end. Canon rentals are cheap and D7000's are unobtanium for now, so what the Nikon can really do in video remains a battle to be fought, and workarounds come up with, as we all move onwards. As for me, I'm going to continue to tinker around and make short movies, etc., but with the D7000, when I can get it to behave. Maybe it will take more effort to get it to do that - but I've made movies with the D90, so the D7000 is easier. Much easier. And for some of us, that's enough. Obviously not for others. |
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With non aperture ring lenses, shoot in S mode and click the shutter release when you're happy with the aperture. Not perfect, but quite workable. |
Eric, hi!
Yeah, that's why I don't much like the G series lenses - why on earth take the aperture rings away from a lens? I guess "if it's not sense, it's making dollars"... (my dad's saying, not mine). 'Course, the lenses I'm using now on my Letus all have their aperture clicks removed as well as focus gear rings attached... |
Just a quick mention that with the advent of the D7000 the Nikonians have finally started up a DSLR video forum.
Not that it would compete in any way with this one, since they're mainly stills folk over there and totally new to video, but as far as specialized Nikon lens type and model information goes, they're a pretty good resource. Discussion Forums @ Nikonians - DSLR Video Cheers! Chris |
For those of you still waiting for your D7000, Service Photo in Baltimore has a few.
I just got one. I had an order in with Adorama since Sept. but they still don't have any. |
My local Best Buy had several D7000/18-105 kits in stock until Black Friday and sold them all in one day.
Jim, I also had a D7000 body on order from Adorama. They would not give any ETA. Then I found out Adorama would be selling a D7000/28-300 VR II kit. I wanted that lens anyway so I changed my order to the kit and saved $300 over buying the camera and lens separately. I haven't seen anyone else offer that particular combination so I guess I will just have to wait patiently. I talked to them yesterday and the only thing they would say was that they were hoping to fill all backorders by the end of the year. |
Hola,
do you hear a LOUD sound when using the autofocus button whilw recording? |
Yes, the mike is right near the lens.
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Just a quick heads up - seems Nikon has issued a press release due to a problem with bright spots in video recording under some low light conditions.
Answer Apparently they are working on a firmware update to fix this but something to keep in mind if you are thinking of purchasing. I seem to remember Canon had an issue with hot pixels in the 5DmkII as well at launch so hopefully its not that big of a deal and Nikon can fix it asap. Of course while Nikon are at it I have a few suggestions on what else they could include in any firmware updates but hey...;-) |
Is anyone having problems with the auto focus? Mine seems to have difficulty locking on and when it does it it sometimes soft....other times it is fine.
Not sure if its me or the camera. |
I find that the autofocus gets confused easily in AF-F mode.
This makes sense because it is contrast based. You wouldn't want to immediately begin hunting whenever it encountered a low contrast image in its target area, such as a white wall. So it seems like it guesses a lot and often guesses wrong. On that note, I think you will have the best results with your focus area set to large. This will increase the chances that a high contrast image is in the target. Also, I find that the tracking modes (face and the other one) work better - the D7000 latches onto a high contrast area and stays with it as you pan around, preventing it from trying to hunt in a low contrast area. But for general use, I've found that AF-S is the way to go - one shot autofocus. Use it like a still camera - find your subject, center it, hit the shutter release halfway and it focuses. Then recompose your shot and follow focus manually. When you totally lose track of focus, refocus again using the shutter button. Also - try different lenses. I've found that some are more responsive that others. Haven't figured out exactly why yet, but the fast primes (circa f/1.8) seem to work the best. |
Guys should i wait for the next Nikon or will i go with this D7000?
From what u know, when is coming the next one? |
Marcus, I ordered the D7000. It seems to me that I can have an awesome DSLR with a lot of video capability right now and if something even better comes along, the resale value of the D7000 will still be amazingly high. Especially considering the current back order waiting list and the exceptional resale value of its predecessor, the D90. The next "rumored" Nikon is the D4, but that could be next fall.
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Shutter speed 1/30 limit in live view/Movie?
Hi,
AFAIK, the D7000 won't let you go any lower than 1/30 shutter speed in M mode in LV/Movie, which is really limiting. Especially when you can go as low as you want in S mode (still in LV/Movie) Does anybody know if this is a sensor limitation (electronic shutter), or a firmware one? And why would Nikon cripple their camera in such a way? It just doesn't make sense to me. Or maybe I'm missing something... Gosh, I'm not asking for 1080P60 at 4:4:4 uncompressed, I just want a usable Full HD PAL signal... 1080P25 with 1/25 shutter would be a start! Thanx for any input... |
Mikael, hello!
Just FYI (and I go into way too much detail on the Nik site) the standard shutter speed for 1080p60 is around 1/100sec and not 1/25. 1080p at 24fps is 1/50th of a second. This has to do with movie camera standards and conventions, not stills camera ones. |
Hi Chris,
Nice to see you're a member on these fora as well! Thank you for your explanation of film and projector standards (Nik fora), which is both simple and clear... However, I still have the impression you're not fully understanding my question: I do realize 1/50 is many shooters' 'normal' or 'preffered' shutter speed when recording at 25P, and that's the speed I also use 80% of the time. That's not what I'm debating here today. The problem I'm facing is that sometimes I prefer the look of 1/25. Now, on any other video cameras I've owned, I've been able to take the shutter speed to 1/25 and lower. In fact, I have an assistant next door interviewing someone with a HMC150 and 1/25 shutter! Standard or not, that's a creative choice we made. I don't understand WHY nikon did not allow that on the D7000. And this is a real question: why? Is it hardware related (electronic shutter limitation? Expeed limitation?) or software (Codec? Nikon firmware?) In fact, a quick google search shows I'm not the only one disappointed by that omission: Nikon D7000 review: poor video quality | Erwinvandijck.com In the reviewer's words: ''There are more strange design decisions. No 25 frames per second modus (1080p25fps). Would have been useful when you live in Europe. When filming in 24fps the lowest shutter speed is 1/30. No film-like shutter speeds like 1/24, 1/25 or 1/48. No custom video settings, adjustable gamma, color balance etc. No over & undercrank function. No autofocus assist.'' Thanx for any input. |
Mikael, hello!
Yes, agreed and understood. Yes, apparently it's the Exspeed or something in the processing chain that just isn't as quick as Canon's or other's dedicated video machines. I hope it's just firmware, but I don't believe it is. I think they've optimized the processing for stills capture with just a basic video capture as a feature. One step at a time, kind of thing. Apparently there isn't anybody on the Nikon R&D team with any voice who is a modern film shooter. They gave the beta video testing out to a stills photographer and came back with essentially some clips that are television commercial style shots. Admittedly, that's what Canon did too when it launched its 5Dii, but the Canon cameras yield more flexible images. Plus, the way Nikon's been promoting its video suggests that Nikon still doesn't see the knowledgeable film/videographer as its client base yet. So while it enjoyed success with its Super 8 cameras, that's probably what Nikon thinks people use video clips for - home movies. Dead wrong and another marketing and R&D gaffe on their part. Oh well. For me, the D7000 was a clear upgrade from my D90. Plus it shoots decent video: [edit] it seems like Erwin vanDijck got one of the D7000s with the dead pixels. That is a firmware fix, apparently. And the thing that gets me is that usually if a reviewer finds an obvious flaw like dead pixels, usually one contacts the manufacturer first rather than assuming that that's what was intended (yeah, like Nikon intends dead pixels in its cameras, right) and then reporting on it. Maybe this person has a bone to pick with Nikon?[end edit] The noisy imagery is probably due to their implementation of the video capture software - essentially it's an extension of the live view / mirror up part of the system rather than the regular stills side/mirror down part, and may well use different circuitry and processing. So the strongest part of the camera - the stills side - isn't being used for the video side at all. That was true of the D90 and is probably still true here, with enhancements. Me, I've not had problems with noise yet because I'm not shooting the slow kit lenses, but glass that's 2.8 or (much) faster, so pretty much I have NDs and Polas on all my glass all the time - I'm looking at the D7k for shallow DOF, of course, and the kit lenses don't do well for those images. Most of the reviewers use the kit lens or a G series lens without an iris ring and then complain that they can't control the aperture. Well on an HMC150 there is an aperture ring, histograms, zebras, curves, knees and everything else too - if you paid $2700 for a D7000 instead of $1500, wouldn't you expect those things too? I would. I'd expect much more than that on my EX1 - but that was a $7,200 camera when it came out. No, there isn't a histogram or zebras in the D7000 (I have them on my external monitor, or just use the stills side as an exposure meter before I take the final shot. Of course, I shoot mainly scripted drama and not grab shots or pray-and-spray, so it's different for me. ) Plus it's a DSLR with a Nikon mount and a high ISO with decent noise reduction and H264 capture. Basic, but good for me. And its video is much better than the HMC150's stills is, at twice the price. If I need to shoot run-and-gun footage then I take my video cameras and go do that. For me, DSLR video capture is about filmic quality. And I have the software outside the camera system to deal with things like frame rates (which you had to do with Canons as well, BTW, especially before their firmware updates), color, contrast and the rest, so the video coming out of the D7000 is way good enough for what I use it for. I have the Nikon glass, the DSLR cage and rig, the external monitors, follow focus, matte boxes and filters already, so for me the D7000 just slips into the system where the 7D rental used to go. Plus it takes SDHC/SDXC cards, the same as the rest of my cameras, so nice for me there. If you don't already have a system and you're looking for a one camera solution to everything, then probably for you the 7D is still the camera. If you have Canon glass, or even if not. (Most Canon videographers use glass that isn't Canon, at least here in the LA region. That should tell you something.) But most of us have systems already that have been built up over years or more, and so the toss-up between one camera and another is more than the performance or shortcomings of one particular model. As someone who used to own and operate at least three major camera systems every day, I've been a party to the ups and downs and really, over the years, don't give much of a darn about the merits of any particular model. As long as it does the job and brings in the bacon, that's always been good for me. However, none of the things I've been mentioning are Canon 7D beaters, so I really don't know why, apart from economics, Nikon chose to play second fiddle one more time. Apart from the fact that historically that's always what Nikon's strategy seems to have been. Why lead from the bleeding edge when you can copy comfortably from a step or two behind?, let the other guy do the bleeding? Nah, I'm sort of joking, but really, isn't Nikon a much smaller company than Canon? I never really looked into that before. Never saw the need to, before now. Probably a lot more conservative, anyway, right? |
I don't know if I was dreaming or not but I thought I read somewhere that the D7000 CMOS sensor actually reads the full frame faster than the 5D MK II or the 7D. And the conclusion that they drew was that the D7000 would have less jello effect on faster pans than the Canons because of that. Has any one else seen something like that? I can't seem to find it now.
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Greg, I believe you're right. The problem seems to be downstream of that, maybe in the compression/buffer systems, which is a bummer for now but which also means that if any 3rd party recording system like a NanoFlash could tap to the image chain before it becomes encoded/compressed, then we'll see a quantum leap in the VQ this camera will yield.
Apparently the Jello effect is less than on Canons - but post software will make all of that a non-issue within a year. The Foundry makes a very effective (and quite expensive still) high end solution, and also iMovie v.11, the freeware program that comes with the current Mac OS, already has a pretty good de-Jello filter. |
Hi Chris, and thanx for taking the time to respond.
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Also, one can get 1080p24 but not 25? They couldn't squeeze 4% extra performance out of their expeed, even though it can deal with 16MP stills at 6fps? I'm not toatlly convinced, to say the least.... Quote:
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I hope they take the oportunity to add a few video features... Quote:
Also, I do see some noise even with fast aperture lenses. I mainly shoot indoors though, most of the time with only a couple of lights. Quote:
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Thanx. |
Do u think the shoulder mount- hoodloupe-follow focus for the 5d are the same size?
Adcom I like this above What accessories do u suggest me to buy? thx |
Very urgent question:
Which 7 inches monitor do u suggest to use with this Nikon? Please owners gimme a help cause on monday i have to buy it before my travel thx a lot |
SmallHD 6.8"
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This is what u using?
Unfortunately in Eu it's hard to find small hd.... What kind of Input should i look for a monitor that could fit the D7k? thx a lot |
You should look for something that's
a) battery powered b) HDMI input c) has mounting holes on all sides of the monitor d) spare batteries and charger e) can put a Hoodman or similar shade on the monitor f) some kind of transport case. That's about it! If you find me a URL for a local supply house in Spain where you are, then I can look through it and recommend a make and model that's available to you. Cheers! Chris |
Muchas gracias Chris!
I can se you arevery confident with -hdslr world, what about a mount where i can mount the camera?Do u think what's worth for a Canons 5-7 d are good even for the nikon d 7000? Could u link me models? thx |
D7000 Testing
Camera tests are excellent / impossible to see screen in full sun so video options are limited in the field.
Nikon need to address this issue. Live View cancels the viewfinder and you have to use the screen. Think that we will use a Video Camera for Video XF300 and Still Cameras for stills D300s and D7000. |
Marcus, hello!
Any mount will do - try zacuto.com Steve, hi! Use a Hoodman loupe or a Zacuto Z finder in the sun. Cheers! Chris |
Thx buddy,
i went on Zacuto site but I got lost too many....any one u tested? |
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Reed,
Will there ever be a built-in waveform display on the smaller monitors? |
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Marcus, hello!
Basically, go with what Jim and Reed said. I use the Tim Ovel's IndiSystem stuff, even on my EX1/EX3 Letus system. And to have Reed himself reply says something about his commitment to us shooters. Yes, there's more stuff out there, probably too much, actually. But one has to start somewhere, and these two are great places to start. Actually Reed's equipment will probably outlast most people's. I'd like to know about exposure monitoring too, actually, Reed. So what Eric said, since the D7k seems very lacking in this department. Cheers! Chris |
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