Shooting video with the Nikon D3

Nikon D3 can already shoot video. Stop motion video that is and the results are worth seeing. I wanted to publish this post before the Nikon D3s is released next week. Here is the explanation from Andrew Kornylak (blog):

I’ve been doing this over the last couple years with an off-the-shelf D3 and D2X. It’s basically stop-motion. The D3 in particular shoots at up to 11fps of course, and with different settings you can get different buffer depths, up to about 12 seconds shooting in cropped jpeg mode. Being careful with the clips, you can shoot short videos like this, and convert them to 24 or 30fps, depending on your original frame rates. The color correction, or grading is done in Adobe Camera Raw, and then everything is edited in Final Cut.

It is pretty close to a video look, but a little different. I can shoot with strobes (like in the Nikki Blue commercial), and the color depth of even a cropped jpeg is better than the best HD video frame. I can make 11×14 prints from a frame grab, which sweetens the pot for a client looking to do a still and motion shoot without an outrageous production. And the videos:

Controller – the second part of the climbing footage was shot on the D3. Everything else including the interviews were on the D5000 video mode:


The Beta – Controller from Andrew Kornylak on Vimeo.

Six Feet Under – All the climbing/sitting in cave footage was shot on the D3. D5000 in video mode for the interviews:


The Beta – Six Feet Under from Andrew Kornylak on Vimeo.

Brutus – All the climbing footage was shot on the D3. D5000 in video mode for the interviews:


The Beta – Brutus from Andrew Kornylak on Vimeo.

Other videos on the Stillmotion vimeo pageParkour – All footage and ambient sound are from the D2X save for the first few seconds where he is breathing and voiceovers, which was on a Sony EX1 video camera. This was my first experiment with stillmotion. All the rest are 100% shot on the D3: O-At-Ka, A Day in the Open, One in a Million, Superstitious, Inline and Nikki Blue:

Nikki Blue from Andrew Kornylak on Vimeo.

I was surprised overall at how well the stillmotion footage integrates with HD video. It’s seamless but at the same time has a richer look. You can also see Scott Kelby’s blog featuring Andrew Kornylak. Andrew Kornylak will be doing a detailed walk-through for the ASMP Atlanta Photojournalism Seminar in December.

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