Most of the time NIko you are stuck with what they offer so no option for change position. It's other a white wall or their office desk.

If Nikon had 10min video as well it will be like in old days when interview where shot on film you had to change rolls every 10min, which means you plan around 10 min slots.

Of course I always take my camcorder as a backup plan because it is a technology that has proven it self for so many years but as I said earlier DSLRS have their advantages to especially in tight places.

I still say if you want long, single take, same angle interview shots then a camcorder on a tripod is still the way to go. If you don't like the "clutter" in the background then position them else where to do the interview.

It depends all how you plan the interview. But sometime they tent to go longer then 5 min so having that extra 5min will definitely help even though they tent to be boring.

Where the DSLR wins over the camcorder is the DOF, in most cases you have to film people at their environment which some time they are crap and you can't even compose the frame because of the clutter that they have. So with DSLR you just wipe the background with wide fstop and you have that film look, which makes it rather interesting to watch.

NikoDoby said:
Well nobody really want to watch an interview go on for more than a few minutes anyway. At least I don't like to. If you just want to record a half hour interview then a camcorder is still a better tool for the job.

lol, Niko, this is kind of a personal preference and I think it depends on what the situation demands. Some interviews need to go on longer than 5 minutes, some don't.

but I agree totally, for this kind of work a camcorder is probably still your best bet.

Well nobody really want to watch an interview go on for more than a few minutes anyway. At least I don't like to. If you just want to record a half hour interview then a camcorder is still a better tool for the job.

adamz said:
is the 5min really such a big problem? You can turn on and off the recording and get another 5 min.

Think about if you're filming something where a critical event happens at an unexpected time. Even though it takes only 3 or 4 seconds to restart recording, you might miss it.

And interviews are less natural when you are forced to stop and start so often.

is the 5min really such a big problem? You can turn on and off the recording and get another 5 min.

Your correct about the file size limit, I'm not sure why I got that wrong. I was never able to get a 1080p file longer than 10-11 minutes because the files got too big, so I wouldn't know about a hard time limit.

No they still have a limit. The file size is 4gb not 2, but even if you use a bigger card or still have space on a 4gb card (depending on what you're shooting) the camera still cuts off at exactly 12 minutes at full resolution and exactly at 29 minutes at low resolution.

NikoDoby said:

The time limit isn't just Nikon. Canon's are limited too. Depending on who you believe the reason DSLRs have time limits is because if they didn't then they would be considered a "camcorder" and under European laws they would be taxed differently. Or the sensors over heat (not the camera body put the sensor inside) which could lead to failures. So the time limits help keep the sensor from overloading.

Actually the Canon video mode is not limited by time, but rather by file size. When testing the T2i I made videos that were over 10 minutes long. All current DSLRs use the FAT32 file system, the Canon cameras are limited to a max file size of 2GB per video file, because that is the max size that FAT32 supports.

Yeah I suppose that's true, canon is obnoxious.

The iso range thing intrigues me the most though, What dslrs give you that range of selection? Do any? I've tried to look it up, but most sites just say "200-1600" or whatever, but not the actual stops. So is the iso part of the hack actually specific to this hack amongst all canons/nikons/sonys/etc. or do most/some/all pro bodies let you do that? I don't know I've only ever played around with a d700 once and it was before I really knew what I was doing.

It is a canon thing. They always "cripple" their low end rebels. It's probably because it's cheaper/easier to build the same component in all of their cameras and then "disable" some of those features in some cameras so that they don't compete against each other in sales.

Nikon doesn't do this. The D300 has the same ISO range as the D90 for example. Canon changes the auto ISO range for their cameras. The 40D has spot metering but on the Xti it normally wouldn't.

NikoDoby said:

Nikon doesn't update firmware very often. No manufacturer does. Canon just tends to disable features on their lower end cameras so that's why "hackers" can later "re-enable" them through software. But officially canon has only recently started releasing firmware to add features such as variable frames per second.

The time limit isn't just Nikon. Canon's are limited too. Depending on who you believe the reason DSLRs have time limits is because if they didn't then they would be considered a "camcorder" and under European laws they would be taxed differently. Or the sensors over heat (not the camera body put the sensor inside) which could lead to failures. So the time limits help keep the sensor from overloading.

For me the limits aren't that big of a deal as I wouldn't want to stare at something for very long before cutting to a different angle or scene anyway.

But Niko you make it sound like it's just a canon thing... the CHDK hack for the rebel xti allows you to use the following ISO values

100 - 100 / 125 / 160 / 80
200 - 200 / 250 / 320
400 - 400 / 500 / 640
800 - 800 / 1000 / 1250
1600 - 1600 / 2000 / 2500 / 3200

as well as spot metering. This to me is a major improvement.

Yeah personally I don't know what to believe about the sensor overheating thing. That'd drive me crazy though, I wonder if the next batch will be any different. clillja's advice sounds like a good idea, would that work for you?

NikoDoby:

Sorry, I just wanted to put it in the video section and didn't want to find out how delete from here.

But thanks for the info everyone

kill.cactus you don't have to make several different threads asking each question you've already asked here.

Nikon doesn't update firmware very often. No manufacturer does. Canon just tends to disable features on their lower end cameras so that's why "hackers" can later "re-enable" them through software. But officially canon has only recently started releasing firmware to add features such as variable frames per second.

The time limit isn't just Nikon. Canon's are limited too. Depending on who you believe the reason DSLRs have time limits is because if they didn't then they would be considered a "camcorder" and under European laws they would be taxed differently. Or the sensors over heat (not the camera body put the sensor inside) which could lead to failures. So the time limits help keep the sensor from overloading.

For me the limits aren't that big of a deal as I wouldn't want to stare at something for very long before cutting to a different angle or scene anyway.

foofiebeast:

The part you mentioned about overheating is new to me. I regularly use the camera to record up to 5 minutes and when it stops recording I start again after no more than 2 or 3 seconds. I've done this time and time again and I've never felt any heat. Or are you referring to the internals being stressed such that we can't feel them outside the body?

If they're just seated interviews, shoot 'em at 640 x 424 and you'll get 20 min. Workflow might be a bit funky with the 3:2 video.

Or get a little pocket cam to shoot longer sequences. The Kodak Zi8 even has a mic input...

To the best of my knowledge the best answer you can really expect is...tough shit. Unfortunately Nikon has so far shown no interest in using firmware updates to upgrade the video functions. As to firmware hacks, I believe even if there were it wouldn't be any help. As it stands the cameras are overheating even after only 5 minutes (then needing a cooldown period before shooting video again), so hacking them would only put your camera in danger of actually overheating and causing real damage to the sensor.

The only dslr that has had hacks used on it that I know of, is some of the canon rebel dslrs. They just opened up the camera to a wider range shutter speeds and iso levels, and I doubt that hack has continued with the newer models, but maybe. but either way that doesn't help you much.

sorry, I could definitely see how that would be annoying.

Hey guys

I have a D5000 that I am really liking.

The HD video function is, as everyone has said already, only sort of useful. However for my needs - interviews and such, many of which will be conducted while seated - the five minute time limit is really the biggest annoyance.

Does anyone know if there is a firmware hack that is out or in the process? And if not, how likely is there to be one? Are there firmware hacks on Nikon DSLRs a lot?

Just curious

Thanks :)

Prescott