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D7000 Video Settings And Discussion
(101 posts) (35 voices)-
Posted 2 years ago #
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Nikon D7000 1080p24 video--first impressions:
Well, I finally finished charging the EN-EL15 battery that comes with the camera (I thought it would accept EN-EL3e batteries, but it doesn't). Initial thoughts:
1. I'm both extremely relieved, and very happy to report that the D7000's amount of rolling shutter artifacting ("jello" effect) appears vastly improved over the D90's D-Movie mode. Hooray, Nikon!
2. I'm also extremely relieved to report there seems to be no immediate, obvious banding observed from fluorescent lighting sources at a 1/50th of a second shutter speed (60Hz flicker reduction is set to "on" by default). This is huge, since my entire house is fluorescent, plus I own expensive KinoFlos for filmmaking. This was a major issue with my D90 under the same lighting conditions.
3. It's true: you do in fact have direct, manual control over both ISO and shutter speed on the D7000. However, I cannot find a way to set the shutter speed to the preferred "movie-ish" rate of 1/48th; only 1/50th.
4. In dim lighting, at f/1.2, the camera performed extremely well at ISO100. I next bumped it up to ISO250--very bright!Note on using manual lenses:
When using manual, non-CPU lenses, you may set up specific lens profiles in the D7000's setup menu. Press "menu," go to "setup," then scroll to the third menu page until you see the, "Non-CPU Lens Data" menu option. You may set up a number of different lenses here, numbered simply, '1,' '2,' '3.' etc. (I don't know what the maximum is). So far, I've set up two AIS lenses: a 50mm f/1.2 and a 35mm f/1.4. It's easy to do--you simply enter the focal length and the lens' maximum aperture, and that's it! Once set, the D7000's LCD display shows the correct aperture as you manually turn the aperture ring. Amazingly cool!
The settings are as follows for the sample images shown below:
AF mode: manual.
AE mode: manual.
Setup menu: second page: flicker reduction = 60Hz (default).
Shooting menu: movie settings: manual movie settings = "on."
All other settings: factory default.
Memory: SanDisk Extreme III SDHC 30GB/s 4GB.Nikkor 50mm f/1.2 AIS manual-focus lens:
ISO: 100; exposure: f/1.2 @ 1/50thAfter only a few minutes of handling the camera in LiveView mode, the D7000 appears to perform very well in low light. I don't know how it compares with the D90 yet, but it looks very good. Although, I am using an extremely fast, f/1.2 lens, so my initial estimations may be a bit overstated. I bought this 50mm f/1.2 lens brand new, specifically for filmmaking over a year ago for my D90, and this is the first time I've ever used it--it's also the very first lens that I chose to slap onto my new D7000--and boy, is it gorgeous!
Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 DX AF lens:
ISO: 1600; exposure: f/2.8 @ 1/50thUnfortunately, Nikon doesn't make any wide-angle, manual-focus lenses any faster then f/2.8, so here, I have the Tokina f/2.8 DX ultra-wide (zoomed to 16mm). I was probably a bit over-zealous in my initial light-sensitivity estimation. With an f/2.8 lens, I came back to reality. I had to pump the gain up to ISO1600 to get decent exposure on a low-light interior. The light level is very low here, perhaps about 5 footcandles. This should still be fine, since noise levels in moving images should be somewhat less noticeable than in still images.
Nikkor 35mm f/1.4 AIS manual-focus lens:
ISO: 250; exposure: f/1.4 @ 1/50thOne of my favorite lenses: the 35mm f/1.4 . . . put a fast lens on this camera, and it just makes the prettiest-looking, most movie-ish video ever! I think f/1.4 is the sweet spot for this camera in D-Movie mode. If you're a filmmaker, try to buy as many f/1.4 manual-focus Nikkors for this baby as you can afford. The bokeh characteristics of the 35mm focal length (even on a DX sensor) irised at f/1.4 is nothing less than lovely.
Initial summary conclusions:
Wow! I am so damned happy with the video performance of Nikon's new D7000! This is what I was expecting two years ago with my then, new, D90--little did I know that it would be virtually useless as a D-cinema camera without any manual control. Being able to set the ISO and shutter speed makes all the difference. Also, the significant reduction in both rolling shutter and strobing elevates the D7000 to a whole 'nother league, compared with the video-crippled D90. I should also mention that this Thailand-built camera's build quality is excellent.
The motion-image sequences look great [note: motion sequences appear a bit more "stuttery" than "normal" 24p cameras, possibly due to the low mass of the body, and the 1/50th shutter speed--handheld use will require a bracket and expert technique; most, will want only to shoot with this camera on a good fluid-head tripod]. The image quality is great. The colorimetry--very natural and true-to-life. This is a great D-cinema camera. You could shoot a feature with this thing. Thank you, Nikon.
I Just dropped some native-D7000, 1080p24, .MOV clips into an FCP timeline and performed a simple dissolve. Works great! The clips drop right in and are immediately editable with no transcoding! Thank you, again, Nikon!
No more Canon 7D envy . . . FINALLY!
Posted 2 years ago # -
I predict we are going to have the same used Nikon Ai-s lenses market effect as David Hobby had on the used Nikon flashes.
Stock up on the goodies now, while the prices are still cheap.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Thanks Studio, for posting your comments and opinions so far. These will help keep me contained while waiting to see what the heck B&H and Nikon are doing with our "body" pre-orders.
BTW, what do you mean by dropping the .mov clips into a FCP timeline - is that a video editing program? Thanks.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Rx4Photo said:
Thanks Studio, for posting your comments and opinions so far. These will help keep me contained while waiting to see what the heck B&H and Nikon are doing with our "body" pre-orders.BTW, what do you mean by dropping the .mov clips into a FCP timeline - is that a video editing program? Thanks.
No problem! I was so excited, I had to blab about this to someone! On a Mac, you can "drag and drop" a .MOV file (the D7000's native video file format) into an editing "timeline," the place where you assemble your clips in a linearly oriented workspace. "FCP" is short for Apple's excellent Final Cut Pro editing application, or "non-linear editor" (NLE).
Posted 2 years ago # -
Yes, thanks for your thoughts, Studio. I have to say as a scientist and not as a video expert that the 24 frames per second rate is more important for getting movie-like video than a 4% difference in the shutter speed. I'm convinced no one could notice that if their life depended on it.
I'm so sad my best buy says they haven't even gotten a shipment. I'll have to call them again this morning and see if I get someone who knows they got the shipment.
Posted 2 years ago # -
studio460 said:
No problem! I was so excited, I had to blab about this to someone! On a Mac, you can "drag and drop" a .MOV file (the D7000's native video file format) into an editing "timeline," the place where you assemble your clips in a linearly oriented workspace. "FCP" is short for Apple's excellent Final Cut Pro editing application, or "non-linear editor" (NLE).Good deal. I suppose it should work just as smoothly with iMovie.
Posted 2 years ago # -
I'm so excited, despite the fact that I'm definitely going to have to wait until sometime in december or january to get it, hah
Posted 2 years ago # -
Focusing tips for use with manual-focus lenses on the D7000:
Since many of those using the Nikon D7000 for filmmaking will be using manual-focus lenses, I thought I'd share what I've learned so far.
WARNING: Do not use AF lenses with the lens focus-mode switch set to M and the camera focus-mode selector set to AF. Failure to observe this precaution could damage the camera (Nikon D7000 user manual: p. 99).
1. Be sure to enter your manual-focus lens data (focal length and maximum aperture) in the "Non-CPU Lens Data" menu as described in my post above, under the subhead, "note on using manual lenses" (pp. 159; 270).
2. When viewing through the camera's optical viewfinder, you can use the D7000's electronic rangefinder indicator to assist in determining accurate focus, based on any of the selected 39 focus points (p. 100).
3. However, when using LiveView, apparently, there is no such rangefinder information displayed on the rear LCD panel. The only method to assist in determining accurate focus in LiveView mode is to press the '+' button. This will increase image magnification on the rear LCD screen by up to 6.7x. (pp. 49; 55).
Posted 2 years ago # -
studio460 said:
[note: motion sequences appear a bit more "stuttery" than "normal" 24p cameras, possibly due to the low mass of the body, and the 1/50th shutter speed--handheld use will require a bracket and expert technique; most, will want only to shoot with this camera on a good fluid-head tripod].I mounted the D7000 on my shoulder bracket tonight. Handheld video improved significantly, nearly as stable as any broadcast shoulder-mount ENG camera. I wouldn't recommend shooting handheld video on the D7000 (or any DSLR) without a bracket--it's just too small and light to hold freehand steadily. The D7000's video doesn't look "stuttery," as I had mentioned before--that was due to excessive camera shake (due to its low mass, and "non-centered" CG). With the bracket, I can make very smooth-looking, handheld pans on a 50mm lens.
Posted 2 years ago # -
One video feature that i'm interested in.
Can live video be transferred over USB?
for example, with my SD canon camcorder, i can plug it via USB and it shows up as a video device. I can even use it in skype.
can the D7000 do the same? because i would love to do a skype chat with a 35 1.8!
Imagine a conference call with the 85 1.4?
Posted 2 years ago # -
Hi gelu88,
No. I'm pretty sure that isn't going to be an option in USB.
However, you might find a way to kluge it with HDMI and Live View, if that's something you really want to do. I suspect there are 'under $200' web cams that will do it better, though.
My best,
Mike
Posted 2 years ago # -
thanks. i didn't figure it would be.
OH, Solution!
from my reading of the Manual. it seems that the A/V out (standard def) outputs during live view. Is this true?
if so i can plug it into a standard TV tuner (HDMI tuners are costly)
I just figure that if i am getting this great camera anyways, it would rock to be able to have awesome high ISO and shallow DOF (no webcam can achieve THAT)
thanks
Posted 2 years ago # -
studio460 said:
1. I'm both extremely relieved, and very happy to report that the D7000's amount of rolling shutter artifacting ("jello" effect) appears vastly improved over the D90's D-Movie mode.Apparently, there are those that disagree with this assessment [edit: a post on another forum, apparently slightly misquoted Thom Hogan. Hogan said that the D3100's rolling shutter was still very bad--I could find no mention from Hogan about the quality of the D7000's video]. Still, I may have been wrong in my earlier statement. I shot some footage with my D90 today and the amount of rolling shutter looks "similar" to the D7000's. I wish I had made a better comparison test, but I didn't.
That said, I will say that I did perform some deliberate "jello" tests with my D7000, and I thought the results were acceptable. Except for the most frenetic shooting (which I sometimes do), I was of the opinion that the amount of rolling shutter I observed in my D7000 wasn't going to be too much of an issue for me. More to the point, the fact that the D90's awful "stair-stepping" artifacting is completely non-existent in the D7000, is great news.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Here is a near ultra low light comparison with the Canon T2i and D7000:
[+] Embed the video | Video Download Get the Flash Video Lit with a Motorola Droid at iso 6400!
Posted 2 years ago # -
Just think if that shooter had a faster lens! Aside from the differing white balances, what conclusion(s) did you draw from this? Or, is this just something you found online, shot by someone else?
Posted 2 years ago # -
studio460 said:
Just think if that shooter had a faster lens! Aside from the differing white balances, what conclusion(s) did you draw from this? Or, is this just something you found online, shot by someone else?I will have to do some more conclusive tests. To really have an opinion. Both of them are more or less unusable at iso6400. More tests to come.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Just a quick note on fast lenses vs. high-ISO values:
If my math is correct, an f/3.5 lens is about three full-stops slower than an f/1.2 lens (as in NIkon's excellent manual-focus Nikkor 50mm f/1.2 AIS, which is still in current production and isn't really that expensive for what you're getting). That means, you need 8x the amount of light for an f/3.5 maximum-aperture lens, than you would need for an f/1.2 lens (an f/1.4 lens would be about 2.5-stops faster). So with a faster lens, you could shoot the same scene at only 400-800 ISO, which would have far less noise.
Posted 2 years ago # -
I guess you could think of it that way, but the whole point of a Zoom lens is flexibility, and good high ISO performance adds to that flexibility.
using the example above, a 50mm lens inside a car would be quite inconvenient, but 18-ish mm works out great.
like all things photographic, its about trade-offs. I'd prefer sticking to 1.8 lenses and using the savings to have a variety of equipment, but then i happen to have less to spend in the first place.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Does anyone else hear their lenses focusing during video playback?
I own the 17-55 f/2.8 and 18-105mm and I can easily hear both in any video I create. It is very annoying and disappointing. I assume an external microphone would help?
Posted 2 years ago # -
kendrid said:
Does anyone else hear their lenses focusing during video playback?I own the 17-55 f/2.8 and 18-105mm and I can easily hear both in any video I create. It is very annoying and disappointing. I assume an external microphone would help?
Yes, the autofocus during video is quite loud. It is also pretty slow and inaccurate, even on stationary subjects. I'd like to get an external microphone, but only for better sound quality when recording guitar licks and such. I'll most likely stick to manual focus.
Posted 2 years ago # -
[+] Embed the video | Video Download Get the Flash Video i just did a low light video test, this is in a dark parking lot with all indirect light (no direct overhead lighting) on a 24 1.4 with no post processing. I am impressed by the low noise and the minimal rolling shutter. This was manually focused.
*** disclaimer - this is probably the first video i've ever shot period, I am not a videographer, just testing out the capabilities of the camera
Posted 2 years ago # -
Hi Chim,
Good job, Cecil B. de Chim!
Looks pretty good to me, too.
I wish the 24mm 1.4 wasn't such a bite on the wallet. Of course, not all shots need to be made in the night on parking lots. ;-)
BTW, did you just upload the original file to Vimeo and let the website encode?
Thanks for sharing. It does mean a lot for us all.
My best,
Mike
Posted 2 years ago # -
Nikon D7000/D3100 D-Movie Video Quality Comparisons:
While I was considering the D3100 as a video-only acquisition tool (due to the limited availability of the D7000), this quote from Thom Hogan made me reconsider: "The only thing I can think of is that there are significant [sensor] yield differences, probably due to the on-sensor electronics (the D7000 sensor is 14-bit and faster frame rate, the D3100 is 12-bit and slower frame rate)." Also, paraphrased here previously, Hogan adds, " . . . the rolling shutter problem in this [D3100] sensor is about as bad as I've seen in a DSLR."
Nikon D7000 Video Bitstream Specs:
By the way, I've learned from my friends at DVXUSER that the average bit-rate of a D7000-acquired video bitstream is approximately 19-20 Mbps. By comparison, the average (VBR) bit-rate from the Sony VG10 tops out at an even higher, 24 Mbps, which is considered quite good, when achieved using an efficient H.264-based AVDHD CODEC (as a reference, Paramount studios archives their television assets at only 50 Mbps). The sampling ratio of the D7000's encoder: 4:2:0.
Posted 2 years ago # -
kendrid said:
Does anyone else hear their lenses focusing during video playback?I own the 17-55 f/2.8 and 18-105mm and I can easily hear both in any video I create. It is very annoying and disappointing. I assume an external microphone would help?
If you didn't hear your lens focusing, I would think that your mic was defective! Yes, an external microphone is highly recommended for recording anything other than a "reference" track from the camera mic alone. Those using V-DSLRs in more professional situations are using double-system sound (separate sound recorder) and synching to picture using an old-fashioned clapstick (the non-SMPTE kind).
Posted 2 years ago #
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