[David Rehm]

Slade, The tiny screen on the DSLR will look focused to our eyes, but it is deceiving. You get home and examine your shots and they’re a little soft or even alot out of focus.

A couple of months ago I was getting ready to tape my wife’s brother’s wedding (with my Nikon D7000) and at the last minute I ordered a loupe. Money was a little tight and this is the one I purchased:
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/896300-REG/Vivitar_viv_dslr_lm3_3_LCD_Hood_2X.html

It saved my butt. The wedding would have been ruined without it.
Definitely get one – even if it’s a cheapy for $20. It’ll work.

This will ensure you are in focus. The problem (most likely) isn’t you, it’s trusting that little screen on the back of the camera that tells you you’re in focus when it’s really not.

David

[David Rehm]

Slade, You did not make the wrong choice. Keep in mind it’s not the correct choice either. Nikon, Canon, Panasonic (even other names) all make great video.

Check out this video of a short film that used a Nikon D7000 and a Mark 5D (which is considered the king of DSLRs).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYwOf-BtiNY
You can’t tell the difference as to which shot is which in the film.

I left another post explaining that your whole problem seems to be that you are shooting in the “Standard” picture style. This is great for photos but not for video. Blacks will be too black and highlights slightly blown out. With ALL DSLRs (this includes Canon, Nikon, Panasonic, etc…) you must shoot “flat” – turn down the Saturation and Contrast.

If your camera was a Canon T2i and you shot in a Standard picture style you would have the same feeling. Shoot “flat”. Oh, did I say shoot “flat”.

For me, (I have a Nikon D7000) my first few video were dark in the shadow areas, and I wasn’t sure why. I learned about shooting “flat” and I was actually scared to do it at first. Just one day I was shooting a presenter (a preacher actually) and at the last second I switched my camera to Neutral picture style. I’ve never looked back since.

Admittedly Canons have that “edge” on video in the DSLR department. But that edge isn’t in picture quality, it’s in other things. I can’t image anyone on here would say Canons have a superior picture quality over Nikons (or vice-versa).

Another added problem you might be facing too is your lens. Did you use the kit lens? If so, that adds to your problem. While the kit lens is OK for some things, I wouldn’t recommend it for serious video work. If your budget is tight try getting either one of these two lenses for starters:
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/247091-USA/Nikon_2137_Normal_AF_Nikkor_50mm.html
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/606792-USA/Nikon_2183_AF_S_Nikkor_35mm_f_1_8G.html

Lately though I have been using the Tamron 17-50mm 2.8 lens alot as I find it very all around handy. DO NOT get the Vibration Reduction model – as it actually can blur the picture. I found it on eBay for less than $300.

Here are more videos comparing Nikon and Canon.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lv4MSezWQo4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZPNwIMMFik

Again – you did not buy the wrong camera, you just have to know how they work and how they are to be used.

Hope this helps,
David

Some contents or functionalities here are not available due to your cookie preferences!

This happens because the functionality/content marked as “Google Youtube” uses cookies that you choosed to keep disabled. In order to view this content or use this functionality, please enable cookies: click here to open your cookie preferences.

[David Rehm]

Most likely you’re shooting in the “Standard” mode(?). Shooting in the “Standard” mode will give you crushed blacks and bright highlights.

Shoot “flat”. This takes the saturation and contrast out. This is what you want as it can be recovered in post and you won’t have that “harsh” look.

Check out Philip Bloom’s site as he will have some info on this.
https://philipbloom.net/

Some custom picture styles to look for:
1. TassinfFlat
2. https://alvaroyus.com/

Here’s a video I found compaing some of the picture styles.
https://vimeo.com/37974093

David

Some contents or functionalities here are not available due to your cookie preferences!

This happens because the functionality/content marked as “Vimeo framework” uses cookies that you choosed to keep disabled. In order to view this content or use this functionality, please enable cookies: click here to open your cookie preferences.

[David Rehm]

Yes you can. I just did a wedding using my Nikon D7000 and I borrowed a friends Canon Vixia HF-R30.

I’m not personally familiar with the cameras you mentioned but I would choose a camera that has the same frame rate, fields, PAR, – just to make things smoother.

Here’s how I setup for the wedding I just did:
Nikon D7000 – hand-held (monopod) for the more close-up shots.
The Canon was on a tripod straight back – a loose tight shot.

I shot the ceremony at full HD / 24fps (both cameras)

All the other (pre, reception) I shot at 720 / 24fps.

I used a Tascam DR-40 on a tripod and placed it in front of the PA speaker (this wedding was professionally mic’d)

The reason I shoot the ceremony at 1080 and the rest at 720 is because my final sequence in my editor will be 720. I nest the ceremony in the 720 seq. and now I have ALOT of zoom range. It works out great. That’s why I shot the Canon tight but not too tight (which I call loose).

I had a little trouble in post trying to figure out why the Canon footage was 29.97 when I shot it at 23.97. After a little research I had to remove the pulldowns in After Effects to make it 23.97. Other than that “issue” eveything went well.

Hope this helps.
David

[David Rehm]

Here’s an update to my issue.

This problem only happens when I open previously made items. Example: I makes lots of powerpoint slides and I store them on discs. When I open these the problem persists.

I just made a fresh slide – saved it – reopened it and everything is OK. I can x out of this slide and no dialogue box will appear.

Why is this happening when I open the other slides up? These very same slides were made with this same version of Photoshop. Again, I have never had this problem before. It’s a small problem to others but it bugs me and when working with hundreds of slides it adds on to my workload.

Thanks again,
David

[David Rehm]

Thanks very much!
David

[David Rehm]

Hi Ben,
The results will not be good. Encore (as well as Apple’s Compressor) cannot scale HD footage to SD (Standard Definition) and retain professional quality results. I now use CS5.5 and edited my first ever HD project earlier this year. I brought it into Encore and not only were the quality results really bad but it took FOREVER to render. I mean it took all night for this thing to render. I went to bed and woke up and it’s still rendering.

I found this method online and you will not be disappointed. The process looks intimidating and a pain but it is many times quicker than letting Adobe do the work. The quality results will be of professional quality.

https://www.precomposed.com/blog/2009/07/hd-to-sd-dvd-best-methods/

Here’s a companion article
https://www.precomposed.com/blog/2010/10/hd-to-sd-dvd-cs5-revisited/

Also – Jeff Bellune has a video guiding you through this process
https://bellunevideo.com/tutdetail.php?tutid=12

Again – it will look like a big mess to perform the steps – but after doing it a few times it becomes second nature.

David

[David Rehm]

Thanks Rob!

David

[David Rehm]

Thanks for your info.

I have the battery grip (I didn’t mention it though) and plan on using it with two batteries in while 2 batteries are on charge.

I planned on having a ton of AA batteries. I will look into your suggested brand.

I was thinking of getting this charger as it charges 2 batteries simultaneously.
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/823954-REG/Pearstone_DLC_NIENEL15_Duo_Battery_Charger_for.html

Thanks again.
David

[David Rehm]

Can’t you run these programs on a Mac with Bootcamp?

David