[Rob Manning]

The D7K does not have the same resolution specs as the Canon’s however, it has a leg up on recording time and a well exposed take is viable regardless of that aspect.

Check out Rick Kasnoff a Seattle based photographer on Vimeo, “Snow Monkeys”.

For me, the D7K is a better camera because I own the D3S and mo bettah’ glass so depending on the pre shoot set up and post application, noise is more or less an issue to be resolved at the time of the shoot, which you surely do understand. f stop, ISO, lighting WB, ND Grad, lighting etc., interior, exterior and yadda.

Have you looked at the three Zacuto sets which compare these types of cameras?

https://www.zacuto.com/the-great-camera-shootout-2011

According to this episodic comparative, in low light, the D7000 is actually right in line with Canon, or on some takes, slightly better.

Likely due to chip architecture, which is all Sony all the time for both brands, and Sony of course.

Nikon’s rumored new machine will have non compressed HDMI output, and could be a further game changer with ISO exceeding the soon to be release Canon.

Might I ask what your post applications are, transcode from the h.264 to what exactly, assuming, your attuned eye means AVID, FCP or CS5.5 or other?

Also, which lenses are you using?

Thanks,

Rob

[Rob Manning]

Peter, specific to the question, yes, I’d shoot a 1.2, 1.4, 1.8 or 2.8 etc to be sure in an interview, however, when tracking documentary footage outside, in say Mono County, the use of those stops for proximity or bokeh porn, on a talking subject is a personal choice, eliminating the background visage, maybe not so much, hence a shooting script and story board.

Otherwise for nighttime still shooting with a prime, or interiors in a club perhaps.

RM

[Rob Manning]

Thanks for the pointers folks.

I did not watch the episode, however, it’s interesting to read the challenges which are cropping up with regard to the genre.

Generally f8, is in the pocket for HDslr as I’ve been told (tHough not set in stone)would either of you agree ?

Just curious.

Many thanks,

Rob

[Rob Manning]

Hi Brad,

If you have a typical shoot, staging from pre dawn to well past sunup for example, at a place like Mono Lake or the Red Desert, the changing light will keep you on your toes.

The use of at least a polarizer, but better still a multi-stop Fader ND, will help keep the visuals static when shooting at the nominal, f8 through f16 etc. or smaller.

Another way to control the changes would be to raise the ISO during the shot (lowest being optimal of course) assuming you will be able to cut around the shift, tripod movement etc. and there is enough light to mitigate noise.

There is absolutely no reason you cannot straddle the concept, by taking say a 24-70 f2.8, and a 70-200 f2.8 along as the shooting package.

The h.264 codec, captures three “slices” per frame, and using quick motion movements like a soccer match may be at issue, but say, tracking water fowl doing a take off, will work fine.

Even as CS5.5 will run h.264 codec natively, editing should be conducted using transcoded footage with high-end products, (cinema grade) such as ProRes for iJOBS machines, and CineForm for both MAC and PC, plus others which essentially converts the IPB slices by losing the P and B, which have computer extrapolated data, and turns the I frames into .444 (laymen description, forgive syntax errors)

https://ip.hhi.de/imagecom_G1/assets/pdfs/csvt_overview_0305.pdf, page 566.

This is what occurs with shoots such as this: https://vimeo.com/17225631

The photographer (Ric Kasnoff) is using the 24-70 f2.8 and the 70-200 f2.8, plus a handful of other lenses, when doing this work and all footage is transcoded using ProRes upon download.

Transcoding like that will take a 1 gig file and turn it into a much larger file, so consider that and don’t expect to store working files on the boot drive.

Key to any of this is shutter speed (24fps = 1/50 etc.) when changing aperture, ISO and so on but as you suggested managing work arounds, for field work, as long as you have appropriate Fader ND and so on, shooting “long” is really not as issue.

The challenges are not so great, and of course technically, lens diffraction, distortion and so on also can challenge, but as with many efforts, the craft is manageable quite well with patience and planning, and those who are compelled to pixel peep, will not be dissuaded, however, Illegitimi Non Carborundum, as it’s been said.

My $.02,

Rob

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[Rob Manning]

Hi Clayton, Mac or PC, you can use: https://www.singularsoftware.com/help/pluraleyes_pp/howto_pluraleyes_premiere.html

Not certain about the newer Audition, since my PPro, came with sound booth but Adobe should have a solution for this, if not, then they SHOULD get a solution.

Thanks,

Rob

[Rob Manning]

It looks as if you have nailed the downside for venue/event use on HDslr’s generally.

The low light, yes advantage sensor, at issue and most of all, the upgrades in gear one ideally (?) would need, such as a Small HD monitor, follow focus set up, and the other work arounds for using the h.264 format on any HDslr

Additionally in post, you likely would be transcoding with ProRes or CineForm (or?) for work through, to isolate the (I) IPB slices, https://ip.hhi.de/imagecom_G1/assets/pdfs/csvt_overview_0305.pdf

HDslr is fantastic for independents shooting budget driven projects but the accumulated gear can eclipse the camera costs very quickly.

Given that, and your Pro stance, it might be best to consider the Sony FX FS100, (Or?) which does use the h.264 format (uncompressed?) but, which is an actual full frame and in low light can be mounted using adapters for many commercially viable lenses, including cines or still imagery versions.

The out of box cost for one of these is going to be in the neighborhood $6k US, but, the embedded time-code, 48v audio XLR, and so on are all on board.

The team needs a quick walk through, no camera is perfect but in the examples you give, there are more well rounded choices over the Canon, Nikon or other HDslr’s.

My .02 cents,

Rob

[Rob Manning]

Hi Nigel,

From the D7K manual: Pages159-160.

Menu: Scroll to select non-CPU lens data, choose a lens number (1 through 9), Enter the focal length and aperture (longest if a manual zoom, and widest f2.8 etc.) select done.

Now, I have stumbled across a few older lenses and snapped them up for Video use which required alteration, I use Steve’s Camera Repair in Culver City for anything old school. They will do mods for cine-functions as well.

Also some AF primes like my 85mm f1.8 require the iris to be set to the smallest aperture in order for the camera controls to see it, but the indent stops are adjustable with the normal wheel on camera. Moving the iris will cause ff or error, lens cannot be found.

That’s it, and set the camera to manual focus of course. The little
“in focus” dot will illuminate in the viewfinder, when the lens is dead nuts, on most lenses.

HTH’s,

Rob

[Rob Manning]

For those reading this thread who do not own Apple computers, the relevant mirror to ProRes is CineForm, arguably equal to ProRes and cross platform, workflow explanations are here:

https://techblog.cineform.com/?p=1284

HTH’s

Rob

[Rob Manning]

Hello Suley,

Try reading through this author and leading Cow hand, or go to the title bar and search under tutorials for more. There are hundreds of them …https://leaders.creativecow.net/leaders/harrington_richard/

[Rob Manning]

Hi,

The Nikon glass is worth hanging on to the brand.

Given the work arounds with HDslr shooting, such as off camera audio, follow focus, Fader ND,s, mattes and so on it’s still a good bet to manage the process with (Nikon) for a couple of reasons.

The capture time on the 16mp formats, is 20 minutes, versus the heat switch of Canon’s shutting down at 12 minutes, not an issue for scripted work but possibly in other genres.

As for the ISO, none of the HDslr’s shoot at native beyond 6400, with the sole exception of the D3S, however it shoots old .mov files, and not h.264, and only at 720.

The newer prosumer Nikon D5100 shoots as follows:
HD 1,920×1,080 / 30 fps
HD 1,920×1,080 / 24 fps
HD 1,280×720 / 30 fps
HD 1,280×720 / 24 fps
VGA 640×424 / 30 fps

So it may not be as robust as the D7K, but given the scope of your effort, it is a possible alternative in this case.

I own the D3S and the D7K (two) and so far, short of say the Sony NEX FS 100, which has interchangeable lens’ with the new Sony still/HD cameras (Sony makes the sensors for Nikon and Canon) then it’s a compromise for vidic or filmic look.

I’m a filmic fan so 24 fps is my choice.

Canon has the new 1DX on the way, (29 minutes of record time) body at around $6,800 US, which appears to be a Sony must beat Nikon’s D3S chip at all costs version for full frame, low light (HDslr full frame, aka Vista Vision lateral format). Nikon has the supposed to hit next year, D4 full frame which is likely another step in the pixel wars to counterbalance Canon.

Canon has the time-code burn in on the 1DX, and some other cool buzzies but one of my associates who has shot with them all, and is key camera on a worldwide ongoing basis for a public speaker, has jettisoned his Canons and Nikons, to grab as mentioned the Sonys above for his private practice. (They use RED on the circuit)

He was not impressed enough with the 1DX’s specs to change his mind.

I’ll pick his brain next week when we head to Creatasphere in Burbank, on the ride down.