Nikon D7000

Paul Cook · October 16th, 2010, 04:55 AM

Yup I have the t2i and was about to add a 7D (mostly for the HD over HDMI) but as I have a lot of Nikon lenses I figured the d7000 would be the better bet. How wrong I was.

I mean you could almost forgive Nikon by saying "well they are a stills company - they dont have Canons video expertise" but then look at RED - they didnt have either, in fact as Jim himself said RED had no real idea and were flying blind a lot of the time but look where they are now.

For a company the size of Nikon and the money they have for RnD it is simply inexcusable. The saddest part about this is that now Canon wont be feeling any pressure whatsoever to update their DSLR line so in effect its lose lose for us.

Ted Ramasola · October 16th, 2010, 05:52 AM

Thats right. Its also sad that Nikon started it with the D90. But then, thats as far as we consumers know based on the release of their product.
We probably won't know that canon was developing it ahead of nikon, R & D wise, but was beaten to its release.

Eric Pascarelli · October 16th, 2010, 06:48 AM

Hey - I just got my D7000 and I'm pretty impressed.

The aperture thing is a pain, but ISO is adjustable in live view, and given the low noise of the camera (ISO 2000 is pretty nice) it's a reasonable way to work, and doesn't affect the look as much as adjusting stop would. Its like changing ND filters but with finer control.

I've not tested it yet (don't yet have the right cable but I will today) but I've read that HDMI is active on recording. SD video out definitely works (tried that) and is decent enough for monitoring (but certainly not focusing).

Movies are beautiful - no miracles but every bit as competent as the Canons and very clean. Low light stuff is very impressive.

So far I think it's a winner - no regrets.

Khoi Pham · October 16th, 2010, 06:54 AM

Great, not full manual but you can control ISO I can live with, how about some video in low light and some video with fine pattern and see if they fix the aliasing problem? From the Zacuto test I know Nikon excel in low light with their high end camera, wonder if it leak down to this one.

Eric Pascarelli · October 16th, 2010, 07:14 AM

To clarify, the camera does have full manual control, but the aperture must be pre-set before entering live view mode. Once in live view, you can dial in your exposure using ISO. If you start with a base of 400, you can get two stops in either direction (although noise gets more visible as you get to 1600) to play with while viewing the image live.

Eric Pascarelli · October 16th, 2010, 12:58 PM

But the output switches to 720p, even if the playback resolution setting is 1080i.

I don't think there's an option to turn off the menu and focus indicators.
The image itself is shrunk a bit from the full 720p width, to accommodate the information displayed on the perimeter.

Image is sharp but does not compare with the full res image available in playback from the HDMI. Still, quite serviceable.

Jim Forrest · October 16th, 2010, 12:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eric Pascarelli

Hey - I just got my D7000 and I'm pretty impressed.

Where did you buy it? Does this mean others should be on their way?

Eric Pascarelli · October 16th, 2010, 01:07 PM

Best Buy. Had to buy the kit lens, but I see no sign of the body-only version being released anytime soon.

It officially goes on sale tomorrow, but their computer told them they could sell it to me yesterday.

Ted Ramasola · October 17th, 2010, 01:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eric Pascarelli

To clarify, the camera does have full manual control, but the aperture must be pre-set before entering live view mode. Once in live view, you can dial in your exposure using ISO. If you start with a base of 400, you can get two stops in either direction (although noise gets more visible as you get to 1600) to play with while viewing the image live.

Eric,

When you said aperture had to be set before live view do you mean those new lenses without aperture rings?

What about old manual lenses with aperture rings? Can you adjust them even when in live view?

Ted

Eric Pascarelli · October 17th, 2010, 06:23 AM

Ted,

I just tried that on my older 28-70 2.8 and the answer is yes, but with some issues, which may be trivial to some.

Modern Nikons give an error "fEE" when your CPU lens is not set at minimum aperture (which is where they operate for camera control of aperture). If the lens is not at minimum aperture, in this case f/22 the D7000 does not seem to let you enter live view at all.

But I found a simple workaround thanks to your question. Leave the lens dial at f/22 (or min aperture) when entering live view, enter live view, and then the adjust from there. It works!

One other thing I noticed: if the camera's internal aperture setting (as displayed on the LCD) is, say, f/5.6 then that will be the minimum aperture the lens closes to after switching to live view, regardless of where you set the ring. The solution there is to also make sure the camera body LCD is set to minimum aperture. Then when you enter live view you are completely stopped down. Turn the ring on the lens and you have the full range of the lens available to you. Cool.

Now, here's the downside: when in live view using the aperture ring as described above, auto focus is completely non functional. There may be a workaround here but I have not found one.

Also, shutter speed cannot be changed unless the ring is temporarily put to minimum aperture and the "fEE" error temporarily cleared. I actually think this is a good thing - it provides a sort of "lock" for the shutter speed, an important setting that it far too easy to accidentally change while shooting. ISO setting is still completely functional.

So I tested the camera like this and it definitely lets you shoot video with manual ring control. I'll dig up some of my even older manual lenses and see what happens with them. And there may be a way to make the camera think that CPU lenses with aperture rings are OK and not give the fEE error.

Glad you asked the question.

Ted Ramasola · October 17th, 2010, 07:24 AM

That is good news. Thank you for doing the tests. So basically, "full" manual is "achievable".

Your right about the speed. In controlled production environments, usually, the speed is a predetermined creative and technical decision, its usually ISO and aperture that needs "fiddling", also the lack of auto focus is not a deal breaker as it's barely, if at all, used in production environments.

So, the workflow with old manual lenses is, step down to lowest aperture, set shutter speed, enter live view, adjust aperture and ISO to get desired exposure, press record?

Seems ok!

Thanks,

Ted

Eric Pascarelli · October 17th, 2010, 07:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ted Ramasola

So, the workflow with old manual lenses is, step down to lowest aperture, set shutter speed, enter live view, adjust aperture and ISO to get desired exposure, press record?

Ted,

I've totally revised my post here because my previous info was incorrect. The workaround is not necessary. There's a menu in the D7000 that lets you use aperture ring lenses with full aperture control in live view and with full functioning autofocus.

It's menu item F6 Controls/Customize Command Dials. If you set it to "aperture setting" item to "aperture ring" you will have full control of the aperture from the ring with no fEE error. This works in live view and recording mode.

So as long as your lens has an aperture ring you can have full manual control of all camera functions, and fully functioning auto focus in live view WITHOUT having to switch out of it. It works perfectly.

So aperture pre-setting is only for lenses with no aperture rings, and criticism of the D7000 for that limitation is really moot.

Eric Pascarelli · October 18th, 2010, 12:35 PM

I tested my D7000. The shutter scan time from top to bottom at 1080 23.976p is about 1/54 second or 18.5 milliseconds.

I think this is a bit better than the Canons (I've read 25ms for the 5D II), and almost acceptable for me. Does anyone have a reliable numerical spec for the various Canons?

Eric Pascarelli · October 18th, 2010, 02:20 PM

Pretty simple. This is for lenses with no aperture ring. Lenses with aperture ring can dial in a manual stop directly from the lens barrel.

Go to menus and assign the Fn button to AE Lock Hold.
Put the D7000 in shutter priority auto and enter live view
Now adjust the exposure compensation +/- until the desired stop is generated by the auto exposure (it has a generous +/- 5 stop range). As you do this, only aperture will change.

When the desired aperture is reached, hit the Fn button and the aperture will be locked in.

The only downside to this is that you can't change the exposure easily on the fly. But it does let you dial in a stop while watching the effect on live view rather than having to exit live view.
_____

Edit:

add to that workaround - you must hit the shutter release (for the aperture change to register) before you start shooting. See post #60 below.

Paul Cook · October 18th, 2010, 04:41 PM

Lol - Eric I think Nikon should hire you for 'workarounds on stuff we should have made work by default'...or something like that. ;-)

Can I ask what monitor you tested the HDMI out on and if at all possible if you could post a picture of what the image looks like on the screen? Im just trying to work out how the Nikon would compare with the 7D on a smallHD DP6 monitor, especially given how well you can customise the auto scaling features on the DP6?

As this monitor is 720p, then if the Nikon can be set to output full size 720p image then that would be ideal.

October 16th, 2010, 05:52 AM	#47
Ted Ramasola Trustee Join Date: May 2005 Location: Allen, Texas U.S.A Posts: 1,117	Thats right. Its also sad that Nikon started it with the D90. But then, thats as far as we consumers know based on the release of their product. We probably won't know that canon was developing it ahead of nikon, R & D wise, but was beaten to its release. __________________ Ted Ramasola http://ramasolaproductions.com

October 16th, 2010, 06:54 AM	#49
Khoi Pham Major Player Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Dallas Posts: 747	Great, not full manual but you can control ISO I can live with, how about some video in low light and some video with fine pattern and see if they fix the aliasing problem? From the Zacuto test I know Nikon excel in low light with their high end camera, wonder if it leak down to this one. __________________ Khoi Pham www.proeditproductions.com

October 16th, 2010, 12:58 PM	#51
Eric Pascarelli Major Player Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 498	D7000 HDMI is Active During Recording But the output switches to 720p, even if the playback resolution setting is 1080i. I don't think there's an option to turn off the menu and focus indicators. The image itself is shrunk a bit from the full 720p width, to accommodate the information displayed on the perimeter. Image is sharp but does not compare with the full res image available in playback from the HDMI. Still, quite serviceable.

October 17th, 2010, 07:24 AM	#56
Ted Ramasola Trustee Join Date: May 2005 Location: Allen, Texas U.S.A Posts: 1,117	That is good news. Thank you for doing the tests. So basically, "full" manual is "achievable". Your right about the speed. In controlled production environments, usually, the speed is a predetermined creative and technical decision, its usually ISO and aperture that needs "fiddling", also the lack of auto focus is not a deal breaker as it's barely, if at all, used in production environments. So, the workflow with old manual lenses is, step down to lowest aperture, set shutter speed, enter live view, adjust aperture and ISO to get desired exposure, press record? Seems ok! Thanks, Ted __________________ Ted Ramasola http://ramasolaproductions.com

October 18th, 2010, 12:35 PM	#58
Eric Pascarelli Major Player Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 498	D7000 Rolling Shutter I tested my D7000. The shutter scan time from top to bottom at 1080 23.976p is about 1/54 second or 18.5 milliseconds. I think this is a bit better than the Canons (I've read 25ms for the 5D II), and almost acceptable for me. Does anyone have a reliable numerical spec for the various Canons? Last edited by Eric Pascarelli; October 18th, 2010 at 01:13 PM. Reason: correction

October 16th, 2010, 04:55 AM	#46
Paul Cook Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Sydney, Australia Posts: 174	Yup I have the t2i and was about to add a 7D (mostly for the HD over HDMI) but as I have a lot of Nikon lenses I figured the d7000 would be the better bet. How wrong I was. I mean you could almost forgive Nikon by saying "well they are a stills company - they dont have Canons video expertise" but then look at RED - they didnt have either, in fact as Jim himself said RED had no real idea and were flying blind a lot of the time but look where they are now. For a company the size of Nikon and the money they have for RnD it is simply inexcusable. The saddest part about this is that now Canon wont be feeling any pressure whatsoever to update their DSLR line so in effect its lose lose for us.

October 16th, 2010, 06:48 AM	#48
Eric Pascarelli Major Player Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 498	Hey - I just got my D7000 and I'm pretty impressed. The aperture thing is a pain, but ISO is adjustable in live view, and given the low noise of the camera (ISO 2000 is pretty nice) it's a reasonable way to work, and doesn't affect the look as much as adjusting stop would. Its like changing ND filters but with finer control. I've not tested it yet (don't yet have the right cable but I will today) but I've read that HDMI is active on recording. SD video out definitely works (tried that) and is decent enough for monitoring (but certainly not focusing). Movies are beautiful - no miracles but every bit as competent as the Canons and very clean. Low light stuff is very impressive. So far I think it's a winner - no regrets.

October 16th, 2010, 07:14 AM	#50
Eric Pascarelli Major Player Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 498	To clarify, the camera does have full manual control, but the aperture must be pre-set before entering live view mode. Once in live view, you can dial in your exposure using ISO. If you start with a base of 400, you can get two stops in either direction (although noise gets more visible as you get to 1600) to play with while viewing the image live.

October 16th, 2010, 01:07 PM	#53
Eric Pascarelli Major Player Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 498	Best Buy. Had to buy the kit lens, but I see no sign of the body-only version being released anytime soon. It officially goes on sale tomorrow, but their computer told them they could sell it to me yesterday.

October 17th, 2010, 06:23 AM	#55
Eric Pascarelli Major Player Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 498	Ted, I just tried that on my older 28-70 2.8 and the answer is yes, but with some issues, which may be trivial to some. Modern Nikons give an error "fEE" when your CPU lens is not set at minimum aperture (which is where they operate for camera control of aperture). If the lens is not at minimum aperture, in this case f/22 the D7000 does not seem to let you enter live view at all. But I found a simple workaround thanks to your question. Leave the lens dial at f/22 (or min aperture) when entering live view, enter live view, and then the adjust from there. It works! One other thing I noticed: if the camera's internal aperture setting (as displayed on the LCD) is, say, f/5.6 then that will be the minimum aperture the lens closes to after switching to live view, regardless of where you set the ring. The solution there is to also make sure the camera body LCD is set to minimum aperture. Then when you enter live view you are completely stopped down. Turn the ring on the lens and you have the full range of the lens available to you. Cool. Now, here's the downside: when in live view using the aperture ring as described above, auto focus is completely non functional. There may be a workaround here but I have not found one. Also, shutter speed cannot be changed unless the ring is temporarily put to minimum aperture and the "fEE" error temporarily cleared. I actually think this is a good thing - it provides a sort of "lock" for the shutter speed, an important setting that it far too easy to accidentally change while shooting. ISO setting is still completely functional. So I tested the camera like this and it definitely lets you shoot video with manual ring control. I'll dig up some of my even older manual lenses and see what happens with them. And there may be a way to make the camera think that CPU lenses with aperture rings are OK and not give the fEE error. Glad you asked the question.

October 18th, 2010, 02:20 PM	#59
Eric Pascarelli Major Player Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 498	Found a good way to change aperture in live view in lenses without aperture rings Pretty simple. This is for lenses with no aperture ring. Lenses with aperture ring can dial in a manual stop directly from the lens barrel. Go to menus and assign the Fn button to AE Lock Hold. Put the D7000 in shutter priority auto and enter live view Now adjust the exposure compensation +/- until the desired stop is generated by the auto exposure (it has a generous +/- 5 stop range). As you do this, only aperture will change. When the desired aperture is reached, hit the Fn button and the aperture will be locked in. The only downside to this is that you can't change the exposure easily on the fly. But it does let you dial in a stop while watching the effect on live view rather than having to exit live view. _____ Edit: add to that workaround - you must hit the shutter release (for the aperture change to register) before you start shooting. See post #60 below. Last edited by Eric Pascarelli; October 18th, 2010 at 05:35 PM.

October 18th, 2010, 04:41 PM	#60
Paul Cook Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Sydney, Australia Posts: 174	Lol - Eric I think Nikon should hire you for 'workarounds on stuff we should have made work by default'...or something like that. ;-) Can I ask what monitor you tested the HDMI out on and if at all possible if you could post a picture of what the image looks like on the screen? Im just trying to work out how the Nikon would compare with the 7D on a smallHD DP6 monitor, especially given how well you can customise the auto scaling features on the DP6? As this monitor is 720p, then if the Nikon can be set to output full size 720p image then that would be ideal.