Nikon D7000

[Chris Leong]

Just a quick mention that with the advent of the D7000 the Nikonians have finally started up a DSLR video forum.
Not that it would compete in any way with this one, since they're mainly stills folk over there and totally new to video, but as far as specialized Nikon lens type and model information goes, they're a pretty good resource.

Discussion Forums @ Nikonians - DSLR Video

Cheers!
Chris

[Jim Forrest]

For those of you still waiting for your D7000, Service Photo in Baltimore has a few.
I just got one. I had an order in with Adorama since Sept. but they still don't have any.

[Greg Laves]

My local Best Buy had several D7000/18-105 kits in stock until Black Friday and sold them all in one day.

Jim, I also had a D7000 body on order from Adorama. They would not give any ETA. Then I found out Adorama would be selling a D7000/28-300 VR II kit. I wanted that lens anyway so I changed my order to the kit and saved $300 over buying the camera and lens separately. I haven't seen anyone else offer that particular combination so I guess I will just have to wait patiently. I talked to them yesterday and the only thing they would say was that they were hoping to fill all backorders by the end of the year.

[Marcus Martell]

Hola,
do you hear a LOUD sound when using the autofocus button whilw recording?

[Jim Forrest]

Yes, the mike is right near the lens.

[Paul Cook]

Just a quick heads up - seems Nikon has issued a press release due to a problem with bright spots in video recording under some low light conditions.

Answer

Apparently they are working on a firmware update to fix this but something to keep in mind if you are thinking of purchasing. I seem to remember Canon had an issue with hot pixels in the 5DmkII as well at launch so hopefully its not that big of a deal and Nikon can fix it asap.

Of course while Nikon are at it I have a few suggestions on what else they could include in any firmware updates but hey...;-)

[Jim Forrest]

Is anyone having problems with the auto focus? Mine seems to have difficulty locking on and when it does it it sometimes soft....other times it is fine.
Not sure if its me or the camera.

[Eric Pascarelli]

I find that the autofocus gets confused easily in AF-F mode.

This makes sense because it is contrast based. You wouldn't want to immediately begin hunting whenever it encountered a low contrast image in its target area, such as a white wall. So it seems like it guesses a lot and often guesses wrong.

On that note, I think you will have the best results with your focus area set to large. This will increase the chances that a high contrast image is in the target.

Also, I find that the tracking modes (face and the other one) work better - the D7000 latches onto a high contrast area and stays with it as you pan around, preventing it from trying to hunt in a low contrast area.

But for general use, I've found that AF-S is the way to go - one shot autofocus. Use it like a still camera - find your subject, center it, hit the shutter release halfway and it focuses. Then recompose your shot and follow focus manually. When you totally lose track of focus, refocus again using the shutter button.

Also - try different lenses. I've found that some are more responsive that others. Haven't figured out exactly why yet, but the fast primes (circa f/1.8) seem to work the best.

[Marcus Martell]

Guys should i wait for the next Nikon or will i go with this D7000?
From what u know, when is coming the next one?

[Greg Laves]

Marcus, I ordered the D7000. It seems to me that I can have an awesome DSLR with a lot of video capability right now and if something even better comes along, the resale value of the D7000 will still be amazingly high. Especially considering the current back order waiting list and the exceptional resale value of its predecessor, the D90. The next "rumored" Nikon is the D4, but that could be next fall.

[Mikael Couderc]

Hi,
AFAIK, the D7000 won't let you go any lower than 1/30 shutter speed in M mode in LV/Movie, which is really limiting.
Especially when you can go as low as you want in S mode (still in LV/Movie)
Does anybody know if this is a sensor limitation (electronic shutter), or a firmware one? And why would Nikon cripple their camera in such a way? It just doesn't make sense to me.
Or maybe I'm missing something...

Gosh, I'm not asking for 1080P60 at 4:4:4 uncompressed, I just want a usable Full HD PAL signal...
1080P25 with 1/25 shutter would be a start!
Thanx for any input...

[Chris Leong]

Mikael, hello!
Just FYI (and I go into way too much detail on the Nik site) the standard shutter speed for 1080p60 is around 1/100sec and not 1/25. 1080p at 24fps is 1/50th of a second. This has to do with movie camera standards and conventions, not stills camera ones.

[Mikael Couderc]

Hi Chris,
Nice to see you're a member on these fora as well!
Thank you for your explanation of film and projector standards (Nik fora), which is both simple and clear...

However, I still have the impression you're not fully understanding my question:

I do realize 1/50 is many shooters' 'normal' or 'preffered' shutter speed when recording at 25P, and that's the speed I also use 80% of the time. That's not what I'm debating here today.
The problem I'm facing is that sometimes I prefer the look of 1/25. Now, on any other video cameras I've owned, I've been able to take the shutter speed to 1/25 and lower. In fact, I have an assistant next door interviewing someone with a HMC150 and 1/25 shutter! Standard or not, that's a creative choice we made.

I don't understand WHY nikon did not allow that on the D7000.

And this is a real question: why? Is it hardware related (electronic shutter limitation? Expeed limitation?) or software (Codec? Nikon firmware?)

In fact, a quick google search shows I'm not the only one disappointed by that omission:
Nikon D7000 review: poor video quality | Erwinvandijck.com
In the reviewer's words:
''There are more strange design decisions. No 25 frames per second modus (1080p25fps). Would have been useful when you live in Europe. When filming in 24fps the lowest shutter speed is 1/30. No film-like shutter speeds like 1/24, 1/25 or 1/48. No custom video settings, adjustable gamma, color balance etc. No over & undercrank function. No autofocus assist.''

Thanx for any input.

[Chris Leong]

Mikael, hello!
Yes, agreed and understood.

Yes, apparently it's the Exspeed or something in the processing chain that just isn't as quick as Canon's or other's dedicated video machines. I hope it's just firmware, but I don't believe it is.

I think they've optimized the processing for stills capture with just a basic video capture as a feature. One step at a time, kind of thing.

Apparently there isn't anybody on the Nikon R&D team with any voice who is a modern film shooter. They gave the beta video testing out to a stills photographer and came back with essentially some clips that are television commercial style shots.

Admittedly, that's what Canon did too when it launched its 5Dii, but the Canon cameras yield more flexible images. Plus, the way Nikon's been promoting its video suggests that Nikon still doesn't see the knowledgeable film/videographer as its client base yet.

So while it enjoyed success with its Super 8 cameras, that's probably what Nikon thinks people use video clips for - home movies.

Dead wrong and another marketing and R&D gaffe on their part.

Oh well.

For me, the D7000 was a clear upgrade from my D90. Plus it shoots decent video:

D7000 Snow Monkeys Test1 on Vimeo

and

D7000 Snow Monkeys Test2 on Vimeo

[edit] it seems like Erwin vanDijck got one of the D7000s with the dead pixels. That is a firmware fix, apparently. And the thing that gets me is that usually if a reviewer finds an obvious flaw like dead pixels, usually one contacts the manufacturer first rather than assuming that that's what was intended (yeah, like Nikon intends dead pixels in its cameras, right) and then reporting on it. Maybe this person has a bone to pick with Nikon?[end edit]

The noisy imagery is probably due to their implementation of the video capture software - essentially it's an extension of the live view / mirror up part of the system rather than the regular stills side/mirror down part, and may well use different circuitry and processing. So the strongest part of the camera - the stills side - isn't being used for the video side at all. That was true of the D90 and is probably still true here, with enhancements. Me, I've not had problems with noise yet because I'm not shooting the slow kit lenses, but glass that's 2.8 or (much) faster, so pretty much I have NDs and Polas on all my glass all the time - I'm looking at the D7k for shallow DOF, of course, and the kit lenses don't do well for those images.

Most of the reviewers use the kit lens or a G series lens without an iris ring and then complain that they can't control the aperture.
Well on an HMC150 there is an aperture ring, histograms, zebras, curves, knees and everything else too - if you paid $2700 for a D7000 instead of $1500, wouldn't you expect those things too? I would. I'd expect much more than that on my EX1 - but that was a $7,200 camera when it came out.

No, there isn't a histogram or zebras in the D7000 (I have them on my external monitor, or just use the stills side as an exposure meter before I take the final shot. Of course, I shoot mainly scripted drama and not grab shots or pray-and-spray, so it's different for me. )
Plus it's a DSLR with a Nikon mount and a high ISO with decent noise reduction and H264 capture. Basic, but good for me. And its video is much better than the HMC150's stills is, at twice the price.

If I need to shoot run-and-gun footage then I take my video cameras and go do that. For me, DSLR video capture is about filmic quality. And I have the software outside the camera system to deal with things like frame rates (which you had to do with Canons as well, BTW, especially before their firmware updates), color, contrast and the rest, so the video coming out of the D7000 is way good enough for what I use it for. I have the Nikon glass, the DSLR cage and rig, the external monitors, follow focus, matte boxes and filters already, so for me the D7000 just slips into the system where the 7D rental used to go. Plus it takes SDHC/SDXC cards, the same as the rest of my cameras, so nice for me there.

If you don't already have a system and you're looking for a one camera solution to everything, then probably for you the 7D is still the camera. If you have Canon glass, or even if not. (Most Canon videographers use glass that isn't Canon, at least here in the LA region. That should tell you something.) But most of us have systems already that have been built up over years or more, and so the toss-up between one camera and another is more than the performance or shortcomings of one particular model. As someone who used to own and operate at least three major camera systems every day, I've been a party to the ups and downs and really, over the years, don't give much of a darn about the merits of any particular model. As long as it does the job and brings in the bacon, that's always been good for me.

However, none of the things I've been mentioning are Canon 7D beaters, so I really don't know why, apart from economics, Nikon chose to play second fiddle one more time. Apart from the fact that historically that's always what Nikon's strategy seems to have been. Why lead from the bleeding edge when you can copy comfortably from a step or two behind?, let the other guy do the bleeding?

Nah, I'm sort of joking, but really, isn't Nikon a much smaller company than Canon? I never really looked into that before. Never saw the need to, before now. Probably a lot more conservative, anyway, right?

[Greg Laves]

I don't know if I was dreaming or not but I thought I read somewhere that the D7000 CMOS sensor actually reads the full frame faster than the 5D MK II or the 7D. And the conclusion that they drew was that the D7000 would have less jello effect on faster pans than the Canons because of that. Has any one else seen something like that? I can't seem to find it now.