Experimenting with Nikon D7000 at Dos Lagos in Corona

[VisioneerMedia]

UPDATE: Upon receiving my Nikon D5100, I discovered that unlike the D7000, manual controls are NOT available in movie mode. Shutter speed, ISO and white balance are all locked out. This makes the camera utterly useless. I returned the D5100 in exchange for two Canon Rebel T3i cameras. Despite all the limitations I listed above, the lack of manual controls on the Nikon is an absolute deal-breaker. Pity. Nikon must not want my business.

[VisioneerMedia]

I'm afraid I can't give you any more advice beyond what I've already stated. If you would like to see frame rate comparisons, there are a lot of videos on YouTube demonstrating that. All of my other videos are 30fps, but that probably won't help you since they weren't subject to a rolling shutter.

[VisioneerMedia]

3. The Nikon D7000 features hot-swappable dual card slots. When one fills up, it spills over onto the next card. The Nikon D5100 only has a one card slot, but I actually decided to buy it for the flip-out screen.

[Hart16789]

@VisioneerMedia

i'd like to ask your suggestion, i'm going to buy a new dslr camera, my choices are nikon d7000 and d5100. which one do you think i should buy? thanks:)

[VisioneerMedia]

@Hart16789 Neither. The D7000 is too expensive, and doesn't even have an articulated screen. The D5100 has NO manual controls during movie mode. The AE lock is useless since it only works while you're holding the button. The Canon Rebel T3i is everything the D5100 promised to be, and you can get two for the price of a single D7000. Nikon really blew it with the D5100. It's insulting that they would lock out manual controls to push me towards the D7000 at twice the price.

[VisioneerMedia]

2. Nikon video bit rate is 20Mb/s compared to Canon's 40 Mb/s. The extra bit rate on the Canon doesn't add significant quality because both cameras are ultimately limited by their ISO performance. I suspect Canon's higher bit rate has more to do with shooting in 30 and 60 fps, a feature not yet offered by Nikon. I'm perfectly happy with 24p, so it's not a deal breaker for me. More importantly, the lower bit rate on the Nikon means I can fit double the video on the same size card.

[Hart16789]

@VisioneerMedia

if you don't mind, could you make a video to compare the video outcome between 30fps and 24fps? thanks.

[VisioneerMedia]

1. Nikons can shoot for 20 min, while Canons are currently limited to 12 min. The wedding ceremony I shot yesterday was 17 minutes long. I would have needed two Canons in order to cover that ceremony without risking damage to the sensor. It's a good idea to let it cool down for a minute or so before starting a new clip, so you would need to alternate cameras. For a catholic ceremony I would still need dual cameras, but Nikon would only require 2-3 swaps instead of 5-6 on the Canons.

[VisioneerMedia]

@Hart16789 Of course, manual controls are available on the Nikons. A glidecam is around $400. I've also tested various RedRock DSLR products and was not impressed. In side-by-side testing, I found no quality advantage for the Canon 7D compared to the Nikon D7000. If anything, the Nikon had the advantage in low-light situations. I found the Nikon to be a no-brainer as someone who primarily shoots weddings and other events.

[Hart16789]

r u gonna use this Nikon d7000 for video purpose? why didn't you buy Canon instead? they have the advantages of its video quality. btw, can you use manual focus when you're taking a video with d7000?? mmm, how much for the glidecam 4000 pro??

thanks, nice video btw... :)

[Mycitycorona]

Great pairing of film and music; well done!

[VisioneerMedia]

@Mycitycorona Thanks!