Which Nikon for stills and video?
Discussion
I've been looking at getting a new stills camera for a while. I also have more requirements for a decent video camera these days and a small production job coming up I'd probably have to rent something for, but now I'm thinking let's buy an all-rounder.
Critria:
1. 99% set on Nikon (plenty of existing lenses and I'm a Nikon fan through and through anyway) but might consider alternative
2. Budget is flexible, so let's ignore price for the moment
3. Must do 25/50fps 1080P (not just 30/60fps)
4. Must have good low light performance for stills and video (do they all these days?)
The forthcoming job is going to be filming a stage show, so I'd need to use a zoom with a decent range to cover close ups of performers (camera position would be at the back of the audience, approx. 20-25m from front of stage with stage 6m deep). One concern is what sort of depth of field I'd be able to achieve using something like a full frame DSLR with a longish lens & stage lighting. Any thoughts on this?
I don't take as many stills I used to, but I do want a camera which will last me for a good few years and produce top quality results when I need it to. Subject matter for stills will be mostly landscapes, pets, a bit of high speed sports stuff.
Any comments welcome!
Critria:
1. 99% set on Nikon (plenty of existing lenses and I'm a Nikon fan through and through anyway) but might consider alternative
2. Budget is flexible, so let's ignore price for the moment
3. Must do 25/50fps 1080P (not just 30/60fps)
4. Must have good low light performance for stills and video (do they all these days?)
The forthcoming job is going to be filming a stage show, so I'd need to use a zoom with a decent range to cover close ups of performers (camera position would be at the back of the audience, approx. 20-25m from front of stage with stage 6m deep). One concern is what sort of depth of field I'd be able to achieve using something like a full frame DSLR with a longish lens & stage lighting. Any thoughts on this?
I don't take as many stills I used to, but I do want a camera which will last me for a good few years and produce top quality results when I need it to. Subject matter for stills will be mostly landscapes, pets, a bit of high speed sports stuff.
Any comments welcome!
What's your budget? 
Choice of 3 really, D7100 is the oldest of the trio but does everything you want it to do, its a cropped sensor dslr but still very good (I have one), has the older exceed 3 processor though.
D5500, newest of the trio (just), doesnt have quite as many features as the D7100 but again falls right into your criteria and its the cheapest, has the latest exceed 4 sensor and is another cmos dslr.
The D750, full frame so its going to cost you around 1k more than the other 2 (well you can buy the other 2 and have change) same exceed 4 sensor as the D5500, was released around October last year and is the newest of the full frame family (not taking the D810A into account).
All are 24mp camera's and do exactly what you want, its just price and lenses that will probably make your mind up.
Tony
Choice of 3 really, D7100 is the oldest of the trio but does everything you want it to do, its a cropped sensor dslr but still very good (I have one), has the older exceed 3 processor though.
D5500, newest of the trio (just), doesnt have quite as many features as the D7100 but again falls right into your criteria and its the cheapest, has the latest exceed 4 sensor and is another cmos dslr.
The D750, full frame so its going to cost you around 1k more than the other 2 (well you can buy the other 2 and have change) same exceed 4 sensor as the D5500, was released around October last year and is the newest of the full frame family (not taking the D810A into account).
All are 24mp camera's and do exactly what you want, its just price and lenses that will probably make your mind up.
Tony
I'm impatient, so just bought the D5500. As you say, it seems to do everything I need and at a reasonable price, plus it's nice and light if I want to take something on hols or walks.
A bit unsure how it's going to work out video-wise but I'll do a few tests at the weekend and that should tell me all I need to know.
A bit unsure how it's going to work out video-wise but I'll do a few tests at the weekend and that should tell me all I need to know.
D800 series.
It's handicap would be low light performance which is credible, but not earth-shattering, for which you'd have to stretch to D4.
ETA - I know you say "high speed sports"! But a D800 has the advantage of cropping, yet still reaches about 5fps - not brilliant, but certainly possible for a lot of scenarios.
It's handicap would be low light performance which is credible, but not earth-shattering, for which you'd have to stretch to D4.
ETA - I know you say "high speed sports"! But a D800 has the advantage of cropping, yet still reaches about 5fps - not brilliant, but certainly possible for a lot of scenarios.
Edited by K12beano on Friday 20th February 19:06
Can't advise on the camera as I don't personally shoot video, but I have acted as cameraman a couple of times for a local singing/dance school. The biggest issue we had was dynamic range - the acts looked fine to the naked eye but the stage lighting was fixed and if not careful the spotlights turned performer's faces into white blobs. So if you have the chance, talk to them about the lighting and see if you can make it suit your needs any better.
Simpo Two said:
Can't advise on the camera as I don't personally shoot video, but I have acted as cameraman a couple of times for a local singing/dance school. The biggest issue we had was dynamic range - the acts looked fine to the naked eye but the stage lighting was fixed and if not careful the spotlights turned performer's faces into white blobs. So if you have the chance, talk to them about the lighting and see if you can make it suit your needs any better.
This is the sort of issue I'm going to face. Having seen some previous productions and talked to the theatre already, I'm not sure I'm going get much cooperation with the lighting. I'm having to rig my own mics because their set up is so lacking. That's what I'm up against.Well, took delivery of the D5500 and it's a nice little camera. The 18-55 VR lens that came with it is pretty sharp and overall it'll be a good camera to carry around and take on holiday when I need to travel light.
Seems there's no raw file support in PS or Lightroom for the D5500 currently, which was a bit of a surprise.
But, video functionality is going to be too limited for what I need. I didn't realise all DSLRs are still limited to a 20min video file length. Also, manual control over settings when in video mode is fairly limited on this model. I'm not going to shell out on an external recorder so I think I'm back to renting a video camera for the job I've got coming up.
It's still going to be useful having decent video quality available on the D5500 if I need it, but I wouldn't want to use it mainly for video and even if I'd splashed out on a D810 or a D4S I reckon I'd now be looking at adding a rail system, follow focus, additional monitor etc. to make it really usable for video work.
Seems there's no raw file support in PS or Lightroom for the D5500 currently, which was a bit of a surprise.
But, video functionality is going to be too limited for what I need. I didn't realise all DSLRs are still limited to a 20min video file length. Also, manual control over settings when in video mode is fairly limited on this model. I'm not going to shell out on an external recorder so I think I'm back to renting a video camera for the job I've got coming up.
It's still going to be useful having decent video quality available on the D5500 if I need it, but I wouldn't want to use it mainly for video and even if I'd splashed out on a D810 or a D4S I reckon I'd now be looking at adding a rail system, follow focus, additional monitor etc. to make it really usable for video work.
All DSLR cameras have a record limit, normally around 29 mins.
You can add an external recorder if you need to record longer, have a look at the Blackmagic HyperDeck for a affordable set up or a Sound Devices PIX 240i.
Like you say, once you have added a recorder, monitor, XLR connectors, microphone, follow focus and frame you might as well have bought a proper camera
I had to use my sony a7 on a job recently and I had cables all over the place
You can add an external recorder if you need to record longer, have a look at the Blackmagic HyperDeck for a affordable set up or a Sound Devices PIX 240i.
Like you say, once you have added a recorder, monitor, XLR connectors, microphone, follow focus and frame you might as well have bought a proper camera
I had to use my sony a7 on a job recently and I had cables all over the place
FurtiveFreddy said:
This is the sort of issue I'm going to face. Having seen some previous productions and talked to the theatre already, I'm not sure I'm going get much cooperation with the lighting. I'm having to rig my own mics because their set up is so lacking. That's what I'm up against.
I don't know how many functions will operate once video is rolling, but if you can you ride the aperture and have a live histogram then at least you can get the important parts correctly exposed. You can probably do some shadow recovery in the edit if you want to. Don't forget to set your white balance to the stage lights before start (in fact I prefer to set it slightly warm for a more 'stage' look).Gassing Station | Photography & Video | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff