Nikon D 7000 Video

Getting wet with new D 7000 and looking for advice on shooting video.

Will be using natural light or Hartenberger nano-compact. I do not have or am planning on new lights.

Does the shooting mode, manual, aperture priority, make a difference?

How about video settings - f/s, quality.

How do I get a single fram grab out of the video stream!

Any/all comments welcomed!

Thanks.

Blind leading the blind here, but....I recently shot whales in Tonga and mainly shot in Manual. When you shift to video (I think) the only control you have is over shutter speed. I did play with this and did see a corresponding change while shooting. If you watch are Tonga video in the middle part you will see a split screen. The video on top is shot with my wife's Sony HC9, Gates housing. The video on the bottom was shot with the D7000, looking at it I should have increased the shutter speed to get a little more contrast but hard to remember on the fly. Video: http://vimeo.com/29339997

That is the grand sum of my help, good luck

The D7000 actually has full manual control during video with a few caveats. Shutter speed and ISO can be controlled on the fly, but you must choose aperture before entering live view (and if you want to change it, you have to leave live view). I tend to set shutter at 1/50th and then tweak the aperture and iso (f/5.6 and 1000 or so respectively) to get correct exposure.

I suppose you could try and frame grab, but keep in mind there is a downsampling from the 16mp sensor -- you'll lose quite a bit of quality compared to just shooting stills.

Here is an example video shot with the D7000 in very poor conditions (10ft of visibility). I'm no videographer, but it has been fun learning with the D7k

D7000 Video

The D7000 actually has full manual control during video with a few caveats. Shutter speed and ISO can be controlled on the fly, but you must choose aperture before entering live view (and if you want to change it, you have to leave live view). I tend to set shutter at 1/50th and then tweak the aperture and iso (f/5.6 and 1000 or so respectively) to get correct exposure.

 

I suppose you could try and frame grab, but keep in mind there is a downsampling from the 16mp sensor -- you'll lose quite a bit of quality compared to just shooting stills.

 

Here is an example video shot with the D7000 in very poor conditions (10ft of visibility). I'm no videographer, but it has been fun learning with the D7k

 

D7000 Video

Video is great, maybe you should shoot more video:)

Now this is when someone is learning to record video:)

B17 Flying fortress, depth 75m, f 4.0, ISO 640, shutter 1/50, Canon 7D + tokina 10-17

B17 Video

I tend to set shutter at 1/50th and then tweak the aperture and iso (f/5.6 and 1000 or so respectively) to get correct exposure.

I found an explanation about the 180 degree shutter rule that explains why the need of using 1/50th.

Are guys shooting with AF or manual? I shot some AF video last weekend and my camera hunted a lot with the 10-17. There was plenty of ambient light too.

I'm shooting mostly manual at the hyperfocal length for the Tokina 10-17mm -- with f/5.6 to f/8, you've got plenty of working distance to achieve proper focus