D3s video

[Zim]

http://www.vimeo.com/7721408

[franck]

looks fantastic

[BradM]

I wish the edit was clearer ... there is horrible frame doubling/blending through the whole clip which makes it pretty hard to tell what of anything is going as far as improvements.

Still its nice to see something new from Nikon.

[Zim]

looks fantastic

I agree it looks really good. I wish I had five grand!

[Martin Koch]

This clip looks really good. I immedeately searched for an original .avi clip from the D3s (http://www.vimeo.com/7738624) on Vimeo and downloaded it quickly as long as it's available. There's no way to verify if this awful clip is really from a D3s though.

I was shocked to see the same low datarate as D90, D5000 or D300s! Stereo audio but otherwise our familiar D-Movie mode. I wonder what they did to get this really promising quality?

[bwwd]

Shutter speed is terrible in this vid, i hope you can control it in this cam but if not then its not really worth its price

[nantnee]

looks pretty dang good. is shutter controllable?

[Adam J McKay]

Well the D90, 5000 and 300s have the same sensor do they not? The Nikon D3s has a brand new sensor, yes it's different from the D3, or at least so says Moose Peterson. I am going to take a stab and say that maybe the full frame combined with super sensor of awesome, is what's making that clip look so good.

[bill totolo]

I'm a Nikon shooter but I have to say, not all that affected by this.

[Adam J McKay]

I think if anyone buys the D3s for video only they need to get their head examined. That camera is first and foremost an amazing still camera. I am going to guess that almost all top level photojournalists are going to have one of these. But as a video camera? I see marginal improvements over the d300s, and no improvement over the 7d.

[bwwd]

yeah ,sure... every new canon and nikon is amazing ,we arent here to take a pictures with these cams.
No manual control,another nikon fail
Nikon doesnt have ANYTHING to lose ,they dont have to protect camcorders like canon and canon is listening to complaints and requests.
In today poor economy nikon is making very weird choices,they could deliver something special but they arent listening.

[BradM]

yeah ,sure... every new canon and nikon is amazing ,we arent here to take a pictures with these cams.
No manual control,another nikon fail
Nikon doesnt have ANYTHING to lose ,they dont have to protect camcorders like canon and canon is listening to complaints and requests.
In today poor economy nikon is making very weird choices,they could deliver something special but they arent listening.

I agree ... its like their extended crack smoking session went into overtime, and still no signs of life. The apple is there ... all they have to do is take it !!!

and as long as their point and shoots keep selling like hotcakes we wont see much I'm afraid.

[Zim]

Well for almost no controls I think it looks really pretty good. T. But I agree they should have went with 1080 HD and manual controls but not having it is not hurting their sales. Their market is more geared towards photography anyway.

One thing for sure, they are not doing it because they are clueless about 1080HD and full manual controls. They have a bigger market than probably the very small group of people who want to use DSLR for indie films.

Journalist and website will have no problem using the D300s or D3s video. I think Nikon will make some improvements at some point. Maybe!

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/readflat.asp?forum=1021&message=33743502&changemode=1

[bwwd]

Zim You are Nikon fan its obvious from all your posts, but for us... we just want manual control in cam and good video quality,canon ,nikon or pentax - it doesnt really matter.But Canon accepts more lenses than nikon because of distance from sensor so its also quite important factor.Only because nikons have 24p they matter for us.

[Michael Erlewine]

Just a quick note to say my Nikon D3s arrived this morning, and my 70-200 VRII lens is due also.
Most of you folks here will please forgive me for not being as concerned that the D3s is not everything a video camera should be. My question was: is it good enough to do studio and interview work?

The first thing I did was to take a photo of my partially darkened office and was amazed at the totally useful photo that resulted. Seeing is believing. The D3s is at least as remarkable as the reviews state. No wonder all the new Moose Peterson shots are with the D3s. It is so much better than my D700 or D3s as for light, and IMHO this is not just for journalists or sports photographers. I am a semi-professional, meaning I do some professional work. This new camera opens up doors for me, and I don’t shoot sports. I do shoot concerts and this will be the perfect camera for that!

The video mode I am just trying out and so far, it looks very workable for me, but I only need it for interviews and tripod work. I shot some. I did not shoot skiers, motorcyclists, or people bungee-jumping, but just indoor reasonable-paced scenes, conversations, etc., which is what I need this camera for anyway, interviews and studio work. Here is what I have learned so far:

I have a full audio studio and a lot of video equipment, a couple of prosumer Sony Mini-DV cameras, but also HD. I just sold my Panasonic HD HVX-200 camera on the HOPE that the Nikon D3s would be more useful to me. IMO, the HVX-200 had terrible ergonomics, for example. That, and the lack of changeable lenses, led to my just not liking the HVX experience for the most part.

So far my hopes for the D3s have been fulfilled. I was right in that having changeable lenses, particularly my collection of Nikon great legendary lenses, is what I needed. I shot some footage with the 24-70 2.8 and it was crystal clear, 720p, and all that I need for my projects.

I am sure in this next week, as the first wave of D3s cameras flow in, there will be all kinds of opinions, and plenty of nit-picking.

But for myself, I am breathing a sigh of relief for kicking out the bucks on this camera and taking a chance. I believe this will be another much-loved camera, as is the D700, meaning: more than you bargained for, a great deal.

Knock on the door. I just received my copy of the new 70-200—2.8 VRII lens, so excuse me while I check that out. I probably will not post shots or video… just too busy, but I am sure there will tons of both soon. I am just writing this for those like me who are betting on this camera kicking some butt. No doubt!

Later date: rough sample footage, with poor lighting, 70-200 VR II, D3s. External sound from 3.5mm input jack to XLR Sennheiser mic. With proper lighting, it looks like this camera will work well at least for studio work.

http://www.vimeo.com/7997178

[Moses Chisel]

D3s seems to have the aliasing cracked, since I came across this vid on the web

http://cruising.smugmug.com/Vacation-and-Holidays/Thanksgiving/2009Thanksgiving/10448506_XEfzV/1/#724800900_5HMip-A-LB

[jeracravo]

Michael, how about full manual video control on the 3Ds? Is this true?


Just a quick note to say my Nikon D3s arrived this morning, and my 70-200 VRII lens is due also.
Most of you folks here will please forgive me for not being as concerned that the D3s is not everything a video camera should be. My question was: is it good enough to do studio and interview work?

The first thing I did was to take a photo of my partially darkened office and was amazed at the totally useful photo that resulted. Seeing is believing. The D3s is at least as remarkable as the reviews state. No wonder all the new Moose Peterson shots are with the D3s. It is so much better than my D700 or D3s as for light, and IMHO this is not just for journalists or sports photographers. I am a semi-professional, meaning I do some professional work. This new camera opens up doors for me, and I don’t shoot sports. I do shoot concerts and this will be the perfect camera for that!

The video mode I am just trying out and so far, it looks very workable for me, but I only need it for interviews and tripod work. I shot some. I did not shoot skiers, motorcyclists, or people bungee-jumping, but just indoor reasonable-paced scenes, conversations, etc., which is what I need this camera for anyway, interviews and studio work. Here is what I have learned so far:

I have a full audio studio and a lot of video equipment, a couple of prosumer Sony Mini-DV cameras, but also HD. I just sold my Panasonic HD HVX-200 camera on the HOPE that the Nikon D3s would be more useful to me. IMO, the HVX-200 had terrible ergonomics, for example. That, and the lack of changeable lenses, led to my just not liking the HVX experience for the most part.

So far my hopes for the D3s have been fulfilled. I was right in that having changeable lenses, particularly my collection of Nikon great legendary lenses, is what I needed. I shot some footage with the 24-70 2.8 and it was crystal clear, 720p, and all that I need for my projects.

I am sure in this next week, as the first wave of D3s cameras flow in, there will be all kinds of opinions, and plenty of nit-picking.

But for myself, I am breathing a sigh of relief for kicking out the bucks on this camera and taking a chance. I believe this will be another much-loved camera, as is the D700, meaning: more than you bargained for, a great deal.

Knock on the door. I just received my copy of the new 70-200—2.8 VRII lens, so excuse me while I check that out. I probably will not post shots or video… just too busy, but I am sure there will tons of both soon. I am just writing this for those like me who are betting on this camera kicking some butt. No doubt!

[damonb]

Since the release of the D90, Nikon has had 4 opportunities to introduce changes to
video, namely, the D5000, D300s, D3000, and D3s. The D3000 is understandable since it's
an entry dslr. If the D5000 was much better, that might cannibalize D90 sales. The D3s is
the top of the tree dslr, so that's understandable too - everything has to be thrown behind still
taking. It's the D300s that puzzles me. Great camera. but it's not a professional camera. It's not full frame. It could use great video because I really can't see why you wouldn't buy the cheaper D300 otherwise - what else really makes the difference between these two?
If we see any movement, it's likely to be with the first next generation video capable Nikon, and that'll be the D90 replacement probably August next year.
The problem is, video features seems to be having negligible to no effect on sales in dslr land, and Nikon's doing very well in sales. It seems you now just have to have video as a feature - it makes no difference what the video does. Unless you're people like us who are bashing our heads against the wall.

Michael, congratulations on getting that awesome camera.

[Zim]

Yes I like Nikons for sure. when people say the video from the D3s is bad then I guess they are a Canon fans!. I would like to see manual controls too.
But I might buy a 7D. The D3s is out of my budget and not sure about the D300s yet.


Zim You are Nikon fan its obvious from all your posts, but for us... we just want manual control in cam and good video quality,canon ,nikon or pentax - it doesnt really matter.But Canon accepts more lenses than nikon because of distance from sensor so its also quite important factor.Only because nikons have 24p they matter for us.

[DM_rider]

Meh, looks like all the other poorly shot low light vdslr footage out there...

[damonb]

Meh, looks like all the other poorly shot low light vdslr footage out there...

Why do you spend your time looking at all this dslr footage and posting on dslr
threads then? :huh:

Wouldn't your time be better spent getting great footage with your camcorder?