D7000 HDMI Monitor Out while recording

[meauounji]

Guys,

I've poked around the forums and google, but I can't seem to be able to find what the D7000's HDMI output resolution while recording video. Can anyone confirm how it behaves when you plug an HDMI monitor in during playback and record? Thanks ahead of time.

[JonathanS]

As luck would have it, my miniHDMI-to-HDMI adapter arrived in the post this morning, so I just had a play. I connected the D7000 via an HDMI-to-DVI cable to a 22" NEC computer monitor that has a native resolution of 1920x1080. The D7000 changes resolutions quite a lot - live view output appears to be 720p, with playback being 1080i (possibly 1080p in a 1080i wrapper, I can't tell).

While recording, the output is 1280x720 with the picture centre-frame on the monitor, surrounded and partially overlaid with control and setting symbols. The layout is a bit cleaner than the camera-back Live View. There are framing marks on the live image to denote the 16x9 crop. The output doesn't change between standby and recording; you get the symbol overlays at all times.

There don't appear to be any settings to control the output - I can't see a way to turn off the symbols and to fill the 16x9 frame with even 720p output. Shame. Presumably this makes the camera less useful with things like SmallHD monitors and their false-colour exposure information - I dare say that's still a better option than having no exposure metering at all in Live View (grrrrrr....), but we'd still be peering at a cropped image.

The only good news, frankly, is that at least there's an image while recording - it doesn't cut off as soon as you hit the red button.

[meauounji]

That's good to know. I've been wondering if there was such a DSLR out there that has manual audio AND a video signal that doesn't switch during live view record/standby.