Buying Advice

S

soundman1024

New member
I'll start with this - I haven't been keeping up with Nikon rumours at all, but I did scan it over before posting this.

The quick question is can we expect a D300s replacement on the horizon with higher frame rate video - 1080/30 (60?) and 720/60?

The back story is I bought a D90 after a tragic D40 accident. Being a film student I was excited about having a camera that could do video. I quickly discovered what a pain the footage at 24.00fps caused and said it's for photos.

In my senior year I picked up a Canon 60D. It's a pretty good little camera, but I don't own any EOS mount glass. The shortest lens I have that I can adapt is my 55. My 11-16, 18-55, and 35 lack aperture rings, and my 16 fish is a fish. I would stick it out with the Canon until there's a clear answer, but I have a friend who has made an offer to buy it. So I'm scanning my Nikon prospects.

I was looking at the D7000, and if I were shooting 24p it would be a no brainer, but I deliver 1080i from Canon XF series to broadcast regularly. The 60D pickup shots where tight DOF is needed can hold up to 1080i, but I can't see Nikon 24p cutting alongside Canon XF 60i very well. In fact, I just can't see it happening. Are there any trade shows coming up where we can expect a Nikon camera to land that will be sub-$2,000 and able to do 720/60 or 1080/30/60? I do shoot weddings, so D7000 class is as low as I'm willing to go.

Thanks!
 
I've been reading the rumors and they are talking about a 24mp sensor from Sony being in the newest release of a Nikon DSLR. I also read somewhere that Nikon has some tricks in their bag that will be game changing for video. I think the 24mp is possible, game changing from Nikon for video.... I highly doubt. Companies rarely go from back of the pack to front runner in one fell swoop. The D300s being upgraded makes some sense, the D7000 isn't a year old so doubt that is due for an updating.

The more serious concern is bringing out good footage for your income producing gigs. I surely wouldn't move from a proven workflow and gear to the unknown out of loyalty for Nikon products. I would make sure you have the gear that works, at least held in reserve, while you experiment with any new cam purchase. I just got the D5100 and there are aspects of it I really like. There also are aspects of it that piss me off, so my Panny's are sitting right next to it yet.
 
With the correct adaptors you can use all your Nikon mount lenses on the 60D and still have control of the aperture. You just need to get one of the adaptors that has an aperture tab on it.

Also 24p can be placed into a 60i wrapper without too much trouble, using exactly the same method that has been used to broadcast movies on TV for decades. Known as 2:3 Pulldown, this method splits the frames into fields and arranges them in sequence that fits the 60i stream.

My advice would be to not make any purchasing decisions based on cameras that might be coming out in the future. Look at what is available now and make your decisions based on that.
 
I think Sony beat Nikon to the "Game Changer" with their 24mp translucent mirror HD1080 at 60fps SLR.

Perhaps the Rumored Nikon is the MirrorLess camera to be announced Sept 21st?
With a new more powerful Expeed processor and optimal 10mp, could it be the "revolutionary" HDSLR?
 
I think the mirrorless camera is coming out on the 21st. A D300s replacement should be coming out very soon as well, possibly at the end of September or in October sometime. It will almost definitely have 60p at at least 720.
 
I think the bigger question for Nikon would be really easy, full-manual control vs. workarounds and AE lock... and reduced sensor skew.

As stated earlier, you can get the $200-$300 adapters for Canon that control aperture (I've never used one). Or, for under $500, you could try:

Nikkor 18-35 AF Zoom (it's a 3.5 - F4 zoom, but I generally try to stay around F4 anyway...)

35-70 2.8 AF is a classic lens - a bit long at the wide end on APS;

Series E 28mm Manual lens seems about "normal" on an APS camera; you can find those for under $100 if you look around (hint - buying them with an old, lesser Nikon body is often cheaper than just the lens, though most of those packages have the 50 series E)

There are a lot of very nice 20mm Nikkors in AI and AF mount, used and affordable.

You could always sell a lens and replace it with the wide Tokina zoom that everyone loves so much;

My experience has been that you don't need a crazy range of wide lenses (or a wide zoom) to get by... wide, normal, and tele can keep you covered.
 
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