D5100: manual settings with AF but not MF lenses

@Bikergeek
I made sure my ISO sensitivity has been turned OFF, but when I'm in A mode, I still can't seem to manually change my ISO for videos. It sounds like you've had some luck, but I must be missing something. Does the ISO change reflect what's on the live view screen or just the recorded video?
 
The ISO number changed in the live view screen and the video quality noticeably changed in the live view image (and on the recording).
 
Well, that doesn't work for me. If I exit LiveView and make changes, I can lock AE and the setting will work. However, with manual control (via function button) of ISO it never changes it on LiveView or the recording. I always have to go out & back in.
 
Bikergeek said:
The ISO number changed in the live view screen and the video quality noticeably changed in the live view image (and on the recording).
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No one can replicate what you are doing. It's possible you've hit upon a great method for controlling the video. Why don't you try it in a controlled environment and post the steps you took step by step in as much detail as you can.
 
Radikal said:
No one can replicate what you are doing. It's possible you've hit upon a great method for controlling the video. Why don't you try it in a controlled environment and post the steps you took step by step in as much detail as you can.
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"No one"...apparently you know every D5100 owner in the entire world. When I have time, I will shoot additional experiments. In the mean time, I will just enjoy my camera.
 
sdbyrd said:
Well, that doesn't work for me. If I exit LiveView and make changes, I can lock AE and the setting will work. However, with manual control (via function button) of ISO it never changes it on LiveView or the recording. I always have to go out & back in.
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When you say that ISO never changes in Live view or on the recording, are you not able to make the ISO number change? Or are you not able to see any difference? What is your subject? A darker environment works best.
 
Bikergeek said:
When you say that ISO never changes in Live view or on the recording, are you not able to make the ISO number change? Or are you not able to see any difference? What is your subject? A darker environment works best.
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Refer to the other thread where it was pointed out that your experience is contrary to what the Nikon manual says, that the fact the ISO number changes means nothing, that the fact the metadata in the picture shows an ISO change does not mean ISO changed for video, and more importantly that it's the combination of ISO and shutter speed that matters. Most of the time I want to shoot at ISO 100 1/30 second. I've asked you a number of times to post the steps you take because that matters, and I ask you again to post the steps you've taken so that others can try to repeat them. Also I recommend that you start a new thread demonstrating your method because the topic of this thread is non-CPU lenses so people won't read this if they're working with conventional lenses.

http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?246474
 
Bikergeek said:
"No one"...apparently you know every D5100 owner in the entire world. When I have time, I will shoot additional experiments. In the mean time, I will just enjoy my camera.
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No need to get defensive. If you have a solution post it. That's what we're here for.
 
I can change the ISO and it shows it being changed within liveview, but it certainly doesn't change either the liveview picture or the recorded video. The only way I'm able to set everything exactly as I want is to do the following:

Work in Manual Mode
Set my aperture, shutter speed, ISO (ISO is mapped to FN)
Temporarily autofocus on something
Hit AE Lock (which I've modified to always HOLD)
Switch to LiveView

Works every time. What's interesting is hearing others who try to use AE Lock before they enter LiveView and their settings don't stay. I kept noticing that my first attempts I would get mixed results. Sometimes it would stay, but sometimes it wouldn't. When I did an autofocus BEFORE I went into LiveView it works every time. I hate that we have to use all of these workarounds, but it's nice to know it CAN be done if you need full control.
 
sdbyrd said:
Works every time. What's interesting is hearing others who try to use AE Lock before they enter LiveView and their settings don't stay. I kept noticing that my first attempts I would get mixed results. Sometimes it would stay, but sometimes it wouldn't. When I did an autofocus BEFORE I went into LiveView it works every time. I hate that we have to use all of these workarounds, but it's nice to know it CAN be done if you need full control.
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For me, the reason it worked some times and not others is simple: the camera resets its own exposure during the first 1/2 second after entering LV, and then the exposure lock engages. If the camera's setting happens to be the one you wanted, bingo, you're in luck. So the workaround is to point at a scene or gray card that gives exactly the exposure you want right before entering LV. This still leaves open the question of what combination of shutter and ISO the camera is choosing....see the end of the other thread for a discussion.

However, if Auto Focusing on something fools the camera into somehow going along with your exposure, that would be a neat trick! Will try next time I shoot.
 
Radikal said:
No need to get defensive. If you have a solution post it. That's what we're here for.
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No. What you are here for apparently is to argue with people that are trying to be helpful. My experience with the D5100 has been well-reported (thus far). I established a group for the D5100 on Vimeo to act as a clearinghouse for examples and information. In posting my informal video test, I also included a strong disclaimer that noted a lack of confirmation of the camera's behavior.

There is a big difference between asking and telling. You do a lot of telling.

I am an advanced amateur camera owner experimenting with the new camera. If you are not happy with your D5100, sell it and move on.
 
Bikergeek said:
No. What you are here for apparently is to argue with people that are trying to be helpful. My experience with the D5100 has been well-reported (thus far). I established a group for the D5100 on Vimeo to act as a clearinghouse for examples and information. In posting my informal video test, I also included a strong disclaimer that noted a lack of confirmation of the camera's behavior.

There is a big difference between asking and telling. You do a lot of telling.

I am an advanced amateur camera owner experimenting with the new camera. If you are not happy with your D5100, sell it and move on.
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I have not argued with anyone. Perhaps you are confusing me with someone else.
 
FWIW; Sdbyrd's method seems to work for me on my d3100 w/kit lens. In some tests I did it seems I was able to lock 1600 iso vs. what appeared to be 3200 iso when locking in LV. Doesn't work with my Ai/AIS lenses but I can lock exposure in LiveView and adjust aperture with the MF lens.
 
I continued to test today and now I'm more confused than ever. I think the autofocus trick is doing something, but not concrete enough for me to say it works 100%. There's still something about the instant you switch to liveview that grabs its own choice of ISO. Of course, you can lock it at any point, but I wish it would at least tell you what the REAL ISO is instead of what you WANT it to be. If anyone can crack this code it will be awesome!
 
Here is what I have been doing to get the settings I want...

1) Set to aperture mode
2) Set your aperture with the dial
3) Go to live view
4) If the shutter speed is too high now then decrease your iso. If there iso is at the lowest setting and the shutter speed is too high then slap on a fader ND set it until the proper shutter speed shows up
5) Lock the AE

Voila!

Oh and if you want to overexpose or under expose then hit the +/- and scroll to set in EV how much you want to under or over expose (don't forget to undo the lock before you do this).

I hope this helps!
 
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This is the official response from Nikon tech support:

I read your new explanation and I clearly understand now.
Unfortunately , this specific camera does not have ''real time'' exposure controls while on live view. The video mode on this camera is completely automatic. Even if you put the camera on <M> mode it will not reflect any difference on live view unless you take a picture while on live view, then it will show the exposure you selected. Some (higher end) cameras able to perform this action are D7000, D300s, D3S.

It doesn't sound like they are going to make any changes with firmware at this point. Really, the ONLY thing I would want is for the camera in M mode to show the TRUE ISO being used so I could AE Lock my settings. It's impossible to know since the camera is constantly adjusting it. Other than that it works great and unless you're going from very light to very dark, you should be able to lock it down without any problem.
 
Just run it in A mode and you will be able to see the proper shutter, aperture and iso like I described above.... That should do it?
 
A mode still doesn't show you the true ISO. Sure, you can change it, but nothing is ever shown on LiveView to reflect an ISO change. So the bottom line is that you still never truly know what the ISO is, whether you're in A, S or M mode.
 
A mode does show you the true settings of everything. The only thing you have to be careful of is you cannot change the aperture after switching to LV mode (I guess this is a bug). Are you sure you checked? Are our cams different?
 
Once I enter LiveView, I can change ISO all I want (and it displays me changing), but LiveView never updates/acknowledges that the ISO has changed. It looks the same at 100 as it does for 6400. Are you saying you're able to see the ISO change on your LiveView screen or no?
 
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