D5100: manual settings with AF but not MF lenses

Yes I can see the change... You have to remember that the camera is trying to expose the scene as it sees as "properly exposed". Therefore, as you increase iso (in Aperture mode) it will also increase your shutter speed to compensate for the increase of gain. So the increase in iso will make it brighter and the camera will then increase the shutter speed and this will then make everything darker. Meaning that the screen looks as though nothing changed since it is back to properly exposed.

There is one caveat here though... If you try to go out of the bounds of what the camera can compensate for as a properly exposed scene (ex: you put on a f1.4 lens and keep it wide open and try to shoot on a sunny day at iso 6400) then it won't properly report the correct values. You will know this is you are increasing the iso and the shutter speed is not moving. This is probably the scenario you are in at the moment...

The way around this is to use a fader nd or leave LV mode and increase the aperture and go back into LV mode. I highly suggest using some sort of ND filter.

I hope this explains it...
 
PS. This camera is workable and I am finding it very easy to get used to the workflow. For me, it is a D7000 for a lot cheaper (since I don't use any of the extra features on the D7K).
 
Agreed. While you don't have 100% manual control, the workarounds give you 99%. On top of that, the picture quality is pretty amazing and it makes up for what it lacks elsewhere!
 
I was just having a discussion on another forum about this. For people who are having problems reproducing manual settings on the D5100, here is a test to try to show you that it works:

1) Slap on a Variable ND filter on the lens
2) Turn on cam and set to A mode and set your aperture to wide open
3) Switch to LV mode (the aperture cannot change now even though it may report a change so don't touch this value or else the wrong numbers will be shown)
4) Set the iso to 100 and the shutter to 1/50 and hit exposure lock.
5) Record a dark spot to see how much grain there is (either by darkening the nd filter or find a dark area)
6) Release the exposure lock (you can change the value during exposure lock but they are incorrect so don't do it)
7) Set the iso to 3200 and shutter to 1/50 and exposure lock and repeat step 5)
 
As unpleasant as it is to see this misinformed thread resurrected from a year ago, it does provide an opportunity to explain how the semi-manual video settings on the Nikon D5100 can be used effectively. Even if manual settings were available, the D5100's Manual exposure mode still wouldn't be useful for shooting video. Here's why:

* The D5100 doesn't show an exposure histogram in Live View video modes.
* Manual mode doesn't display Live View images at actual exposure levels on the LCD.

Without a histogram or WYSIWYG display, there is no reliable way to determine correct manual exposure. The bottom line is that you must rely on the camera's light meter to set correct video exposure for you. As a result, it's best to shoot in Aperture Priority mode, where you can visually confirm exposure levels on the LCD, and use auto-ISO to set exposure. Once you understand how Nikon cameras work in auto-ISO mode, their semi-manual approach to setting exposure makes sense, and is actually very convenient. After shooting several hours of footage, I've come to prefer it to conventional manual controls. Here's how to set up the D5100 for video shooting:

In the ISO Sensitivity Settings sub-menu:

Auto ISO Sensitivity Control: ON
ISO Sensitivity: 100 (set to lowest ISO you want the camera to use)
Maximum Sensitivity: 3200 (set to max ISO you want the camera to use)
Minimum Shutter Speed: 1/60 (preset to your desired shutter speed)

The twist here is that you use Minimum Shutter Speed to manually preset the video shutter speed you want the camera to use. Since I always shoot at 1/60, I've only needed to set this once. The camera then uses its light meter to automatically set exposure with an ISO between the (minimum) ISO Sensitivity and Maximum Sensitivity presets. However, if the required ISO for a scene lies outside your preset ISO range, the camera will override your Minimum Shutter Speed preset. If shutter speed is too slow, I use the Exposure Compensation button to lower exposure until the shutter speed is boosted back up to my preset speed. Once all settings look good, I use the Exposure Lock button to keep the exposure fixed during your shot.

While this may sound convoluted, it gives you just as much control over exposure as Manual mode would. Here's how you use it in practice:

1. Set your desired aperture.
2. If you prefer, adjust focus in viewfinder.
3. Enter Live View mode and confirm focus.
4. If needed, use Exposure Compensation to set desired shutter speed.
5. Press Exposure Lock button.
6. Press Video Record button to start filming.
 
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