D600 users, how has your experience been?

Overall I'm also quite happy with my D600, especially the FX look and build quality of the camera compared to panasonic GH2 which I also use.

We must only hope that the mentioned lack of metering when in movie Live view and aperture change while in Live view can be fixed.

But I have two more issues, I would apreciate your comments on:


In my experience so far, the D600 struggles especially with blockiness/banding in low light with orange tinted light sources (just test against street lights, which have the additinal yellow/tungsten tint, and then defocus, and see on monitor later).


One bug I really seem to struggle with: I'm in PAL-land and film with 1080p25. In manual mode, it's easy to set the shutter (to 50 as I prefer). But when I need a "semi-auto" mode for more run and gun type, I put the camera in Shutter-program, so I can activate Auto-ISO (and using AutoExposure lock when needed). Problem is: When I enter either Aperture or Shutter program, the shutter speed is locked to 25, and not possible to change (talking ofcourse about when in movie-mode). If you change record mode to 1080p30 or 720p50, the shutter is locked to 50 (and when set to 720p60, the shutter goes to 100). But I want and need 1080p25 with shutter 50, to keep the motionblur as I prefer. If this is not just me doing something wrong, this must be a bad design flaw??
 
evero said:
Overall I'm also quite happy with my D600, especially the FX look and build quality of the camera compared to panasonic GH2 which I also use.

We must only hope that the mentioned lack of metering when in movie Live view and aperture change while in Live view can be fixed.

But I have two more issues, I would apreciate your comments on:


In my experience so far, the D600 struggles especially with blockiness/banding in low light with orange tinted light sources (just test against street lights, which have the additinal yellow/tungsten tint, and then defocus, and see on monitor later).
Click to expand...

I'm curious if you have tried filming using one of the Flat Picture profiles like Tassin Flat or Flaat 12? Perhaps using those might help with getting more quality in low light and lowering the orange tint issue.

Also I had a question about the detail and sharpness of the D600 compared to the GH2. Is it close enough to satisfy you? It's hard to tell since I haven't really seen any comparison tests showing the level of detail of the D60 up against the GH2 which is very high in detail level.
 
hi evero, I have just like you used a GH2, D7000 and now the D600. I just returned my D600 for an exchange, hoping to get one that doesn't have such a massive dust issue. After about 1200 clicks it was still getting a dirty sensor in a few tents of shots, without changing the lens. It was dust and Arctic Butterfly was taking care of it but I do not want to constantly clean the sensor. I am willing to maintain a well operating device but not to put up with design or manufacturing issues.

As a photography tool is great, and the controls are pretty intuitive and well laid out. For video this is what I liked:
- FX look (coming from smaller sensors)
- contrast and colors
- focus reliability and accuracy - similar to D7000 in many ways, but better. Focus points are gouped in the middle but I did not find that to be a big issue. Low light works much better if using the center point
- grip feels better than D7000, it is not much bigger but ergonomically is better
- screen, much better than D7000 even though it is not much bigger but it is brighter
- mode dial that locks in place
- you can configure the Fn, preview, and AF-L buttons to have separate functions in photo/ video mode
- Auto ISO - evolution of previous incarnation
- DX and FX mode, even though the DX mode video has even lower resolution

What I did not like as much:
- WB under artificial light can have a green tint to it when in Auto. Also, the color temperature adjustment seemed rather rough and under fluorescent lighting I could not get what I considered acceptable values. I assume custom WB would be the way to go
- a lot of controls are half implemented and compared even to GH2 seem a generation behind ( I am not mentioning GH3 here): aperture control in LV ( I believe it is a hardware limitation), lack of exposure view in Video mode(but you have it in photo, M mode), no live histogram (software, D800 has it but still nothing elegant)
- once you enter LV for video you're pretty much locked aside from being able to change shutter and ISO in M mode. Preview button cannot be assigned to My Menu for instance, a lot of settings in the menu are greyed out. Rudimentary implementation, definitely nothing easy to use or elegant
- noise floor for the internal sound recording is unacceptable. Try it with an external mic and you'll be surprised. GH2 and D7000 are cleaner, even though they do not have AGC and level options
- DX mode video resolution
- tiny video button far from the LV one
- moire- slightly more controlled than on D7000, way worse than Gh2

As for the issue you have mentioned in shutter priority, it is a "feature". Compared to D7000 and GH2 where you can change the shutter as you wish, D600 has everything automatic in PAS modes, and manual in M. The 1/25 comes from the flicker reduction which you have set to 50Hz. If it has enough light, shutter will be 50 or 25 multiple, in low light goes down to 25.

Hope this helps, I am seriously considering a GH3 to complement the D600 for video. I have used the GH2 with Nikon glass and loved the results.
GH2 beats the D7000 and D600 in terms of resolution, DR not as much. Also with GH2 it is harder to isolate subjects without spending real money on fast lenses.
 
Last edited:
hi PAVP, I have used the Flaat 10p profile and it works pretty well, it is a modified Portrait profile and it is used by many in D800. I cannot say that I have seen the banding, noise yes, but better than D7k or GH2 and neat Video can be used to reduce it considerably at hi ISO
I have used Tassin Flat on D7000 and didn't like it as much, rather preferred a Neutral with reduced sharpening and contrast.
 
What do you mean, mevnet, when you say the dx mode has lower resolution in video? It's 1920x1080, isn't it?
 
I should have said softer, I do not know why but it seemed that way to me. I did not do much digging on it though, so it is probably worth researching that on your own.
 
I've been curious about it as well and thought you might have tested it. Maybe I will try to do a quick little test tomorrow.
 
i have found in my tests that DX photo and FX photo are both the same sharpness. DX video is softer yes, but not incredibly. If you are in a pinch and having trouble with moire the DX can save your a$$ big time. I avoid it most of the time for but a shot here or there when i NEED it its a huge advantage in my eyes.
 
I can also confirm that if you are using lenses similar to my 50mm 1.8d (with the aperture controled by the lens itself) i can control apeture in video mode and it reports properly. With lenses like my 24-85D it doesn't work obviously due to the lack of a control dial.

Im sure this isn't ground breaking news to anybody. but it looks like i will continue buying older D lenses I think.
 
treynolds said:
i have found in my tests that DX photo and FX photo are both the same sharpness. DX video is softer yes, but not incredibly. If you are in a pinch and having trouble with moire the DX can save your a$$ big time. I avoid it most of the time for but a shot here or there when i NEED it its a huge advantage in my eyes.
Click to expand...

Totally agree with you, very useful. GH@ has a similar mode, EX Tele Conv - ETC, that I found very useful. Can't wait to get back my camera.
 
Spectacular imagery coming from old primes and D600. Matte box, cage, Tascam D40 with -10db cable into camera, using external hdmi monitor. It's an amazing piece of gear. Even right off the SD card to proreslt the footage I'm getting is terrific looking. The camera handles well in all situations weather in the cage on sticks or on a monopod for quick and dirty.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top