D800 stops recording video when taking a still - any workaround for this?

[PabloOzzy]

Hi,

I've had my D800 for a while and have just started playing with the video features. Essentially what I was hoping to do was record video and during the recording take a few stills as raws and have the video continue to record as it does on the canons. For example on my lowly T2i the video continues with a 2 second gap where the still was taken which to me is a way better than Nikons rather stupid approach of 'lets just stop the video altogether'.

Sure I can manually hit record 4-5 seconds after i take a still but you'd be surprised how much that takes you out of the moment. Instead of focusing on my subject/s im now focused on that section of screen where the little red record light was...waiting for it to tell me I can hit video record again, and waiting to make sure it is indeed once more recording. I cant explain it but its a real killer in terms of creative flow.

On a similar topic I also noticed the stills are in a 16:9 crop giving you around a 25mp image but really if you wanted to print any standard size such as a 5x7 or 8x10 you would have to crop a considerable amount off the edges reducing it to around 20mp or so. I've been told the 5dmk3 takes full size raw files at 22mp when in video mode, in addition to NOT pausing the video when capturing them...have I made a mistake going for the D800 in this style of shooting?

Anyone have any suggestions?

 

[LanceOregon]

Hi,

I've been told the 5dmk3 takes full size raw files at 22mp when in video mode, in addition to NOT pausing the video when capturing them...have I made a mistake going for the D800 in this style of shooting?

I don't know where you got such inaccurate information. Simply check page 228 of the Canon 5d Mk III's manual and you will see that these assertions are not true. It will also crop still images to the 16:9 aspect ratio while shooting HD video. And it will pause the video for 1 second while it records the still image.

The only DSLR that I know of that has been designed to be able to seamlessly record still images and HD video at the same time is the upcoming Sony A99, which is still about a month away from being officially announced, and is probably two or three months from hitting the streets.

 

[morgan_moore]

I think the 5d does resume recording after taking a still ?
But there is a dropped frame (or more) in the video file

a lot of stills are soft at 1/50 anyway which is a problem until you can have different settings for stills and motion

S

 

[LanceOregon]

I think the 5d does resume recording after taking a still ?
But there is a dropped frame (or more) in the video file

As I explained, you lose about one second of video while the still is being recorded. So you can lose anywhere from 24 to 30 frames.

This is all documented on page 228 of the camera's user manual.

Not only will the upcoming Sony A99 have the ability to record stills and video simultaneously, but Sony will also be releasing the first hybrid flash and video light with the camera. It will be able to automatically switch between being a guide number 60 flashgun, to working in a video light mode using an array of LED lights.