D800 vs D4 vs Canon 5d Mark III---to switch or not to switch

M

mayes

Active member
I am a long time nikon user. I shoot video professionally but shoot stills as a side hobby. When the 5d Mark II came out, I decided to hold out and see what Nikon would do since I own 8 nikon lenses! To sell my camera and switch seemed absurd, so I waited and waited and waited! Three long years later, Nikon has responded. You would think that I would be jumping for joy, and initially, I was. I was so excited I pre-ordered both the d4 and the d800. I was going to wait and see which one delivered better video and go with that one. Then the 5d Mark III came out with timecode and that really threw me for a loop.

I have never shot video with a nikon camera, but, funny enough do shoots with the 5d.
A lot of my clients use the 5d and I end up renting it to bring it on as a secondary camera to the main camera I shoot with (I know, I should have bought one already, but I am damn stubborn) . The producers are crazy over the concept of the 5d and I thought that when the Nikon came out, I could convince them to go with that as an additional camera, now I am not so sure. With the release of the C300, having the 5d mark III as a secondary camera makes sense if you are shooting with the c300 as a main. Now I don't own the c300, but a client of mine has expressed interest in doing projects with it, so I might have to get one.

The big advantage of the nikon is the clean hdmi out and the cropping feature, which are both hands down better than the canon, the canon has the timecode. I would prefer the D4 over the D800 because of low light considerations and having an extra crop, but is the cost worth the extra 3000? So I am torn. Do I buy the d800 and not care about timecode and low light? Do I pony up and spend the extra 3000 for low light capability and extra crop factor? Or do I dump it all and just move to the canon? I know I can use my nikon glass on canon with an adapter, but I lose the functionality I would have with canon proprietary lenses. I am not sure how big of a deal that is, but I like the idea of the lenses talking to the camera, so I would probably choose to hit the reset button completely.

Is anybody else in this same crazy confusing boat that I am in?
 
First you need to wait till the nikon is on the streets and some people check what it can actually do

Next - your lenses - are they G lenses (no fit canon) or manual (do fit canon)

its interesting the cache the 5d2 has - people wanting it - even though its pretty flawed for monitoring and rainbow jaggies

The 5d3 has better monitoring and less jaggies than the 5d2

On paper - the nikon has the crop modes which are very handy - which put them ahead on paper they give you a sensor size match with something like the C300 not to mention working with a tele like a 400 is a right pain - much better a crop sensor and a 300

Probably in terms of DR, colour, resolution (lack of) they are all the same

As for client cache only you can judge - but it is there - Ive never seen people wanting to shoot on the FS100 - which is far better than all DSLRs and cost the same as a mid level pro DLSR .. but doesn't take stills

Buy an FS100 and a cheap nikon stills camera !

S
 
I've been sitting in a similar boat for some years now! I was going to lay down my pre-order money for a D800 but I put it on hold until I get a better sense of how well it handles moire and alaising. Certainly if they're well enough under control, then paired with a ProRes recorder, it's very much the 'video' camera I want (especially with that lovely Vistavision-sized sensor!).

We can't really know until we see more results out of the cameras, but from what I've seen so far, it looks like Nikon have closed the gap well enough that you don't need to switch.
 
There's some pretty nasty aliasing in the girl's red sweater http://vimeo.com/38912704

The D4 has a lot more video potential with its 16MP sensor, high ISO ability, and 2.7x crop. It aint cheap though and I think the Canon C-DSLR will be a much better option if the price is right.
 
Hi, been in the same situation than you. As a pro Nikon shooter in photography moving also in video. I have been constantly frustrated and waited waited until I bought a Canon 7D, but then I have find the solution in the hacked gh2. This little wonder with some adapter for my lens is the ideal solution. At the cost of $ 700 body, it is just $ 200 more a combo D800/gh2 vs 5d mark 3. For the info comming in this combo would kill the 5d mark 3 in photo and video. I will be buying the Nikon d800 for my photography first (It is ground breaking photo camera in its own right) now the video is still a question mark but if its not up to it, I still have my hacked gh2 which is fabulous.
 
All around, I think the D800 is going to fill my needs.
Hopefully, I will pick one up today.
I am an Event Photographer who also like to shoot Landscapes.
4fps is what I shoot with a D3.
The resolution is better and I expect the High ISO to be at least equal.
However, I am buying one for the Video.
I shoot "Home Movies" HD 1080P at 30fps.
I am also the VideoGrapher for our Church.
 
Thanks for the replies. My d4 just came in, so I am going to play with it over the next couple of weeks and see what happens. I can always sell it later if I am not satisfied. Cool thing I saw on youtube about the "power aperture" feature on the nikon that allows you to do stepless adjusting of the aperture so it is smooth changing the stops, no more clunky changes or need to cineize the lenses, pretty cool. 1:51 in the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=On7n3_4MfKQ&feature=relmfu

I will post some stuff when I get it down. Philip Bloom gave a less than stellar first review of shooting with the new 5d, at
http://philipbloom.net/2012/03/22/5dmk3/
 
mayes said:
Thanks for the replies. My d4 just came in, so I am going to play with it over the next couple of weeks and see what happens. I can always sell it later if I am not satisfied.
Click to expand...
That is one of the perks of it being an awesome stills camera. Photogs will pick it up for the same price new, even if it turns out to not suit your needs as a filmer.
 
mayes said:
Thanks for the replies. My d4 just came in, so I am going to play with it over the next couple of weeks and see what happens. I can always sell it later if I am not satisfied. Cool thing I saw on youtube about the "power aperture" feature on the nikon that allows you to do stepless adjusting of the aperture so it is smooth changing the stops, no more clunky changes or need to cineize the lenses, pretty cool. 1:51 in the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=On7n3_4MfKQ&feature=relmfu

I will post some stuff when I get it down. Philip Bloom gave a less than stellar first review of shooting with the new 5d, at
http://philipbloom.net/2012/03/22/5dmk3/
Click to expand...

I read that the power aperture does not work during recording. If so it is really most useful if your recording externally with the HDMI signal. But perhaps you could do a quick test, and let us know if it works during recording or not?
 
Danielvilliers said:
Hi, been in the same situation than you. As a pro Nikon shooter in photography moving also in video. I have been constantly frustrated and waited waited until I bought a Canon 7D, but then I have find the solution in the hacked gh2. This little wonder with some adapter for my lens is the ideal solution. At the cost of $ 700 body, it is just $ 200 more a combo D800/gh2 vs 5d mark 3. For the info comming in this combo would kill the 5d mark 3 in photo and video. I will be buying the Nikon d800 for my photography first (It is ground breaking photo camera in its own right) now the video is still a question mark but if its not up to it, I still have my hacked gh2 which is fabulous.
Click to expand...

what is wrong with the GH2 for stills? Trying to understand.
 
Zephyrnoid said:
what is wrong with the GH2 for stills? Trying to understand.
Click to expand...

...Coming from a 10+ year background in studio photography, here's my take on shooting stills with GH2.

Main Issues

- Bad Jpeg Engine : You have to shoot RAW if you want to obtain professional results with the GH2. The Olympus Jpeg engine reigns supreme here. ( especially with the new OM-D E-M5 camera )

- Fast AF Glass : Slowly being fixed, but it may take a few more years before a full range of fast M4/3 glass is available.

- Dynamic Range : At low ISO ratings some Canon / Nikon cameras have a 2-3 stop dynamic range advantage. GH2 photos can look harsh by comparison.

- Body Build : Canon / Nikon offer better build quality with their pro cameras. The GH2 still doesn't have a proper grip from Panasonic.

...I am interested in checking out the Olympus OM-D E-M5 camera, and may pick up a body just to shoot stills with my GH2 lenses. If I made most of my living from shooting stills, I would probably buy a couple of the new Nikon D800 bodies. A 36 Mpix sensor with 14 stop dynamic range produces absolutely gorgeous still images.
 
Yes, the 5D has carried an amount of "client cache" for a while and most clients dont even know why. I bought a AF100 when it very first came out (have moved on to the F3 recently) and I must of convinced at least 10 clients who wanted the 5D (which I own) to try the AF and not one of them said no. After seeing the footage and not having to deal with dual audio, moire, aliasing, etc. they all requested the AF for future gigs.

While I rarely film with the 5D anymore I pre-ordered the D800 primarily for it's stills capabilities (was a Nikon still shooter for 20 years and have a lot of lenses which I use on the F3) and I cant imagine the video quality being less then the MKII, not that it was bad. Im sure it will more then suffice for when I might use it as a B cam. All things being equal, the uncompressed out and ability to use my Nikkors on a Nikon again sold me.
 
Yea, it would be great to use my Nikon lenses natively on a camera. It would be the first time in a while.
 
Cory Braun said:
Yea, it would be great to use my Nikon lenses natively on a camera. It would be the first time in a while.
Click to expand...

I noticed on page 425 of the D800 user manual it says:

"... Compatible with AF NIKKOR lenses, including type G and D lenses (some restrictions apply to PC Micro- NIKKOR lenses) and DX lenses (using DX 24 × 16 1.5× image area), AI-P NIKKOR lenses, and non-CPU AI lenses (exposure modes g and h only). IX NIKKOR lenses, lenses for the F3AF, and non-AI lenses can not be used. ..."

And on page 374 it says:

"... The following can NOT be used with the D800:...
• Non-AI lenses ..."

My question is:

One of my old Nikkor lenses (a 55mm f1.2) is NON-AI. Does the info above mean this lens can't be mounted on the D800 at all, or that it can be mounted but can only be used in full manual mode? The latter is OK with me.

Or, is the info in the D800 manual incorrect?
 
Non-AI lenses are quite old. You cant even use them with many FILM nikon cameras.

If you want to use non-AI lenses on any Nikon your going to have to convert the mount.
 
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