Nikon D3s

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steadicamsteel

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Has anyone on the forum purchased the Nikon D3s Camera?

If so, what's it like? Is the form factor aOK? what's the video like (noise wise?).

I'm toying with the idea of buying one of them and offload my HVX-200 and SGPro Rev.3.

Thoughts and comment?
 
steadicamsteel said:
Has anyone on the forum purchased the Nikon D3s Camera?

If so, what's it like? Is the form factor aOK? what's the video like (noise wise?).

I'm toying with the idea of buying one of them and offload my HVX-200 and SGPro Rev.3.

Thoughts and comment?
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i have a D3 that i use for photography and it is somewhat better than my 5DmkII in low light. the D3s is better than my D3 especially above 6400 & 12,800 ISO and higher. the video that i have seen show the D3s to be the best low light camera you can buy at the moment.

the form factor of a D3/D3s is every bit a nice as any of my canon's (1DmkIII, 1DmkIIn, 5DmkII) IMO. granite i am talking from a photography angle of view.

with that said it only shoots 720p 24fps. that may or may not be limiting to you. it makes me not overly interested it it for video and am quite happy with my 5DmkII for now. i also use an EX1 and HMC150.

if your looking to spend that much money you might want to look at the mkIV. it wont be as good as the D3s in low light but it will still be nice and it shoots at 1080p 30 & 24fps & 720p @ 30/24 & 60fps. you also have to take into consideration that it has a 1.3 crop factor.

david
www.davidprobst.com
 
david_p said:
with that said it only shoots 720p 24fps. that may or may not be limiting to you. it makes me not overly interested it it for video and am quite happy with my 5DmkII for now. i also use an EX1 and HMC150.

if your looking to spend that much money you might want to look at the mkIV. it wont be as good as the D3s in low light but it will still be nice and it shoots at 1080p 30 & 24fps & 720p @ 30/24 & 60fps. you also have to take into consideration that it has a 1.3 crop factor.

david
www.davidprobst.com
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First, the 5D only shoots 1080p at 30 fps, not those other options like you said. The 7D is the one that shoots the other stuff too (except the 720p24/30, neither do that. In short, here's a rundown:

7D: 720p60 1080p24 1080p30

5D II: 1080p30

The interesting thing about the D3s, according to the guys at Reduser.net, is that it actually resolves more detail at 720p than the Canon at 1080p. So if you uprez it to 1080 it will actually have more detail. In addition, it has manual controls in video mode, but for whatever reason, the manual doesn't mention that. There are some videos on Vimeo.com taken like that, look them up. The biggest advantage the 5D has is price and the 7D has the 720p60 mode. If you like Nikon's then with the D3s you'll be able to get equally great video (with a bit more hassle) as the Canon's get.
 
Jester2138 said:
First, the 5D only shoots 1080p at 30 fps, not those other options like you said. The 7D is the one that shoots the other stuff too (except the 720p24/30, neither do that. In short, here's a rundown:

7D: 720p60 1080p24 1080p30

5D II: 1080p30

The interesting thing about the D3s, according to the guys at Reduser.net, is that it actually resolves more detail at 720p than the Canon at 1080p. So if you uprez it to 1080 it will actually have more detail. In addition, it has manual controls in video mode, but for whatever reason, the manual doesn't mention that. There are some videos on Vimeo.com taken like that, look them up. The biggest advantage the 5D has is price and the 7D has the 720p60 mode. If you like Nikon's then with the D3s you'll be able to get equally great video (with a bit more hassle) as the Canon's get.
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i think you misread my comments. i never said that the 5DmkII had all of those framerates. i was speaking of the mkIV.

the 5DmkII may still get the firmware update to 24p (so they say) which would be a sweet refresh.

i remember that thread on reduser. the D3s is a bad a$$ body overall. if i didnt already on a D3 i would surely have bought it for photography and use it for video as well. just not enough of an upgrade from the D3 to spend 5k on. D5...yes...or mk5?

david
www.davidprobst.com
 
Yep sorry I misread MK IV as MK II. Just don't buy anything based on what Canon might give it in the future, buy it on what it has now.
 
I wish Nikon would get in the game. I owned the d90 and even with all of its faults, I still think it has the best looking video. The D3 looks like a step in the right direction.
 
I wish Nikon would get in the game. I owned the d90 and even with all of its faults, I still think it has the best looking video. The D3 looks like a step in the right direction.
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You're not alone on this one. MANY others feel the same way. (Myself included.)
 
I am in the process of doing a short review.

Summary..

Very nice camera

720p is lower resolving than '1080' canon - very good at vimeo size

probably closer to 720 than the canons are to 1080

but les res than canons

The big issue I had was dropping frames in panning - this was a killer for me but may be card related or whatever so I think you should carry out your own tests

I can confirm manual control is available and the sound is less scary than the Canon AGC

If I needed a top still camera with web video and had no space/time to do seperate sound this would be the one

If I were more serious about motion recording I would look elsewhere

S
 
As a former Nikon D200 user I am also hoping that Nikon comes out with a camera comparable to the 7D. If they don't release or announce it around PMA I will have to go with the 7D which isn't a bad option. I just prefer the layout of Nikon cameras, but that can easily change.
 
id love to see Nikon compete harder than they are in the video market as well. also they have NO video line to cannablize like all the others do. especially with their low light capabilities of cameras like the D3, D700 and especially the D3s they would be ahead of all the competition as far as low light shooting.

david
www.davidprobst.com
 
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