shooting with the D7000

T

therussian

Well-known member
As I didn't get answers previously I started this post...

I started shooting with my D7000 with the tassinflat profile. (However I shot in sRgb, not adobe rgb).

After the shoot I wanted to adjust the colors and grade it in FCP X, but.... this program is so strange... The controls for color correcting are weird! I hardly could get some useable settings finally, but it's 1, pain in the ass, 2, results are not that grade.

I continuously work with photo post production and grading, I love the controls in Lightroom, and if I remember well several years ago when I last saw Premiere Pro it has similar color grading tools as in photo programs so that worked great. But in FCP X..... it doesn't even have a pipette for white balance...

Could you give me some tips and insgiht how I should grade my footage?
 
plus.... could you advise me on the Hard drive space recommendations for such project? One hour equals to around 10-13 gigabytes of 1080 24p D7000 footage. So 10 hours is 100 gig, 20 hours is 200 gig... far more than I will use... So can I go for the smaller drives, the 2 Tb ones?
 
Alright... noone listens... Anyway one more question, just in case somebody would answer...

I have the following lenses for my d7000
35mm 1.8 dx
50mm 1.8d fx
85mm 1.8d fx
24-85 3.5-4.5 fx

If I had an FX camera I would opt for a 50mm zeiss lens for video.... But... I have a dx and these lenses.... What do you think about these for video? Especially the 35mm 1.8 dx....

thanks in any case someone would answer finally...
 
I don't know much about grading the flat profiles in FCPX. But generally, video color correction is different than photoshop/etc. After Effects has the familiar tools like levels and curves, but things like 3-way color correctors take some getting used to. You may have to really push the blacks.

My only experience with a white balance control is when opening a raw file. Once the white balance is baked into the image, it's very very hard to redo it with the usual tools. I've never seen a WB plugin or filter in Photoshop, FCP or After Effects. Only in the camera raw or DNG file format plugins. (they might exist for all I know). The closest I've found is to use photoshop's Photo Filter adjustment layers.

When I shoot video with the D7000, I just pull down the saturation and sharpness a bit; the flat profiles have never done much for me. I'm really getting to like the D7000 better than the APS format Canons though.

As far as lenses go, you're a little limited on the wide end. the 24-whatever zoom isn't that far off from your 35, but you won't get 2.8 with it and 3.5 only wide. You might consider selling it for something like an 18-55ish 2.8 or wider. My favorite "normal" DX lens is a 28mm 2.8. Your other glass should all do fine. It's tough to go wide on an APS-C sensor.

I even use some old Series-E ("consumer") Nikkor AIS glass. On a DSLR with all the aliasing and downsizing issues, you're not going to see much difference in ultra-high end glass. I find the softness I get from some glass at 2.8 really helps the look of the footage. I wouldn't invest a lot in DX glass without aperture rings (and many have tiny focus rings too). For instance, the BMC pocket cinema cam is very attractive, but none of your glass will work on it without aperture rings. You can likely count on many camera systems arriving in the next few years that can use or be adapted for Nikkors - I'd keep your options open.

If I were in your shoes, I'd sell all the glass and get something like a tamron wide zoom and a 38-70 or 35-70 2.8 (the old 35-70 Af is a gorgeous lens with killer macro). And maybe shop around for a 100mm 2.8 (the Nikkor Series E 100 is about my favorite lens for people/beauty on video). For small-sensor video, you're just not going to need anything much longer. For still shooting you can't beat a quality 80-200 2.8, but that's a ***** of a ton of glass for video. I like wide focus rings with a damped feel for my follow focus.

I'm sure some of the above may be controversial - just sayin' what works for me, and I do some nice work with the above. Shooting a national brand with a major celeb (you've seen her on Leno, Letterman, etc) next week (I say that to point out "it ain't always the gear"), will likely do a good chunk of the footage with D7000/T2i with the Nikkors. I've found investing in a good rail system, loupes, monitors, tripods, and a crane to have much more bang for the buck than dropping a grand+ on each lens. And other than my wide zoom, I've owned that glass for 15 years+ of stills shooting.
 
Hey Michael,

Thanks for the insight! I want to shoot a no-budget feature with a very simply setup, so I want maybe two prime lenses and that's it. On the long side I think the 85mm 1.8D is good, but on the wide side where is m concern. I wouldn't sell any of these lenses as I need them for photography. Rather buy an additional one... :)

I was thinking about to sell my old D5000, 18-55, 55-200 and an old sigma lens and with a little plus money get a Zeiss 2.8/25 ZF lens. For my crop sensor that's better than the 35mm Zeiss f2 I think. What do you think about that?
 
+
For my D7000
Which setup would you recommend?


smallHD DP4 + EVF (seems the best, but in this case the most expensive solution.... I have to import it from the US so have to pay duty...)

or

Zacuto Z-finder (I can get it from CVP from the UK. I'm concerned about the resolution of the LCD of the D7000.....)

or

Lilliput 5" (cheapest, and would be good indoor, but as I plan to shoot outdoor, maybe not good enough...)

?

+++ Does a monitor setup requires definetely and only a straight rig? I mean I found Lanparte and Jag35 offset rigs cost less money than straight rig. But how I setup a monitor with an offset rig? Any thoughts?
 
about rigs...

I checked a few ones jag35,lanparte,gini,tilta,genus etc... I'd really like a Lanparte but a full rig would cost a fortune in europe. However I found Kamerar products, FF, matte box and their Tank cage. They are priced really well too. So what do you think about their products and quality?

Their follow focus seems to be built like a tank...
 
Monitors and viewfinders are 2 different animals to a great extent. I find I pull far better focus with a viewfinder and I like it for shoulder mount & handheld.

I like my monitor (Marshall) but it's only really necessary on a crane or for a crazy angle (or I suppose a steadicam). My viewfinder - I use that constantly.

I'm really happy with the Swivi VF3 - a lot of viewfinder for $140, and no sticky-plate crap to mess with.
 
Check out this recommendation from another thread. $379 for a 7" 1280 x 800 IPS monitor with peaking and false color functions. And free shipping to Western Europe. They have a 6 page discussion on it, and so far everybody who got it has been happy. The site also has deals on other cine equipment, mostly from China.

True North said:
I got the neway 7" monitor though a deal set up on http://www.personal-view.com

$379 for a 7" 1280 x 800 monitor is ridiculous. I have been extremely pleased with it. The transaction process in getting set up on the personal-view website will come across as awkward but rest assured you will get the product. It's the exact same panel used by Ikan which they sell for $899; http://ikancorp.com/productdetail.php?id=564

I also have a 9" $1500 Marshall so I have some frame of reference on what a good monitor looks like
Click to expand...
 
Hey, I shoot with a D7000. I havent tried shooting with flat curves but in Premiere you can do all the correction with the "fast color corrector" - you just use scopes to stretch the white/black levels and the results are fast and easy .. at least initially.
I havent used FCP so can't comment on that.

as far as viewfinders, I currently use one of those loupe type finders and it's perfect for judging focus but it depends. for instance, I recently shot with the D7000 mounted on a cowboy studio shoulder support with a 70-200 f2.8 shooting dancers.. so there was LOTS of movement and very shallow depth of field and I was able to get perfect focus with the loupe.
 
How good are Lilliputs for the D7000? How correct is their focus peak? How easy is to adjust focus on them? And more importantly: how good are they to judge exposure?

The D7000 outputs a 720p signal via HDMI druing live view and recording. Am I right?
 
Looks like a pretty decent set of lenses for the D7000. You may want to consider a wide lens at some point, 35mm isn't too wide for a DX. I also have a D7000 but only have one DX lens in my kit, the 17-55mm f/2.8. I sacrificed the ability to use this lens on my FX cameras for the compactness of it. DX lenses are much smaller and lighter than FX lenses. On future lens purchases you may want to consider Nikon FX lens. You can use FX lens on both full frame FX bodies such as the D800 as well as DX based nikons. If you ever plan to shoot with other cameras with your Nikon glass it may also be wise to choose lens with manual aperture ring. Zeiss lenses are also very.
 
I never rely on the LCD monitor for critical exposure. Use your light meter for exposure, LCD for framing and focus. I've heard there are problems using external monitor with D7000. I use Zacuto Z-Finder 2.5 on D7000. Works well for me. Note that D7000 is only B cam in my set up, I use a Kinotehnik EVF on D4 as main DSLR. The D800 and D4 work much better with EVF or external monitor.
 
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