Should I use a Nikon to Canon EOS Lens adapter or buy a D7000

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rdr84

New member
I currently own a D3100 and have done some decent short films on it.

However, I really want to get a backup camera mainly for video capture. The D7000 looks very good. However, I have the following issue with it.

1. No 60fps
2. No aperture control during video (I don't own any lens with aperture rings)
3. Lower bitrate than Canons or the GH2
4. Somewhat dull colour (could be just me, when compared to canon video)

Now, I actually can live with all of the above issues except the 4th point on Colour.

I have watched hundreds of videos on Vimeo, and I just don't find any of the Nikon D7000 videos have appealing colour. They all look slightly washed out (either over exposed or poor contrast). When I watch some other videos in particular videos from the T2i.T3i,60D or 7D....they all have amazing rich vibrant colour with better detail. Why is this so? Does this relate to the bit rate? Or is it just a odd coincidence that canon users like to post process with nice vibrant colours as opposed to Nikonions who like dull colour?

Aside from that, are there any potential issues when videoing using a Nikon to Canon EOS Adapter?

I can get this Novoflex adapter (with aperture control) + the T3i body for less than a Nikon D7000.

Should I go this route? I have a Nikon 50mm 1.4G lens, a 35mm 1.8G and a Tokina 11-16 2.8 Nikon Mount lens.

Please let me know your thoughts.
 
Actually- I had a D7000 for a while- tried it out and really wanted to keep it but I could only afford the GH2 or the D7000 so kept the GH2- and I can tell you that the image is very similar to the 7D in terms of moire, aliasing, etc. Also the codec seemed a little more efficient in terms of noise- the D7000 definately has some of the most filmic noise I've seen yet on a DSLR.

As for color- its all down to personal preference- to my eye the D7000 had noticably more DR, and its color rendition was much more pleasing to my eye - particularly skin tones.

You'll want to stick with manual lenses regardless of what camera you choose.
 
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rdr84 said:
I can get this Novoflex adapter (with aperture control) + the T3i body for less than a Nikon D7000.
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Even less, actually - you don't need an expensive adapter - I've used the $20 kind, and settled on the $70 Fotodiox (it has a little less play).

Though if you don't have any aperture ring lenses, that won't work. But I'd spend more cash to have rings vs. not.

You can use very early AI lenses, and also modern AF lenses. I'd say 80% of my shots are with an old 28mm AI (series E). I use a wide AF zoom and sometimes a 50 1.8 or a 100 2.8. The focus damping on manual lenses is far superior to the lighter AF feel, too.
 
To be honest, I'd really like to get the D7000 but almost every vid I've seen from it has the following problems (to my eyes).

- Dull reds & blues
- Overly green
- Blacks appear like dark grey, and low detail in dark

I'm surprised you say the dynamic range is better on the D7000....it doesn't appear so in most vids.....I don't know what exactly defines good skin tone but the D7000 vids look sharp but dull.

I think we're both correct though, the D7000 does have a more filmic look to it. However, maybe it's just me, but I prefer the contrasty vibrant color rich images the Canon's produce. I know a lot of the vids are post processed, but I've downloaded some out of camera vids and I see the same thing.
 
Michael,

Does the $70 Fotodiox have the aperture/iris control?

Are the any cheap adapters where the aperture is fixed at wide open?
 
rdr84 said:
I have watched hundreds of videos on Vimeo, and I just don't find any of the Nikon D7000 videos have appealing colour. They all look slightly washed out (either over exposed or poor contrast). When I watch some other videos in particular videos from the T2i.T3i,60D or 7D....they all have amazing rich vibrant colour with better detail. Why is this so?
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Most likely, the Canon videos you've seen were graded in post in a manner that appeals to you more than the way the D7000 videos were graded. Unless you were allowed to download the unedited D7000 footage, there's no way to objectively evaluate the color balance that was originally recorded by the camera.

I recently shot comparison footage between a Nikon D5100 and hacked GH1 and GH2 cameras. Like the D7000, the colors produced by the D5100's film modes can be adjusted over wide ranges of contrast and saturation. After a fair amount of tweaking, I was able to achieve a reasonable match between the D5100 and the GH2 in color balance, but not quite in contrast. My conclusions were that at low ISO, the GH2 cannot match the dynamic range of the D5100 (and D7000), giving the Nikons significantly more color depth. Here's an example of a sunlit, high-contrast scene that highlights the differences between GH1, GH2, and D5100 cameras:

 
My Nikon lenses are the new AF-S ones with no aperture ring (50mm 1.4G and the Tokina 11-16mm).

Aside from the ridiculously expensive Novoflex ($291). I've found another very cheap one on ebay and another from Fotodiox.

I'm planning to get both the Ebay one and the Fotodiox and see which one works best, I'll get a spare...if none work properly, I'll get the Novoflex one. Seems to be pretty good based on this youtube video.

I'm obviously hoping the cheap ebay one works well. So i can just leave them on my lenses.
 
Hi,

By default, Nikon bodies produce a more natural look than Canon bodies. Canon pushes contrast and color saturation higher, and that's what you see.

You can set a Nikon camera's "picture control" to "Vivid" and you will get something punchier, and you will get similar results as with the Canon.

When comparing videos of different HDSLRs, dynamic range and low-light performance are much more important than contrast and saturation.
You can spend 5 minutes when you first get your camera to adjust sharpness/contrast/saturation/hue to your liking but you won't be able to change a camera's maximum dynamic range and its low-light performance.

Keep in mind that increasing contrast lowers the dynamic range in the captured file and that means that you will have less information to edit your footage.

In summary:

- if you plan to edit your videos, lower contrast and saturation to capture more information.
- if you plan to use your videos out of the camera, adjust contrast and saturation in camera to your likings.
 
rdr84 said:
Now, I actually can live with all of the above issues except the 4th point on Colour.
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Color and contrast are so lighting dependent, you have to have two cameras side by side shooting the same scene to make a meaningful comparison.
 
The d7k is a great camera but i find that just 24 fps is really bad. I f you have to match with different footage with different frame rate would be an issue
 
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