Nikon D5000 DSLR w. 720p24 HD video $800

[Peter J DeCrescenzo]

Just an FYI: This week Nikon announced their new D5000 DSLR ($800 US) featuring 720p24 HD video recording capability.

 

I called Nikon US tech support this morning and they stated the D5000's HDMI jack is "live" full-time and can output HD video (with or without the cam's menus overlayed) during HD video preview, record & playback. If this were true the Nikon D5000 might represent a new all-time low price for a true 720p HD camera "head", especially when you consider the image sensor's size.

 

However, despite what I was told by Nikon tech support, initial reports from users indicate the D5000's HDMI output is _not_ full-quality 720p HD when the cam is in preview or record mode.

 

There's a sample reduced/compressed video and general info about the D5000 on Nikon's website:

http://nikonusa.com/Find-Your-Nikon/Produc...5452/D5000.html

 

Sensor heat issue: According to Rob Galbraith the Nikon D5000 stops recording when in 720p24 mode after 5 min. to allow the sensor to cool down; "... The camera will record clips up to five minutes long at 1280 x 720 pixels (20 minutes at the smaller movie sizes) before recording is stopped to give the image sensor an opportunity to cool. ...":

http://robgalbraith.com/bins/multi_page.asp?cid=7-9991-10012

[Matthew Buick]

Hi,

 

If I am correct the Panasonic G1H can do full 1920 x 1980p video, as opposed to 1280 x 720p, which I've heard looks pretty terrible on the D90.

 

Depending on cost I may get myself one of these. Allows me to use my FM2 lenses more, which is a nice prospect. Shame there's only one MF dial, I'd expect two on a camera with these specs...

[Peter J DeCrescenzo]

If I am correct the Panasonic G1H can do full 1920 x 1980p video, as opposed to 1280 x 720p, which I've heard looks pretty terrible on the D90.

Although the Panasonic GH1 will record 1920 x 1080 24p video vs. the Nikon D5000's 1280 x 720 24p video, until the final production versions of these cams ship we don't really know what the video will look like. For example, if a cam implements compression poorly then its video might not look good even if its video is "higher resolution" compared to some other cam. As always, there's more to image quality than just data rates, resolution and so forth.

 

I've started a thread about the GH1 in the Panasonic forum here on Cinematography.com:

http://www.cinematography.com/index.php?showtopic=37701

 

Depending on cost I may get myself one of these. Allows me to use my FM2 lenses more, which is a nice prospect. Shame there's only one MF dial, I'd expect two on a camera with these specs...

 

If you're referring to possibly using your Nikon lenses on the D5000, that's an understandable reason to give careful consideration to the Nikon cam. Nikon lenses compatible with the D5000 are listed on Nikon's website. However, as with any cam/lens combination, it's possible a "compatible" lens may exhibit undesirable artifacts such as chromatic aberration, lack of sharpness, vignetting, etc.

 

Some other things to note when comparing the D5000 to the GH1 (mfr. spec sheets can be found via the links above):

 

Mfr. pricing hasn't been announced for the GH1 for some regions (e.g: the US & UK, etc.), but there are rumors that the GH1 may sell for ~$1,500 in the US.

 

The D5000's image sensor is considerable larger (in mm) compared to the sensor in the GH1. The D5000 will offer excellent shallow depth of field capability, depending of course on the speed (f-stop) of the lens being used. Since both these cams can be fitted with lenses other than their "kit" lens, in actual practice DOF capability will vary widely. Though the GH1's sensor is smaller than the one in the D5000, the GH1 sensor is about twice as large as those in a 2/3" video cam.

 

As noted above, the GH1 will record HD video in 1080p24, and will also record 720p60, and 30p. The D5000 only records 24p. For some production designs/requirements (motion effects, distribution formats, etc.) having a variety of frame rates available will be of more/less value.

 

These two cams vary in how & when they allow making adjustments when recording video. The GH1 seems to allow more manual & auto control of focus & exposure compared to the D5000, but I've seen reports of the prototype GH1 having odd ergonomic quirks in this regard. So, questions regarding the manual/auto control capabilities of these cams may best wait for testing of final production units. Further, pairing these cams with different brand/model lenses will result in complex and various capabilities & limitations concerning manual/auto exposure & focus control. Test, test, test!

 

The GH1 will record sound with its built-in stereo mics, and will also have a jack for connecting an external stereo mic or 2 audio sources. The D5000 will record mono only via its 1 built-in mic and will not have a connector for connecting an ext. mic or audio. Both cams will likely feature an auto-gain audio feature which probably can't be disabled; not a good thing. Neither of these cams feature high-end sound capability, but production sound requirements vary widely. On a related note, Beachtek claims to have addressed the audio auto-gain issue of the Canon 5DM2 cam, but I don't know if this device is applicable to the GH1 also:

http://www.beachtek.com/dxa5d.html

 

Both the D5000 & GH1 have fully-articulated LCD screens, but the GH1's LCD is notably higher resolution than the LCD on the D5000. The D5000 LCD's "fold-down" hinge might not be compatible with many tripods compared to the GH1 LCD's "fold-left" hinge arrangement.

 

I give Nikon credit for being up-front with information concerning their D5000's requirement to shutdown/cool-off after a few minutes of HD recording. It would better if this cam didn't have this limitation, but apparently it does.

 

Initial user reports indicate the GH1 is able to record 1080p24 and 720p60 HD video continuously for at least 30 minutes. There's related info on Panasonic's website:

http://panasonic.net/avc/lumix/popup/sd_memory_card/gh1.html

 

Since both these cams have CMOS-type image sensors they will exhibit varying degrees of rolling shutter artifacts (image skew or "jello-cam"). CMOS is also prone to partial-frame exposure artifacts resulting from flash photography & strobe lights. These artifacts can vary quite a bit depending on a cam's design.

 

Unlike the D5000, the GH1 does _not_ output "live" video when in record mode. In many productions, full-time live video output is a requirement for critical monitoring, or for external recording to a appropriately-configured computer or other device.

 

There are many other differences between these 2 cams, but the above are a few which come to mind.

 

- Peter

 

Note: I updated this post on 5/2/09 to reflect current information (e.g.: no live video output from the GH1 during recording).

[truecolor]

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Peter J DeCrescenzo,

I like your new thread. Thanks so much for helping me understand more about Cinematography.

[David Rakoczy]

(Truecolor),

 

Kindly go to My Controls and change your screen name to your real name per this forum's rules.

[Guest sandymiss]

Thanks for the suggestion, I wish it had worked. :unsure:

 

 

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Edited June 26, 2009 by sandymiss

[jenniferdavid]

Nikon D5000 is a Great Camera. If you are new to the DSLR game (like myself) or you are upgrading and you can fork up the cash, it is definitely worth it. It has a very concise, simple, and easy to use interface, the buttons are very well placed, and the swivel LCD is very nice and useful in certain situations.My main purpose for this camera is still photos so the video is a cool bonus and is surprisingly better than I thought (though if you are looking to do serious HD video, I'd go for an HD camcorder or something else instead).

 

The D5000 has a number of other advantages over the D50. The first is a time saver for me. Its auto distortion controll seems to handle lens distortion "in camera" when the pictures are taken. Having the camera address lens distortion saves me from having to fix it after the photos are taken.