Morgan Peline Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 Hi, I know that this is a difficult question to ask! I am in then market for a DSLR that can make nice videos as well. These new cameras have just been released. Anyone have any ideas on which has the best stills and video images? Just interested in some thoughts, I know that there is no definitive answer!! Thanks! Morgan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Hong Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 Hi Morgan, haven't tested the new 5D mark III yet, but Nikon D800 offers uncompressed HDMI signal that you can use an external recorder for better codec. Still picture wise, Nikon D800 has 36.3 megapixels while 5D Mark III has 22.3 megapixels. However 5D Mark III offers significant improved auto focus system and up to 6 pictures per second. Also one thing to consider is that 5D Mark III is about 500 dollars more than Nikon D800. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travis Gray Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 I'm a Nikon guy, so I'm going to be partial. Canon disappointed me. I love the picture that comes out of my D7000 over when I was shooting video with the 1D MkIV. But now I hate DSLRs all together. I've seen some good stuff coming out of the D4, but not sure how the extra pixels affect the video out of the D800. Haven't seen any tests yet. Figure out what you want to do with photo and video and that'll help. If you want to focus on portrait or commercial work for your stills, the D800's extra MP will probably come in handy. Not sure how much more improved the MkIII focus is, but I've been very happy with the D7000's focusing, so can't imagine D800 is going to be bad at all. Then look at video samples coming out of each as they surface. Read reviews. The one reason I decided to never shoot video with the old MkII was I heard it was notorious for overheating. I liked shooting with the MkIV because of the better processing and it was a workhorse. No overheating issues. And I also didn't want to shoot video on a full frame sensor. I think it all depends on what your preference is. Also think about investment in glass. If you think about going the C300 route at some point, investing in EF glass would be helpful. But, then if you really move on and get into PL mounts, then it doesn't matter anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morgan Peline Posted March 11, 2012 Author Share Posted March 11, 2012 Thanks! If you used off board non-compressed recording on the D800, what brand of drive would you use to record uncompressed? I don't really use DSLRs that much so I am not very familiar with the different drives you can use. Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travis Gray Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 I was originally looking at the AJA Ki Pro Mini, looked like it'd be great for sticking on the back of rigs to help balance, but read some not great reviews on operating it. But the input variety was nice and the HDMI-through would be good to have. Looking at the Atomos Ninja now. I've heard some good things about it, it's a little cheaper (can get the unit and three SSDs for less/about the same as just the AJA unit), and looks like it'll be easy to mount to a camera with support arms and what-not. HDMI-through not so much a big deal since it can be a monitor too. And I think a lot of the EVFs out there have HDMI-through as well, so, depending on signal degradation if there is any, the ninja could be the last in the chain. It's just a bit disappointing that they don't have higher frame rate capture yet, but, not really a deal breaker for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keidrych wasley Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 (edited) Thanks! If you used off board non-compressed recording on the D800, what brand of drive would you use to record uncompressed? I don't really use DSLRs that much so I am not very familiar with the different drives you can use. Thank you! Hello my friend... Firstly, both cameras are unreleased and not properly tested so there's lots of conjecture. D800 is 25mbit/sec, 5D MKIII is 91mbit/sec, so for in camera compression the 5D is clearly ahead. The question then is how good is the Nikon's HDMI out? It's an unknown quantity currently. Do you want to be faffing with an external recorder on the Nikon if the 5D's 91mbit is good? I think if you expose and light the 5D right in the first place you won't need the extra bits so badly because you won't need to do much grading in the first place. Unless of course you plan on using it for greenscreen, but i'm sure you'll be using a better camera for that anyway. If the 5D MKII was good enough for House it's not really down to the bits so much... 5DMKIII will be better in low light. There's a test with good and perfectly useable results at 12800 ISO! 5D appears to have better resolution for video. Dynamic range i don't know. Nikon seems better to me from some stuff i've seen but this could be moot since there aren't any real tests done, and the 5D stuff was probably shot badly. Aliasing/Moire. 5D MKIII appears to have pretty much eradicated Aliasing/Moire as you can see here... With the Nikon however it's still there. Also, rolling shutter appears worse on the Nikon. Colours - as per your preference. Question is whether the HDMI is going to give you better colour separation and depth than the 5D's 91mbit, currently unknown. Stills, both will be fantastic i'm sure. Ultimately, getting the most out of the cameras will be down to good glass, lighting, and setting them up right. But as to your question, you'll have definitive answers in a month or so when everyone and his dog will be posting minutae peeping side by side comparisons. Hope all's well K Edited March 12, 2012 by keidrych wasley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morgan Peline Posted March 12, 2012 Author Share Posted March 12, 2012 Thanks all! Hiya Ked!! Nice to hear from ya, it's been a while! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victor Nhat Nguyen Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 don't forget about the GH2, which has image comparable or even sharper than the new Canon 5d mark 3. With hack of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Peter J DeCrescenzo Posted March 31, 2012 Premium Member Share Posted March 31, 2012 With the NAB expo just a few days away, I strongly recommend waiting to see what announcements are made. There are rumored to be possibly several new "video cameras" at a wide range of prices. Since the Panasonic GH2 has been around for awhile, its video quality (with & without various hack settings) are well known. (I've owned a GH2 since Dec. 2010). The consensus is that the GH2's 1080p video resolution is as good as or better than any other HD-DSLR currently shipping. Especially if the GH2 has one of the better firmware hack settings installed. http://www.personal-...es-in-one-place http://www.personal-...ol-v3.65d-topic But resolution isn't everything: Depending on your application, there can be many other factors to consider. The Nikon D800 is a very interesting camera to me because it seems to offer several advantages over the GH2, but at a much higher cost of course. The D800e model is likely a bad choice for video because it will probably have too much aliasing/moire artifacts for video. However, the jury is still out on both cams regarding video because they are so new. Plus, when you throw into the mix the possibility that Mosaic Engineering may come out with a version of their anti-aliasing filter for the D800/D800e, things start to get even more interesting. Even without an add-on AA filter, I was impressed by the following D800 video shot by Håvar Karlsen, which was supposedly shot with the cam's detail setting turned down (usually a good idea with most video cameras). Read his comments on Vimeo & his blog for more info: http://vimeo.com/39475988 (Download the higher-quality version of the file to get a more accurate view of the video. Vimeo's compression adds it own artifacts.) Compared to typical GH2 footage, in this D800 footage I see far less gradient banding artifacts in the blue sky and flat surfaces, less noise in under-lit areas of the frame, and the D800 enables more DOF control & wider angles -- even via inexpensive lenses -- due to its much larger sensor. Plus, compared to the GH2, the D800 is also a superb digital stills cam (as to be expected given the huge price diff.). I especially like that the D800 has clean, recordable HDMI 4:2:2 live video output (the GH2 & 5DM3 do not). True it's "only" 8-bit, but unless something else is announced at NAB, the D800 is by far the least expensive FF sensor camera with clean recordable live HDMI output. There are so many great external HDMI recorders available now, and I'm sure more are coming, so having clean HDMI out is a compelling feature for me. (Side note: Personally I'm hoping Atomos will make a version of their Ninja recorder with 2 HDMI connectors so it can support loop-thru to a hi-res external EVF or monitor.) Cheers. P.S.: A detailed D800 vs. Canon 5DM3 comparison: Dan Chung's review/comparison of the D800 & 5DM3 So far, this video by James Miller is my favorite shot with a 5DM3 (download the high-quality version): http://vimeo.com/39147880 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Peter J DeCrescenzo Posted April 1, 2012 Premium Member Share Posted April 1, 2012 UPDATE: This just in: Not only is James Miller a talented DP, he's also very handy with a screwdriver & scalpel! WARNING: A brand-new 5DM3 was harmed in the making of this video! :-) (James allegedly removed the OLPF from inside his 5DM3 before shooting this video. See the Vimeo page for more info. Of course, this might just be an April Fools joke ...) http://vimeo.com/39541733 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Peter J DeCrescenzo Posted April 1, 2012 Premium Member Share Posted April 1, 2012 FYI: In case you missed the link buried in my previous post: Dan Chung's review/comparison of the D800 & 5DM3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicolas Gomez Posted September 14, 2012 Share Posted September 14, 2012 Totally Canon, shooting both stills and video is not as evolved in Nikon as it is in Canon... http://www.elsotano.com.co/videos.php Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muhamad Nazri Mohd Khalid Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 For me.. Canon 5D MKIII better than Nikon D800... may be u must try it.. then, compared... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flavio filho Posted January 18, 2013 Share Posted January 18, 2013 (edited) HI all. It's ben a while I'm not around. Both for sure great cameras... But hard very much to decided which to buy watching VIDEOS that used different ligh conditions, and especially DIFFERENT LENSES! I loved the result in the video of CANON 5D MKIII. But the lens used, anyone has any clue? The video of Nikon D800 has a very different light condition (URBAN, GREYSH, etc), than the video of CANON (RURAL, NATURE, and being in FRANCE, using different lenses, everything changes of course). I' selling my D7000 and deciding which one to go for as there's the limit of using different FPS and lack of 25FPS (as I'm in EUROPE). But also cause the D700 has NOT a full-frame sensor! Anyway, what I'd like to add with my post here is: Should we even consider instead of either Canon or Nikon, the BLACK MAGIC camera??? Of course it's not a DSLR, but IF the intention here is to discuss VIDEO QUALITY X PRICE X HD VS 2.5K... Would it worth buying for U$ 3K??? in considering investing in such cameras for VIDEO, I'd always try to get the best LENSES to use with my BODY, before anything. SO.... a professional videographer decision, I'd go rent some Zeiss CP2 lenses that I always considered, for cinematic quality on producing Documentaries, Short Dramas, etc... OR maybe start buying some Zeiss Primes EF, that still could be used for both Video and Professional Photography? What are your thoughts after the release of Black Magic in comparison with the DSLRs? Edited January 18, 2013 by flavio filho Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flavio filho Posted January 18, 2013 Share Posted January 18, 2013 (edited) Or yet... THe D600 that still shoots HD at 24fps, 25fps and 30fps (lacking only 60 fps)? Edited January 18, 2013 by flavio filho Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Bartok Posted January 18, 2013 Share Posted January 18, 2013 Canon 5DMKIII: The lenses and with the upcoming update Canon will offer Clean HDMI out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samuel Laseke Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 I decided after watching all the review videos to get a D800 with a mosaic engineering AA filter. The sharpness and dynamic range are far superior to me than Canon. There have been a few tests like Phillip Blooms which use the exact same lens for a reference. I actually went to the camera shop today and put the 5DMK3, GH3, and D800 side by side under different scenarios and the D800 was the only one with enough dynamic range to expose both inside the shop and outside properly. No clipping was visible and the sharpness of the D800 vs Canon was like the Canon's lens was given to a 2 year old child to clean. The Moire disappears with the Mosaic filter which put the D800 and the 5DMK3 at almost the same price. I can't speak for which one is better for stills because I only shoot video. I will likely get a 5DMK3 for low light and it's not a bad camera. It's just soft and has a cruddy cast to all it's footage the D800 does not have. With CInestyle the 5DMK3 is a lot closer to the D800 but it's a lot more work in post to get it there. My sights were set on the Black Magic but it's neither in the same price range or the same class of camera. The Black Magic is $3k for a box with no handles. It has an internal battery which can't be changed. It needs 250GB SSD drives per half hour of video recorded. You must buy at least two SSD's and external power to get a full hour of shooting out of it. There is also no way to get the footage off the camera so you need to invest in a SSD drive reader. You will need a fairly expensive cage and rig for any kind of serious shooting. It's essentially a plastic box that won't take a lot of abuse. Then there is the lack of aperture control that was supposedly fixed via firmware update. The MFT version will be completely passive so manual lenses only on that one. Then you have massive storage workflow, mandatory grading, a powerful NLE, and DIT on set. It's not a run and gun camera by any means unless you buy a lot of SSD's. The Black Magic is however a great cinema camera. Like the name say it's a cinema camera which is what I do. I am going to wait however for the second version since about that time they will fill their current orders from the high demand. Just like the Scarlet the Black Magic Cinema camera is not really a $3k camera if you want to use it. It's also a Cinema camera but if that's what you need it's a great camera. Everyone I work with has one or has it on order. It's got some quirks that are being fixed but it's got a lot of potential if it's in your price range and you can live with a 2.4x crop factor. Keep in mind that makes a 35mm an 84mm lens. If your shooting indie films on location you will struggle with wide shots and mediums in most cases. Everything is a trade off and everything has it's place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Grobler Posted June 23, 2013 Share Posted June 23, 2013 (edited) Hi Morgan, I would choose canon for video / filming. Out of the box I would say both the canon and Nikon are fairly similar, however canon has Magic lantern, which can be used on the 5DMK3 and it works very well. Recently a new raw video feature was released allowing it to shoot 14bit raw video at full HD at 24p. wow, It really shows how much these companies hold back on the firmware of these cameras. ML enables all the features of this camera that SHOULD already be there (they were also able to enable this raw video feature on the 50D which doesn't even have any video features). ML also includes a ton of other features for normal still photography. Nikon or any other brand has nothing to this for a full frame. just google 5D mk 3 raw video or read this: http://www.canonrumors.com/2013/05/5d-mark-iii-raw-video-a-case-study/ Edited June 23, 2013 by Nick Grobler Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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