Camera Labs

Hi Gordon,

I bought a Nikon D7000 last year and before I got round to using it properly it was stolen (at a wedding after a month)

I've just got round to saving and having the confidence to buy one again. However, after doing even more research-going to camera stores, professionals have either advised the Canon 5D, or even the Nikon D8000-both of which are twice the price of the D7000. Obviously they are better cameras but could the D7000 do just as good a job for an amateur documentary filmmaker?

Many thanks

Mel

I have the D5000, I know its a the one down from the D7000, but it shoots full HD. I find the D5000 footage to be quite nice quality, only when mounted to a tri pod. Any movement of the camera i.e. running to chase a subject or just handheld, it can just look like your good mobile phone footage - gets very pixelated. Plus, I'm not sure but I don't think you can use all nikon lenses to shoot video on the d5/7000 either. If you go on youtube and type d7000 raw footage, some samples might come up, but I wouldn't go ahead just if that looks good - could be misleading.
I'm no expert but I hope this helps

You can film with nice quality on the D7000 but only in Manual focus, Auto focus really really sucks. Autofocus is just really slow with movie mode and you see that back in the footage that the lens hunts all the time and AF is not fast enough. AF works absolutely amazing with photos but with video it is really bad.

Maybe you can watch the new Video review of the D7000. See the D7000 topic for the link to the review.
Have not checked it out myself since i cannot acces youtube in china.

dunno how you manage to focus manualy at all
on my D90 its a nightmare and if you let the camera do it
well its just awfull lol

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Nikon D90, nikon 18-105vr, nikon 70-300vr, sigma 105 macro, nikon 50 1.8, Tokina 11-16 2.8

I just put my 12-24mm on the D7000 and put aperture on F8 so everything is in focus. Is not the most creative way to film but it works for what i want. Also I film in AF-S mode to prevent the Autofocus from kicking in.

I did not really play with manual focus too much actually but a professional photographer friend of mine from Brazil he said that the best is to use manual focus with filming (and he used the D7000 for his work which was mainly video work). Now he has the D800.

I recently used the D7000 to shoot a documentary for a school class, and overall it worked quite well. However, there are a few things to take into consideration.



I also wouldn't recommend using AF, it's noisy and slow. If you want usable real-time AF while shooting, the Sony Alpha models that use the translucent mirror work well.



Things improve a LOT when you use VR, otherwise be prepared to apply quite a bit of shake correction filters in Premiere, Final Cut, etc.

Also keep in mind that while the D7000 does shoot in full 1080p HD, you're limited to 24 FPS. All newer models offer 30 FPS at 1080, but the D7000 only offers 30 FPS at 720 and below. Also, 30 FPS is the fastest you'll get, unfortunately there are no options for 60 FPS or 120 FPS, even at lower resolutions.

You may want to take a look at Canons, while Nikon's definitely caught up or even surpassed them quality wise over the years (even though Nikon was first to the DSLR video market with the D90 in 2008), Canon models generally offer more manual controls, and you have more opportunities to adjust your video to make it just-so. For instance, you can't adjust the aperture on Nikon cameras while filming/in Live View (unless you use a lens with a dedicated aperture ring), nor do you have many options for audio input or audio control.

All in all though, you'll get excellent results any way you go. Obviously you'll get the best of the best with the D800 or 5D III, but you'll also be spending upwards of $3000. The D600 or the 6D could be great choices, they're full frame bodies that won't break the bank, but ultimately the decision is up to you and you won't be disappointed with whatever you choose.

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-Evan

Gear: 7 Nikon Nikkor AI-S and AF-S lenses, SB-700 flash, Nikon D7000, Nikon FM, variety of accessories

"There are no rules for good photographs, there are only good photographs."
- Ansel Adams