Nikon D5100 on order

Laurence wrote on 6/27/2011, 12:08 PM

I just ordered a Nikon D5100. Key points in the decision were the articulated screen. Full time autofocus with facial recognition, and mic input with DC-bias for use with the excellent mics from microphonemadness.com.

I wear progressive bifocals. I just want to be able to point and frame and hit the record button. This camera should find the faces and focus and expose accordingly. This camera should be more suited to the run and gun style shooting that I do exclusively than the Canons.

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Laurence wrote on 10/11/2011, 10:05 AM

Just a bit of an update in case anyone is considering this camera:

Yes I still really like it.

The main way I use it is in aperture priority mode with the camera set to set both focus and exposure from the small box in the middle of the frame. You can then move that box to whatever it is that is your main subject, half press the camera shutter. I also have the exposure button set to lock the exposure.

So my main way of working is to frame my shot on a tripod, move the box to the thing I want in focus and properly exposed, half press the shutter, press the exposure lock button, then hit record. Granted that this would not be a great way to work at a football game or skateboard park, but for the movie theater preshow ads that are my bread and butter it works extremely well. I love that I can shoot really good stills along with the video with the same setup process.

There are issues with this camera but I find it pretty easy to work around them. The moire and aliasing problems are similar to what I see on the Canons. This is probably my main complaint with the camera.

The auto focus is contrast based so it over shoots then comes back. Not great for moving shots.

I love the whole "move the box to the subject then half press the shutter button" way of working for slow moving ad stuff. The autofocus works really well in this context.

The Beachtek DXA-SLR works well with the lowest audio input level setting on the D5100. There is an annoying pop in the headphones of the Beachtek every time you go into record, but this isn't recorded. The levels are easy to meter on the Beachtek and get recorded properly on the Nikon at this setting.

I use a Halorig with a Rode NTG-1 mounted on a shock mount on it, and there is enough side rejection that I can't hear the lens focusing. I could still hear the lens movement with a VideoMic.

If you want a LCD screen hood, this is the one to get, not the Hoodman. The closest Hoodman covers up the top and bottom of the screen where the extra shooting info is. This one is a perfect fit:

http://www.amazon.com/3-Camcorder-LCD-Viewfinder-Hood/dp/B0026NCLM4/ref=sr_1_4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1317913295&sr=1-4

Laurence wrote on 11/3/2011, 2:00 PM

Here is a video I just put up using the Nikon D5100. Stills we're shot by someone else with their Nikon, so this is pretty much a Nikon piece. Interview audio was done with the camera audio using a Beachtek. My main complaint with the camera at this point is that you have to boost out of the audio high frequencies in post because they are filtered down quite a bit during recording (probably to avoid aliasing). No big deal. They are there, just down a bit.

http://vimeo.com/31463140

yatesd wrote on 11/3/2011, 3:40 PM

Great video! I currently own a Nikon D80 & a Canon HF-S100 camcorder. This video gives me great hope that my next unit might be a hybrid good enough to do both functions well.

Laurence wrote on 11/7/2011, 9:10 PM

Another Nikon D5100 piece. All "half press shutter button" focused and exposed using the little moveable red box. Kids at the end recorded with a cardiod mic plugged into the camera via a Beachtek. Ran into aliasing in about three shots that day. None are in the video. If I had to do it again, I think I would by a Panasonic GH-3, but none-the-less, I do really like this camera:

http://vimeo.com/31767630

This is a work in progress. Over the next few days the script will be tweaked, a pro voice-over added, framing for the movie theater screen that the ad will play on, and the places logo and contact info will be added to a line at the bottom. I love that I can put stuff up on Vimeo before it is completely done, and keep updating it where it is.

Laurence wrote on 1/15/2012, 10:23 AM

Several months into this I must say that I really love this camera. No, it would not be for everyone. Yes, it is right for me.

Here's the thing. The Canon SLRs are wonderful in that you can add Magic Lantern, shoot everything manually, and get a great image. That is fine except that I like some auto help from the camera... lots of auto help in fact. No I don't set it to auto and let it go. Yes I do like push to auto focus though, and for the exposure to be in the ballpark before I start tweaking it.

Here is what I found on the D5100. Initially it is frustrating as heII. You can only shoot in at least partial auto, and that auto is doing absolutely crazy things with the shutter speed and every time the exposure is adjusted, it moves in these jarring jumps. There seems to be no way around any of this.

Here is what I have found now:

The D5100 may be mostly auto, but you can adjust the heck out of what that auto is. You can have it recognize faces, and you can move the square around where the auto focus is taken from. My basic method is choose aperture priority, set the aperture as wide as it goes, move the focus box to my subject, hit another button to lock in the exposure, half press the shutter button, then hit record. A piece of cake really.

Initially the shutter rate would go all over the place but I found that I can set the minimum shutter rate to 60, and then adjust the auto ISO upper limit to as high as it goes, and voila, now the shutter rate stays at 1/60th of a second all the time and the exposure is adjusted completely with the ISO setting. Perfect (at least to my eyes). At first the auto-exposure seemed to underexpose pretty consistently, but I found that the response of all the auto settings is completely adjustable: much like the picture profiles (though not to the same extent) on a Sony Z7, EX1 or EX3. I have mine set to expose a little brighter, use a just a tad of sharpening (too much exaggerates the aliasing and moire, not enough isn't sharp) and tone down the saturation (default is oversaturated).

For audio, I have two solutions. For b-roll I just use the Nikon ME-1 mic in the default auto level position. I use a windjammer that was designed for the Zoom H1 which fits perfectly. For interviews, I use a Beachtek DXA-SLR with the mic level on the camera set to it's minimum manual level. The metering (primitive as it may be) on the Beachtek is perfectly calibrated to this setting. In post I have to boost the sibilant highs on interviews because they are tapered back in the camera, but they are there to bring back.

To stabilize the camera hand-held, I find that the Steady Bracket from Studio1Productions.com works really well. I have have a tripod mount on the bottom and a camera plate mount on the top. I use the handle in the lower position and have an extra cold shoe mount above it. That way I can use the ME-2 mic and a flash at the same time (yeah I use it for stills as well). I tried a Halo-Rig, but it was too akward to use the camera controls that way. This is just as stable, much more compact, and way easier to use. I can mount the whole thing on a tripod, and if I need the Beachtek I can clip it underneath. I also use a lens hood on the display.

The bitrate on the Nikon is much lower than on the Canons but I find that it looks great and has a couple of upsides. One is that cheap class 10 SD cards work great. I got a couple of 32 GB cards for $30 a piece off woot.com not too long ago. The native AVCHD works fine in Vegas on my new i7 quad core but was slow as molasses on my Core2Duo.

What is especially cool is that all the formats that this camera does work natively with my iPad 2 and iMovie! That wasn't the case when I got it, but several IOS and iMovie updates later, I can edit 1080p on my iPad! No, I can't color correct, do fancy titles, or logos that fly in, but it is a heck of a lot of fun for family movies. Either 1080p or 720p edits and previews like butter on the iPad and the output quality is perfect.

What I have with the D5100 is a relatively inexpensive and compact setup that gives me outstanding output quality and pretty much sets itself. Aside from the line dropping issues (which I see in all the options except the GH2) I really have no complaints, and for the most part those can be avoided by simple things like asking people to wear solid colors on their shirts and pants during a shoot.

Laurence wrote on 1/15/2012, 10:27 AM

Here are two current examples of projects done with the Nikon D5100:

http://vimeo.com/33307661

http://vimeo.com/32872446

Shot in 1080p and rendered to 720p using a little Ken Burns style pans and zooms with the extra resolution.

Byron K wrote on 1/15/2012, 6:03 PM

Nice video demo. Thanks for the review.

I'm considering this cam too but the lack of manual controls have kept me from pulling the trigger.

So, it does 60fps @ 1080p? The specs I've researched is only 30 and 24fps.

Laurence wrote on 1/15/2012, 7:13 PM

No 60p, just 24 ad 30p.