D300S owners,advice.

fracster

fracster

I love BRASH and BRASH loves me
Suspended / Banned
Messages
16,666
Name
Ade
Edit My Images
Yes
Can people with real world,true experience of using the HD video mode on the D300S please give me an honest opinion on the quality and usability of the video mode.

Thanks.
 
I have been wondering that myself.
Thinking of maybe trying to do a wee bit of filming of the Reds.
 
sawman said:
I have been wondering that myself.
Thinking of maybe trying to do a wee bit of filming of the Reds.
Click to expand...

Can you buy one and let me know what the video is like please mate?...................:lol:
 
Thanks for that mate,I looked at loads of You Tube ones before asking, but I would really like hands on real life opinions.Afterall, they ain`t going to post crap videos or explain the problems they have or don`t have on You Tube.

Appreciate your time though.
 
Since you're not getting much response from D300S owners, I'll weigh-in as a D90 owner who has been talking to D300S movie makers. The ergonomics are basically all wrong for video capture on a DSLR, hence the sudden availability of DSLR-compatible steadicams and shoulder-mounts. These cost the earth, though I've recently seen one relatively affordable shoulder-mount on B&H. Personally, when I decide I need a shoulder-mount I'm liable to buy a small milling machine and make my own for not much more (but net-gain of one milling machine!).

The D300S has autofocus whilst the D90 doesn't, but from the example videos from real users of the D300S I've seen the autofocus isn't ideal (predictably it hunts too much). Use of VR in videos is nice, but you can hear the VR screaming away. I've seen good example videos using the Rode hotshoe-mounted mic, and will probably go down this route myself next time I upgrade body (waiting for a 1080p FX Nikon). The D300S' video quality is quite impressive for 720p, but I would like Nikon to ditch the M-JPEG codec.
 
Thank you kindly for your thoughts and opinions.

Much appreciated...........:thumbs:
 
check out cinema5d and dvxuser forums for indepth info on using SLRs for single shot video work.

The shoulder mounts, there's a guy from korea with terrible spelling selling some pretty highly rated mounts etc here . Make an offer below what he's asking, he apparently ususally accepts :s

Key problems with using the D300s for video is the MJPEG codec, leading to 'jelly' footage, no 1080p (WHYYY nikon, WHYYY), and the general dslr video problems of support, ergonomics, focussing on a small screen (loupes can help but the screen res is still only VGA instead of 1080p).

Of course all this applies far more if you're looking to do 'proper' single camera filmmaking rather than home videos or whatever - so it depends on the usage etc. Ignoring all the complex mounts, follow focus etc, you can doubtless get gorgeous footage using a fairly cheap velbon fluid head tripod (forget the model number now) and a fast prime, and a bit of practice.

I should be shooting a music video on 5dmk2 soon, really excited to work with this kind of setup as opposed to my usual HDV pro camcorder setup...
 
Basically guys, I need to photograph and film a light display and firework display.The stills are no problem,but the lady at Calumet,I really musn`t go there and see all the goodies....:D..., tried to talk me into a D3/300s over a decent camcorder,I wasn`t sure on the advice she gave,that is why i`m asking you guys.

Thanks for all your help so far,but would you recommend a camcorder for the above job or the Vid/DSLR?
 
Get a mini-camcorder and mount it on a bracket next to your D300 = homemade D300s. That's the way the Met Police do/did it for covering demos etc.
 
Half decent camcorders are fine for fireworks, and you just wouldn't really get the benefits of the D300s or DSLR video if filming fireworks. Spend your money on a 1080p (not 1080i) camcorder, and a fluid head tripod, and if youve got money to throw about, another camcorder for a static shot, so you can edit the footage together rather than having to keep a 'live' shot the whole time with one camcorder.
 
Flash In The Pan said:
Get a mini-camcorder and mount it on a bracket next to your D300 = homemade D300s. That's the way the Met Police do/did it for covering demos etc.
Click to expand...

I will be too busy to do that as well Graham,thanks anyway.

itsdavedotnet said:
Half decent camcorders are fine for fireworks, and you just wouldn't really get the benefits of the D300s or DSLR video if filming fireworks. Spend your money on a 1080p (not 1080i) camcorder, and a fluid head tripod, and if youve got money to throw about, another camcorder for a static shot, so you can edit the footage together rather than having to keep a 'live' shot the whole time with one camcorder.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that mate.

No I don`t have money to throw about,alas...........:'(

Any recommendations on what you call "half decent" camcorders.Budget about £1500 max?
 
fracster said:
:eek:............That does not look good.
Click to expand...

All DSLR's with CMOS have rolling shutter issues, its not a D300s problem, its a CMOS limitation.

IMHO one buys a camera for stills not video... its a bit like buying a toaster and expecting it to do the dishes.
 
puddleduck said:
All DSLR's with CMOS have rolling shutter issues, its not a D300s problem, its a CMOS limitation.

IMHO one buys a camera for stills not video... its a bit like buying a toaster and expecting it to do the dishes.
Click to expand...

That was my initial thought Andy, but I needed to ask the question on here.

Flash In The Pan said:
If it's to be a one-off why not just rent a D300s from Calumet - assuming they have them for rental by now...
Click to expand...

It won`t be a one off Graham.
 
the HV20,30 and 40 'consumer grade' camcorders are rated pretty highly iirc, and are pretty reasonable, and have a decent amount of manual controls. Check out http://www.hv20.com/

There are alternatives out there, however - there's some cool sony ones that are basically mini versions of the hugely popular Z1 - I'll try to dig out a link. edit: Sony HDR-HC1E. There's also a 'pro' version that has an XLR block, but that's about where the differences end... the HC1E is the one of the two to get. But they're still expensive, and probably not significantly better than most other high-ish end consumer HD camcorders.

One thing I'd strongly reccomend for shooting fireworks is to get a wide angle adapter, especially if you have 2 cameras, put the wide angle adapter on the 'wide shot' camera (locked off on a tripod), and then use the other camera for 'closeups' of the fireworks exploding.

A camcorder with a LANC socket, and a handle mounted zoom control might be useful and help you to get slow smooth zooms with still getting the stability (rather than having one hand on the camera to do the zoom, which can make it shake a bit with lighter cameras). If the camera doesn't have this, get a £2 optical audio cable and tape the remote control to the handle of the tripod, with the LED on the top of the remote control pointing down the optical cable, and the other end of the optical cable to the sensor on the camera.

Sound wise, unless it's REALLY windy you shouldn't have any issues with just using a camera mounted rode video mic or similar.

Dont forget to budget in fluid head tripods, hard drive storage, etc. this tripod will hold a camcorder like this happily and is pretty highly rated.

fracster said:
I will be too busy to do that as well Graham,thanks anyway.

Thanks for that mate.

No I don`t have money to throw about,alas...........:'(

Any recommendations on what you call "half decent" camcorders.Budget about £1500 max?
Click to expand...
 
Thanks Dave.One more question for you,if you don`t mind.

What,if any, is the advantage or disadvantage of Mini Tapes over Hard drive models?
 
Hmm.... this is a bit of a contentious issue really... some people prefer tapes as it means that they have a 'physical' backup of the footage that they have captured, that they can put to one side and keep (most pro users of tape stock will record to each tape once only). They also mean that you're not limited to the amount of storage inside the camera, as you can just pop in another tape, unlike with hard drive based cameras.

However, if you have trust in your hard drive storage and backup systems, then a hard drive based camcorder is quicker to capture the footage from (no real time capturing from tape - which REALLY sucks), has longer single shot record time, and tapes do occasionally suffer from dropped frames.

edit: without having checked out the competition for other HD camcorders, or looked too closely at prices, and mostly from memory, working to a 1500 budget, (optionally also a LANC controller if the hv40 takes them, and a wide angle adapter), I'd probably reccomend 2* HV40's, 2 of those linked tripods, and two rode video mics, would be pretty much on budget, and the extra camera will add far more to the production value of the video far more than a *slightly* better quality of camera would.
 
Thank you .Time for me to stop asking questions and go get one...........:thumbs:

Very much appreciated Dave.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top