Am I crazy? D750

[admwright]

I will have to do research on this as until now i was under the impression the video works like this:
the shutter opens and stays open exposing the sensor that collects the data (video). Therefore shutter speed couldnt be adjusted as there is nothing to be adjusted as its open.
But it seems im totally wrong about this or we are talking about two different things. Not sure

You are actually correct - the shutter opens all the time when the video is being taken. The 'shutter' speed is just the time to expose each frame, think of an 'electronic shutter'.

 

[Flunkyturtle]

Hello guys,

I need some opinions please before I make my mind up. I still can't decide so I come here to know opinions.

As discussed in other thread, I have decided that I am going to upgrade (most likely) my D90 kit.
D90 was great for me except few things - in low lights it was very very noisy, the video is crap (my iphone 6 shoots amazing one compared to D90) and sometimes the focus would fail me a bit even when light conditions are good (wedding event) as it looked good on the small display but then when up on big screen it would be slightly blurred so I would be fixing it in post.

So, I'm going to india in 8 days and after extensive research I came up with this (thanks to some people from here who helped).

Nikon D750 + 24-70 2.8 VR lens.

Nikon has some rebate now so I'll get £250 for my old D90 kit (which was £700 I think at the time of purchase).
And the lens is something I thought that I will need eventually and it will last a lifetime so I don't wanna buy something worse and then lose value and buy this later anyway. I've check my usage and this range should cover around 80% of what I shoot.

I'm recreational photograph so there are times when the camera is not used for weeks/moths as I use it mainly for events, holidays or weddings when I want to take nice pictures. In my 6 years of usage I have used it for few trips and weddings and I never regretted getting it even when it was not used often. It was always the "pro" gear that would do amazing job when needed. (except those drawback I described earlier)

What am I looking for? I guess the answer is a single purchase that would sort me out for pretty much my whole life or until the camera breaks as I'm under the impression that the lens will last me my whole life (right?). I have the money aside and I'm only here because I'm feeling little guilty with such an expensive purchase. I don't want second hand units as I never trust those.

So, what do you guys think? Am I crazy for getting something that I may not 'need' and I'm just making a luxury purchase that I will regret later or is it one of those moments when one is feeling guilty when buying something expensive but then it proves it be worth it in a long run?

I'm a bit late to the party but save yourself some money and get the 24-70 without the VR. Not worth the extra money.

 

[Freida]

The D750 can shoot wonderful video when it's set it up right and with the right lens. As stated above choose an appropriate shutter angle (shutter speed / FPS )...for almost everything I use 1/60 and 30FPS (because most of my video is indoors). This is a pretty standard shutter angle. Then I put it on auto ISO and adjust the aperture manually for whatever the scene requires. Auto ISO seems to work pretty well with video. Best to go with full manual focus on your lens or you will get focus motor noise in your video. This is where the tilt screen and live view are really helpful for me.

if I need 24fps do i go 48/24 or do i go 60/30 as you suggested and then convert it to 24 in final cut?

 

[JDDavis]

if I need 24fps do i go 48/24 or do i go 60/30 as you suggested and then convert it to 24 in final cut?

I'm no expert but I'm sure I read that 1/50 and 24fps would work just fine (since you can't do 1/48). If you are after the 180 degree shutter angle then that would be your only option in the camera. I'm not savvy enough to advise on what you can do in post with converting. My needs are simple so I keep everything at 30fps. I'm assuming at 24 you are after the "cinema" feel as they say. 120/60fps would give a 180 shutter angle too but I've found the motion to be too crisp. Most of my video is for gymnastics meets so the 1/60 & 30fps works better for low light and the motion blur seems more natural to me.

I'm sure someone can explain it but it's interesting that on my D750 with the aperture set at f3.5 the same horribly lit gym scene will only run the auto iso up to maybe 2000 but if you flip to still images it will double or triple the ISO requirement. I'm sure it has something to do with you don't notice the noise as much in video as you would in a still image. Regardless, I've been impressed with the D750s video capability in low light. (with a tripod and a decent video head, of course).

 

[jerwin]

I'm sure someone can explain it but it's interesting that on my D750 with the aperture set at f3.5 the same horribly lit gym scene will only run the auto iso up to maybe 2000 but if you flip to still images it will double or triple the ISO requirement.

Suppose you are taking a photo, handheld with a normal lens. You'd select a shutter speed of 1/60, aperture of f/4, and ISO of say 800.
Suppose you're recording at 1080p30. The same scene can be recorded at 1/30, aperture f/4 and ISO 800.

So there's your two fold variation. Threefold? Maybe the camera is using a different metering technique-- spot, center weighted, or "matrix"

Do the still frames and the video frames look like they have identical exposures?

 

[kallisti]

To be honest I never really liked the liveview feature. I've used it only on video and that wasn't much as the video is crap on D90. For some reason I find the liveview unpractical for pics as looking from the finder seems to be more practical.
However, the tilting screen might become handy for those difficult shots as mentioned.

On a curious note, what do people like about the live view?

its a godsend for when filters are stacked. landscape with liveview I will go on a limb and say is must have as the ND filters get darker, or your stack them. ND filters are multiplicative not additive, stacking them has the eyepiece view fade to black real fast as you get to x16, x32, etc effective.

Eyepiece becomes useless as you can't see much. Live view will look through the filters and you see the subject quite readily.

I will echo what @hiddenmarkov said.

One useful advantage for me of using LV for photography (as opposed to video) relates to DOF. Nikon viewfinders can only show you a maximum aperture of f/2.8, even if you are using a faster lens. So it is impossible to judge DOF by looking through the viewfinder if you are shooting at a larger aperture than f/2.8 (even if you have/use a DOF preview button on your camera). Easy to test this--mount a lens with a faster aperture than f/2.8 and then use the DOF preview button as you look through the viewfinder with the camera set to f/1.4, f/1.8, f/2, f/2.8. Nothing will change in the viewfinder until you stop down past f/2.8. Then the image will start to darken (because less light is getting through to the viewfinder) and the DOF will extend reflecting the smaller aperture.

LV shows you what the sensor sees, so you get an accurate assessment of what will and won't be in focus when shooting at apertures larger than f/2.8. Adjusting focus manually in LV at large apertures shows you exactly what will and won't be in focus in the final image and allows you to tweak focus as needed/desired. Or you can stop down a bit to extend DOF and immediately see what effect this will have on your subject as well as foreground/background elements.

This same approach also works when trying to extend DOF at small apertures to get as much of the frame as possible in focus. In both cases it is easy to zoom in on the LV display and move the cursor around the frame to assess DOF and focus for different areas.

 

[MiniD3]

Hi Freida
If your needing a lens for travel, I would go the 24-120 f4 VR (latest model)
had one for a few years now, sharp as! And nice and light
Sure, the 24-70 is the king but it is heavy, and a little short, (focal length), for travel
FWIW, there's no really bad cameras out now days, just some are better in low light than others
Full frame cameras are generally better in low light but the gap is closing
......Gary