Nikon V1 - shooting 4K 60fps raw for $200

[Bruno]

The Chemex Coffee clip, towards the end shows how timing of the edits can also be a problem. Cuts create a herky jerky pace that doesn't flow with the composition, because they should be extended just a little bit longer. Anything less than steady is amplified by the quick pacing. So here we see good work stifled by the camera.

 

It's true, wide shots usually take more time to "read" than closeups, and keeping a steady pace doesn't necessarily mean cutting all the shots with the exact same duration.

[Andrew Reid]

Indeed seeing this as 'a primary camera' because of a 1 second 4K burst mode is very silly. Comparing this feature to a DSLR or C300 for example especially on non-experimental commercial work, is the wrong way of looking at it. I had this idiot on Facebook saying the title was misleading and that he couldn't use it to shoot a commercial because it would cut off after 1 second. Geez. See it for the creative inspiration it is - the opportunity to try something new. I'm going to shoot my burst mode piece tomorrow. The time limitation is springing up all sorts of ideas especially in the way the sequences are handled in post. Crop and re-frame also quite a big creative avenue too. I don't agree it has a 'one off' use like a gimmick. It is broad the kind of art you can produce with it. Also today I've been experimenting with the 400fps. Completely amazing creatively. If you liked Slow Moscow you will love the 400fps on this. The quality is enough to give you the eerie low-fi mood. The rest is down to the motion you capture, the people, the location and composition.

 

It's also a very handy small mirrorless with a built in EVF and the 18.5mm F1.8 is a great lens. I like it.

[Andrei]

This camera is incredible. 4K Raw for $200, even at 1 second burst, is silly not to have for creative use. This will be great for my work. Imagine having several of these on set. Can't wait to shoot my next car commercial with a few of these. 

 

Download the original and look at how clean it is. Potentially turn 1 second into 5-6 which is more than enough for a shot by cropping and/or time stretching or even using 2 of these cams back to back. Easy. 

 

https://vimeo.com/61906812 download original. Look at the dynamic range - that's the power of raw.

[sugartown]

 It is broad the kind of art you can produce with it. 

 

Broad? 

 

It's only use is to produce a montage with the kind of pacing constraints that Kenneth Anger wouldn't even touch. 

That's prohibitive even for a specialized use camera. 

 

Even in the days of film, when each frame was precious and pricey, it wasn't practical to shoot this way unless making an art/experimental film. Visual poetry is only so broad when all shots are staccato, or time stretched for no reason. There will be clever tricks...maybe playing with long dissolves?... people will out smart these limitations....but unless you like to tinker, I don't see $200-$900 being a great value. Artistically speaking, there's more value in an Iphone.

[tony wilson]

Broad? 

 

It's only use is to produce a montage with the kind of pacing constraints that Kenneth Anger wouldn't even touch. 

That's prohibitive even for a specialized use camera. 

 

Even in the days of film, when each frame was precious and pricey, it wasn't practical to shoot this way unless making an art/experimental film. Visual poetry is only so broad when all shots are staccato, or time stretched for no reason. There will be clever tricks...maybe playing with long dissolves?... people will out smart these limitations....but unless you like to tinker, I don't see $200-$900 being a great value. Artistically speaking, there's more value in an Iphone.

 

 

eyes agree nikon are scum 200 dollars for this digital camera and they add insult to injury by only offering 1 .1 secs of filming.

we need to boycott this evil empire.

200 bucks for a piece of plastic and they think they are cool by giving us a free lens with it.

 

sugartown thank you for pointing the limitations out.

you cool calm sanity has saved us blind sheep.

 

i have just taken your advice and spent 400 dollars on an iphone can you send me the link for the 4k apple iphone app.

[yupmouthteeth]

Just received mine late this afternoon. The quality is awesome. Definitely a step up in terms of resolution and sharpness. Man, that 1 second limit just kills you, though. I can definitely see some cool things coming from this, however. I now have a new tool in my kit if I want to do something sharp, fast, and epic looking. I might post some stuff later on. For $220, it was a total steal.

 

Also... as I've learned today... 4K closeups means WEAR MAKEUP. :P

[sugartown]

can you send me the link for the 4k apple iphone app.

 

you need 4k to make meaningful art? 

 

p.s. It's only $200 on the secondary market as a clearance item.

[tony wilson]

you need 4k to make meaningful art? 

 

p.s. It's only $200 on the secondary market as a clearance item.

 

 

darling deal with it the cia and al gore had steve jobs dosed with cancer just like chavez.

apple headless rudderless.

 

hey muchachas we donte needs no stinkin iphoney : )

 

my 26mm f1.1 macro switar is itchin to shoot some hot 1sec porn art action,just need the girls lube and the camera no lights needed amigo apart from some spill from my samsung phone.

[Drew Veeneman]

Since I'm waiting for Nikon V1 to get exchanged(see previous post), I decided to give Zach Daniels raw stills a try.

https://vimeo.com/61939526

This is the same footage from Zach's original video:

https://vimeo.com/61863569

 

I edited the raw files directly in Sony Vegas Pro. Twixtor worked as you would expect, stretching the clips... I also did some motion cropping, which worked nice. With that much resolution you can make some big moves. The second clip feels somewhat like a crane shot. Lastly, I did some aggressive color grading to see what the raw can do. Needless to say, the raw photos grade beautifully... I was able to pull out plenty of detail.

[TC]

Coffee trip video from Zach is damn nice.  Amazing quality.  We (the video community) are well used to software hacks from the likes of Magic Lantern.  It is more difficult, but perhaps now we should get some electronic engineers to do some hardware hacks.  This is a cheap camera: tear one of these things apart, take the feed from the buffer and send it to an SSD.  A cooling fan should complete the setup.  

[clanterns]

Coffee trip video from Zach is damn nice.  Amazing quality.  We (the video community) are well used to software hacks from the likes of Magic Lantern.  It is more difficult, but perhaps now we should get some electronic engineers to do some hardware hacks.  This is a cheap camera: tear one of these things apart, take the feed from the buffer and send it to an SSD.  A cooling fan should complete the setup.  

I completely agree with you on the hardware hack, I feel like it'd be a good diy. This could be a dream come true.

[tony wilson]

hey zach a bit of advice  next time can you shoot this properly...

 

go to starbucks we donte need nose vacuum siphons,piston pumps,chemex x's all dat broke back  san francisco stuff.

gives us  hetro human girl lovin cowboys a god damn proper starbucks coffee all horse

and no chemex  bull : )

[wombl]

Have a look at this still image from *video mode* ( = not 4K burst, just 1920x1080 30p). Shot with Nikon 1 lens 30-100mm at F11 with a circular polarization filter. ISO 800, I believe. This image is taken directly from the unaltered video file, not sharpened. (Copy URL from gallery and view in new browser tab to see full resolution.)

I think even the video mode offers fine detail on par with DSLRs much more expensive, hardly any compression artefacts. The glowing spot right of the crane is something reflective hanging from the crane, it's not a sensor or lens thing. The mountains are about 100km away.

I don't regret having taken the hint to this camera seriously.

[wombl]

An image taken from raw burst mode 30fps, slightly different focal length, again not altered except standard raw conversion and downsampling to a width of 1920 pixel for comparison. As you would expect: Much more detail, somewhat impressive considering the tiny lens. And nothing dangling from the crane, must have been a window reflection or something.

 

[YouFirstEye]

Nikon 1 v1 is the first 1-second-4K-RAW video camera rediscovered. Practically there is no compression with it's 12+bits RAW shooting in burst mode at 30 fps with a near 2 minutes recycle time. Possible experiments: shooting fast-cut montages and music videos. The challenge: telling a story in 30 (or x) seconds with a sequence of 30 (or x) moving-pictures of distinct moments. Some or all clips may be shot at 60 fps with a duration of 0.5 seconds per clip for a slow-motion treatment in post.

P mode is workable. Depending on lighting condition, one should be able to use a variable ND filter in front of the len to open up the aperture (to slow down the shutter speed.)
 

Adapters are available for many existing lens (see below):

FT-1 Adapter

M42 Lens to Nikon 1 Mount Adapter V1 J1 Camera

Canon EOS EF EF-S Mount Lens to Nikon 1 Mount J1 V1 Camera Lens Adapter

Pentax Lens To Nikon 1 J1 V1 Adapter

Nikon F Mount AI Lens To Nikon 1 Adapter

16mm Bolex movie C Paillard switar etc lens to Nikon 1 mount V1 J1 adapter

 

NOTE:

"In another nod to Aronofsky who shoots most of his work on 16mm film, most Super 16mm and 16mm c-mount lenses can be used on the Nikon V1. I have a Nikon 1 c-mount adapter and it works well in video mode – but you will need the new V2 body to shoot in burst mode with it. That allows full manual control with a manual lens in burst mode, whilst the V1 can only enable the burst mode when a CX lens is attached and the camera sets exposure in P mode and then it locks exposure for the 30 frame burst at 30fps (1 second) or 60fps (0.5 second)." -- Andrew Reid

[Dan Wake]

cant unlock the one second limit with some hack?

[rak_heri]

I had the Nikon 1 V1 with the 10-30mm and the 18.5mm f1.8. I hoped the whole setup would be pocketable but the lenses are big (compared to the body).

 

Did a quick low-light test, at 30fps, lens 18.5mm @ f1.8. Shots are from ISO 640, 2000 up to ISO 3200 in the last 2 shots

 

 

https://vimeo.com/61990361

 

You can download the file on vimeo

 

Workflow: imported to Aperture, played with color on a picture, then copied adjustments to the other 29 pics, and same for the next series of shots. All shots were then exported and were imported as stills in Adobe Premiere. Played a little bit with Time Stretching. I didn't find the export to Prores option so finally exported in H.264 3k @ 130mbps

 

Comments

• I like a lot the grain, low-light is superb
• It has a cinematic Vine app feel to it, but in 4k, and takes 4 hours to shoot/edit/upload instead of 1mn for Vine. And no sound
• I was quite aggressive in the beginning with the color work (exposure, recovering highlights, pushed the blacks a lot) but then it didn't worked out when exporting. I had to redo the color work and lost 1 hour. So I learned what works in RAW photography doesn't work for video
• I also was impatient, and only got 8 or ten shots for a few, because I didn't wait for the buffer to clear. So make sure you wait at least 1mn before taking another shot
• You also have to be patient when exporting the RAW to jpeg (30mn) and also exporting (took twice more time than usual)

It feels like a very specialized tool, and agree with the others above. There are lots of creative constraints which makes it even more interesting!

[plotter]

Has anyone figured out how to convert the NEF files to DNG that is similar to the BMDC's CameraDNG? Using the Adobe DNG Converter, RAW editing in Resolve doesn't re-fresh the JPG view and it's also quite low in resolution.

[Bruno]

cant unlock the one second limit with some hack?

It's a hardware limitation, it stops when the memory buffer fills up. Using a larger memory module should help, but I doubt it's easy or even possible to replace it, and even then who knows if the camera would recognize it and still work?

Also, let's say you could increase it by 20x, making it shoot 20 second clips, the saving time would also increase, so for every 20 second clip the camera would be unusable for almost half an hour... hardly appealing.

[Leang]

there's a 1 sec comp over at vimeo for you V1 holders