Nikon D750 review - initial thoughts and real-world footage - ladies and gentleman we have a contender!

[Mozim]

They talked about it on the D810 video canadian video, when the fishermen comes out of his store. The auto ISO or smooth Iris automatically do the transition to keep the exposure the same and it does it smoothly. Some where saying how cool it would be to follow a bride from inside to outside or the contrary and exposure adapts automatically.

 

 

The scene Danyyel was referring to is at the 2:30 minute mark. The transition looks very smooth and I'm very excited about this feature. Depending on how it actually works in real life situations, this might be a huge feature for run and gun-type shooting. 

[Danyyyel]

Thank you very much for the test. I second the poster above if we could get some clips in the flat mode with contrast set to minimum to download. It does not have to be artistry, just to grade and see. I would also like to know how different (if their is a difference) the 24/25 p is compared to the 60p.

[Julian]

 

 

The scene Danyyel was referring to is at the 2:30 minute mark. The transition looks very smooth and I'm very excited about this feature. Depending on how it actually works in real life situations, this might be a huge feature for run and gun-type shooting. 

 

I've tried auto iso and it does work really smooth, without any visible flickering. If I find the time I'll do a real life test.

[Evan Fotis Georgoulakis]

thanks all for your feedback! It should work like camcorders do in otherwords, quite usefull if well executed.

Though from the posted vimeo promo clip at 2.30 onwards IMHO it seems as if they exposed for outdoors initially and thus the indoor walk is quite underexposed.

[Danyyyel]

Hi Andrew

 

I have a fair collection of Nikon glass, but have been without a Nikon body for the last 8 months.

 

The dilemma nowI am ready to buy one, is, D750 or D810.

 

Are the improvements in video that you see here also on the D810?

 

The new Codec, The way the sensor reads out, and the flat colour profile?

 

Putting price aside, what would you say are the advantages one way or another, between the 2 cameras from a videographers

viewpoint?

 

Any feedback would be appreciated.

 

 

From what I have seen of the D810 in the video above, it is very sharp but will lose at higher ISO. One thing to note is that images should also be judge noise and detail. For example I would either see if in camera high ISO NR can be set to see if it reduces noise and if it is to what level to match level of detail of the 5d Mark 3. Or use software like Neat image and match level of detail of 5D3 and see how they match. To tell the true story.

[Evan Fotis Georgoulakis]

On the D750 some specs from the manual do not seem that hot:

Bitrates for 60p is 42Mbps max, and 24Mbps for 30p. That is less than half of what the old 5DMkII used to record at around 40-45Mbps for 25fps without any ML installed.
I wonder how Andrew finds it better than the MKIII.

Also, time limit for 60p@42Mbps is just 10 minutes .

[Danyyyel]

There are many subtleties to codec like the gh2 hack showed. Like bframes cabac etc, so sometime manufactures don't use every feature because it is more processing intensive etc. I personally don't know for sure but it is more complex than just bitrate numbers.

[Policar]

On the D750 some specs from the manual do not seem that hot:

Bitrates for 60p is 42Mbps max, and 24Mbps for 30p. That is less than half of what the old 5DMkII used to record at around 40-45Mbps for 25fps without any ML installed.
I wonder how Andrew finds it better than the MKIII.

Also, time limit for 60p@42Mbps is just 10 minutes .

 

Good implementations of AVCHD are much better, generally, than Canon's I-Frame codec. 24Mbps can be more than enough.

[Andrew Reid]

Depends more on encoding quality than bitrate.

 

Compare Fuji's codec to the C100. On the Fuji X-T1 it is 36Mbit/s and on C100 it is 24. Nobody will find the Fuji codec holds up in the same way.

 

Noise and blocking in shadows is introduced by a bad encoder. Wise maths with 24Mbit/s is better than dumb maths at 48Mbit/s!

[graphicnatured]

Andrew, I have not used Canon products, but I was wondering how their stabilized lenses differ from Nikon's VR lenses?

[Andrew Reid]

Andrew, I have not used Canon products, but I was wondering how their stabilized lenses differ from Nikon's VR lenses?

 

I have a lot of Canon IS lenses that I can't use on the Nikon, and can't afford to replace all of these with Nikon VR lenses. That's what I meant in the article when I say I will miss Canon's stabilisation as opposed to no-stablisation on my Nikon glass.

[Nikkor]

The tamron 24-70 is a cheap option if you really need it.

[Andrew Reid]

Already have it in Canon mount. Damned annoying.

 

Situation would be a lot more simple if Canon would just give us a body that was actually better than the last one for video. After 3 years you'd kind of expect them to do that.

[Nikkor]

Who knows what the 5D mkiv will be like. I wonder if they will do the same thing as with the 7D or if they will join the megapixel race again (there are rumors about and 50mp sensor).

Anyway, the macro 105 2.8 has vr and that focal lenth is instant cinema. Never tried nikon vr in video thou.

[Scott Mosley]

"Unfortunately Nikon have chosen to store exposure settings separately for movie mode and stills mode, which is a bit bonkers to be honest."

This. I've shot with my D800 for over 2 years. It still happens that I forget this behaviour when switching between the two modes: "ah yes, that's right, the settings I just punched in were for the other mode only..."

OK, I can see there are scenarios that makes it a feature for certain users - but for my kind of use, I'd like to have only one set of stored manual settings.

If you read my post above you can set up the d750 to have independent on-screen readout for video and stills exposures, even while recording, (with metering)! I really love this feature over my d800

[Capybara]

Hi all:

 

As usual, everyone is obsessing about the images, which look great, but inquiring video minds want to now some more practical features for shooting like:

 

1. Does the HDMI output on the D750 pass through audio?

 

2. Are there just one set of zebras? I assume they can be set for different values? 70 and 100 IRE?

 

3. According to Atomos, the Ninja Blade is not triggered to start and stop recording by any Nikon DSLR and there is no timecode pass through. Does anyone know if implementing these items is driven by Nikon putting them into the firmware or Nikon having to work with the Atomos engineers? I am close to pulling the trigger on a couple of D750s to shoot video with but having to remember to start and stop the Ninja separately from the camera is almost a deal breaker. Can be done but I shoot documentaries and behind the scenes on movies and under high pressure run and gun, I can see that forgetting start recording on the Ninja is going to be an issue when we are in a hurry and need to record rapid clips, many times in a row, starting and stopping.

4. I see no reason why green screen using the Ninja would not be excellent. Yes, I know it is 8 bit output from the D750 but I have shot green screen with many other 8 bit 4:2:2 cameras, it is mostly lighting, but having 4:2:2 recording with the Ninja would make a big difference over 4:2:0 recording internally.

The biggest issue is does the D750 pass audio through HDMI. I will have to mull over the implications of the not having start and stop recording of the Ninja from the D750, that will require more work on myself and our other camera people. I wish Nikon would just hurry up and a make a Canon C100 contender only with 4K. Not that we need 4K right now but we will in a year or two. The D750 looks like it is 85% of the way there, but DSLR ergonomics, external NDs, etc. make the D750 to be operationally a PITA in comparison to a C100 with a Ninja. But a lot less money too. I would gladly pay $5-6k for a Nikon version of a better C100 with the look, feel of the D750 in a video package instead of a DSLR. Maybe in a year or two?

[gethin]

Thanks Andrew. All I can say is woot!
For what I do speed is of the essence. I've got really used to the 5300 - (not the speed of using the thing that sucks) but the speed of editing the footage. For me it means I can consider sticking with Nikon gear rather than investing in another system. I'd live to be shooting stock in 4k but my bread and butter is 60p at 1080. The a7s' weakness here is one of the things that's been putting me off. Now if it can still pull off 14 stops of dynamic range in still I'm sold

[giostrante]

Well, after almost 2 year of d800 I just had the courage to switch to the sony a7s, cause I want more quality (speaking of video of course) and cause nikon don't seem to have interesting solution with the new d810 and d750. 

Now Andrew came out with this test, and I'm really confused. 

Do you really think the d750 has the same image quality of the sony or it's just a matter of simple editing operations? 

Yes, nikon colours are really beautiful, my d800 had the same richness and intensity, and it's very easy let them "sing" in post, but the detail level is really another story in the a7s, in normal and in low light condition, judging from what I see on line of course.  

Even in this video, I see beautiful colours, but the details of the image remind me  just a good, dear and old dslr video, the sony seems really different to my eyes, more advanced, more c300-fs100/700 like. 

Andrew, why don't you feed us with a useful direct comparison? Even screenshots would be interesting and useful, I'm really confused and curious about that.

We understand well that the sony a7s it's a bit difficoult to manage, especially in post, but beside this, would you really take a d750 over a sony?

 

I mean, can a d750 make images like this?

[IronFilm]

http://***URL not allowed***/sony-f55-review-music-video/

 

Oh my goodness wow, once you see it... it can't be unseen! I'm amazed that something like that (the blue being over exposed and clipping) is allowed and regarded as acceptable on such an expensive camera as the Sony F55. 

[Danyyyel]

In general ugly highlight clipping is due to manufacturers who want to maximise perceived and not necessary useful DR. It looks good also on chart because they are black and white so even if the highlight is reddish or blue, it will look grey and give a good stop or more DR reading.