D800E uncompressed video

[hoodlum]

Dpreview updated their review to include comparison with the D800E.  A the bottom of this page you can download the original 2GB (9 second) clip from the HDMI out.

http://***URL removed***/reviews/nikon-d800-d800e/30

[Axel]

[quote]And in what may prove to be the camera's biggest feature from the videographer's point of view, you can bypass video compression altogether by exporting uncompressed video footage from the camera's HDMI port. (...) Whether using HDMI-enabled output to record the highest possible quality footage or to simply use an external monitor as viewfinder, this is a feature we expect to become increasingly common.[/quote]

Clever eyewash, I think. The "highest possible quality" turns out to be limited to the same video, just not yet compressed. And compression, though it has a bad reputation, is actually the most effective operation in the whole video recording process. There is no better color sampling, no other bit-depth (the codec of the external device doesn't add real information).

[quote]Unfortunately, shooting uncompressed video really isn't as simple as it should be. You can only record in uncompressed mode with an external hard drive attached via HDMI, which makes perfect sense (the footage really is enormous) [color=red]but if a card is still in the camera, footage will be recorded in compressed mode, regardless of whether you have an external device attached[/color].[/quote]

This is not true. HDMI is uncompressed per definition. Wikipedia:
[quote]HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) is a compact audio/video interface for transferring [color=red]un[/color]compressed digital audio/video data from a HDMI-compliant device ("the source" or "input") to a compatible digital audio device, computer monitor, video projector, and digital television.[/quote]

It is not uncompressed as a special feature for quality-aware semipros. Compression just happens afterwards. There is always the uncompressed information, but it isn't saved. The allegedly compressed output must be s.th. similar as the 5Ds switch to 480p during recording. Unusable, but still uncompressed. The main difference to the compression is of course intraframe.

And:

[quote]Another annoyance is the fact that by default, the D800/E's HDMI output includes exposure and focus information overlaid on the video output.[/quote]

The "biggest feature" doesn't look so big anymore to me. That said, the compressed movs are good. Not a bad VDSLR.