Alastair L
Senior Member
I'm looking to use my Black Magic Design UltraStudio Mini Recorder to bring the HDMI out from my D610 (grainy as it is indoors) into my MBP to record live video for several reasons.
Firstly it would in theory get me beyond the 20min shooting limit on the D610 (imposed by the SD card FAT32 format file size limit of 2GB I assume). I'm often asked to video public lectures and that sort of thing and 20min just doesn't cut it. I've moved to a city where I don't have friends with video gear to lend me so D610 is it, not ideal but better than a poke in the eye. Secondly the video split on my MBP display in the Black Magic Media Express software is larger and I can observe focus better, manual focus stops the lens hunting for focus too. Also it would allow me to bring the signal into BonixTV or any other Vision mixer to combine with effects, titles, wipes and other cameras when I have them at hand.
But playing around I can't find a good way to get the D610 to deliver a consistent video out signal. If i cycle the (info) button until i get the full clean video image out and start capturing the feed after 10 minutes and 15 seconds the camera switches off live view. If I press record then I click capture I'm stuck with the 20 minutes limit because when the D610 switches between live view standby and recording video the HDMI blacks-out for a seconds and it's enough to through the software into losing the signal completely. IN other words of I start capturing in live view and then hit capture in Media Express it's recording the full image and then as soon as I hit Record the video out goes to black and doesn't return until I stop capturing to file. then after a couple of seconds it finds video lock again and displays it. The converse is also true, when I'm recording on the D610 and then start capturing and the D610 comes out of Record due to 20min limit or manual ending then Media Express goes to black at that point until I stop capturing video to file.
I haven't tried capturing in BonixTV yet. But the main problem is the D610 going to sleep in live view preview mode and having a 20min limit in Record mode. Why, with 2 slots it doesn't just start a new file recording on the other card a few frames before it ends the file on the current card I'm not sure. In fact the manual is so scant it doesn't even explain how the 2 cards can be set up for card overflow or anything else in Video mode.
So if anybody has answers and experience with this issue I'd love some useful advice.
I can see that the D610 is photographers camera not a videographers camera or someone wanting semi-pro quality for the both which I kind of guess at when I bought but didn't have much time to research as there was a decent sale on the D610s and I need something for work.
Also I'm wondering if I set the video recording to the smallest file, could I
a) keep the video out at 1080i
b) get beyond the 20min recording file limit?
Trial and error will give me the answers to that but I'm still learning the menus to memory and it's a pain doing all these tests and not being about to quickly find settings. I've used dozens of pro DSLRs and video cameras and never found a menu harder to learn to heart, maybe it's just my age showing.
Firstly it would in theory get me beyond the 20min shooting limit on the D610 (imposed by the SD card FAT32 format file size limit of 2GB I assume). I'm often asked to video public lectures and that sort of thing and 20min just doesn't cut it. I've moved to a city where I don't have friends with video gear to lend me so D610 is it, not ideal but better than a poke in the eye. Secondly the video split on my MBP display in the Black Magic Media Express software is larger and I can observe focus better, manual focus stops the lens hunting for focus too. Also it would allow me to bring the signal into BonixTV or any other Vision mixer to combine with effects, titles, wipes and other cameras when I have them at hand.
But playing around I can't find a good way to get the D610 to deliver a consistent video out signal. If i cycle the (info) button until i get the full clean video image out and start capturing the feed after 10 minutes and 15 seconds the camera switches off live view. If I press record then I click capture I'm stuck with the 20 minutes limit because when the D610 switches between live view standby and recording video the HDMI blacks-out for a seconds and it's enough to through the software into losing the signal completely. IN other words of I start capturing in live view and then hit capture in Media Express it's recording the full image and then as soon as I hit Record the video out goes to black and doesn't return until I stop capturing to file. then after a couple of seconds it finds video lock again and displays it. The converse is also true, when I'm recording on the D610 and then start capturing and the D610 comes out of Record due to 20min limit or manual ending then Media Express goes to black at that point until I stop capturing video to file.
I haven't tried capturing in BonixTV yet. But the main problem is the D610 going to sleep in live view preview mode and having a 20min limit in Record mode. Why, with 2 slots it doesn't just start a new file recording on the other card a few frames before it ends the file on the current card I'm not sure. In fact the manual is so scant it doesn't even explain how the 2 cards can be set up for card overflow or anything else in Video mode.
So if anybody has answers and experience with this issue I'd love some useful advice.
I can see that the D610 is photographers camera not a videographers camera or someone wanting semi-pro quality for the both which I kind of guess at when I bought but didn't have much time to research as there was a decent sale on the D610s and I need something for work.
Also I'm wondering if I set the video recording to the smallest file, could I
a) keep the video out at 1080i
b) get beyond the 20min recording file limit?
Trial and error will give me the answers to that but I'm still learning the menus to memory and it's a pain doing all these tests and not being about to quickly find settings. I've used dozens of pro DSLRs and video cameras and never found a menu harder to learn to heart, maybe it's just my age showing.
