Help needed with a D800 video issue

I'm a newby here but a Nikon enthusiast for 40 years+. Although I always will be a still-photo nut, I've been in the video business for over 30 years now using a big new $30K+ Sony 2/3" HD camera with all the bells & whistles and thrilled with its performance.
In May 2012 I purchased a D800 hoping to shoot some video that simply cannot be done with a big camera. I rushed to learn the D800's video features quickly as a few assignments came up. All looked good at first but after a few business uses I'm disappointed and am seeking some help here as most retail store "experts" seem to know way less than I do!
Is it me or is it the camera???...I'm greatly disappointed with the smoothness of motion! I always have the D800 camera set to record at 30 fps 1920x1080, this should give smooth motion at least equal to a $299. home video camera, but I find the D800 video playback seems to have a minor jump (or shudder) every 30/40 seconds, noticeable especially during panning/tilting or whenevr the camera is in motion. When shooting from a tripod this is less noticeable but at times when a person walks across the scene that jump/shudder becomes noticeable. My clients are seeing it so I'm not crazy after all. I don't see such a problem with many D800 sample video I've viewed on the web.
I don't expect a $3k hybrid camera to be as perfect as a $30k video-only camera but it should be better that a $299. video camera!
I have not spoken with Nikon yet as I expect a white wash type of reply! Quick help/advice from someone knowledgeable here would greatly be appreciated. It's ok to email me as well.
Thanks,
Jay

Hi Jay. Can you post a short video clip so that we can see what you observed?

I always use a tripod and a fluid video head when shooting video so that I get a much more smoother pan without having that jerky motion.

I have not experienced what you are describing even in low light situation.

Thanks I'll try to upload a clip Friday.
Trust me, I know the difference between camera shake & the problem I'm seeing.
Jay

Make sure your shutter speed is set to 60fps. Control the light entering the camera with a variable ND filter. The higher the shutter speed the more judder in your image.

Hi gqtuazon,
I tried to upload a piece of video but failed, I'm not familiar enough with this site.
Also when viewing thru the camera or in a computer, I'm noticing that the problem does not show up everytime at the same spot and at times does not show up at all!
Could it be the fault of my computer/video card?
Jay

Keeping the shutter speed at 60 definitely helped! Keeping everything on manual also helps. Looks like my "judder" problem may have been solved.
Many thanks, Jay

Try uploading it via vimeo or youtube then include the link using the video icon.

Here is a sample that I took back in December.

D800E, Nikon 24-70mm f2.8 @ f2.8, 1/50, ISO 1000, 720p, 50fps, Nikon ME-1 mic, Manfrotto 701HD fluid video head

Aw c'mon! How do you expect to take decent photos or video if you've set the camera to auto. I don't want to sound too dramatic but "auto" is evil.

Jay Arnold said:

Hi gqtuazon,

Also when viewing thru the camera or in a computer, I'm noticing that the problem does not show up everytime at the same spot and at times does not show up at all!
Could it be the fault of my computer/video card?
Jay

Click to expand...

As others have mentioned, a constant shutter speed is essential. But the fact that you don't see the problem consistently also points to a playback performance issue. I have a blazing fast computer with a high-end graphics card; during playback in my NLE I sometimes experience lost frames when the system can't keep up. These lost frames are present only during editing. Once the final video is rendered, my D800 footage is perfectly smooth. The codec used by the D800 is designed more for compression during recording and not so much for uncompressing during playback.

To reduce this problem, you can transcode into a less compressed format, but this results in larger files. You can also reduce the viewing resolution in your NLE. You might also consider shooting 24p @ 1/50th second, depending on your creative intent and delivery target. This will tax your computer a little less and can also smooth out motion if that is desirable. If you are uploading to the web, sites like YouTube and Vimeo can perform unnatural acts during encoding. You might want to try an experiment: Shoot the same scene at 1080/30fps, 1080/24fps, 720/30fps, and 720/24fps. Upload to youTube or Vimeo and see if you can if can see any difference.

ALWAYS use a shutter speed double the frame rate of the video you are shooting. If shooting 24p use 1/50th shutter, 30p, use 1/60th shutter. Do not use anything higher or you'll see trouble. Vary the exposure by varying the ISO. Even at 6400 ISO you see noise in shadows on stills, but with video ISO Noise isn't as pronounced.