D800 and video

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Pbo

New member
I have had my D800 for a few months, and tried video for the first time yesterday.
While the stills produced with the D800 have been excelent, I was disappointed with the video quality.

So, why is the video quality inferior? Lens? Sensor? Some hiden settings?

Any ideas most appreciated.
 
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WayneF

Senior Member
Forgive me, but that is a very skimpy problem description. Inferior how? Fuzzy? Dark? Green? In the file, or seen via HDMI output? Seen on a HD monitor?

Camera has an HDMI Output menu to limit output quality.
And it has Movie quality settings (Movie Settings, frame rates and compression, the last item in Setup menu)

My D800 video seems fine and great. It does need an external microphone, closer to subject and to omit the lens noises. And really, I have to turn off AF, since the contrast-detect style in Live View is pitifully slow compared to the viewfinder. But the video quality seems great.
 
P

Pbo

New member
WayneF, you are right - I should have included more info.

I have copied the file from the camera to my PC, and am watching it on an HD monitor.
The picture is a little fuzzy. Colors a little muted. I was not considering sound at all, as I have a separate sound recording setup which I would sync in software.
I saw some videos made with D7100 and they were fantastic - good contrast, vivid colors; the video "jumped out of the monitor".
Here are the Movie settings on my camera:

Frame size/rate: 1920x1080; 30fps;
Movie quality: High;
Destination: CF card slot.

Ideas most appreciated.
 
W

WayneF

Senior Member
Pbo said:
Frame size/rate: 1920x1080; 30fps;
Movie quality: High;
Click to expand...

Those setting are as good as it gets. I often shoot at only Normal quality, and 720 30 fps, and it seems good. I think it should do at least as good as the D7100.

Was it shot in decent light? I don't mean daylight bright, but at least normal indoor levels? i.e., not abnormally high ISO?

I don't know a way to find out now, but if you watch the rear LCD while you are shooting, it shows ISO and aperture and shutter speed. It is good to know what we are doing, and best is if not real high ISO or real wide aperture, etc.
At any rate, I think you need another couple of samples before drawing much conclusion.

And (grabbing at straws), you might try a different viewer once if possible, to compare, like a HDMI cable to HDTV..
 
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Blade Canyon

Senior Member
All of the attributes you liked in the D7100 video (contrast, vivid colors, and the "jumping out of the monitor") can be controlled with settings in the menu. You can increase/decrease sharpness, saturation, and contrast. The shutter speeds you choose can affect the smoothness of the image. Lower shutter speed makes it smoother, but a high shutter speed can take you almost to a Saving Private Ryan energized jitteriness.

This is not in the movie settings menu, you have to adjust the picture controls for the mode you are using. For example, you can choose standard, vivid, landscape, etc. and customize further from there. I set the picture controls the way I liked for movies, then saved it as a custom setting on my D600.

See p. 163 of the D800 user manual:

http://www.nikonusa.com/pdf/manuals/dslr/D800_EN.pdf
 
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