For me travelling to Singapore has become like slipping into my favorite pair of shoes – Comfortable. It’s become my favorite city to visit – metropolitan, diverse people, great food and they speak english. And I’ve also grown somewhat accustomed to the long flight. Not that I’m advocating drugs… but self medication is a must to help pass the time quickly.
For this trip I was lucky to have the use of a Kessler Pocketdolly thanks to my friend Mike Sutton (@mns1974 on Twitter). When I travel I like to pack light. The Kessler Pocketdolly is the perfect size to slide right into your one checked bag along with shirts, pants and undergarments. All used as extra padding. A few shots here and there with the Kessler Pocketdolly adds nice production value to any film. Since I packed the slider, I left my sticks home, instead going for my trusty Gorillapod. It saves space and added weight from your luggage. I’ve really become adept at finding new ways to use it on DSLR shoots.
As a TV photojournalist I’m big on the handheld run and gun style of shooting. Especially with these small cameras. Much easier than the huge monster Sony XDCam 700 I shoulder at CBS Boston. For the Singapore film I used creative handheld methods like slow rocking on my feet to get a fluid look as well as finding level surfaces to place either a camera or the Pocketdolly. The subtle side to side or pushing in and out rocking shots look much better than trying to handhold a camera perfectly still. You will always see those tiny vibrations that way.
I brought two cameras with me safely tucked in my carry on backpack along with my carry on 15″ Macbook Pro laptop bag (where I keep my meds stashed). I used a Canon 60D and my new GoPro Hero 2. For lenses I was packing my lovely Canon 50mm f1.4, Tokina 11-16mm f2.8 and my run and gun fav – the Tamron 17-50mm f2.8.
I got some surprisingly good timelapse stuff with the GoPro, although I had to crop in during the edit to lose the exaggerated fisheye perspective. I left a few of those shots “as is” for the effect. During the morning sunrise timelapse a huge crow landed right next to the GoPro and tried to grab it. Lucky for me I was standing right there or we would have had another “GoPro Stolen by Seagull” type episode!
I also did some timelapse work with the 60D and the Tokina 11-16mm lens because the GoPro does not hold up well once the sun goes down. The GoPro has too much gain noise from the auto settings.
Most night shots were done with the 50mm f1.4 as those extra stops become precious on a shoot like this! I tried to “find the light” when I could. That lens also has great bokeh.
As for audio, I have discovered with DSLR one man band travel shoots, nothing beats the Rode VideoMic Pro plugged directly into the camera. It packs well. Setup is fast and it’s not complicated to operate. The key to success is manual settings in the camera menu so there’s no auto gain (AGC) issues. It’s a must. Check your levels and you’ve got a nice shock mounted mic for great nat sound. Just don’t fiddle with the camera when recording and make sure you keep an eye on the cable connection. If you move around a lot it can come loose.
Here’s a great example of good nat sound captured with the Rode mic:
Finally, this time I wanted to add narration to the film to give it more of a mini doc feel or Henry Hill feel from “Goodfellas”. So I asked two of my Singaporean friends, Rosa Selamat (@rosarecruits) and her husband Rizalie Mohamed (@LambchopMojo) to donate their services, again using my Rode mic to gather the sound. To do this correctly you must do the interviews in a controlled, quiet location and you have to get the mic in very close to your subject. If you are doing on camera interviews it helps to use a portrait lens like a 50mm or 85mm on a tripod. For my film, since I was planning only to use their audio for narration over b-roll of them, I just handheld the camera and did the interviews off camera. If I had more time and gear I would ideally have lit a room or found some good natural light and done their interviews in front of the lens. However, because of their work schedules, location logistics and my vacation I decided this would be the best choice. Besides, I like the style of not seeing a talking head on the screen. Sometimes that’s just darn refreshing.
About Rick Macomber
DP/Editor, photojournalist and multimedia specialist Rick Macomber is the winner of four prestigious Emmy Awards, nominated for eight Emmys in Videography and Editing and ten time first place winner for the Boston Press Photographers’ Association. You can see more of his work at www.macomberproductions.com
One year earlier friends and filmmakers Paul Morris, Kit Gillet and myself decided to make a short video documenting some of the fireworks in Beijing as China celebrated the Lunar New Year.
In fact, I even wrote about the experience on this blog here. Exactly one year later — we decided to do it again. However, this time — we wanted to go bigger. Much bigger.
This is a really interesting experiment: to come back to a video you made exactly one year later and reevaluate its strengths and weaknesses, and then try again. I believe this experience is a good check on your progress as a filmmaker and makes you step back and evaluate everything you do from shooting, to workflow to the art of story telling itself.
After we screened last year’s video we all agreed — it was kind of a stereotypical DSLR video with no real narrative. Pretty pictures, not enough of a story. There are a lot of these on the web.
This year, we wanted to tell the story of Chun Jie (Chinese New Year). However, we wanted to do it in such a way that would require very little dialogue. We wanted images to tell the story, but still have some voices in the piece — with the goal of keeping our own voices out of it. We wanted it to be cinematic but at the same time — real and unrehearsed. And while last year, we had no imposing deadlines, this year we would need to turn the video over in 36 hours to the New York Times. Now the experiment became — how to tell a story better than we had last year, shoot, process, translate and edit the footage — and transmit on China’s dodgy internet connections in less than 36 hours.
As we planned for the story and began to factor in the chaotic nature of China — we decided to bring in some more friends. Shooters Jim Fields and Keith Bedford would join our team, allowing us to be in multiple locations at once showing a wider variety of images from the celebration. We crafted a schedule, shot list and found an old man who via an interview we would setup as the story teller of Chun Jie, allowing us to dip out from narration.
To help to visually enforce the man as a story-teller and not just some old guy off the street, we put a pretty strong grade on his shots. We added about 15 points of sepia, added a vignette, desaturated, added contrast and sharpened a small bit. The hope was to visually represent the traditions that go along with this holiday for Chinese people by making him a bit more historic looking.
We encountered some of the same difficulties we did last year. The rolling shutter issue being a big and relatively unsolvable issue. While DSLRs are great for many things — for fireworks they are not. We did some tests and while we know we couldn’t stop it from happening, we did find ways to mitigate the effect. We found if fireworks were exploding at a fast enough pace to cause the rolling shutter, it would show up significantly less if the angle of the camera was in a relative perpendicular axes to the exploding object. Pulling further away from the object also helped a lot. However, in general, if you are using a DSLR and information is being recorded across the sensor in a horizontal motion as they do, and your subject happens to be exploding at an extremely high speed — you are simply using the wrong camera.
Nonetheless, we avoided it as much as possible and wrestled with the other innate problems of shooting fireworks such as exposing for something that (a) hasn’t happened yet and (b) you don’t know what will happen when it does explode. Dealing with quickly dying batteries in -15 C weather and trying to be setup in time to capture someone setting off a firework without telling them what to do is also an enormous challenge.
After 13 hours of shooting we all reported back to begin the editing process. We would have 23 hours left before deadline but there was much work ahead. Because of China’s slow web and long transmitting times for files the conversion files to Prores, translating, grading and creating the script would have be done with at least 2 hours to spare. This meant no sleeping, a lot of junk food, fast food and when things became painful, some beer. Days later, I made visual representation of this relatively comical 36 process to get this short film out.
When we hit our deadline everyone was sleeping except me. Minutes before I was about to pass out, the video posted — and it posted front and center on the Times’ home page.
It was an amazing bit of timing and in one moment — the pain of the past day in half was gone and for just a brief moment, the world got a glimpse of an ancient Chinese tradition.
Happy New Year — 新年快乐
Jonah M. Kessel is a Beijing based freelance visual journalist working with the New York Times. Visit his web site here or follow him on Twitter here.
Wide angle users with APS-C/Super35mm cameras are well catered for by the excellent Tokina 11-16mm f2.8. It’s my personal favourite ultra wide angle zoom thanks to it’s constant f2.8 aperture and 77mm filter thread size. It is now firmly established as the number one choice for many large sensor video camera shooters because there is no direct equivalent from Canon or Nikon. Duclos lenses makes an excellent conversion of this lens which adds better geared manual focus, aperture rings and optionally a PL mount.
The Tokina AT-X 11-16 f/2.8 PRO DX Ⅱ
This week Nikonrumors.com is reporting that Tokina has announced a version 2 of the lens which they have said has a new aspherical element, ultra-low dispersion glass and faster autofocus motor (not that I would use AF for video with this lens). It’s too soon to say if this version 2 lens is substantially better than the old one, but if it is then it is sure to be popular. Availability is said to be March for the Nikon fit version and July for the EOS one.
Right in time for the launch of the Nikon D4 and Canon EOS-1DX comes an elegant front filter solution from Fotodiox that allows the use of screw in neutral density filters on the popular 14-24mm f2.8 Nikkor lens. The lens is very sharp and has been very popular with both Nikon and Canon shooters (who use a G lens adapter) looking for a fast ultrawide zoom. There are few full frame alternatives and none at f2.8.
For video DSLR use there has always been the issue of how to fit a ND filter. Up till now there hasn’t been any simple screw in solution for an ultra-wide zoom lens on full frame cameras. The only option was to add ND to the Nikkor 14-24mm was to put gels on the back of the lens, or buy a custom Lee filter square filter holder.
The Fotodiox adapter kit complete with 2 ND filters
The Fotodiox solution consists of a metal adapter ring that attaches to the lens that has a huge145mm filter thread on the front and a custom lens cap. ND filters in this size would usually be quite expensive but Fotodiox offers their own moderately priced ND4 and ND8 filters along with a circular polariser. Hopefully they will bring stronger ND filters as well soon. The price for a kit with the adapter, cap, ND4 and ND8 is $299.95.
Lens adapter maker Metabones and Conurus have developed a smart adapter to allow the use of Canon EF glass on Sony NEX cameras like the FS100, NEX5n and VG20. It gives control of aperture and also apparently image stabilisation too. It is similar to the MTF services adapter which we previously featured this adapter differs in that it uses the camera body’s controls to adjust aperture and does not have an external box or power. It is also much lower cost and could prove a welcome addition for FS100 shooters looking to use EOS lenses – how it actually works for video shooting is still to be seen.
This from their website –
This Smart AdapterTM has the following features:
True electronic integration of aperture diaphragm – let camera automatically choose aperture in P or S exposure modes, or dial in yourself on the camera body in A or M modes.
Powered by camera body. No external power source required.
Wide open button (opposite of depth-of-field preview function) makes manual focusing easy.
Disclaimer: we are NOT licensed, approved or endorsed by Sony or Canon. This product is developed independently without any involvement of Sony or Canon.
Compatability:
EF lenses
EF-S lenses (see note below)
Image stabilization (IS)
Electronic manual focusing (EF 85/1.2L, discontinued non-IS white telephotos, discontinued EF28-80/2.8-4L)
EXIF (focal length, aperture, lens ID) P, A, S, M exposure modes
Contax N mount lenses modified to Canon EF by Conurus
Contax 645 NAM-1 adapter modified to Canon EF by Conurus
Sigma, Tamron and Tokina lenses in Canon EF mount
Note: vignetting at corners may occur for certain EF-S lenses because they are designed to cover a 1.6x crop image circle but Sony NEX has a 1.5x crop sensor.
I can break all reviews into two categories: those that are solicited, and those that are not. This is the latter. And I write this unsolicited review because I believe Blackrapid’s straps have changed my life in a significantly positive way.
DSLR News Shooter is a great resource for finding out about new gear and user opinions of the most up to date technology. Looking at the past couple weeks there are reviews of new cameras, new sliders, new glass and even a new user medium. As technology (and our gear habits) advance its easy to forget about some of the most basic parts of our kit.
But its ok, Blackrapid has not forgotten. The relatively nascent company rethought the most basic element of our kit — the strap.
Here’s how it works:
FasternR System: Each strap uses a small screw which attaches to your cameras tripod mount. Between the screw and the camera is a small rubber washer unit which both protects the camera from getting scratched as well as stops the screw from unintentional loosening. After two years of using the system — the screw has never become loose enough to which it came even close to following off. I’ve climbed mountains, crossed rivers and sat on the side of helicopters with cameras hanging from this screw.
ConnectR System: On the other side of the camera mount is Blackrapid’s ConnectR System — which is essentially a carabiner that allows the FasternR to swivel. These two items together make an amazing combination because you can have the camera move at your side, without the strap moving — or without needing to adjusted your clothing as you move. The straps then sling either diagonally (RS models) across the chest or vertically down the torso (DR models), distributing weight across the entire body.
Comfort Level: The strap has done wonders for my physical health, but beyond general comfort Blackrapid has made a strap that is completely adjustable to any body type. On each strap — there are two “stoppers” which can be placed where the user wants the camera to either fall or stop when at desired shooting position. If you place these right, pulling your camera up from your side will be smooth and the camera will stop exactly where you feel comfortable shooting. In addition, Blackrapid make’s male and female models for … varying chest shapes.
Health: For years after work I had neck and back pain from using traditional camera straps that place a heavy weight across the neck. Within weeks of changing straps, I actually felt physically better. I was less soar, my posture improved and I even began to sleep better.
Mobility: Here I am in sunny India. I often find myself shooting in crowded places. With Blackrapid’s straps, the camera hangs upside down, and you can rest the camera either on your hip or toward the small of your back. Either way, the camera isnt sitting right under your face like a bullseye. This is great for a number of reasons. In a crowd like the on above you can sneak through protecting the camera with your body. Second, the straps allow you to hide the camera. In Bihar, India (where the average annual income is $350) you might stick out a bit being foreign and walking around with $10,000 around your neck. When using Blackrapid straps in dodgy places, you can keep the camera out of direct site, making it a little easier to blend in and possible — a bit safer.
The system also allows you to use your hands for other stuff, while still keeping the cameras safe. Below, I’m using a Blackrapid DR-1 Double Strap, moving a three meter jib with a Canon 60D on it, with a Canon 7D and Canon 5DMII safely at my sides.
For video oriented DSLR photographers: These things are great. I hate shooting video with a strap attached to the camera. Blackrapid straps come instantly on and off. Since I normally have multiple cameras rolling the straps come in handy all the time when one camera becomes unneeded but I want to have either a lens or a camera on standby.
In addition, in between shots I often have to move small distances that would be easier to not have a camera attached to a tripod, but not far enough away where I want to put a camera away. These straps make it easy for me to not completely disable, but partially de-rig and move from place to place without carry all the weight of the camera all the time.
For still oriented photographers: These things are also great. Above, I’m at a Prada Show shooting a new collection of clothing. While its great to have 10 lenses with you, sometimes space is an issue and being nimble helps. With one Blackrapid DR-1 Double Strap I can shoot all night with two cameras, no bags and no accessories needed to tie around my waste. For fashion, news and wedding photographers two cameras and two lenses is often enough.
MODS: There’s also a ton of add-ons and modifications that work with these things. when shooting stills a Brad which helps stabilize the camera a little.
Normally, I’m not so head over heals, “ready to propose” about a product — but between the utility and the physical health benefit — this one definitely has me.
– Jonah M. Kessel is a Beijing based freelance visual journalist working with the New York Times. See his web site here and follow him on Twitter here.
Smiles all round - James Velacott and Andy Jackson with the C300
After a long day shooting out on location with a pre-production Canon C300 I invited DOP Andy Jackson, James Velacott of Cherryduck productions and Guardian freelance shooter Felix Clay to discuss their thoughts about the new camera with me. Below is a quickly thrown together video of our discussion.
As described in my previous post the idea was to try the camera on a ‘real world’ assignment where time was limited and events were beyond our control. After some discussion we chose an idea that James had come up with – Damyns Hall airfield near London where an aviator called Bob Pluck keeps his microlight.
Andy Jackson and myself filming Bob and his microlight
To keep everything realistic we then sent the rushes out to Paul Cope and Adam White of the post production team at Cherryduck for editing and grading. The footage looked very clean and detailed on the monitors in the edit suite, to my eyes far less digital than many other large sensor cameras I have tried.
The end result (bottom) can be seen below alongside a 1080P ungraded version of the edit for comparison. The camera was set in Canon’s C-log gamma curve and frame rate was 25P.
For me the camera is great advance over the Canon DSLRs like the 5DmkII and although it it not cheap it does do almost everything that I need out of the box. I look forward to buying one if I can only find the funds for it.
I’ve been lucky enough to test a pre-production Canon C300 for the past few days. I’m really happy to post this short story collabrative project shot entirely on the camera.
I was joined last Sunday by DOP Andy Jackson who regularly shoots for the BBC, James Velacott of Cherryduck productions and freelance shooter Felix Clay who works mainly for the Guardian.
The idea was to film a mini-documentary in just one day. It was then edited and graded by Cherryduck’s in house team. I’ll be talking about our experiences shortly, but for now I hope you enjoy the results.
Yesterday I had a chance to get a hands-on with a pre-production Nikon D4 at the company’s UK headquarters. James Banfield of Nikon UK demonstrates the video functions in the video below.
We tried the camera’s clean HDMI output with the Zacuto EVF and Atomos Ninja and I can confirm that it works. We also tried the headphone output and the audio functions of the camera and I’m pleased to report they also work as expected.
Testing the HDMI out of the D4 with the Zacuto EVF and Atomos Ninja
I was allowed to see the images on a monitor but not take any away for publication. What I did see (admittedly in a dimly lit Nikon showroom) looked pretty nice with no obvious false colour artefacts. James said that given that the camera is pre-production the picture might not be representative of the finished product and that they are still tweaking the image settings of the camera. Proper assessments of the image quality from the camera (and especially its HDMI output) will have to wait until production cameras appear.
Testing the headphone output and audio input with a Juicedlink DT454
Hopefully I will get to test a production unit soon. Like many others I’m keen to see how this camera stacks up against the competition – namely the Canon 1D X, C300, Sony FS100, F3 and Panasonic’s offerings. These are certainly interesting times.
The Sony F3, Canon C300 and Nikon D4 - how will they compare?
Below is Nikon’s first sample video from the D4 by shooter Corey Rich.
Many people forget it was the Nikon D90 that started the DSLR video revolution. It predated the launch of the Canon 5D mkII by several months. Sadly Nikon didn’t take the lead in DSLR video, instead leaving Canon to rule the roost. Nikon have put video into their recent DSLR cameras, notably the D7000 and D3s, but the image quality of the footage was frankly not as good as the competition (except that the D3s did do very well in low light). All this might be about to change with the launch of the D4. Nikon have finally given DSLR video users some of their most requested features.
In terms of video the D4 can shoot full 1080p or 720p at 29.97, 25 and 24.98 frames a second (fps). It can also shoot standard def 640×480 at 30 or 25 fps. Interestingly, according to Dpreview, it crops the output of the video in FX full frame mode to 91% of its sensor width (I’m not sure why Nikon have done this and I’m trying to find out). Rolling shutter and skew is said to be improved over previous Nikons.
Capture time is limited to a strangely arbitrary 20 minutes in 1080P Highest quality – I have no idea why this might be. I assume this has something to do with file size. Hopefully you can restart recording immediately but this too needs to be tested. In other modes is can record for 29 minutes 59 seconds.
Audio is the main leap forward in the D4. Along with a regular 3.5mm mic input jack there is also a headphone jack – a first for a DSLR and a feature I have been wanting to see since the Canon 5D mkII first landed in my hands. The level of the headphone output can be adjusted. There are also on-screen audio level meters and the recording level can be adjusted manually in 20 steps. The quality of the mic input also needs to be tested out.
As well as manual focus you can autofocus in video mode. Again details are scarce but Nikon claim it is faster than the D3s and you can use face detection if you feel the need to. Before recording you can magnify the image to confirm focus but not during recording – similar to other DSLRs.
The D4 records to either CF or the new XQD memory card using H.264 encoding at 24Mb/s with B-frame compression. How good this will look compared to the much higher bitrates from Canon’s 1D X using I-frame compression will be interesting to see. For web video – as well as news photographers just grabbing a quick video clip – it will easily be good enough. For higher quality, Nikon has another trick up its sleeve – uncompressed HDMI output from the camera for higher bitrates and better quality. Better still, you can have the camera’s rear LCD active whilst still sending video out of the HDMI port. At this stage all I know is that the signal is a 1080i one that supposedly outputs at 8 bit at 4:2:2. I do know that Nikon have demonstrated this working with an Atomos Ninja external HDMI recorder. It is also unclear if Nikon have any log type tone curves that are applicable to this output. Audio is passed out on the HDMI. It will be interesting to see just how good the image from the D4 really is when fed to an external recorder.
Nikon have also introduced crop sensor shooting which allows different fields of view with the same lens. Utilising the fact that the sensor has over 16 millions pixels this feature is similar to the ETC mode on a Panasonic GH2 and effectively gives you a digital telephoto effect without much too loss in quality. There are both DX (approx 1.5x crop) and 2.7x (actual 1 to 1 pixel) crop modes. The DX crop mode in particular will be of use allowing lenses like the Nikon 17-55 f2.8 and 12-24mm f4 which are designed for that sensor size to be used. The 2.7x crop will be useful in news situations where even your longest lens isn’t long enough to fill the frame.
Video can be triggered using the shutter button, the dedicated video button or – importantly – an electronic cable release. This is similar to the Canon 1D X and makes for much easier triggering on rigs and when you install the camera in remote places. If you add the new WT-5 wireless transmitter there will be even more remote control options with the possibility of iPad/iPhone control, you can set most functions but again controls can’t be adjusted when recording starts.
Exposure has seen improvements for video too. You can adjust the aperture, shutter speed and ISO manually as with other cameras. Aperture can now be controlled using the new ‘Power aperture’ feature in 1/8 stop increments using buttons on the camera before shooting. Strangely this is disabled once recording starts and you are back to using 1/3 stop increments on the camera’s control dial.
With fully featured large sensor video cameras like the Canon C300, Sony F3 and FS100 gaining popularity I don’t think there are too many purely video shooters who will be looking to buy a Pro DSLR costing $6000 (although I may be proved wrong). If on the other hand you are a photographer first and foremost, but also shoot video, then cameras like the D4 are welcome option. News agencies like Agence France Press who already use the D3s for video reporting should benefit a lot from the D4.
Choosing between Canon’s 1D X and the D4 will be interesting. The D4 clearly has more video oriented features but the 1D X is no slacker either. I wait to see image comparisons and field tests of the two cameras side by side.
Below is a preview video from What Digital camera.
Here’s the full press release from Nikon:
The Nikon D4 – Built to push limits
RRP: ££4,799.99 / €5,658
Sales start date: 16th February 2012 (tbc)
London, UK, 6th January 2012: Nikon today announces the launch of the D4, its new flagship D-SLR for photographers who are looking for the ultimate digital SLR camera to revolutionize photography.
Designed to push the limits and realize every shooting opportunity, this new professional FX-format camera brings new levels of image quality, speed and precision to both still photography and video.
Equipped with a 16.2-megapixel FX-format sensor, phenomenally high ISO and Nikon’s powerful EXPEED3 image processing engine, the new model offers uncompromised performance and unrivalled versatility in extreme lighting and environmental conditions.
“The introduction of the Nikon D4 sets a new benchmark for photography,” says Kentaro Kusakari, Product Planning Manager, Nikon UK. “We’re proud to be launching a new flagship model that exceeds the capabilities of its world renowned predecessor, the Nikon D3. This new camera has been designed for class leading professionals looking to push the limits of photography and improve their workflow. We’re confident that the Nikon D4 will help take them to the next level.”
Uncompromised Image quality—Exceptional speed
Engineered to deliver remarkable image integrity in the most diverse lighting conditions, the D4 offers blisteringly fast fps performance and sets a new benchmark in low-noise performance. The 16.2 megapixel FX-format (full-frame) CMOS sensor with fast channel readout delivers up to 11 fps—faster than any other Nikon DSLR camera.
Images of remarkable quality with low noise and wide dynamic range can be realized even at high ISO sensitivities thanks to the optimized noise reduction design and 14-bit A/D signal processing built into the sensor. The phenomenal ISO range sets a new benchmark of ISO12800 and extends the range one EV further to make ISO 100 a standard. For more challenging conditions, equivalent ISO 50 and ISO 204,800 sensitivities make the D4 the camera of choice for photographers who typically face extreme lighting challenges.
Super-charged EXPEED3 image processing engine
Thanks to Nikon’s next-generation EXPEED 3 image-processing engine, the D4 makes light work of multiple data-rich tasks without sacrificing the speed and quality that pros are accustomed to. High-speed 16-bit image processing follows the 14-bit A/D conversion to deliver submission-ready JPEGs straight out of the camera. Performance is never compromised, even when undertaking the most data-intensive tasks. Images boast faithful, well-saturated colour and natural depth. Even when shooting in dim lighting at high ISO sensitivities, the camera’s intelligent, performance-proven noise reduction lowers noise without degrading image sharpness.
Broadcast quality video
For professionals whose workflow demands video, the D4 offers all the flexibility required for a wide variety of movie applications. It’s large format movie shooting at its best, with a comprehensive variety of frame rates.
Frame rates: Full HD (1080p) movies can be recorded in 30p, 25p and 24p, with 60p, 50p, 30p and 25p options at 720p. Movie clips can be close to 30 minutes long (approx. 29.59 min).
Multi-area mode: Full HD (1080p) recording is possible in both FX and DX based formats as well as in native Full HD (1920×1080) crop.
High-fidelity audio control: responding to feedback from the industry, the D4 introduces new possibilities for D-SLR audio recording that enable your movies to sound as good as they look. Aside from the external stereo microphone input, an audio out for external headphones lets you fine tune audio in isolation.
Uncompressed HDMI output: for those who need the purest video output for professional quality editing, the D4 offers the possibility to output the uncompressed live view to external recorders and monitors. The first time this has been possible in an SLR camera, data is output at 1080i (Full HD) at the designated image size and frame rate. Data output can be scaled down if necessary and is clean of the information overlay that can be simultaneously displayed on the camera’s TFT monitor.
Convenient custom controls: live view operation is enhanced thanks to convenient custom controls. Instead of rotating the command dial, power aperture enables smoother aperture control via assigned buttons on the front of the camera. Index marking enables important frames to be tagged in the timeline during movie recording, which makes for easy location during editing.
New levels of speed and accuracy
When it comes to nailing decisive moments, the D4’s enhanced auto operation gives photographers a clear advantage.
Advanced scene recognition with 91K-pixel RGB sensor: Nikon’s revolutionary Advanced Scene Recognition System now incorporates the newly designed 91,000-pixel RGB sensor that meticulously analyses each scene for outstanding accuracy.
3D-subject tracking is particularly improved when shooting and tracking smaller subjects. Human faces are detected with startling exactness even when working in real time through the optical viewfinder. This level of detailed scene analysis is also utilised to support more accurate autofocus and auto exposure, even under the most challenging lighting conditions.
Advanced Multi-CAM3500FX AF Sensor Module: Nikon’s highly acclaimed Multi-CAM 3500FX AF system —with individually selectable or configurable 9-, 21- and 51-point coverage settings — has been re-engineered for faster subject detection.
The autofocus sensor module and algorithms significantly improve low light acquisition sensitivity capabilities down to -2 EV (ISO 100, 20°C/68°F). All 51 focus type sensors are fully responsive with any AF NIKKOR lens f/5.6 and—for the first time—this superb performance does not end at f/5.6 apertures.
Powerful AF sensors compatible up to f/8: the D4 maintains the power of the eleven central AF sensors, including one cross-type even if the combined open aperture value is f/8. A big plus for shooting sports and wildlife, this delivers a new level of detection potential when combining, for example, a 600mm f/4 AF-NIKKOR lens with a NIKKOR 2.0x teleconverter. If the combined aperture value is between f/5.6 and f/8, you even have the power of fifteen central AF sensors available, of which nine are cross type sensors.
Faster total workflow speed
The D4’s speed runs across its entire workflow.
Newly developed Kevlar/carbon fiber-composite shutter unit: the new, highly durable shutter unit offers a standard life cycle rating of 400,000 releases, with a maximum shutter speed of 1/8000 to 30s and flash synchronization at up to 1/250 sec. An intelligent self-diagnostic shutter monitor and a drive unit reduce the demand on power when the shutter is raised for extended periods during movie shooting.
Fast response: start-up is approx. 0.12 seconds[1], release time lag is minimised to approx. 0.042 seconds[2] (equivalent to that of the D3S), with approx. up to 11 fps capability in FX-format and all crop modes.
Storage media: the D4 offers two card slots. One for high-speed CF (UDMA 7) cards and one for high-speed, high-capacity XQD card slot.
Connectivity: a powerful data communication and control system makes both wired and wireless LAN file transfer faster and easier than ever. Wireless LAN support is available via the compact, newly designed WT-5 Wireless Transmitter, which features HTTP and FTP connection modes and also allows for the simultaneous release of several cameras equipped with WT-5. HTTP mode has also been designed to work with iPhone screen resolutions. For the first time in a Nikon camera, a wired LAN connection is integrated into the camera body.
Always up to the job
Every millisecond can count, and the D4’s improved operability helps photographers respond quickly to changing situations.
Intuitive horizontal and vertical control: each orientation has identically laid-out controls, conveniently placed so that the camera may quickly become an extension of your hand whether you shoot in landscape or portrait.
Simplified AF and AF-area mode selection: now possible without taking your eye away from the viewfinder.
Precision 8-cm (3.2-in.), approx. 921k-dot, wide-viewing-angle LCD monitor with automatic brightness control. The monitor delivers bright, crisp image playback with a much wider colour reproduction capacity. LCD brightness is automatically adjusted according to the viewing environment and images can be magnified up to 46x during playback, which can be a big help for spot focus confirmation.
Glass prism optical viewfinder: offers approximately 100% frame coverage and 0.7x magnification (50mm f/1.4 lens at infinity, -1.0m-1). The high eyepoint design of Nikon’s viewfinders is renowned for minimizing visual fatigue when using the camera for extended periods of time.
Dual-axis electronic virtual horizon: offers accurate confirmation of level shooting by letting you check the LCD monitor, or the viewfinder, for both the camera’s position in relation to the horizontal plane and its pitch (forward or rear rotation).
Direct access to Picture Controls: via a dedicated button, rather than the menu. Picture Controls let you customize the look of your stills and videos by fine-tuning parameters such as sharpness, saturation, and hue.
Complete control over workflow
The D4 is built for speed, but not for speed alone. Readiness and versatility go hand in hand with control options that can deliver a real advantage when time is of the essence.
Time-lapse movies: the D4 extends the popular time-lapse photography function by saving images as a movie file in the camera. With playback rates from 24 to 36,000 times faster than normal.
HDR (High Dynamic Range): shoots one overexposed and one underexposed frame in a single shutter release. The range can be widened by up to 3 EV for different looks, full of saturation and tonal gradation. The smoothness of the edge where the two exposures meet can be adjusted for a more natural look.
Refined colour temperature control: enables minute control over white balance. The monitor hue of live view and the resulting image’s white balance can be adjusted so that the two are aligned. Colour temperature can be manually set in 10-Kelvin increments, or in mired units.
Four image area options: you can choose from a variety of image crop modes, all visually masked in the viewfinder. 5:4 (30.0 x 24.0 mm), 1.2x (30.0 x 19.9 mm), and DX-format (23.4 x 15.6 mm).
In-camera editing: captured images and movies can be altered and edited in camera and on the fly if required. Retouch menus include an array of useful features such as NEF (RAW) processing, resize, distortion and perspective control just to name some of them. On top of that it has the ability to designate the start and end point of movie clips all at once, in order to save them more efficiently.
Accessories
Compact WT-5 Wireless Transmitter (optional): attaches to the camera’s designated interface connector and is powered by the camera body. It features HTTP and FTP connection modes and allows for the simultaneous release of several cameras equipped with WT-5.
GP-1 GPS unit (optional): records location information such as latitude, longitude, altitude and time (UTC) as ‘geotags’ in the image data (Exif) and allows simultaneous operation together with the WT-5.
Compact Stereo Microphone ME-1 (optional): records clear sound while significantly reducing mechanical noise.
Nikon SB-910 (optional)—Unparalleled lighting performance: offers versatile i-TTL for on-camera or wireless flash control, refined operability and a powerful guide number of 34/112 (ISO 100, m/ft, STD, FX format, zoom 35mm). Menus and controls have been improved for more operational ease. Hard-type incandescent and fluorescent colour filters are included, which can adjust your D4’s white balance instantly.
Capture NX 2 (optional)—Fast, powerful and creative image processing: to accommodate the imaging power of the D4, Capture NX 2 is faster than before and boasts full 64-bit compatibility.
Camera Control Pro 2 (optional)—Versatile remote camera controls: aside from controlling exposure mode, shutter speed, and aperture, this software now offers numerous improvements to make the D4’s live view operation exceptionally smooth. New creative controls include remote start and stop for movie shooting and the option to switch quickly between stills and movies in live view.
ViewNX 2 (supplied)—Browse, edit, share and more: bundled, all-in-one software implements an easy-to-use interface and an array of editing functions, including basic editing of RAW files and D-Movies. Seamlessly integrates with my Picturetown, Nikon’s photo sharing and storage service
