Nikon

The Nikon D500 Does 4K Video

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The Nikon D500 (the long awaited follow-up to the Nikon D300) is a welcome surprise.  We knew that the very expensive full-frame Nikon D5 (also just announced) would have 4K video but the D500 caught us off guard.

What we know:

  • 20.9MP Sensor (DX-format)
  • 3.2″ tilting LCD screen
  • EXPEED 5 Processor
  • 4K at 30/25/24P
  • Max ISO of 51,200
  • 4:2:2 8 bit via HDMI out
  • Mic input
  • $1,999.99

The 4K shooting mode has a significant crop to it and does not give you the full width of the sensor.  Great if you are a wildlife videography but not ideal for most people.  4K is also limited to 3 minutes!

Historically Nikon hasn’t done great in the video department until recently where it had a few bodies that did better than expected.  Let’s hope they continued this trend.

We will post some video samples as soon as we have them.

The Nikon D5 has 4K Video

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Image Credit: Nikon Rumors

One of our sources we trust has confirmed for us that the Nikon D5 has 4K video.  Thus we are going to come out and stake our reputation on this point.

There may be caveats we are not aware of, such as 4K may only be available in crop mode, or for short time limits.

Time will tell all the details soon enough.  We were getting worried that Nikon was going to not include 4K in this camera.

Nikon D5 Leaked but 4K is Still a Question Mark

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Nikon Rumors has released a story about the Nikon D5. None of our sources have been able to confirm for us the inclusion of 4K video. The video on the Nikon D4 was disappointing but the video on the Nikon D750 was better than expected (for 1080P). Given that Nikon is in a tough position financially we hope they have decided to innovate rather than iterate and produce some good video features.

What does appear known is the resolution of 20.7MP (5568×3712) and an improved autofocus system with more autofocus points. The maximum frame rate is thought to be 15FPS.

As soon as we hear about 4K on this camera we will let everyone know.  Unfortunately the price of this camera could be as high as $6999 (we are hoping for $5999 given what the current strength of the US dollar).

Has Nikon Acquired Samsung’s Imaging Division?

There have been rumors abounding that Nikon has purchased from Samsung the infrastructure behind the NX line of Samsung cameras. We have no confirmation as of yet and we will be surprised to find out if this is true. Stranger things have happened though. We will keep you posted.

We were very sad to see Samsung fold as their NX1 produced great 4K video (even sharper than the Panasonic GH4) and the firmware updates were frequent from Samsung. Sony needs some serious competition to their mirrorless cameras.

5K Raw Video from Hacked Nikon Cameras?

Don’t hold your breath for 5K video from a Nikon DSLR as 12 bit 1664 x 1100 resolution is what is provided right now.  But the live-view stream is 4992 x 3280 pixels and it should be available to be captured.  Even if live-view is captured, it would likely be at a lower frame rate than 24fps.

When the Magic Lantern team first started capturing live-view on Canon cameras they were not sure what they could do with it but they quickly made it into very useable frame rates.  So it will be interesting to see how this development goes.

You can view the thread about this raw video hack on the Nikon Hackers forum and below is a raw frame example of what they have done so far.

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8K Video From Nikon D800 by Using Quicklapse

Quicklapse is a way of extending the burst shooting rates that digital cameras have (like 4 or 5 shots per second) by using software to generate the frames in between. There are of course limitations to this technique and the type of subject matter that it works for.

Sanchez & Olaso, who specialize in architecture motion photography, have released the following example of their 8K video with the aforementioned quicklapse technique:

See the Sanchez & Olaso website and their blog post titled Behind the scenes – Capturing 8K Video at Son Brull hotel for more information.

Nikon 1 J5 First Nikon Camera with 4K Video Recording

Nikon Rumors reports on the upcoming Nikon 1 J5 and state that it is rumored to have 4K video capabilities.  No Nikon camera has 4K video to date.  While Nikon has staid true to its photography roots it’s never been clear why they have not attempted to provide high quality video features as they have no video camera market to protect.

The Nikon D7200 is expected to be announced soon as well, however there are no rumours of indications of anything other than 1080p video for this DSLR camera.