News, reviews and rumors about all things 4K.
Keep in mind that there is a 3 minute recording limit in 4K and about a 1.5X crop (just slightly bigger than DX) being applied to the video even though the sensor is full-frame.
The footage looks good even the codec is the standard weak codec. That 3 minute limit is just crippling though.
We incorrectly reported that both the D5 and the D500 have 3 minute limits at 4K. While this is true for the D5 it is not for the D500 which does 29 minutes and 59 seconds at 4K (recorded into separate files).
EOSHD released an article titled Nikon D5 versus Canon 1D C for cinematic 4K video – which wins? that is worth a read if you’re wondering about how good the D5 will be for video.
We do just have to share this gem from analysis though:
It’s hard to believe why Nikon with no professional cinema range to protect or segment their other cameras from can F*** it up so massively by failing to put even the most basic of commonly requested video features into their flagship $6500 camera, not even something as simple as focus peaking.
As we mentioned in our December 22, 2015 post, a reliable source confirmed for us the Nikon D5 having 4K video.
The D5 has a suggested retail price of $6,499.95. It’s supposed to have amazing low light abilities (max ISO of 3,280,000) and great autofocus.
Video resolution is at 3840×2160 at 30P, 25P, or 24P. DX crop for video. External video is 4:2:2 8 bit. Video recording time in 4K is limited to 3 minutes!
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:
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.
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 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).
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.
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.
The 20.8mp 1″ CMOS sensor as rumored is correct. Other 1″ 20mp sensors have shown a lot of potential. Unfortunately with a 4K frame rate of only 15fps we have lost interest in this camera. We do encourage Nikon to continue developing 4K.
