dSLR Video - Nikon Option?

[DavidPartington]

Awesome - Thanks!

The ISO800 looks very usable 

Can I ask for one more please?     How about some video at ISO1600?  I really don't care what the subject is - I just want to get a look at the noise.  The same scene at 800 & 1600 would be even better

[k_shipsides]

David do you have any glass?  I really like Zeiss primes and I have one with a Nikon mount and I just use an adapter ring and the L series Zoom.  Everytime you buy something there is something better and faster.  They just revamped the L series 70-200 t2.8 so it can focus at 18".  I haven't played around with the T2i but the specs for video compare to the 7D.  I have heard that the 7D sometimes overheats but I have never had a problem with my 5D with 13+ hour shoots. 

DSLR are a lot of work on live events.  I love the look but don't like the constant focus adjustments.  It is taking over the film industry and it seems that there will be a new wave of video cameras with large sensor in the near future.  I am interested to see how the next year goes. 

[DavidPartington]

I do have glass.  I sold all my Canon glass a couple of years back, along with all my Leica M glass too

However, I have quite a bit of nikon glass, including some primes, and the usual 14-24, 24-70 and 70-200.  Of course none of the last three allow for aperture control without specific adapters.

I don't mind investing in new glass, as long as it's going to pay for itself.  I don't want to invest in the latest craze just because it looks good.

I realize that DSLR is (or can be) much harder to use at events, but I really could do with a couple of low-light cameras (the HMC is good, but I think I would like a little more light gather and shallow DOF at times), and some more cameras for b-roll during ceremonies.  I'm not going to lay out for another 2 HMCs though (I already have 4).

[DavidPartington]

Well, I got tired of waiting for the Nikon solution, so I finally got a GH1.  I installed the GH13 firmware patch (which runs at a higher bit rate) and am playing with it now.   Hoping the nikon --> 4/3 adapter doesn't take too long to arrive so I can play with my nikon primes.

[ampsonic]

Nice. You'll find that DVXUSER forum is great for the GH1. Let me know how you like the hacked firmware.

[DavidPartington]

GH13 hack firmware loaded and running    

Nikon --> 4/3 adapter purchased, and all lenses working nicely (inc aperture control).

I like the focus assist function.  Very useful indeed.  The ability to change the screen position for the assist is very welcome

Of course, it's not as good a still camera as the D700, but then I guess we all knew that.