Nikon Flat Profile Question...

[amsh89es335]

On the D750 I always shoot on flat setting with the sharpness set to 2. In Resolve it's surprisingly easy to grade for a 8bit file and even more when recorded in 8bit 4:2:2 with an external recorder. I shot this whole short except for the scenes at comic con with the D750 in Flat with a external recorder and film convert with resolve. 

 

[j-oc]

20 hours ago, mercer said:

No, I literally set an average WB temperature between daylight and incandescent... On most cameras it's usually a 4400. Part of the reason I do it is laziness, but I've also found that for my lack of post color skills, this median approach gives me some easy options in post... I can go cool or warm without stretching it too much.

Sorry, just to clarify... When you wrote that they are over saturated out the kitchen, did you mean the standard profile is and that the Flat profile fixes that?

And yeah I know what you mean about the color wash in different cameras... So to speak. I really like that warm Canon color look, but I also love what I've seen from the Nikon. As I said earlier, I'm not the best of colorists... Or even really that good at it, so these different camera brands offer unique color profiles out the gate... Different tools for different jobs. But I am going to treat the 5500 footage as my learning tool and try to get better using a simpler workflow. 

Ok, I get what you are saying. I'm not the greatest colourist in the world either so I like to nail WB when shooting rather than tweak in post. It's not that it is hard or anything but I find that especially with 8-bit footage when you are correcting WB in post the colour shifts subsequently limit the options you have later. Stuff breaks down or starts to look weird much faster.

I find it much easier to dial in the correct WB at the time than sort it out later - this is especially true in low light / high ISOs. It gives you much more room to manuver / fix other errors. You average technique sounds ideal if you are running around journalistic style but anything where you are setting up the shot I'd try and select it then and there. 

Not sure if you can manually dial in WB with a D5500 (I've never used one) but you can probably create presets with a grey card. Maybe try that?

Also, yes I meant that I find the standard and even neutral profiles to be honest a bit oversaturated and use flat to fix this. Very much a personal taste thing though.

This conversation has made me want to got out and shoot today - excellent.

Glad you like the Nikon camera - have fun!

[Robin Billingham]

9 hours ago, amsh89es335 said:

On the D750 I always shoot on flat setting with the sharpness set to 2. In Resolve it's surprisingly easy to grade for a 8bit file and even more when recorded in 8bit 4:2:2 with an external recorder. I shot this whole short except for the scenes at comic con with the D750 in Flat with a external recorder and film convert with resolve. 

 

Great work, I thought I'd have a quick look but watched it all. I like the Nan best

the look/grade etc was really good. What lenses did you use and any other details !! (I actually just registered on the site to ask)

[mercer]

4 hours ago, j-oc said:

Ok, I get what you are saying. I'm not the greatest colourist in the world either so I like to nail WB when shooting rather than tweak in post. It's not that it is hard or anything but I find that especially with 8-bit footage when you are correcting WB in post the colour shifts subsequently limit the options you have later. Stuff breaks down or starts to look weird much faster.

I find it much easier to dial in the correct WB at the time than sort it out later - this is especially true in low light / high ISOs. It gives you much more room to manuver / fix other errors. You average technique sounds ideal if you are running around journalistic style but anything where you are setting up the shot I'd try and select it then and there. 

Not sure if you can manually dial in WB with a D5500 (I've never used one) but you can probably create presets with a grey card. Maybe try that?

Also, yes I meant that I find the standard and even neutral profiles to be honest a bit oversaturated and use flat to fix this. Very much a personal taste thing though.

This conversation has made me want to got out and shoot today - excellent.

Glad you like the Nikon camera - have fun!

Thanks for the tips. I am a little bummed I can't dial in the WB temperature but the camera does offer the Kelvin values for each preset, so that will help.

With my preliminary tests, Auto WB worked pretty well in mixed lighting, which is always good as that is usually the hardest for me to nail and often my usual lighting scenarios.

I've never used a gray card or a color checker but with Color Finale's recent addition of color checker WB correction, I may give it a go. Have you ever used one of those WB lens caps? They seem like they could be handy.

Saturation has always been one of my nemesis with picture profiles. At first glance, it seems like Nikon's flat profile favors blue and green... Orange and red seems much less saturated out the gate. I'm heading out tomorrow to give her a thorough workout, so I'll test to see if it needs to be knocked down a notch or two. 

Anyway, happy shooting!!!

[j-oc]

1 hour ago, mercer said:

Thanks for the tips. I am a little bummed I can't dial in the WB temperature but the camera does offer the Kelvin values for each preset, so that will help.

That does sound annoying.

1 hour ago, mercer said:

They seem like they could be handy.

I'd never heard of them until you mentioned them. I just use a grey card I got out of a photoshop manual like 5/6 years ago. Goes in my bag with my photographer's rights card.

1 hour ago, mercer said:

I'm heading out tomorrow to give her a thorough workout, so I'll test to see if it needs to be knocked down a notch or two. 

Anyway, happy shooting!!!

Let us know what you come up with.

[mercer]

1 hour ago, j-oc said:

That does sound annoying.

Can you dial in the Kelvin temperatures with the D5300?

[j-oc]

9 minutes ago, mercer said:

Can you dial in the Kelvin temperatures with the D5300?

No idea, I haven't used one. You can on the D750 and D7200.

[mercer]

23 minutes ago, j-oc said:

No idea, I haven't used one. You can on the D750 and D7200.

Sorry, got you confused with someone else. Thanks. 

[mercer]

1 hour ago, j-oc said:

No idea, I haven't used one. You can on the D750 and D7200.

A couple more questions pertaining to the D7200...

1. Do you use the zebras with the D7200/750 and if so, how helpful have you found them?

2. Are you exposing to the right and pulling back in post?

3. Do AI-S lenses meter with the D7200?

4. The B&H overview makes it sound like there is some kind of focus aid in Manual mode with the D7200, do you know if it is just a focus confirmation beep or green dot?

5. Does the D7200 have a continuous LiveView mode?

That is all...

Thanks

[Mattias Burling]

On the d750.

1. Yes, very. Zebra is pretty much all I ever use for exposure.

2. Yes.

3. ? Never used a d7200

4. ?

5. ?

[TheRenaissanceMan]

Are any of the crop modes on the D750 and D5500/D7200 good enough to use?

[amsh89es335]

6 hours ago, Robin Billingham said:

Great work, I thought I'd have a quick look but watched it all. I like the Nan best

the look/grade etc was really good. What lenses did you use and any other details !! (I actually just registered on the site to ask)

Thank you. I used Nikon AIS Manual Prime lenses on all the scenes except for the stuff at comic con it was a mix of GH4, D750, Cellphones and no external recorders. For the GH4 I don't know the lenses used on it since I was busy proposing to my Girlfriend so my Brother and Friends took care of all the filming that day. The D750 used my Sigma 24-105 for all the run and gun stuff that wasn't on a tripod. The shot with the trash truck was stock footage, so no idea what it was shot on. Also there was no film convert added to the comic con scenes to help separate the short film from the real event at comic con.

I just recently got a Mini Ursa 4.6k and love it. But for my D750 with an external recorder is still one the best overall 1080p Full Frame DSLR cameras out there by far and a shame they came so late in the game or this would of been everything we wanted out of the 5D Mkiii when it came out. I do wish Nikon would enter into the Cinema world with a RAW cinema camera. 

[mercer]

31 minutes ago, amsh89es335 said:

Thank you. I used Nikon AIS Manual Prime lenses on all the scenes except for the stuff at comic con it was a mix of GH4, D750, Cellphones and no external recorders. For the GH4 I don't know the lenses used on it since I was busy proposing to my Girlfriend so my Brother and Friends took care of all the filming that day. The D750 used my Sigma 24-105 for all the run and gun stuff that wasn't on a tripod. The shot with the trash truck was stock footage, so no idea what it was shot on. Also there was no film convert added to the comic con scenes to help separate the short film from the real event at comic con.

I just recently got a Mini Ursa 4.6k and love it. But for my D750 with an external recorder is still one the best overall 1080p Full Frame DSLR cameras out there by far and a shame they came so late in the game or this would of been everything we wanted out of the 5D Mkiii when it came out. I do wish Nikon would enter into the Cinema world with a RAW cinema camera. 

Yeah, it's a shame 4K became such a staple so quickly. The two camera companies (Canon and Nikon) were stuck in the 1080p world while the three electronic companies (Sony, Panasonic and Samsung) needed ways to promote their 4K TVs.

I've only done a few preliminary tests with the D5500, but I already like the picture quality better than the downscaled 4K-1080p image I've been getting out of the Panny's... I'm sure it's the color more so than the resolution and IQ, but either way I find it more pleasing...

It doesn't much matter though... Sadly, the marketing of the next best thing will always win in the end. 

[mercer]

2 hours ago, Mattias Burling said:

On the d750.

1. Yes, very. Zebra is pretty much all I ever use for exposure.

2. Yes.

3. ? Never used a d7200

4. ?

5. ?

Thanks Mattias... I am enjoying this D5500 so much, I am contemplating selling off more lenses and gear and making it a B-Cam to a 7200 A-Cam if the exposure and focus aids are better.

[Richard Bugg]

4 hours ago, mercer said:

Can you dial in the Kelvin temperatures with the D5300?

No.

[j-oc]

2 hours ago, mercer said:

A couple more questions pertaining to the D7200...

1. Do you use the zebras with the D7200/750 and if so, how helpful have you found them?

2. Are you exposing to the right and pulling back in post?

3. Do AI-S lenses meter with the D7200?

4. The B&H overview makes it sound like there is some kind of focus aid in Manual mode with the D7200, do you know if it is just a focus confirmation beep or green dot?

5. Does the D7200 have a continuous LiveView mode?

That is all...

Thanks

1. Yes - and they are useful. I use them basically as a sanity check that I'm not blowing out what I don't want to blow out when using the LCD.

2. Yes - although this is the opposite of how I shoot stills with the camera so I do need to constantly remind myself to do it. 

3. Yes.

4. Err... not sure? There is a punch in magnification in LV and green dot (electronic rangefinder) when you are shooting stills. One thing that is worth saying here is that the lack of focus peaking on both cameras is a real bummer. I'd LOVE this. I use focus peaking on the BM Video Assist to mitigate. 

5. What is continuous LiveView - you mean does it automatically shut off?

 

The D7200 is a nice camera, not as nice as the D750 but still very good. I wouldn't buy it especially as a video camera but if like me you are a professional photographer who does a bit of video it is a really strong choice. If I get some of the projects I'm up for this Autumn I'll probably buy one. 

 

2 hours ago, TheRenaissanceMan said:

Are any of the crop modes on the D750 and D5500/D7200 good enough to use?

D750s is fairly soft.

 

[mercer]

31 minutes ago, j-oc said:

1. Yes - and they are useful. I use them basically as a sanity check that I'm not blowing out what I don't want to blow out when using the LCD.

2. Yes - although this is the opposite of how I shoot stills with the camera so I do need to constantly remind myself to do it. 

3. Yes.

4. Err... not sure? There is a punch in magnification in LV and green dot (electronic rangefinder) when you are shooting stills. One thing that is worth saying here is that the lack of focus peaking on both cameras is a real bummer. I'd LOVE this. I use focus peaking on the BM Video Assist to mitigate. 

5. What is continuous LiveView - you mean does it automatically shut off?

 

The D7200 is a nice camera, not as nice as the D750 but still very good. I wouldn't buy it especially as a video camera but if like me you are a professional photographer who does a bit of video it is a really strong choice. If I get some of the projects I'm up for this Autumn I'll probably buy one. 

 

D750s is fairly soft.

 

By continuous LiveView, I mean, is there a menu setting to set the camera to LiveView, so when you turn it off, and back on again it is still in LiveView.

No, I'm not a professional anything, I love taking video and working on short films. I hope to make a feature film this year if things work out. I also would like to start doing more stills. With my little time with the D5500, I've just been very impressed with the images, so I was contemplating getting a D7200 if the added exposure/focus features made the technical work a little easier. Right now it's just a thought, I am going to shoot a lot more tomorrow and see how it goes... Knowing me I could completely change my mind by Tuesday... But I don't think so... I am really loving the image I am getting out of this camera. 

[Mattias Burling]

6 hours ago, mercer said:

Thanks Mattias... I am enjoying this D5500 so much, I am contemplating selling off more lenses and gear and making it a B-Cam to a 7200 A-Cam if the exposure and focus aids are better.

Imo,

The gain of getting the d7200 would be rather minimal. I would try to go all the way for a used d750 (Or d500 if money was less of an issue).

[j-oc]

4 hours ago, Mattias Burling said:

Imo,

The gain of getting the d7200 would be rather minimal. I would try to go all the way for a used d750 (Or d500 if money was less of an issue).

This.

You'd also lose useful stuff like the articulated screen. If the D5500 has a histogram you are all good in terms of exposure tools.

[TrueIndigo]

There is no live histogram with the D5500. What I do is shoot a few seconds of a representative view of my shot, and then quickly review it -- no need to play it, just see the (default) first frame. By enabling histograms (in the menus) you can have three colour or a single luminosity histogram display of that first frame to check your current exposure is not clipping. Use the up/down joystick buttons to toggle through display of histograms or no histograms.

This is obviously less elegant than having a live histogram active all the time, but after a while it only takes a short delay to make the check. Of course, there will be a further delay if you actually need to adjust your aperture with an auto lens in response to what you learned from the histogram! You have to go out of live view to make the aperture change and then perhaps shoot another short video clip to again preview with the histogram in order to confirm that your new exposure is going where you want it. With a manual aperture lens you do not need to leave live view to see an aperture change, and I've got the FN button assigned to ISO changes to help speed that up, but you still have the delay of shooting another clip to check the new histogram.

I put up with all this because it's important enough to me to want to know where my exposure is technically. And I've come to prefer the Nikon video image over my previous experience with Canon DSLR video: I've been using a D5200 since 2013 and got a D5500 early this year.