ST LAWRENCE MARKET NEIGHBOURHOOD: NIKON D7000 SECOND TEST

An unusually beautiful Fall day: Sunny and warm and dry. A perfect opportunity to go out shooting with our new Nikon D7000

I had actually taken the camera downtown once before but as the old school newsmen say: There was nothing to report. The results were pretty dire; I had issues with focus as well as exposure.

This time I was certain I understood my mistakes so I decided to go down to St Lawrence Market ... and of course I picked the one day of the week the actual market itself is not open. Still, it is a very pretty neighbourhood down there that includes the Flatiron Building, parks with fountain and the market building itself

The results were more successful; at least I acquired footage I can actually show. Focus issues were solved, both auto and manual. The Nikon has a continuous focus mode but I doubt very much that I will ever use it. It is very much like old camcorder autfocus, constantly seeking and adjusting as you move the cam. Now this is not an issue for a still camera (and this, after all, a still camera) because  you would stop, wait for the focus to settle then snap your pic. But shooting video you do not want the lens constantly adjusting as you pan. But the other focus modes worked well enough.

One of the complaints I've read about the D7000 is that you cannot adjust exposure while you are in Live Mode, that is shooting video. You have to exit Live Mode (stop recording) adjust the exposure, then start recording again.

I have a technical response to the that: Bullshit

In the Menu I set the Movie Mode to Manual and then in both Full Auto or Aperture Priority, the two settings I most used, I was able to adjust exposure on the fly as I was recording, a nice feature indeed.

Movement in the camera is an issue. Again, this is a still camera so there is no electronic stabilization in the camera as I have in both my XL1 and my Sony handycam. I was using a little L bracket that screws to the bottom of the came and gives me a handle as well as a monopod; this rig helped but when I hand hold the camera it is extremely difficult to get a steady shot.

Overall I'm pleased with the image quality. I played a little with exposure but pretty much just shot "as is". I know there is more that I can do. There are Scene settings and Shooting Sets still to be experimented with but I was curious to see what the cam could do as if I was shooting with my other HD cam.

The one advantage to the Nikon is the 24 fps shooting speed; in some scenes this gave a more "movie like" feel but in the bright sunlight it was not so terribly different from what I'd get with my Sony. The other advantage to the 7000 is that I shoot with Nikkor lenses and that is defintiely (and here comes a complex technical term) yummy. The 50 mm 1.8 lens is razor sharp and with both lenses (I mostly shot with a 18 - 200 mm zoom) the colour was rich and deep. And I was able to achieve a depth of focus that the Sony cannot match.

I use the Sony as a "run and gun" video cam because of its very small size. It is a great cam to just whip out (steady now let's keep this post PG) set your shot, hit record all in a few seconds. Not so much with the Nikon. It has to be steadied, focusseed, DOF adjusted then record.

Then there is zooming. Recording while zooming in and out is something overused in video (and I am guilty of that) but it is something I like to use. I think of it as a "reveal"; start in tight on some object, like a window pane then pull out to reveal some Gothic building. The Sony has a very smooth motorized zoom that with a difference in pressure in your fingers you can easily adjust the speed of the zoom

None of Collette's lenses have motorized zoom, it is actually something rare on still cams, there really isn't need for it. So I felt very old school, when I used to shoot with tube cameras that recorded to separate video decks and you had to zoom manually; sometimes old school should be called "no school" apparantly

Overall I was pleased with the results. I see the Nikon's potential. There is a lot more I can do to improve and change the image quality. Is it a good field camera or something best ustilized in film making where you have time to set up each shot ... we'll see

In the mean time, you can see the St Lawrence Market video