4K on the D5

Jim

I've been in the 35mm motion picture film and then video business for years. What I know about still image cameras is zip except I have always liked the colorimetry of Nikon cameras and lenses.

I will soon have nice 4.6K video cameras. What we need is an exceptional time-lapse video camera which brings us to search for the best DSLR cameras. Thus, we have two purchase criteria:

A. The best resolution still image camera in the Nikon line which I assume to be the new D5.

B. A still camera that can capture true, 4K (4096 x 2160) video images for time-lapse video (not UHD 3840 x 2160).

I know the D5 does 4K UHD in 1.5 crop mode. Not what is needed for our archival shooting. Here is the question:

"Though the D5 is rated to shoot UHD 3840 x 2160 video at 30p, is there any way to increase the video resolution by shooting single, still-frame images every 8-12 seconds for time-lapse as though one were taking still images? No, not the same as "video" at 30p - but is there a way to save those single frames or files (essentially full sensor still-image frames) so that they can be turned into high-quality 4K time-lapse video that are a higher resolution than UHD 3840 x 2160?"

I greatly appreciate your knowledgeable response.

Kindest Regards,
Jim Mitchell

paulr

I would be tempted to contact Nikon Technical direct, in view of the capital outlay and exact requirements needed, in view of this been a new Model and first time Nikon have gone 4k.

CaMeRaQuEsT

I think the best guy you can turn your questions to is Andrew Reid, he runs a blog and a forum at eoshd.com, very knowledgeable guy and shoots with basically all type of hardware, and just like you he likes Nikon colors.

Jim

Two excellent suggestions. I will follow both suggestions. Thank you! - jm

Ironheart

Yes. This is the "old fashioned" way to make hi-resolution time-lapse. Any still camera that can be programmed to take a shot every "n" seconds can do this. You then use software to combine the still frames into a movie. I do this all the time with my D5100 and D7200, which have built-in intervalometers. You can also do it with an external shutter trigger if you need more flexibility.

Most movies editing software packages have this capability, for instance iMovie on the mac can do it, there is a product called LRtimelapse, LR itself, etc... Since you are taking 20-24MP stills, you can make 6K output if you want.

Jim

6K Raw - seriously? The video we shoot is 4.6K 60p Cinema DNG so it's as good as we can make it. The slider has a controller on the trolley/sled that advances the camera and triggers the shutter to the specificity that is required.

So when this process is completed and we did a - oh say 5-hour time lapse, we can do this at high resolution and stitch it together in some manner to make a continuous time-lapse video, correct? That seals the deal for us with the Nikon D5.

We can edit using Black Magic's Resolve 12, with FCP 10 or Adobe. Are all edit programs capable of putting this together? Might I impose upon you - pay you as a consultant to teach us how this is accomplished?

Thank you for responding.

Kindest Regards,
Jim Mitchell

Ironheart

Happy to help out. It is easier to sit down and show someone that try to explain through words, however there are some good tutorials out there. FCP is a good option, it all depends on what final look you are trying to achieve and also perhaps how you are doing post on your video footage, as I assume you would want to make the final product as seamless as possible.

Jim

Yesssssss indeedy! I shoot with LUTs and then do additional grading. Tutorials? Tell me - tell me.

- jm

heartyfisher

This was posted in another thread ..

Not sure but I think below was 8K downsized to 4k for youtube...

Sydney NYE amateur timelapse done with D800 and Tamron 24-70 .. can be viewed in 4K .. :-)

Nikoniser

OK - this is an area I getting into, so I can answer your questions in depth.

However, first off I must correct you perception that the D5 is the "best" still image camera Nikon makes. The D5 is "best" at high ISO values. If you do not require ISO above 3200 the D810 is the "best" still image camera. The D7100 is another option, it is a DX camera and as the files will be downsampled to 4k still produces a very high quality output. The d7100 is *much* cheaper and you can take risks with it you would never take with the more expensive cameras - however it lacks the "exposure smoothing" feature of the d810 which means it is more prone to flicker from a stopped down aperture.

The camera has a built in intervalometer, and allows you to take up to 999 shots over a time period. This gives about 6 hours of shooting on the standard battery or about 11 hours with a grip.

You must then decide what format you want to shoot at. For the ultimate quality, you can shoot at full size in camera RAW format, or for fast processing you can shoot in Jpeg. With RAW files you can then use a tool such as lightroom or DXO Optics to optimise the colour, shadows, tone curve etc of the file, apply noise reduction and downsample to 4k and apply that setting to all your captured files and output as a series of Jpegs. This results in much better quality frames than shooting in native 4k or Jpeg.

You then import the jpegs into Adobe Premiere Pro. This is very easy, create a new project, select, file > import, then tick the box marked "image sequence" and select the first image in the sequence. This creates a sequence in Adobe PP that works just like any other video files, you can set in and out values, and drop it into the timeline.

Have fun !

heartyfisher

I think the D7200 has the video exposure smoothing feature.. as I don't do video I am not sure if it is able to do it with the intervalometer.

PS:Looks like exposure smoothing is in the D7200 .. Hmm looks like a fun thing to try on my D7200 :-)

Nikoniser

I think every Nikon with power aperture has exposure smoothing option. I am creating my first 4k timelapse as we speak... nothing too exiting just a technology demo of cress seeds growing. Created from 2200 Jpegs that I am downsampling to 4k resolution. I hope it turns out ok.... it was a bugger to light properly and manually changing the battery every 6 hours was a pain !

spraynpray

Does that mean it needs a power aperture lens too?

Ironheart

Nah, just have the smarts to adjust exposure between each shot. The D7200 will do it with any lens.