Longer video recording time...if you are willing to Hack your DSLR.

Golf007sd

Came across this hack which allows you to remove/override the 30 minute recording time limit on the D3100, D5200 and D7000.

Nikon Hack removes video recording time limit.

John

Thanks for sharing.
I'm purely a photographer and have no experience with videography on my DSLR but I think the 30 minutes limit also does not apply it you use uncompressed HDMI output.
But I'm sure some people will find this to be great news.
That being said I can not immediately imagine a scene that would require more then 30 minutes of continuous recording.

Golf007sd

John: To the best of my knowledge the Nikon D4, D800, and D800e are the only DSLR's that have the capability to output video 100% uncompressed via HDMI. If I'm mistaken then by all mean let me (us) know. Thx.

ssj92

@Golf007sd The D7100 also has uncompressed video via HDMI.

John

@Golf007sd: Yes, you're right.

Ade

The D5200 and D600 also offer uncompressed HDMI.

Bowen

A note and a question:

Cameras that have HDMI uncompressed output:
D4
D800
D800e
D600
D7100
D5200

That's actually a good cross section, even down into consumer on what used to be a pro-only feature.

Question:

I am looking at picking up a D7100 later this year, and do 1hr lectures often that I would like to record. I guess I would have to wait until they do a D7100 hack, but: What kind of device or software would i need to record it? I have a MacbookPro, but no inputs, but it does have a thunderbolt connector, can anyone suggest a device?

Thanks!

Ironheart

You can record to the CF or SD card internal to the camera. For a lecture, the quality should be fine. You should give people a bio break at the 30min mark anyway, that will allow you to restart the recording.

If you want higher quality, or the ability to record longer, you need something capable of recording the HDMI signal that the camera pus out. Your MacBook is incapable of doing this without buying video encoding/capture hardware. A better solution is something like the Ninja 2 from Atmos:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/858661-REG/ATOMOS_ATOMNJA002_Ninja_2.html

Golf007sd

Ok so I ask Nikon a question and here is what I got back in response:

"The D4, and the D800 does in fact release clean, uncompressed HD Video. The D600 Releases Clean uncompressed video with the latest update. The D5200 and D7100 unfortunately does not release clean uncompressed HD. If any other questions or concerns arise please do not hesitate to give us a call. We appreciate your business and thank you for choosing Nikon.

Reference Number: 130409-001946

Best Regards,
Jules
Nikon Support"

Msmoto

Nikon can be very confusing:

Hee are the specs they show in the technical information:

D7100

H.264/MPEG-4 Advanced Video Coding

Linear PCM

HD 1,920x1,080 / 60i


D4

H.264/MPEG-4 Advanced Video Coding

Linear PCM

HD 1,920x1,080 / 30 fps

And, this means the D4 cannot output 1080 video at 60 fps, as I understand it. It can only do 60fps at 1,920 x 720 resolution...

I do not understand how the information from Nikon explains the tech info they publish. Maybe someone can help here....

Ade

Hmm, I guess the D5200 has clean HDMI out but it is compressed.

@Msmoto: 60i is still 30 fps. 60i means 60 interlaced fields per second, but you need two fields per frame == 30 fps. So both the D7100 and the D4 can only record 60 fps at 720p.

Msmoto

@Ade

Thanks, but it still does not help me to understand the information from Nikon "The D4, and the D800 does in fact release clean, uncompressed HD Video" about the uncompressed video from the D4 and D800.... Is not H.264/MPEG-4 Advanced Video Coding a compression technology which would then mean the video output is not in RAW form as we know it in single frame photography?

Ade

@Msmoto

Recall from our previous discussion that in motion video lingo, uncompressed does not mean RAW.

Uncompressed in this context means the sensor's color data wasn't reduced via chroma subsampling during the video processing step.

E.g., if the sensor captured 4:2:2, then the output stream retains the full 4:2:2 color data instead of it being compressed to 4:2:0.

The resulting video stream is then encoded into H.264/MPEG-4 AVC at a particular bit rate.

Msmoto

Thanks, Ade

sitarboy

I have a Atomos Ninja 2 and a Nikon d5200 and yes the HDMI out is CLEAN and Uncompressed at 720p at 59.94 frames per second and a 3:2 pulldown at 1080i 59.94 Frames per seond to 23.07 frames per second. You can also get a 1080p 29.97 - Its clean uncompressed and it Trillionsof Colors in After Effects (Proof is being uploaded)

sitarboy

Nikon is flat wrong. you simply have to know how to use the camera settings on a d5200

FlowtographyBerlin

@Ade: Maybe you would like to use your knowledge on the subject of uncompressed video (the linked post from above) to help improve the Wikipedia entry on uncompressed video – what you specified in the other post surely wasn't conveyed by the Wiki article.

Would be a waste if it's buried inside a little NRF posting...

Ade

Wow, there is so much wrong/misleading information in that Wikipedia entry!!! :-O

Even the very first sentence of that article is wrong: "Clean HDMI" is not the same as "Uncompressed HDMI".

Clean HDMI means the HDMI output is not overlaid with any "on screen" information that's typically shown on the LiveView (such as the current exposure settings, frame rate, running HH:MM:SS counter, etc.)

On older video DSLRs, the HDMI output was always overlaid (cluttered) with the on screen information, so we can't use this output to record a clean video feed into an external storage (like the Atomos Ninja).

Newer DSLRs such as the D800 allow you to select whether or not the HDMI output stream will include the LiveView overlay.

(@FlowtographyBerlin: I'll think about fixing that article -- but I spend too much time in front of the computer already. Maybe when I have some free time in the next couple of weeks).

FlowtographyBerlin

@Ade: Yeah, definitely try to find time to fix it. I'll send you a PM.