A New 36 megapixel DSLR with revised HD video, mic input and headphone output!

It does look and sound like an exciting camera for both still photographers and filmmakers. But, if I were a filmmaker and had that kind of money to spend, I think I'd be inclined to wait and see what the Canon 5D Mark III will be and sell for before I'd make the plunge on this one. Of course, I can only envy those who wouldn't have to choose between the two and can get or work with both the D800 and the Mark III. That'd be suhweet, huh? :)

On the other hand, is there some speculation that there won't even be a Mark III?
 
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I'd say all the speculation recently points to a 5D announcement sometime this spring. Most interesting rumor I've seen though is a split in the 5D line, with one targeted more at photographers and the other more for videographers. The problem with the D800 is that a higher megapixel imager is great for still images but of no benefit for video, and is likely to result in worse low light performance - rumor is the 5D line split would have high MP on the photo-oriented model and stay lower on the video one.
 
That example footage looks terrible. Check out some of the hacks (Driftwood) for the GH2, blows all other DSLR's out of the water.
 
36MP = Bad for video if not shooting raw.

Footage isn't terrible, most notable improvement's rolling shutter, otherwise I'm not a fan.

Unless Canon gives up 4K or 5K raw(ish) recording, or they dumb the 5D down to 12 or 16mp, increase recording bit rate drastically and pay attention to their OLPF, you're just gonna get another 5D MKII with a slightly lower noise floor and slightly increased DR.

Still with the same aliasing and low detail as the originator.

If Panasonic's still div is paying attention at all, GH3 with better DR would pretty much sew up the SLR field for a while to come.
 
Not necessarily. A lot of the aliasing/moire and lower resolution on the 5D comes from the need to skip lines when reading the sensor - for instance, take a full res still, scale it to HD resolution in photoshop and you won't see any of the same problems. So if they can get a processor in there that can do this scaling in real-time it should produce sharper images without aliasing and moire, without needing RAW, 4k, or a different codec.
 
ItDonnedOnMe said:
Not necessarily. A lot of the aliasing/moire and lower resolution on the 5D comes from the need to skip lines when reading the sensor - for instance, take a full res still, scale it to HD resolution in photoshop and you won't see any of the same problems. So if they can get a processor in there that can do this scaling in real-time it should produce sharper images without aliasing and moire, without needing RAW, 4k, or a different codec.
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Different compression won't help anything but retaining sensor information, definitely not that.

Scaling is done in real-time, though. You don't necessarily need RAW but at the point where you hit 4 or 5K you'd might as well give up the raw.

It's just the method behind pushing the math of say 36MP into a smaller range. Canon's doing it in the C300 in a way that's sort of uncommon, but you need the right sized body to pull that horsepower, DSLRs are not it.

The only way to get rid of aliasing is to either produce a camera that's specifically designed for the application and the MP count scales to 1080/2K pixel to pixel, do a 1:1 recording (GH2 ETC mode, which has virtually no aliasing @ 1080 or 720), or give up the 4K/5K frame and let the end user push it into a 1080/2K space.

Again, you wouldn't necessarily need raw for the 4K, you could do it with PhotoJPEG just fine, I'm pretty sure it can be done with MPEG-4/H.264 compression as it stands.

Canon did file a raw patent, though, recently.
 
Eyepatchentertainmen points out moire in Nikon's D800 promotional video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coqqDJhzico


But, have you watched the promotional video? Lord knows how much money and expertise were spent to make it look good. And I think it looks pretty darn good. Don't you guys? Still, like you say, looks like the GH2 is best. And I'm thinking I'd still rather have a 5D Mark II than a D800 for filmmaking.

Joy Ride on Vimeo
 
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richy said:
Eyepatchentertainmen points out moire in Nikon's D800 promotional video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coqqDJhzico


But, have you watched the promotional video? Lord knows how much money and expertise were spent to make it look good. And I think it looks pretty darn good. Don't you guys? Still, like you say, looks like the GH2 is best. And I'm thinking I'd still rather have a 5D Mark II than a D800 for filmmaking.

Joy Ride on Vimeo
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Gh2 hack miles beyond this, aside from rolling shutter. There really isn't a DSLR out that can hang. And definitely the most bang for buck large sensor option available. Not a single other DSLR is knocking on this territory.

Hope the markiii can get remotely close. Doubting it though.
 
Ok, that guy is insane. This is seriously ridiculous. I've watched 'Joy Ride' twice now - the second time I was specifically looking for the aliasing he pointed out, and I didn't really notice it either time. And I'm someone who notices things like that - I've been shooting on a 5D since the day it shipped. Nobody in your audience will care about aliasing like that. And the stills in his video look miles worse than anything in motion - I'd personally say he's trolling for ad views.

Kholi said:
Gh2 hack miles beyond this, aside from rolling shutter.
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Well, the rolling shutter on the d800 looks to be a pretty significant improvement over any other DSLR at this point - those shots on the motorcycle would be a mess on any other DSLR. Just curious though - in what ways is the GH2 hack 'miles' beyond this? Low light performance? Dynamic range? Detail? I keep hearing people singing it's praises but I have yet to see any examples I'd consider significantly better than what the d800 appears capable of, although the GH2 is clearly the current leader price-wise. If you could point me to some good examples I'd like to check them out.
 
Nah, he's not insane. I see the same things. There's color Moore all through that video. And a lack of overall detail. He's also a pretty well known source f accurate info. Was around since the DSLR phase started, along with myself. Just maybe not Bloom status.

Gh2 hack is something you have to put your hands on and see for yourself. But I've done side by sides with our Epic and there really isn't another DSLR that's getting to that level. D800 does look just as disappointing as the D4 in most areas, the rolling shutter (as I did say) is pretty amazing but it drops everywhere else. Especially for the price.
 
Well, maybe insane is too strong a word. Or maybe we're all a little insane when it comes to this stuff. I just feel like these details are at a level beyond anything a general audience would notice or care about.

Also - is there a higher quality version of the video somewhere than the one on Vimeo? I'm not sure how to judge a 'lack of overall detail' on sub-5mbit 1080p material, or the difference between splotchy macro-blocked color noise and color moire.
 
ItDonnedOnMe said:
Well, maybe insane is too strong a word. Or maybe we're all a little insane when it comes to this stuff. I just feel like these details are at a level beyond anything a general audience would notice or care about.

Also - is there a higher quality version of the video somewhere than the one on Vimeo? I'm not sure how to judge a 'lack of overall detail' on sub-5mbit 1080p material, or the difference between splotchy macro-blocked color noise and color moire.
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Some of us are just trained to see it. When all things are created equal the differences are noticable.

I'm okay with people thinking the audience wouldn't notice or care. I disagree completely, but whatever gets people by with the choices they make. If they didn't notice or didn't care we wouldn't have better tools.
 
Kholi said:
. He's also a pretty well known source f accurate info.
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I agree. Eyepatch is pretty objective. The web is loaded with hired guns and shills espousing the virtue of this or that flavor of the month, and btw, buy my book! Eyepatch is solid though.

Anyone want to take guess on the cost of that D800 video? I don't know, I'm sure it was a lot though.
 
Guess some people have different eyes, indeed.

Better than a GH2, which gets into the territory of 10K~17.5K cameras, but worse than a 5D Which can't perform as well as a GH2.

WEll, I guess!
 
brianluce said:
Anyone want to take guess on the cost of that D800 video? I don't know, I'm sure it was a lot though.
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It's a really interesting question. Whatever they did spend, you'd think Nikon would have been prepared to spend as necessary if that video is to be the D800's envoy to the world.

I know you probably have or will find your way to Philip Bloom's post, but in case you haven't, or to make it even easier...Philip Bloom on the D800. He expresses the same interest and concerns that you guys have.
 
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