Nikon d4 – Video features
Nikon announced its latest top end camera the other day: the D4. A full frame body, lighter, faster, shooting in even darker conditions. With a price tag of around $6000, the D4 is Nikon responses to Canon's 1Dx. Regarding the video aspect, I'm happy to see Nikon finally back in the game with interesting features not even Canon offers yet.
Nikon's top end camera can finally shoot Full-HD 24p/30p and 720 - 60p. Ok this is not new but finally on par with Canon (we're still missing 1080 at 60p from both). Nikon is not going for All-i but b-frame encoding at 24 mbps. More interesting: the D4 is the first HDSLR that can send clean uncompressed video output (8bit 4:2:2) and have a simultaneous live view and monitor out feature (apparently only work when no cards are in the camera). This means you can use an external field recorder like the Atomos Ninja, bypass the 29min recording limit while having better image quality. For now the Canon 1Dx doesn't offer clean output by fear of interfering with Canon pro video side but with Nikon's move, I wouldn't be surprised if they change their mind before the release in February.
Audio wise I'm very pleased to see that Nikon implemented a stereo headphone jack for audio monitoring. Again that's a first in HDSLR, a very welcomed one! I'm really - REALLY - hoping to see Canon do the same. The D4 also offers a stereo mic input with on screen audio level metering that can be adjusted manually in a 20 steps range.
The Crop feature in movie mode is worth mentioning as well. You can choose between full frame, 1.5x and 2.7x crop while keeping a full-HD image allowing you to vary the field of view of your lens focal length (a 100mm prime lens can become a 150 or 270mm lens). This can be very handy in some situations but I'm guessing there will be a loss in quality due to the downsizing. Nikon announced reduced moire and aliasing, something all DSLR are struggling with so it's nice to see nikon working on it. Finally the Nikon D4 offers an HTTP interface for remote control (via ethernet or wifi) that is optimised for iOS devices.
video feature run through
Documentary shot on the Nikon D4
Videographer, Visual FX artist and web designer.