Devin Ellis

Nikon D300s — First Video

11/8/2009

I recently got a D300s to replace my D300. I know, its basically the same camera, but I wasn’t very happy with my results with the JAG35 on my Sony camcorder. So I’m ditching that whole setup and just switching to an SLR that meets both my photo and video needs.

Anyways, I finally got out and shot a little bit with it over the weekend. Needless to say that, for video purposes, the camera has serious limitations.

I don’t really get the “manual” controls. You are supposed to be able to set the exposure manually before entering “live mode” but sometimes it just doesn’t. For example, in this video I wanted to silhouette these trees against the sky. I set the camera to a dark enough exposure, entered live view and it was still trying to expose for the tree. The only thing I can think is that if you are several stops off of EV, the camera assumes your stupid and sets the exposure itself.

As for rolling shutter, I didnt really notice any for this shoot, but then again I had a tripod with a fluid head and was shooting relatively inanimate objects.

One thing I really like is my new Tokina 11-16 f2.8 lens. I used it here for the second shot, showing the tree. It’s a really cool look to use in conjunction with tight tele shots like the ones following.