Need help with D800 ISO issue in video manual mode
Hello all,
I'm trying to shoot video on my D800 in manual mode, and I want to have auto-ISO enabled to allow me to move through a scene with very different lighting conditions without changing aperture or shutter speed. The D800 seems to be programed to disable the auto-ISO function when shooting in movie mode with manual settings. It will allow it if you are in A, P, or S . . . but of course those modes do not give me the control I require over aperture and shutter speed (in fact, strangely, S mode doesn't seem to let me control anything at all, including the shutter speed!).
I've done a little looking around on other forums, and the consensus seems to be that this was a design choice on the part of Nikon - no auto ISO when you are in manual mode shooting video. I really don't understand this choice, as it's the only mode that would give me the control I need over other settings, and auto-ISO will make the difference between being able to handle changing light conditions or not. You can use auto-ISO in manual mode when shooting stills, but not video. What were they thinking? :dunno
So. I guess I'm wondering if anyone has found a way around this . . . is there an alternate firmware I can install that will allow this, or some other solution? This may be a very important ability for an upcoming project that I will be shooting, and I'd really like to get it figured out!
Any help is greatly appreciated.
I'm trying to shoot video on my D800 in manual mode, and I want to have auto-ISO enabled to allow me to move through a scene with very different lighting conditions without changing aperture or shutter speed. The D800 seems to be programed to disable the auto-ISO function when shooting in movie mode with manual settings. It will allow it if you are in A, P, or S . . . but of course those modes do not give me the control I require over aperture and shutter speed (in fact, strangely, S mode doesn't seem to let me control anything at all, including the shutter speed!).
I've done a little looking around on other forums, and the consensus seems to be that this was a design choice on the part of Nikon - no auto ISO when you are in manual mode shooting video. I really don't understand this choice, as it's the only mode that would give me the control I need over other settings, and auto-ISO will make the difference between being able to handle changing light conditions or not. You can use auto-ISO in manual mode when shooting stills, but not video. What were they thinking? :dunno
So. I guess I'm wondering if anyone has found a way around this . . . is there an alternate firmware I can install that will allow this, or some other solution? This may be a very important ability for an upcoming project that I will be shooting, and I'd really like to get it figured out!
Any help is greatly appreciated.
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The DSLR in video mode is made to approximate a film cinema camera, but one that records onto memory cards instead of film. This is what the creative motion picture market wanted, and got. And thank goodness. There is no such thing as "auto-ISO" in the cinema world, because you can't stop and change film as your shot gets brighter and darker.
There are two well established ways in cinematography to solve this problem.
1. Light your film. Take it upon yourself to actually light your project properly. Thus you will noot need a ramp of ISO to complete the task.
2. Ramp the aperture. This is a very common technique used on continuous shots going inside to outside or vice versa. There are even tools to do this wirelessly over distance.
Best of luck with your choice.
perroneford@ptfphoto.com
Note: It looks like the Heliopan Variable ND filter works well for this application.
Moderator of the Cameras and Accessories forums
Changing aperture while shooting with the D800 does not give a "smooth" transition - it's very segmented, with "stair-steps" of light. I'm also limited by a range of depth-of-field that will be acceptable for any given shot.
The variable ND option is not a bad one, except that I don't see how I can adjust the filter while shooting without getting my fingers in the shot, and it may also be very difficult to access the front element anyway if I have a matte-box or other flagging to prevent sun flare.
It really seems like just enabling the auto-ISO for certain shots would make life SO much easier . . . in spite of the cinema explanation, I just don't get why they would intentionally remove this option. Why not let the photographer make the decision themselves?
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Say what? An iris ramp is just as smooth as a focus ramp. Oh wait... you're talking about doing this with the iris control on the camera aren't you? Yea, don't do that. Ramp the iris on the lens. You can either do this manually, or use a device that looks like (or is) a follow focus control. Best if you have the lens de-clicked for this.
Because the camera can't process the data fast enough to do this smoothly. This isn't stills. You are taking 24-30 pictures per second and asking the camera to respond to it's meter and make adjustments in real time. Even on broadcast cameras costing tens of thousands of dollars, this functionality either doesn't exist or is very poor. This is just not going to happen any time soon on a thousand dollar DSLR.
perroneford@ptfphoto.com
I'm not sure this is true. When I shoot in Aperture-priority mode, I can use auto-ISO while shooting video, and it works just fine. The problem, of course, is that I'm in Aperture-priority, so my shutter speed is also changing all over the place as the light shifts, which I don't want. Same in S or P modes. It's only in Manual mode that the auto-ISO is disabled for video. (btw, not that it really matters, but the D800 = $3k, not $1k.)
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You're asking a lot frankly. You're using a still camera to do video. You are shooting in challenging light, you are not willing to light, you are not willing to live with a compromise of aperture or shutter speed changing. You don't want to spend money on the lenses to make it possible to do what you need manually.
People like Duclos do the de-click for a reasonable price, but of course it makes the lens less than ideal for stills: http://www.ducloslenses.com/pages/cine-mod
So, in Aperture priority mode, auto-ISO isn't changing the ISO it's changing the shutter? What happens in other modes? Is the ISO changing or is the camera adjusting other exposure parameters. Your initial post seemed to imply that Auto-ISO was actually changing ISO in all modes but manual, but this makes it seem otherwise.
If Nikon has the ability to actually do what you are asking, I don't know. I can certainly see why they WOULDN'T do it, and especially in manual where manual should mean MANUAL and not auto-anything.
I wish you the best trying to find an adequate solution to your issue, but it may simply be a bridge too far.
Oh and yea, the D800 is $3k, sorry.
perroneford@ptfphoto.com
The behavior is a little strange. In Aperture priority with auto-ISO enabled, it will do its best to maintain 1/30th shutter speed by adjusting ISO as needed. If the scene gets too bright even at lowest ISO, then it will ramp up the shutter speed to get the right exposure. I cannot find a way to change the target shutter speed from 1/30th to 1/50th (or anything else), though it's possible that it exists and I just haven't found it yet.
Shutter-priority, very strangely, seems to be exactly the same as Aperture-priority. I cannot select the shutter speed I want, nor will it stay fixed if the scene gets too bright for ISO adjustments to compensate. In fact, the aperture, which seems to be determined by whatever the meter is picking up when I click the live-view button, is the one setting that stays fixed, while both shutter speed and ISO may vary as the light changes. I really can't understand what they were thinking here . . . it's really baffling.
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Have you looked at the available deflickering programs that deal with the stair-steps?
Dale B. Dalrymple
...with apology to Archimedies
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They were thinking what they were hearing; voices from several directions. SO they gave what they could.
in P,S modes you have control of nothing, save exposure compensation.
In A, you have control of Aperture and Ex. Comp.
In M, you can have it all, except Auto ISO. And obviously no exposure Comp.
In the Shutter-ramping all over the place, the camera is just trying to keep exposure under control, you know that. But it also has to keep the shutter speed at least twice the frame rate of the Movie fps speed. In M mode with Auto ISO, I could see where the Camera might run out of room to satisfy your needs during Movie-mode; Very bright scene, shutter set at 1/60th, f/2.8, ISO= woops!
You do have some options and some have been suggested.
Me. I'd consider that I was going to edit the finished product. So transitioning from bright to dark might be palatable via me changing something else; clicking thru my f-stops on my manual lens, reaching up while recording and holding the ISO button down and dialing in the ISO I needed on the fly, and yes, even raising the shutter speed. Raising Shutter speed isn't all bad. In fact I have used it many times in a pinch, and purposely on occasion to good/cool effect!
The Variable ND sounds like it might be your best bet if you'd like Auto ISO, granted it's manual, but worth a try.
And speaking of try. What have you tried? Have you tried to recreate/pre-create(?) any of the scenes you imagine?
GOnna use just one lens?
Gonna use just one aperture?
If not, then you'll be editing those pieces too, and changing or setting the ISO to suit will work.
I think your Auto ISO desire is a non-issue, unless you HAD to shoot continuous = no editing. Then the stair stepping you mention would just happen. People don't really care. What they care about is the story. too dark? too light? don't care. What did you do with the story? That is what we care about!
I shoot with the D800 and D7100 now, but remember wanting this feature since video came to the DSLR. Most of the time, I'm able to shoot with constant exposure settings throughout a scene and have no issues. However, on occasion, the light consistency within a scene may be beyond my control. In that situation, auto-ISO would be a beautiful thing because I'm already adjusting the ISO manually mid-video to keep exposure under control. If you've ever tried focussing manually on a moving subject with one hand and adjusting ISO with the other, then you know how challenging it is.
Granted, ISO cannot adjust for the entire dynamic range of light, but it is sufficient in most cases. Sure, I could let the camera adjust shutter and aperture, but I have those set for specific reasons.
Aperture priority comes so close. I mean, just watch what the settings do. One moment the ISO is at 200, the next it's 3200. It is only moving the shutter speed around slightly. Why can't i freeze the shutter and keep all other settings the same? I have asked an NPS rep this and I don't think he really knew.
Sorry if I'm venting, but I saw this post and had to respond. To the original author, I feel your pain.
Because for those coming from an actual cinematography background (which these cameras have been set up to replicate) it makes everything work backwards. It's like me coming from a cinema background to a stills camera and asking why on EARTH the lenses have hard stops. In stills, that has a specific need and a reason for existing.
In cinema, film stocks were tested and chosen because they had a VERY specific look to them. And entire departments were organized around what ISO film was in the camera. When you shot 250D the entire lighting staff and grip staff worked differently than when you had 500T in the camera. Different sets of lights, different stands, different grip gear, etc. ISO is as sacred in cinematography as aperture is in portrait stills.
DSLR's are built to replicate cameras used for narrative film. And in narrative film scenes are laid out so that the light variance is understood well in advance, and light is measured and metered to within 1/10 of a stop across an entire scene. For traveling shots indoors and out, flags are used, iris pulls are used, cuts are made, etc. Whatever is needed to do the storytelling. What you are talking about here is having a DSLR replicate a video camera or news camera. And they are simply not designed to do that job. You can use a large format camera to shoot sporting events. And you can make some nice images. But it's not built for that task and will fight you the entire time. Same with using a DSLR to work like a video camera.
Put a manual lens on the camera. Problem solved. This is what happens on cinema cameras. The lenses are 100% manual.
perroneford@ptfphoto.com
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No cinema camera from the half million dollar Panavision Genesis to the GoPro has this feature (to my knowledge). None. Zero.
Saying that Nikon shot themselves in the foot for not including it is like saying Ferrari has shot themselves in the foot by not having a pickup truck available. Many people would like it.
It also stands to reason that if it were "easy" to provide, then someone over the course of the past 15-20 years of digital video would have provided it at some price point. That tells me that either this feature is wanted by so few people it's not been considered, OR it's damned difficult to do and none of the manufacturers see pursing it as economically viable.
perroneford@ptfphoto.com
As to the technical difficulty, my assumption that it would be very easy is based on the fact that 1) auto-ISO is available in all video modes OTHER than manual, and 2) a $300 camcorder can do auto ISO for video.
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But yet they make engines for other manufacturers, sedans, and they even made a motorcycle. Nikon is VERY new to video. And have made numerous missteps along the way. Maybe they will figure it out. In some ways, the've leapfrogged Canon.
That $300 camcorder doesn't have a DX or FX sensor and isn't moving anywhere CLOSE to the data a Nikon DSLR is. Your assumption may be the source of the problem. Auto-ISO is available when the camera's computer can control 2 of the 3 variables it needs. It is my belief that NONE of these cameras is fast enough at processing the immense amount of data required while simultaneously adjusting constantly varying exposure with more than a single unknown. That may be incorrect.
What IS correct and without doubt is that Nikon at this time is either unwilling or unable to provide what you are desiring. As is every other video and hybrid camera manufacturer on Earth at any price point.
That tells me a lot.
perroneford@ptfphoto.com
http://cdn-4.nikon-cdn.com/en_INC/o/JGe86qtuU0lbmaILrUg6yrtcQHU/PDF/HD-SLR_Features_Guide_en.pdf
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Perhaps with the very newest set of Expeed4 processors, this is now possible. If so, this is clearly a very new development and should make many run-and-gun video shooters very happy. Until they try to match looks. Which is why this is not done in cinema.
When that ISO ramps, dynamic range is going to change all over the map, colors are going to shift a ton because the dynamic range isn't there, grain is going to show up and disappear in a way that is nearly impossible to correct.
Many moons ago, I did post color for a film that was going to be screened at the LA Film Fest. It was an underwater cave video a friend shot in Mexico. He used auto-iris. For a 5 minute video, I used something approaching 1000 control points to maintain some type of exposure leveling. Auto-ISO is going to do very much the same thing I believe.
I hope this meets the needs of the people asking for it, but I'll be doubtful until I see it.
perroneford@ptfphoto.com
Anyway, I'm glad to see it available, though a bit bummed that it's not (yet?) available for the D800. Perhaps a firmware upgrade will make it so? I don't know.
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