D500 vs D750

[daniantong]

Hello everyone,

i am looking to buy a nikon camera to be used mainly for recording video. We usually record video inside under "low light" conditions (not nightime of course but not as light as outside as most bulbs are turned off).

I am unsure which camera would be best for this. The Nikon D750 has a full frame sensor which should be very useful in these conditions. The D500 has a smaller sensor but it is able to capture video in 4K.

Alternatively, if you can think of another camera which falls under the same budget that would also be great.

I was wondering if you could help me out with this.

Cheers

 

[astroNikon]

What are you recording?
How much low light - can you provide examples ?

Under video you still need appropriate lighting as it's going to capture 24 to 60 frames per second.
D750 are 23 to 60 frames per second, and the
D500 is also 24 to 60 fps but in 4K mode is 24 to 30fps

I have both the d750 and d500 and I don't use video much but I have some projects that are going to need it. And I may use the d500s 4K. But you still need appropriate lighting pending the type of scenes you are recording.

The Sony A6300, a6500 are other options in the 4k video arena.
My d500 and d750 are primary used for still images.

 

[astroNikon]

another recent thread ==> What is the best camera with good smooth AF and 4K in video ?

 

[daniantong]

What are you recording?
How much low light - can you provide examples ?

Under video you still need appropriate lighting as it's going to capture 24 to 60 frames per second.
D750 are 23 to 60 frames per second, and the
D500 is also 24 to 60 fps but in 4K mode is 24 to 30fps

I have both the d750 and d500 and I don't use video much but I have some projects that are going to need it. And I may use the d500s 4K. But you still need appropriate lighting pending the type of scenes you are recording.

The Sony A6300, a6500 are other options in the 4k video arena.
My d500 and d750 are primary used for still images.

Thanks for the reply!
They are videos that we run a lab so either its a room which is lit up normally (like any room in a house I assume) or a dark room in which we have a strong light iluminating the area we want to film.

 

[astroNikon]

FYI
DSLRs are normally limited to about 20-30 minutes of recording. Then you have to restart. So for a "lab" environment this may pose a problem.
They don't have sensor cooling so that is one of the main problems.

If you look at more strictly video type cameras, such as a Canon XC15 (which does 4k), those have cooling fans for the sensor to prevent it from heating up too much and get hot spots and can do continuous recording.

If you are doing strictly video you may also want to look at video cameras who specific function are first video. ==> Camcorders | Professional HD & 4K Video Cameras | Sony US

If you have proper illumination I don't see any problem. But then again, I don't do much video. But there are many options if you have proper illumination. I can't be of much more help I chimed in because I have the d500 and d750.

you may want to modify your title if you can an add "video"

 

[daniantong]

FYI
DSLRs are normally limited to about 20-30 minutes of recording. Then you have to restart. So for a "lab" environment this may pose a problem.
They don't have sensor cooling so that is one of the main problems.

If you look at more strictly video type cameras, such as a Canon XC15 (which does 4k), those have cooling fans for the sensor to prevent it from heating up too much and get hot spots and can do continuous recording.

If you are doing strictly video you may also want to look at video cameras who specific function are first video. ==> Camcorders | Professional HD & 4K Video Cameras | Sony US

If you have proper illumination I don't see any problem. But then again, I don't do much video. But there are many options if you have proper illumination. I can't be of much more help I chimed in because I have the d500 and d750.

you may want to modify your title if you can an add "video"

Filming less than 30 minutes is OK for us. We also need it for pictures which is why we are going for DSLR although video will be very important. Thats why I want to find the best

 

[adamhiram]

I love my D500 for photos, but you should be aware of its double-crop factor when it comes to field of view for 4k video. Being a DX camera, it already has a 1.5x crop, but in 4k video mode it get cropped another 1.45x for a 1:1 pixel mapping on the sensor. This means a 24mm wide angle shot on FX now has a 36mm equivalent field of view on DX, and is further cropped to about 52mm equivalent field of view with 4k video. Depending on available lenses and space in your lab environment, this may impact whether or not it is an acceptable option. On the other hand, you're getting the D5 auto-focus system and 4k video capabilities, so there are definitely some pluses if you can deal with some of the quirks.

 

[astroNikon]

in regards to the 4k crop, I believe it's all related to the pixels to better able to attain the 16:9 aspect ratio - 3840 x 2160.

The Sony A6500 I believe also crops at 1.9x for 30p 4k video, but apparently not at 25p 4k. It's also a 24mp sensor vs the d500 20mp.
The a6300 does 2x crop at 4k /30p vs less crop at 4k/ 24p.

But this is something to look into in more detail as I'm not sure on how accurate I know the above or image impact, etc.

 

[Destin]

Honestly, if you're not yet invested in a lens system...

Canon DSLRs blow nikon out of the water for video. Professional videographers almost exclusively use canon over nikon, and for good reason.

 

[daniantong]

Honestly, if you're not yet invested in a lens system...

Canon DSLRs blow nikon out of the water for video. Professional videographers almost exclusively use canon over nikon, and for good reason.

Thanks for the reply, but I dont think I was able to find a canon as good as the nikon at this price range. Maybe you know of any I might have missed out?

 

[goodguy]

Honestly, if you're not yet invested in a lens system...

Canon DSLRs blow nikon out of the water for video. Professional videographers almost exclusively use canon over nikon, and for good reason.

Thanks for the reply, but I dont think I was able to find a canon as good as the nikon at this price range. Maybe you know of any I might have missed out?

Canon's advantage over the Nikon is with the dual phase auto focus, just the best video AF in the market.
If you manual focus then this advantage is not important and going with a Nikon is a valid option.
Best camera for video is from my understanding the Sony A7S II, maybe you can get a used one.
If you stay with Nikon then I would say get the D750 if 4K isn't a big deal, if 4K is a must then you really have no other options but go with the D500
BTW another option if you are not a big hurry is wait for the D750 replacement, I am hoping it will have the D500 AF, 4K and touch screen.

 

[greybeard]

You wouldn't buy a video camera with the main intention of taking stills so it doesn't make much sense to buy a DSLR whose main intention is stills for shooting video. I have a Nikon D750 but if I were you I'd look at either a Sony or Canon Video camera. Digital Video Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review maybe start here.

 

[Destin]

You wouldn't buy a video camera with the main intention of taking stills so it doesn't make much sense to buy a DSLR whose main intention is stills for shooting video. I have a Nikon D750 but if I were you I'd look at either a Sony or Canon Video camera. Digital Video Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review maybe start here.

And if the OP needs to also take stills, almost every video camera does stills as well. I agree I'd buy a camera that's main purpose is video, and as a bonus they will be MUCH easier to use and get good results with.

And likely much cheaper.

 

[astroNikon]

You wouldn't buy a video camera with the main intention of taking stills so it doesn't make much sense to buy a DSLR whose main intention is stills for shooting video. I have a Nikon D750 but if I were you I'd look at either a Sony or Canon Video camera. Digital Video Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review maybe start here.

And if the OP needs to also take stills, almost every video camera does stills as well. I agree I'd buy a camera that's main purpose is video, and as a bonus they will be MUCH easier to use and get good results with.

And likely much cheaper.

Yeah, but some of the video cameras do not have full exposure control to take stills.

 

[Destin]

Yeah, but some of the video cameras do not have full exposure control to take stills.

True. But if you're just going for lab style shots to document things, and aren't trying to get creative or artistic... you probably don't need full manual control.