Video Recording

Paoroa

Hi all. Bought my first DSLR last week, the Nikon D5200 camera, as a entry level beginner. I'm so happy with it. I think I have been out every day with it trying it out, and just playing around with some of the settings to see what works and what doesn't. I got an 18-55mm lens with it and also bought a 70-300mm lens. I'm happy with the way the photos are coming out, but when I do some video recording, it just comes out blurry. Tried different settings but still no success. Would like to do some cinematography's. Any suggestions where I could be going wrong?

bruto

The video (and live view) use a different focus system from the viewfinder, and you may have to read up and experiment on that. I haven't done a lot of movie recording, but can give the subject a start at least. In order to set autofocus in movies and Live View you must enter Live View first. Once that's done the menu changes. You can change all the settings with the [i] menu.

Some of the ways that video focusing works seem inconsistent, but in general, you should start focus with the shutter button before you start the video. Whether it then tracks and continues to adjust will vary depending on what mode you choose, and (it seems from experimenting) depending on the camera's mood.

But again, in general, AFS will work much as AFS does in viewfinder mode, focusing once and not refocusing when the camera or subject moves. AFF will continue to adjust once it's been started.

You can choose narrow, wide, subject tracking and face recognition modes as well. In AFF all of these modes should adjust when the camera is moved, but subject tracking should also adjust when the subject moves and the camera doesn't. A little experimenting suggests that in subject tracking mode, AFS may act like AFF too, but I would not count on it, and it still must be initiated with the shutter before you start. Again, in experimenting, it seems as if in AFF the focus may start without the shutter button, but this also may not be consistent. You should probably always start by finding focus with the shutter button in Live View before starting the movie.

I don't know how the D5200 instructions are handled, but with the D3200, the printed instruction book is seriously abridged. The complete instructions are on the accompanying CD in a PDF file, and can also be gotten from Nikon's web site. Make sure you get that file, and put it on your computer if possible. There's also, I think, an app for putting it on a smart phone. The PDF manual is pretty complete, with a usable index.

As with viewfinder focus, you can move the focus point using the back control, but because there is no lock, it can be done by accident too. Use the [OK] button to recenter it if need be.

Paoroa

Thanks Bruto. We'll see how I go.