NIKON D5000 Movie Manual & Tips

Before using the NIKON D5000 to make movies, you should be aware of the following conditions. Not being able to acknowledge and understand these conditions will lead to disappointment, just like those who review digital cameras and examine if every pixel on the monitor is working or not.

The aim of this manual is for you to have fun with the NIKON D5000 and not whinge and whine about it.

 

 

Conditions When The Nikon D5000 is set to MOVIE mode:

1. There is NO AUTOFOCUS. You have to manually focus with your hand to focus on the subject or to follow focus the subject when it is on the move.

2. You can only video capture five (5) MINUTES of continuous shooting when set at the highest resolution on widescreen. But you can also video capture up to twenty (20) MINUTES of shooting when set to the lower resolutions other than the highest setting. After the buffer on the camera has finished writing to the SD card, you can start to video capture again. It takes a few seconds to a few minutes to write the whole clip on the card.

3. The battery gets drained faster than photography mode since it requires a lot of power to operate the monitor, keep the Live View sensors open, and the CMOS sensor working full time capturing at 24 frames per second. Having a spare battery would be helpful. The NIKON EN-ELe is the best for the D5000 being designed with the Movie feature in mind. Other EN-EL batteries will also work, but not as efficient as the EN-ELe.

4. The viewfinder gets blacked out. The only way to see what you are capturing is by looking at the monitor.

5. The aperture cannot be adjusted during the actual video capture. The aperture should be set before that. The shutter speed is set at 24 frames per second.

6. Exposure is fully automatic. The camera will try to adjust for the ideal exposure when changing from bright to dark or vice versa. You will notice a slight screen flicker when the camera is adjusting for exposure compensation. HOT TIP! You can HOLD and lock the exposure by keeping the AE button pressed during the video capture! This will minimise the flicker, but exposure is locked and set to the opening scene. Releasing the button will return exposure to full automatic, even during the middle of video capture.

7. The video files will be large. It's like, 2.5 to 3 Megabytes PER SECOND! A 23 second clip file size is about 62 Megabytes.

8. A 16 GB SD Card (minimum) would be ideal for movies.

 

 

 To make (nicer) Movies with the NIKON D5000

1. Attach the WIDEST lens possible. If using a zoom lens, set the zoom to the widest setting. The lens that comes bundled with this camera can be set to the widest at 18mm.

2. A zoom lens that covers 12mm to 24mm would be desirable. Set it to 12mm widest.

3. Set the lens AF Switch to M (Manual Focus)

4. Set the MODE dial to A (Aperture Priority)

 

Classic View showing F8

 

 

Graphic View showing F8

 

Classic View showing F11

 

Graphic View showing F11

 

5. Rotate the COMMAND DIAL to set aperture to F8 or F11

 

6. Look at the WINDOW on top of the lens barrel. This is the DISTANCE INDICATOR WINDOW or (Depth Of Field Window).

7. Rotate the FOCUS ring manually to set the distance reading to ft 9 or m 2

      (Special Note: For those who do not have the WINDOW on their lenses, pre focus the lens on a subject about 8 ft or 2.4 mts away, then proceed to step 3.)

 

8. Pull down the monitor and adjust as desired. Video is best done with the monitor flipped down.

9. Press the LV button. The viewfinder blacks out and the monitor displays Live View.

 

10. Press OK to start video capture.

11. Press OK again to stop video capture.

12. Press review button to check the file.

13. Press OK to playback the movie

14, Press the INFO or Menu button to exit the movie playback.

15. Press LV button to get back to Live View.

16. Press OK to make another movie.

 

The steps outlined above are one of the ways to make nicer videos, especially for those who are trying this DSLR Movie mode for the first time.

 

How Much Of The View Is In Focus?

If you are using an 18mm wide angle lens for video:

   1. F8 setting will give you good focus from 4 ft. to infinity.

   2. F11 setting will give you good focus from 2.5 ft. to infinity.

If you are using a 12mm wide angle lens for video:

   1. F8 setting will give you good focus from 3 ft. to infinity.

   2. F11 setting will give you good focus from 2 ft. to infinity.

 

Sample Movie

 

 

I hope these tips would make you enjoy and have fun making movies using the NIKON D5000. I made this manual out of my own initiative to share the fun. The NIKON D5000 is an advanced groundbreaking camera that cannot even be compared to similar DSLR movie cameras on the market today. Being able to use NIKON lenses manufactured from the last 50 years (with certain feature limitations) is just an awesome backward compatibility feature. No other digital SLR camera manufacturer has backward lens compatibility as NIKON.

Thank you.

Raoul Isidro