Nikon D5000 short film with pull focus

Though autofocus is not possible with live video in any current true DSLR (the Panasonic GH1 promises this) it is possible to use pull-focus effects with a little planning. We now have a Nikon D5000 – it won the competition for best fine image detail when comparing results frame by frame with Canon’s nominally higher resolution rival. It was also a very good deal, £629 inc VAT with an 18-55mm VR kit lens and a SanDisk Ultra II 8GB SDHC card plus Crumpler Messenger Boy 2500 bag thrown in free (from Jacobs). You Tube sample –

This short sequence was shot after unpacking the camera, revisiting a location which is always windy. For some of the takes, three of four tries were needed to avoid severe wind noise from the built-in mic disrupting the sound recording – others had to be edited tightly, and the iMovie transitions mask some noise. This includes, on the camera now in use, a button click sound at the start of the every take which I did not notice on the loan review sample D5000. About 1 second had to be edited off each clip to remove this.

Here is a short experiment using macro bellows and the built-in mic:

Some still frames taken from HD movies on the D5000 and the Canon 500D, including examples enlarged to 1080p size from the D5000, can be viewed in a pBase gallery with captions, set up to explain why we chose the D5000 over the 500D despite the lack of 1080p recording:

http://www.pbase.com/davidkilpatrick/dmovie_stills

-DK