Getting terrific low light Nikon D750 video is a huge challenge especially when I compare my results to what I can so easily achieve with my Panasonic LX-7 with its extremely fast Leica 1.4 lens. But, if I can ever get it down, I just might produce video that cannot be matched by lesser equipment. Here’s two examples of low light Nikon D750 video. The first is from a New Year’s Eve party at the Surf and Turf Restaurant on Wongamat Beach. I shot the second the following day at the Naklua Pen Bar.
Shooting either video with my Panasonic LX7 camera would have been easy.
The Lx7’s focusing in a wide variety of situations and lighting is exemplary. But notice how fuzzy the video becomes in the first video when I zeroed in on Rory, Iris and May May at close range with the Nikon D750. The same thing occurs when I zoom in on several of my Russian friends who are sitting much closer to the water. But so long as I’m shooting my video at mid to long range with the Nikon D750, the results are spectacular .
The lens I’m using most of my Nikon D750 video is nicknamed “The Beast”.
It only has a focal length of 28 to 70 mm yet it weighs a full 2.2 pounds. This lens is frightfully expensive. It is also too heavy to carry around all day long. I have a companion lens for this lens, a Nikon 17 by 35 mm which is equally as good. But for these videos I’m using “the Beast” which I find to be more versatile than the 17-35.
Ken Rockwell has this to say about the Beast
“This 28-70/2.8 offers spectacular performance, and the price you pay is huge size and weight”
“The Beast” has always been able to create images that produce a three dimensional effect. And the Nikon D750 produces deep and rich sound from its twin internal stereo microphones. Although my pocket size Panasonic LX7 produces excellent sound there is simply no comparison to what this Nikon D750 does without any audio editing whatsoever.
In the New Year’s Eve video I shot down on the beach
I at least have some decent light to work with. But the next night at the Pen Bar, I simply did not have enough light to do a decent job with the bar girls dancing in the background when I was shooting near the stage. Again, the Panasonic LX7 would have done far better in these extreme low light situations. Perhaps if I had changed the settings on the camera I might have achieved much better results. Using spot metering might have helped here. Or changing the ISO might have made a big difference. But I think you can see from both videos that the video potential of this camera, especially with this high a quality lens, is enormous. But it’s going to take a lot of practicing on my end.
In the coming months I will continue to experiment shooting low light video with my Nikon D750. I expect to be fully challenged, and possibly overwhelmed. But whatever the outcome when it comes to testing the Nikon D750 video capabilities, it’s competence at getting the finest digital stills is evident from the slide show photos during the final half minute of the New Year’s Eve Surf and Turf restaurant video.
Update
Although I’ve kept the Beast, I recently purchased its newer and better Nikon 24-70 2.8 lens
I just bought Panasonics latest and greatest small camera, the Panasonic LX10
Take a trip forward to Fireworks at Centara Grand Mirage Resort
I used both cameras to shoot my latest action-packed video at the Pen Bar. Put this video on the largest screen you have to spot the differences between what these two excellent cameras can do shooting low light video