Shoot One Second Snippets of 4K Video Using the Nikon V1’s Burst Mode

nikonv1

While messing around with the features of his Nikon V1, EOSHD forum user Javier Sobremazas discovered something pretty awesome about the $220 camera: it can shoot 4k RAW … sort of. The sort of plays in for two reasons. Firstly, it can only shoot 4K for one second at a time; and secondly, it’s actually an extension of the camera’s burst mode.

Sobremazas discovered the feature when he realized that the V1 — by using some special Aptina sensor magic — uses a fully electronic shutter in burst mode, shifting all of its up to 60fps 4K output to a small buffer.

The catch is that, as cool as this buffering capability is, Nikon has equipped the V1 with a limited little piece of silicon that can only hold 30 frames at a time. That means you can only shoot one second at a time at 30fps, or .5 seconds at a time at 60fps.

Of course, that doesn’t mean the feature can’t be taken advantage of to create some quality footage. As a case in point, here’s a proof-of-concept video put together by Sobremazas that was shot at 4K and edited at 2.4K:

The story gained some steam on Reddit a couple of days ago, where some users were hopeful that this discovery would translate into cheaper 4K for everyone. However, as several tech-savvy readers pointed out, the technical challenges this poses (ala sensor heat, sensor size, storage, etc.) make it unlikely we’ll see anything truly groundbreaking.

Still, one-second snippets of 4K have their filmmaking uses. And if you have a Nikon V1, the capability is built right in.

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