It has been reported that Nikon recently used Canon 5D Mark II footage to demonstrate it’s new D800. This is a big deal in the realm of DSLR filmmaking, and it is still not clear what Nikon may have been thinking.
Nikon showed a demo reel, showcasing the abilities of its new D800 camera at a launch event in Bangkok in February. The reel was typical in its feature of variable frame rates, dynamic range, functionality in low light situations, portability, obligatory wedding-video potential, etc. – As a sidenote, at first glance, there is no way that the ultra-slow motion snowboarder footage at roughly 0:51 in the clip below was shot on a DSLR one can just go buy in a store:
Problem is, after the demo was unveiled, filmmakers began to complain that their footage somehow ended up in the clip without authorization. And this wasn’t the only issue. Terje Sørgjerd, a filmmaker employed by Canon, had this to say on his Facebook page – “A bit surprised to see Nikon using some of my video clips in the world launch of the Nikon D800 camera….without contacting me. Especially since Canon is one of my sponsors, and I use a 5DII.” The D800 has been Nikon’s latest response to the essentially legendary Canon 5D Mark II, and Nikon made a pretty big mistake in using what appears to be a bunch of various footage pieced together from all over the place for their demo video. As it turns out, the super slow motion video footage was actually shot on a Phantom HD Gold high speed camera, with the actual clip used by Nikon being featured in the video below:
Also, the sequence at 2:13 in Sørgjerd’s video below, was used in the Nikon clip at 0:18:
The Mountain from TSO Photography on Vimeo.
There has been no official word from Nikon, but it is evident that there was a settlement with Sørgjerd, judging by this post on his Facebook page:
Surely the whole thing was some sort of outsourced marketing snafu, and an embarrassing one.