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Video shootout: Nikon D800 vs Canon 5D Mark III: which is better?

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There's no doubt about it: when it comes to the price to performance ratio, the Canon 5D Mark III and Nikon D800 may be the two greatest cameras on Earth as they both pack professional features into an affordable (though perhaps by saving a bit), amateur price. While much has been debated about the still picture quality, most notable the all-important high ISO performance, there is another, often overlooked facet to both cameras: video.

With the 5D Mark II, canon became the first dSLR to feature full HD video capability (the previous Nikon D90 had lower-resolution, 720p video). As for Nikon, until 2012, no full frame Nikon camera even offered HD video, with the 720p option on the band-aid D3s being the best a FF Nikon could do as neither the D3, D700, or $8,000 D3x could shoot movies. Now, come 2012, the game has changed as Canon has refined its video capability and Nikon has suddenly made video a top selling point.

Recently, Daniel Chung, an award-winning photographer and videographer, was able to do a head-to-head comparison of the brand new cameras. In his test, Chung shot videos with both in identical conditions and then analyzed the results. Note: these are teal-world examples, not studio shots, which may be better in the long run for evaluating a camera's real life performance.