Just checked out the demo reel....you can't get that kind of versatility in video for the price range. The lenses alone for interchangeable video costs a few grand individually. This is the start of something really nice if you ask me.
andylaiphoto wrote:
I'd want one just for the complete manual focus control and depth of field.
Agreed, so many seem to be complaining about the lack of AF in video mode without realizing that AF is, more often than not, not necessarily desirable when shooting pro quality video. (thinks like wildlife tracking excluded perhaps)
There's a reason we have professional 'focus pullers' in the movie business, when you go from still images to moving pictures changes in plane of focus suddenly become very very apparent and aren't the sort of thing to take lightly. You don't want AF zipping about, chattering back and forth, or just flat out messing up.
I think the whole thing is very very exciting, not just as a wedding & news shooter, but as an image maker in general.
Gary Petersen wrote:
If I wanted a movie camera I'd buy one.
I'm sure this was a sentiment for a large segment of people when AF was introduced, then with AI Servo, then with..... ad nauseam. I would bet 90% of people in the landscape forum never use AI Servo and a high percentage probably never use AF either.
I can understand why you might think you'd never use it, but what a cool feature to have nonetheless.
This thing will definitely be an incredible docu/travel camera. I dunno about you, but I'd love to be able to see what Marc Adamus goes through to get a shot up in the cascades. You'd never be able to see that unless he added a camcorder, batteries, accessories, etc etc. to his 75 lb pack. Doubt he's eager to do that anytime soon.
Hell, I'd be fascinated to see how lots of shots are made, not just somebody like MA. Storm chasers, Nat Geo guys on assignment, etc etc...
New 'credible' rumors over on gizmodo says the 5d2 is getting this as well, so I'm very excited.
ajkessler wrote:
New 'credible' rumors over on gizmodo says the 5d2 is getting this as well, so I'm very excited.
If, then hopefully with AF though
Seriously: while AF may be irrelevant on your $100k movie camera, where you have focus pushers or whatever it was called above, on a sub-$1k camera I just have the monkey behind the camera, taking a quick movie (instead of photos) of the kid on a tricycle. How your _average_ D90-segment user is expected to focus while tracking your _typical_ D90 segment subject matter is beyond me.
I was a bit skeptical of AF back in the 80s, when I was still young, but when I finally collected enough dough in 1994 I got an EOS-1 and never looked back. I do hang out on the Landscape forum (time permitting) and my 1Ds3 is actually most of the time in Servo mode, because my kids move (very much so!) and can't imagine my video camera (HF10 currently) to be without AF. I am sure most folks in the market for a D90 will tell you the same.
If the most recent suggested specs of the 5D2 are true (where I have no doubt that they aren't, but one can dream), and the video mode is in, esp. with AF, I'd be elated, and somewhat worried about the future of my 1Ds3. But now that's all just speculation of course, to be left to the pinned thread
Well, "need" is kind of subjective thing these days but Nikon is clearly assuming that a lot of people will jump at the chance to use their high quality (D)SLR lenses to shoot (HD) video. As a number of people have observed, now that they've done it, others will follow. In other words, you're likely to get video in your DSLR whether you need it or not!
Mark Vorenkamp wrote:
Canon likely waited as long as possible to add this feature so they can still keep selling video cameras. Now that Nikon has it, Canon will add it.
Mark
+1
We are all familiar with the advantages of a larger format. If not, we'd all be using digital elphs instead of 5Ds. Why wouldn't those interested in video want these advantages too? These platforms (capturing stills, and capturing a very fast sequence of stills) are just to similar not to merge eventually.
By far the most expensive part of these cameras is the image sensor, because the chip itself must stay a fixed size and overall chip yield rates start dropping really fast with bigger chips. And let's not forget about the thousands we all have invested in glass. Why wouldn't it be a good idea to leverage these investments (or consumer durables, for us non-professionals) for video as well?
In comparison with the rest of the hardware put into these cameras, the chip to read out the data collected by the sensor and compress it into 720/24P video is just not that much of a challenge. And, with the outstanding H.264 compression available today, and rapidly expanding flash memory, you can actually fit a lot of video on a CF card.
I know everyone has their own requirements, but video is the only feature I'll upgrade from the 5D for. I don't need any more resolution, I don't shoot sports generally so the AF is quite adequate, and the high ISO is already so good that I've reached the point of diminishing returns. 35mm quality video, on the other hand, seems like a fun addition with a lot of creative potential. For those like myself for whom cameras/photography is a creative outlet rather than a specialized professional tool, video is a highly desirable feature.
This became technologically possible a year or two ago, but it will take time and competition for these product lines to (at least partially) merge. Michael Reichmann has been talking about this for a while now. Major kudos to Nikon for introducing this feature first and getting the ball rolling.
I've actually been looking at buying a cheaper HD video camera. If the video quality is good on these new dslr's I'm defiantly going to be in the market for one.
Within the next 6 months I'm going to be buying a high quality dslr underwater housing. If I could get a high quality video rig at the same time I'd be really happy!
NOW that we're starting to have video and external HDDs on DSLRs, let's get turn by turn directions, a touch screen, an organizer, a radar/laser detector, a walkie-talkie, a shock absorber to protect the internal components, a sat phone with a dish built into these DSLRs for INSTANT uploads, a kevlar shell with titanium underneath to stop bullets, shrapnel, and debris that may be flying at you. THAT would be THE ULTIMATE toughcamera!!!
