D90 720p video quality looks like from a professional film camera. I guess the lens do the job. The results are stunning.
I wonder how will this affect DSLR market and photographers etc. etc.
Second thing is how the focusing and autofocus works in this mode.
How is the recording done - what compression etc. etc.
I am not a video fan - but the samples I saw on Nikon website are unbelievable.
The lenses definitely help, but what is probably catching your eye is the shallow depth of field that no other consumer grade video camera can come close to because of the size of the sensor. I think few people realize how revolutionary this camera really is. No consumer grade video camera has a sensor even close to the size of the D90's.
All the recent posts to the effect pf "if I wanted video, I would buy a video camera" completely miss the point. You can't get video like this from any camera you can buy at Circuit City. Not even close.
Unfortunately, there is only manual focus while shooting videos. But if they gave us AF now, why would we ever upgrade to the D90x?
I think this is just the beginning. And I think there is a path (although these are just my ideas - I have no information that Nikon is pursuing any of these things) to a pro-level camera that has even better video.
Pro level video:
1080p instead of 720p
30fr option in addition to 24fr.
More than 20 second shooting time at highest resolution (vs. current 20 seconds)
stereo microphone input
stereo line input
SMPTE time code
digital video out? or audio/video out via HDMI? (Does the D90 already do this?)
And eventually: AutoFocus (although zooming and focusing pulling manually is part of the fun for video).
And maybe: a few lenses that will work for both still and video, but are geared more for video use - perhaps the placement and size of the focus/zoom rights with an extra smooth feel.
I was under the impression that the highest resolution has 5 minutes max... not 20 secs..
I didn't know that professional video cameras had AF?? I've seen video cameras that the TV stations use (say CTV here in Canada) and they all have focus and zoom on two separate handles...
Avi B wrote:
I was under the impression that the highest resolution has 5 minutes max... not 20 secs..
I didn't know that professional video cameras had AF?? I've seen video cameras that the TV stations use (say CTV here in Canada) and they all have focus and zoom on two separate handles...
im pretty sure I read somewhere its 5 minutes as well, not 20 seconds.
Yes it does look good. And wait for the 5D whatever to gets announced. There will be even more hoopla about video. God I hope they don't have AF. I won't be able to stand the pain.
I doubt Canon would undermine it's HD videocamera sales like this.
And AF? Well, who cares.
I'm really excited about the D90. First time ever I've been that excited about a camera. The D3 might have been good and everything else but the D90 is one I'm actually going to buy.
Apparently, according to this, you can hit the shutter button while recording video and you get a still frame too. Cool.
And it looks like AI lenses could be used with it, you just set manual exposure and record. I'd really like to see what videos I'll end up with the 105 at f/1.8. Hmmmm...yummy.
i use video for recording shot setup and location notes in the field. using the D90 for this instead of my Canon TX-1 would be really nice despite the major difference in size. the image quality from the larger sensor matters to me even for video. dynamic range on the TX-1 is very low and the lens flares really easily. 720p is enough for this work.
I was a little disappointed by the dynamic range in the dpreview video samples. I'm trying to not let that ruin my impression of it until I can get my hands on one but my money is still going into a scarlet.
Either way this really is a cool update from Nikon.
You think they are that smart. I guess we'll see.
