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D90 movie function is a game changer!!!

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semorg

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D90 movie mode is a game changer and will alter the future of SLR.

I've been a canon user since 1993 when I bought my A2e. Canon seem to always push the innovation button from that day on, but lately I think they are getting a bit complacent. I hope in a few weeks I am proven wrong, but am sad that Canon is sticking with the same formula of adding incremental pixels every release cycle instead of thinking out of the box.

They were behind in sensor cleaning technology, They got behind in high iso feature and now, they seem to completely missed the boat on video.

I know some of you might say, who cares about video. The fact is, journalism is changing and every outfit is asking their journalist to carry a video or become familiar with it. Single images will always be special in their power, but the world wants to see video.

D90 has it's limitation with pre-focusing and audio quality. It seems to me nikon is testing the waters with video with this model. If they see an uptake due to video, you can bit your retirement that their next camera will build up on this, with mic in connectors, and live focusing.

I also predict D90 will change the indi movie world and put a huge damper on the RED company. Many indi movie makers love HD but don't like the deep DOF and long for the shallow DOP of 35 film. Guess what? They got their wish for less than $1000 on a system that already has numerous amount of quality lenses.

Some of you may not know, but many inspiring movie makers have resorted to buying a ground glass adapters which enable usage of 35mm lenses in a way it retains the DOF. It works by having the 35mm lens project their image on a ground glass the same way it projects it on a film plane. For anyone who has used a view camera you know what I mean. Then the HD video captures the projected (which is inverted) image and retains the DOF of projected image. The result is a soft (because of ground glass) but film like DOF. These contraptions alone costs $1000 plus and they never allow the full quality of original lens shine through.

Just imagine the possibilities of this for any inspiring movie maker. All you need is 2-3 of these cameras, external sound capture and a few nice glasses and you create images that in look and feel would match $20,000 + cameras.

Though this might be a small market, but not the less it will be game changer in indi movie and will secondary spill over effect to Nikon world.

The other use I see for this, is for underwater guys. Now you just need one housing to capture high quality underwater images and videos.

I'll wait and see a bit to see what Canon comes up with. If I don't see anything, I might just buy a Nikon and a kit lens (in addition to my Canon gear) for the video function alone.

Now I'll wait for your attacks :)

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D90? What's that?
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I can't see any serious indie producer using the D90--not with a 5 minute limitation on clips. That's a serious problem, along with the fact that any recorded audio is in mono.

I've always believed in using the tools that were designed for the job: phone for talking, camera for taking photos, video camera for taking video. Convergence frequently allows cross functionality, but at a loss in quality to all the elements that are converged.

But, we will see.
 
professorgb said:
I can't see any serious indie producer using the D90--not with a 5
minute limitation on clips.
Click to expand...
What if you stop for a second and make another 5 minutes high res movie? Uncut scenes over 5 minutes are rare.
This is just the beginning, Canon has to play.
 
I agree with the OP. I think the video function is awesome. Just think, if Canon did this, you not only would be able to use the entire EF and EF-s series for video, but also any manual focus lenses you have (with an adapter). Thinks about the possibilities that open that up! I don't know why people naysay HD video in a DSLR. It looks like Nikon has answer to every single one of Canon's offerings. I wonder how Nikon answer when Canon releases the 5D MKII.
 
Theo Keijzers said:
professorgb said:
I can't see any serious indie producer using the D90--not with a 5
minute limitation on clips.
Click to expand...
What if you stop for a second and make another 5 minutes high res
movie? Uncut scenes over 5 minutes are rare.
This is just the beginning, Canon has to play.
Click to expand...
That's exactly right, rarely do you even see an uncut scene more than 1-2 min long, let alone 5 min.
 
Who would have ever guessed that the 1D forum would turn into a bunch vacationers wanting video out of an SLR still camera. First they let the FF 30D in and now the place has gone to pot! No wonder pros and other serious photographers forum some place else.
 
while it's true that not just pros, but even amateurs will stuck to videocams to shoot video (as a videocam has a lot of stuff and parameters to tweek), I agree that in some cases what the D90 already offers may be useful in some scenarios:

-photogs needing a short clip for youtube or for web-based newspapers
-fast documenting of setups

-indies wanting shallow 35mm DOF for some takes, which btw, last just a few secs (and for less than a video to 35mm lens adapter!)

I also agree that Nikon is probably testing waters with the D90. The video feature might need some better or more sophisticated metering and more elaborated frame rate and video compression algorythms, (forget about stuff like autofocus for instance, unless you have BIG batteries), but it may take off very rapidly.

Bottom line is that Canon is now lost in the water playing catchup, while Nikon is driving ahead with innovation. The 50D will have a difficult time again the D90 indeed.

On top of that, Nikon is now also cheaper than Canon! (who'd have said!)
 
Those "1-2 min long" sequences you see on the TV are usually the result of editing down from HOURS of video footage - often from multiple cameras at different angles. Try to produce a professional looking video by stopping and starting your handycam and you'll quickly see the futility of this.
 
DSLR sales are a very small % of sales for both Canon and Nikon.. I believe in the 10-15% range for each company. The market for this type of thing is ALREADY being handled by the point and shoot market. Even if 25% of the people who use DSLR's would be interested in this, thats a TINY portion of their market share and total revenue.

Besides, this is just stupid.. If you want a movie camera buy a camcorder.
 
I think you seriously underestimate the Canon technology that has been in development for 2-4 years while new models with relatively uninspiring incremental changes have appeared. The new DIGIC IV cameras are going to blow Nikon out of the water in image quality and usability. Following that it's time to look for new lenses that can actually provide the image quality needed for the new sensors and image processing.

I'm not sure why it is taking Canon so long to wrap up the total package but it'll be here, and the jealousy will flip the other way. As is perfectly natural.

I'm glad Canon has good competition, and I'm sure every other Canon and Nikon user has benefited from it too.
 
YouTube is becoming a real crossroads of world culture. And many commercial website are using YouTube style videos for information and sales. People to people contact. Face to face. It's called face time and both consumer and commercial websites are buying into it big time. Meet the staff. Meet the consumer who is satisfied with the product or service.

During our photo shoot first of the week using models, customers and staff as talent, if I could have used the modeling lights and shot a little light video it would have been great. Then we would have had all the great shots for the website, ads and brochures, plus some video testimonials and pitches to use through YouTube on the website as well. With the talent up and primed after the stills, we could just flick a switch and grab some quick video without changing lights, set-up or camera.
 
Notwithstanding the fact that this post is in wrong forum, I will still comment on it.

I agree that Video feature on D90 will a boon to a lot of small film makers. However that is a niche market. What Nikon is really after, presumably, is a large crowd that would like to upgrade from their compact cameras but are afraid that they will loose the video capability.

I know people who don't want to get into DSLR for this specific reason. What? Spend more money to get less features! I think that video feature will be a major draw for consumers upgrading from a compact camera, and may seal the deal in favor of Nikon in many cases.

I think that with its price/features, D90 is better placed then Canon 50D/XSi for the new entrants in market (for the existing canon crowd, it does not matter) and that is where Nikon hopes to succeed.
 
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