New Nikon SLR camera shoots high-def movies, too

[korys_ins]

Interesting how Competition is stiffening I wonder what you think of this I understand that its not available yet to

judge but what about the idea? Is canon going to follow ?

 

Nikon Inc. today announced the D90, a digital single lens reflex (SLR) camera that redefines the creative boundaries

of digital photography allowing photographers to easily create stunning still images and High Definition (HD) movie

clips with sound -- with the same camera. A host of Nikon core technologies were leveraged to develop the D90's

scope of versatility, calling on years of photographic and optical expertise. Whether consumers are graduating from

an advanced compact digital camera or are a seasoned D-SLR enthusiast, the Nikon D90 emphasizes brilliant image

quality and versatility with its exclusive advanced Scene Recognition System, intuitive creative controls, blazing fast

performance and the industry-first ability to create HD movie clips at 720p in the new D-Movie mode.

[bobatkins]

Everyone is going to follow. I've said for the last year or more that this was coming.

 

Once you have liveview with contrast detection focusing, you have 95% of the process in place to make movies. Why

not add the extra 5% (which is just firmware) to shoot movies. Even if you don't particularly think it's something you'll

use, it's still an excellent marketing feature. Nikon has it, the others don't.

 

I'd expect to see it on the next Digital Rebel and the EOS 60D. It may take longer to trickle into the 1D series, but

there's really no reason not to include it eventually.

 

The next thing will be tilt and swivel, swing out LCDs like Sony already has on a couple of models.

 

How did we live so long without this....

[digitmstr]

>>The next thing will be tilt and swivel, swing out LCDs <<

 

That is something I have been wanting. I miss my old Rolleiflex, waist-level finder :)

 

Obviously, at some point, the DSLR will become a movie camera, and viceversa. The morphing will be complete.

 

Taking digital movies with some great, changeable lenses must be cool!

[g dan mitchell]

"The next thing will be tilt and swivel, swing out LCDs"

 

That is one feature from my Canon Pro 1 digicam that I miss on my Canon DSLR...

[bobatkins]

Have patience (or buy a Sony). It will come. There's no reason not to do it. The technology is already there. When they run out of other things to add, they'll add a tilt and swivel LCD.

 

With movies, the next we'll need is a jack for an external stereo microphone.

 

Cheaper and easier Geotagging is also on the list. The D90 can do it with an external GPS unit, but no word yet on what the cost of that will be. It's certainly possible to do it for under $100 today.

 

Canon have said that they expect to see cameras with built in GPS in the next two years, though they didn't say if they expected to see it on DLSRs and they didn't say if they expected to see it in a Canon camera. However they have said they are thinking about it and they do have geotagging available via the wireless transmitter option (clumsy and expensive for now). It's going to get easier, whether you want it or not.

 

We're also going to see automatic tagging of images, so portraits will be tagged as "portrait" and landscapes as "landscape", via auto image recognition technology. We have face recognition technology now.

[PuppyDigs]

I guess something is wrong with me, but I don't give rat's tail about shooting video clips with a SLR. I've owned several

digicams and haven't used said feature even once. Somehow I prefer capturing a moment as opposed to a minute. If I

seriously wanted to shoot video, I'd buy a video camera with all the bells 'n whistles.

 

Don't care about a tilting LCD either. No time to chimp and would probably break such a weak contraption off by accident anyway. What I'd

really like is shiftable

DEP mode and ECF...

[digitmstr]

I'd use the tilt screen for framing, like for angles where it's no possible to shoot otherwise.

<p>

<a href=http://chsvimg.nikon.com/products/imaging/lineup/d90/en/d-movie/>Here's</a> the link the movie page. They look good but, of course there is no AF in movie mode.

[jim_larson1]

Well. . . I occassionaly shoot live music from the audience. Tilt and swivel would be simply AWESOME. Although

honestly. . .live view gets the job done (sort of). When they make live view work well (or rather, when I figure out how

to make it work well). . .then we will have something. . .

 

Nikon is REALLY upping the bar. YAHOOOO! Consider the yawner that was the 30D. 18 monthes after the 20D, and

they don't even bother with a new sensor. People were declaring the pixel war over. Now. . .the 40D is one upped at

6 monthes by a dRebel and at 12 monthes by the 50D.

 

Competition is good for the consumer.

[matthijs]

Maybe a silly question because I'm not at home with the physics involved but how about "tilt and shift" sensors so you can do without T&S lenses as the next improvement?

 

Regards, Matthijs.

[robert_edelman1]

I suspect that tilt screens will become popular with organic LED (OLED) technology.

What struck me the most from a marketing standpoint is the $400 lower price on the Nikon D90 vs the Canon 50D. Does the 50D offer more robust construction or a better viewfinder than the D90? I know that the Canon has more pixels and a faster frame rate, but when people entering the dSLR market look at features such as movie mode on the Nikon, the lower price might seal the deal.

[alan_green4]

there is a video of chase jarvis trying out the D90 as well as samples of video shot with the camera here:

 

http://www.chasejarvisandfriends.com/

[chrisjb]

I`ve used the video mode on my lil A640 and it does a reasonable job convert to .wmv or .mpeg and email. Its a novel twist to dslr, I could offer my niteclub and restaurant customers. And the swivel and adjustable screen is great too. I think we`ll lose a few passport sales over the self portrait ease :) Ah well gotta move with the demands

[andy_witkowski]

I'm waiting for super HD movie mode. Being able to capture 24fps in full megapixel mode (12mpx or whatever it is). That will be the true merge between video and still...being able to pic a frame our of a movie stream and use it as a still photo.

[digitmstr]

This is great for PJ and sports as well.

[vadtel]

Did anybody try to use all in one printer-fax scanner for fine art printing?! It's probably not a bad thing for home office needs but has no connection to photography, right?

[yakim_peled1]

Video without AF (even a slow contrast detect AF will do) is not at all appealing to me.

 

Happy shooting,

Yakim.

[gregf]

This is a gimmick aimed at low-end consumer products. Jack of all trades, master of none. I want a still camera that takes photographs. I really hope Canon does not follow suit.

[mark u]

I think you will see video at both the Rebel and 1D level - and probably almost everywhere in between. The original 1D was after all a 4MP camera, precisely because that provided "acceptable" resolution for newsprint (even after some cropping), and because that was the highest resolution that could be handled at 8fps at the time. Photojournalism is moving towards having video as an important component. 10fps is not enough even for Chaplinesque video.

 

I do think that focus raises some interesting issues. Modern SLR lenses typically have very short focus throw, making on-the-run focus pulling extremely tricky - yet contrast AF systems are slow and poor with a moving subject. Working with a heavy fast lens on the front of the camera is not going to be easy if you are trying to use the rear LCD for focus and composition. Perhaps we will see a hotshoe mounted AF aid (i.e. lens and AF sensor) and use of Sony's hybrid LCD in the viewfinder system for video. Using a stopped down wide angle isn't really a good solution.

[photo_dark]

A feature that is useful to some shouldn't be left out because it isn't useful to others. I don't think i'd use video... maybe I would... But I know some would, so why not?

 

People said live view was a stupid idea.... I use it all the time for overhead shots and macro's.

 

Who cares if it's aimed at consumers.... it's just another great feature to have. Are you going to take crummier pictures because you are distracted by the fact your camera also takes movies?

[digitmstr]

It's not a gimmick. EVery new feature has to start out at a basic level. I can't tell you how many people said "it's a gimmick" talking about AF when it was first introduced!

 

At the price point of the D90 you can't expect much more, at this point. Like always, this feature will evolve and the prices will come down, relatively speaking.

 

This can be a really useful tool (perhaps not at this early implementation) for documenting all sorts of stuff, from sports to war reportage, news events, etc... Nothing to be dismissed as gimmick per se. The idea was there and it is a matter of time before it becomes a full blown V-DSLR.

 

Ergonomically speaking, video is better taken with a monitor and or a different holding position but, that too will change eventually. At some point we may have a V-DSLR that will be more like a medium format body style, like the Pentax 645 or the Canon XH video camera.

 

I think it's about time that video was included in DSLR. Not because all of a sudden you are goin to make "movie" at this stage but, because it's a good tool to have available, 'on the spot', for several reasons.

[jmarshall]

Difficulty with autofocus is an issue. To me, the storage of the video in a compressed format on SD cards is also a concern. I'd just rather have the uncompressed video on a mini-DV tape. However, I'm also the person who went on a once-in-a-lifetime trip ... and left the charger for the camcorder battery at home. So, I can also see that the compressed video would be better than nothing.

 

As long as what's needed to take stills isn't compromised in any way to make the video functions available, I don't have a problem with it. I might not plan to use the video capability ... but you never know.

[KenPapai]

What I would like in next camera is a microphone -- a 10 sec. sound clip for each image you shoot. Somtimes verbal annotation would be so handy. Also, only adds 60KB to a raw too. Please!

 

Anyway, 720p is not HD in my book -- Real HD is 1920 x 1080.

[robert lee]

Great feature. I really look forward to this migrating over to the Canon lineup.

 

If implemented reasonably, this should mean the kind of video quality unobtainable up until now except on >$10K pro and almost broadcast level equipment. No, I don't mean the HD part of it (though 4K would quite the coup, eh?) The difference is the relatively large DSLR sensor would enable shallow DOF.

 

Digressing a bit, but I'really look forward to when the optical mirror box can be made to go away too. A well implemented EVF would just be so much nicer.

[erick_kyogoku]

Permit me to invite anyone whose interest is piqued by video in DSLR to read an insightful and prescient article published 4

months ago at <a href="http://www.luminous-landscape.com/essays/convergence.shtmll">Luminous Landscape</a>.<p>

I may not have an immediate need for it, but if my next DSLR has built-in high quality video then I'll gingerly learn a new

form of motion art, probably learn Final Cut, and find within an inchoate creativity that I'd never tapped before. Remember

that this is just a 1.0 video convergence: in time there will be auto focus, and storage costs have become vanishingly thin.

[keith reeder]

Gimmick.