D90 & Movie Mode

Guys,

I've read a couple of opinions on the movie mode included in the new Nikon
D90, and that many expect this to be a feature common to dSLRs moving
forward. The opinions center on increased use of movie mode by action
photographers, and editors then picking out the ideal photo from the movie
clip. Knowing less than nothing about the movie mode, will this be a
practical application for the amateur user?

I'm asking as I'm really on the fence re the D90 vs. D300. I'm currently
using a D70, and have been really happy w/ it. New features in a camera
that interest me are the 3" LCD, ADR (or as Nikon calls it Active
D-Lighting), Live View (how much I'll use it I'm not sure at this point). I
know both the D90 and D300 have these features. What I'm not sure about is
how much I'd use the movie mode in the D90, unless as I mentioned above the
ability to pull stills from a video clip is practical.

Jeff

Jeff Heyen wrote:
Guys,

I've read a couple of opinions on the movie mode included in the new Nikon
D90, and that many expect this to be a feature common to dSLRs moving
forward. The opinions center on increased use of movie mode by action
photographers, and editors then picking out the ideal photo from the movie
clip. Knowing less than nothing about the movie mode, will this be a
practical application for the amateur user?

Not with the D90. Its movie mode is at a much lower resolution.
The Casio EX-F1 does attempt to do something just like that, though.

--
Ray Fischer

"Jeff Heyen" wrote in message
. ..


I've read a couple of opinions on the movie mode included in the new Nikon
D90, and that many expect this to be a feature common to dSLRs moving
forward. The opinions center on increased use of movie mode by action
photographers, and editors then picking out the ideal photo from the movie
clip. Knowing less than nothing about the movie mode, will this be a
practical application for the amateur user?

I'm asking as I'm really on the fence re the D90 vs. D300. I'm currently
using a D70, and have been really happy w/ it. New features in a camera
that interest me are the 3" LCD, ADR (or as Nikon calls it Active
D-Lighting), Live View (how much I'll use it I'm not sure at this point).
I know both the D90 and D300 have these features. What I'm not sure about
is how much I'd use the movie mode in the D90, unless as I mentioned above
the ability to pull stills from a video clip is practical.


I am coming around to the idea of video on an SLR. I wasn't sure about
having a movie mode initially because I would prefer to have other new
features to improve still photography instead, such as built in ND filters
(low ISO), auto focus points positioned in more useable places for when
shooting moving subjects, etc. Also, when I first heard of a movie mode I
visualised the type of movie clips you get from mobile phones and P&S
cameras, which are pretty diabolical.

If I want to shoot video, then I would use my camcorder. That said, I will
only take either the still camera or the camcorder depending what I am
planning to shoot, because juggling between the two doesn't work very well
in practice. As I prefer still photography, this means that my camcorder
gets left at home most of the time. So, it will do no harm to have a video
function, after all you don't have to use it.

What will be interesting is whether the video that is produced will be on
the same/similar level as what you get out of a camcorder. If it's the same
quality that you get out of P&S and mobile phones, then it would be a
feature that I would never use. If it's on par with a camcorder, then it
would be a feature that could have it's benefits.

It will be interesting to know what happens to the noise levels in still
images if you have been using it to shoot video beforehand and then switch
to still.

As for action photographers using the video on this camera instead of
stills, I doubt it because of the low resolution. If they were going to do
this, then they would use a proper video camera with a higher resolution
instead (which I have seen paps using before). For this type of use I
wonder if we will start to see more of the likes of this
appearinghttp://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/0...es-aim-a.html).

"Paul" wrote in message
...

As for action photographers using the video on this camera instead of
stills, I doubt it because of the low resolution. If they were going to
do this, then they would use a proper video camera with a higher
resolution instead (which I have seen paps using before). For this type
of use I wonder if we will start to see more of the likes of this
appearinghttp://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/0...es-aim-a.html).


Sorry, I'm going to go slightly OT from the OP. Further to the above link
regarding the Red DSLR killer, I also came across this
(http://www.flickr.com/groups/twip/di...607215152834/).

In this post it says "As Nikon and Canon release their 720P and 1080P,
respectively, DSLRs with video capture... ". Where did they get the 1080P
from? Has something been leaked about the 5D replacement?

"Paul" wrote in message
...
"Jeff Heyen" wrote in message
. ..


I've read a couple of opinions on the movie mode included in the
new Nikon D90, and that many expect this to be a feature common to
dSLRs moving forward. The opinions center on increased use of
movie mode by action photographers, and editors then picking out
the ideal photo from the movie clip. Knowing less than nothing
about the movie mode, will this be a practical application for the
amateur user?

I'm asking as I'm really on the fence re the D90 vs. D300. I'm
currently using a D70, and have been really happy w/ it. New
features in a camera that interest me are the 3" LCD, ADR (or as
Nikon calls it Active D-Lighting), Live View (how much I'll use it
I'm not sure at this point). I know both the D90 and D300 have
these features. What I'm not sure about is how much I'd use the
movie mode in the D90, unless as I mentioned above the ability to
pull stills from a video clip is practical.


I am coming around to the idea of video on an SLR. I wasn't sure
about having a movie mode initially because I would prefer to have
other new features to improve still photography instead, such as
built in ND filters (low ISO), auto focus points positioned in more
useable places for when shooting moving subjects, etc. Also, when I
first heard of a movie mode I visualised the type of movie clips you
get from mobile phones and P&S cameras, which are pretty diabolical.

If I want to shoot video, then I would use my camcorder. That said,
I will only take either the still camera or the camcorder depending
what I am planning to shoot, because juggling between the two
doesn't work very well in practice. As I prefer still photography,
this means that my camcorder gets left at home most of the time.
So, it will do no harm to have a video function, after all you don't
have to use it.

What will be interesting is whether the video that is produced will
be on the same/similar level as what you get out of a camcorder. If
it's the same quality that you get out of P&S and mobile phones,
then it would be a feature that I would never use. If it's on par
with a camcorder, then it would be a feature that could have it's
benefits.

It will be interesting to know what happens to the noise levels in
still images if you have been using it to shoot video beforehand and
then switch to still.

As for action photographers using the video on this camera instead
of stills, I doubt it because of the low resolution. If they were
going to do this, then they would use a proper video camera with a
higher resolution instead (which I have seen paps using before).
For this type of use I wonder if we will start to see more of the
likes of this
appearinghttp://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/0...es-aim-a.html).


I have a 2 year old Sony Cybershot Point & Shoot Digital Camera with
movie mode.
I can shoot up to 60 minutes of video. The results are good enough to
produce as an edited ( using Adobe Premier Elements) excellent DVD's
in sound. The quality (video & sound) is good enough to show on my 19"
monitor or 20" TV.
It has a Zeiss Vario-Tessar 6.7-20.1mm lens.
The Nikon D90 has got to be far superior to my old Sony with its tiny
CMOS.

For the vast majority of high quality amateur work you will not see a
difference in image qulaity regardless of sensor in the Nikon line-up
(excepting at high ISOs) from cameras subsequent to the D70.
**** and moan but that is a fact because of the way most amateurs shoot and
print.
However when you look through the D200/80/90/300 the difference in the
viewing systems will justify any upgrade because the D70 has such a small,
dim viewfinder.
I have little interest in video per se but occasionally use my P&S or EVF
for that purpose.
Hence the inclusion of movie mode in the D90 may get me to buy this thing
when I swore I would sit out at least two upgrade cycles.

Jeff Heyen wrote:
Guys,

I've read a couple of opinions on the movie mode included in the new Nikon
D90, and that many expect this to be a feature common to dSLRs moving
forward. The opinions center on increased use of movie mode by action
photographers, and editors then picking out the ideal photo from the movie
clip. Knowing less than nothing about the movie mode, will this be a
practical application for the amateur user?

I'm asking as I'm really on the fence re the D90 vs. D300. I'm currently
using a D70, and have been really happy w/ it. New features in a camera
that interest me are the 3" LCD, ADR (or as Nikon calls it Active
D-Lighting), Live View (how much I'll use it I'm not sure at this point). I
know both the D90 and D300 have these features. What I'm not sure about is
how much I'd use the movie mode in the D90, unless as I mentioned above the
ability to pull stills from a video clip is practical.

From what I've read, the movie mode is not terribly refined and you get
panning artifacts amongst other irritants.

I think 'movie' mode will appear in more and more DSLR's over the next
few years; but video cameras will continue to be better at it than a
DSLR for a while to come.


--
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-- [SI] gallery & rulz: http://www.pbase.com/shootin
-- e-meil: Remove FreeLunch.
-- usenet posts from gmail.com and googlemail.com are filtered out.

"Frank Arthur" wrote in message
...

I have a 2 year old Sony Cybershot Point & Shoot Digital Camera with movie
mode.
I can shoot up to 60 minutes of video. The results are good enough to
produce as an edited ( using Adobe Premier Elements) excellent DVD's in
sound. The quality (video & sound) is good enough to show on my 19"
monitor or 20" TV.
It has a Zeiss Vario-Tessar 6.7-20.1mm lens.
The Nikon D90 has got to be far superior to my old Sony with its tiny
CMOS.


Just found an amateur clip. Image quality looks OK.
(http://guykawasaki.typepad.com/DSC_0018.AVI) (32MB)

You are however limited by 6 minutes of recording in HD. Also, the focus
locks during recording, which is a bit of a shame, especially if you are
using a big aperture lens.

On Sun, 14 Sep 2008 19:36:34 +0100, Paul wrote:

I can shoot up to 60 minutes of video. The results are good enough to
produce as an edited ( using Adobe Premier Elements) excellent DVD's in
sound. The quality (video & sound) is good enough to show on my 19"
monitor or 20" TV.
It has a Zeiss Vario-Tessar 6.7-20.1mm lens.
The Nikon D90 has got to be far superior to my old Sony with its tiny
CMOS.

Just found an amateur clip. Image quality looks OK.
(http://guykawasaki.typepad.com/DSC_0018.AVI) (32MB)

You are however limited by 6 minutes of recording in HD. Also, the
focus locks during recording, which is a bit of a shame, especially if
you are using a big aperture lens.

Rarely is more than 5 consecutive minutes of video really needed.
If shooting your own personal documentary, the next 5 minute clip
can be started almost immediately, or by shooting at less than HD
resolution, longer clips are possible, up to the same 60 minutes
according to the D90's manual. Also, are you sure that the focus
locks? You may not be able to have the camera AF but MF should
work, sacrificing convenience for control. Depending on the lens,
many should also be able to override the lens's AF switch position
and focus manually while shooting video.

"Jeff Heyen" wrote in message
. ..
Guys,

I've read a couple of opinions on the movie mode included in the new Nikon
D90, and that many expect this to be a feature common to dSLRs moving
forward. The opinions center on increased use of movie mode by action
photographers, and editors then picking out the ideal photo from the movie
clip. Knowing less than nothing about the movie mode, will this be a
practical application for the amateur user?

I'm asking as I'm really on the fence re the D90 vs. D300. I'm currently
using a D70, and have been really happy w/ it. New features in a camera
that interest me are the 3" LCD, ADR (or as Nikon calls it Active
D-Lighting), Live View (how much I'll use it I'm not sure at this point).
I know both the D90 and D300 have these features. What I'm not sure about
is how much I'd use the movie mode in the D90, unless as I mentioned above
the ability to pull stills from a video clip is practical.

Jeff


Guys, Thanks for the input. There were a lot of good thoughts. I'm getting
very grounded
in finding that the more meaningful upgrade to my D70 will be the D300.

Jeff