[Macworld]

Post your comments for Nikon?s D90 SLR shoots Hi-Def movie clips here

[Steve_S]

I'm sure the Nikon D90 is a fine camera, but I can't imagine the demand for video is very high on a dSLR camera, much less manual focus video. If they are going to implement a feature, they should do it right or not do it at all.

[voyager]

Great to see Nikon cameras just gets better and better.
I don't think anyone will buy a D90 for video. But it's great and convenient for those who love quality still images and just need video in some rear situations.
Shooting video with any Nikon lenses may just open up a new dimension for anyone. Wow!
Great works of Nikon.

[Jeffco8]

I love the video option. I would like the ability to shoot 1080p at 24fps and have an audio input for a pro mike, but this is a still camera.
I am not ready to trade in my D200 until they get a 16+ MP camera.

[xStep]

This movie mode sounds like a hack. Two odd ball sizes, only 24fps, motion jpeg, and the container is an AVI file. I'm with Steve S. on this one; "If they are going to implement a feature, they should do it right or not do it at all".

[ineedmoresleep]

"If they are going to implement a feature, they should do it right or not do it at all"
Well I think you got it right and so did they. Odd ball sizes? So 720p is odd ball? You guys need to know something before you spout nonsense.
The video 'feature' is extremely useful - first of all not having autofocus is a good thing - Professional video cams use manual focus entirely. You don't want to rely on autofocus - you want perfect. With the 3" high rez screen you'll be able to easily judge focus. Not only that but if you are at wide angle the dof will not come into play as much.

[Adammiller]

The demand may not be high simply because nobody has experienced it yet. If you listen to the pioneers of digital photography talk, they all seem to think that DSLR's will all one day shoot high quality video, have GPS capabilities and connect to wifi to upload strait to something like flickr. I carry a Canon G9 with me everywhere I go. With that camera I have the ability to shoot a good manually adjusted RAW image, flip a switch and record a decent video. Its a extremely powerful thing to be able to do this and after using it for the past six months, I find myself wanting to be able to record short clips with my higher end DSLR's. I don't want to record amazing video with it... even though it would be nice but rather just catch a small clip here and there. Possibly just as a note taker. You have to remember that camera companies are out to make money and there are plenty of soccer moms who will stand in circuit city and think "o yea video and great photos... that sounds nice" and that will be the selling point that sells the camera. Check Nikons site for a video demonstrating its quality. I was pretty impressed. Its important to embrace this stuff as it comes along because its most likely where were headed.

[pinktech]

I'm a Canon fangirl and I think the video feature is going to be a huge hit with consumers. I'm an electronics rep. Almost every day, I hear a point & shoot customer ask if the DSLR they're considering stepping up to can record movies. They don't care about arcane pixel peeping, RAW sizes, quirks of optics, et al. They want to take nice pictures and movies of their dog at the park. And with a better lens than they're used to. This is a step up consumer camera, not a pro shooter, not a base model. If the feature works, it will be a hit.

[xStep]

ineedmoresleep said:

Well I think you got it right and so did they. Odd ball sizes? So 720p is odd ball? You guys need to know something before you spout nonsense.

And you need to learn to read. I said "two odd ball sizes"; 320-by-216 and 640-by-424 are odd ball.

[Felix001]

As already mentioned above, I wouldn't buy the Nikon D90 (specifically) for the video capability but it's certainly icing on the cake. I wish the new Canon D50 had incorporated something similar. But I've got too much money tied up in lenses and accessories to even remotely consider switching brands. So I'll have to wait for Canon to play catchup. And continue to wonder what the official release of the full-frame 5D replacement will bring to the table.

[ineedmoresleep]

You're right I missed that but it's still a silly point as it is not hard to adjust the size in post process. Obviously it would have been nice for true 480 or 240 but sizing up slightly won't kill quality - especially on tv sets which are generally very forgiving.

[Steve_S]

ineedmoresleep said:

>You guys need to know something before you spout nonsense.

Okay, let's hear the advice from our resident "expert".

Quote

The video 'feature' is extremely useful

Yeah, sure, about as "useful" as the video feature that comes with my point and shoot camera. It's okay in a pinch, but it's not a replacement for my video camcorder.

>- first of all not having autofocus is a good thing - Professional video cams use manual focus entirely.

No offense, but you're living in a fantasy world if you actually believe this. Manual focus may be fine for a video professional shooting in a studio environment. It's not fine for a consumer device. It's okay as an option, but not okay as the only option. The D90 isn't really meant as a pro device, so you're making a big leap in terms of user expectations.

Also, I'm not complaining about 720p. Obviously, 1080p would be much better though. The camera sensor would certainly be able to handle it. However, 24fps is certainly the low end of the quality scale there as well. 720p can go up to 60fps, but not on this camera. Once again, if they are going to implement a feature, they should do it right. This isn't it. If you think it is, I have a bridge to sell you... ;-)

[ineedmoresleep]

I'm no video wiz but calling it P&S quality is ridiculous. The noise improvement alone is huge. Funny how you didn't mention that? How about DOF options with the vast array of lenses available... or wide-angle/fisheye? Yes, 1080p would have been nice but 720p is great and can be upscaled favorably for HD sets.

I'm not sure where you get off saying the video feature isn't useful - you haven't used it yet. I'm basing my stance on fact. These are the specs. Read them. If you still think it's useless then fine - I'll be enjoying them while you stand there being positive you were right.

[adammiller]

Steve,
Your not forced to buy this product so do yourself a favor and stop worrying about it if your not interested. Its ridiculous to act like you know exactly what everyone is looking for in a product. I don't think that Nikon completely hit this the way they could have but like I said before, its most likely the beginning of something we will se much more of in the future. If your online writing post about digital cameras, its very safe to say that you know way more about digital cameras and digital photography in general than 90% of the people who will purchase this camera. With that said, most of this cameras owners won't know what fps is or what standard NTSC video size is and probably don't care to know. I think auto focus is something that these more inexperienced users may look for but if your not interested in using it, what do you care? The next module may have auto focus or maybe it wont but know one benefits from you acting like the features your looking for are the exact features everyone is looking for.