[larryrobins]

I thought it was a great idea to combine the optics of a prosumer still camera and the quality of a video camera but something is not quite right here. After reading the posts I went and looked at the samples on the Nikon site. As someone who shoots professional video, something in the video Nikon is showing on the site is not up to snuff. They look uniformly soft. If you go and look at the downloadable video samples shot on a RedOne camera you will see that this is not the norm for very high end digital video. It's not because of 720p as I shoot that format all the time and it can look uniformly sharp when we want it to look sharp. The stills from the camera look fine. It could certainly be the compression. Nikon is not known as a video company and perhaps whoever did the compression did not do so with a fine enough compression algorithm. I'd like to see the actual video samples from the camera. NIkon should post them. For my money, the idea of putting video on a large chip still camera is a great one.I'd buy one in a minute. But I think I may have to wait for a EOS 1d mark IV with 24 fps second capability. It shouldn't take too long for that to happen. As for auto-focus, it would be nice but don't expect that level of auto focus any time soon. Virtually all of the motion picture cameras (digital and film) that utilize large chips and and shallow focus require a focus puller. Either the operator or more commonly, an assistant cameraman. It's a very difficult and craft intensive proposition. Look at all the difficulty Canon has had keeping the current iteration of their mark III in focus at 10fps. Anyway, I applaud Nikon for their effort and I hope it looks better on a video monitor than it does on my computer screen. If it does, I'll probably buy one and let my Canon investment rest until they come up with the same or better. BTW, 24fps is the film and digital film standard for almost all production though there is some argument about whether or not it's ideal as increasing frame rate is a way to relatively painlessly increase data rate.
LR

[doom102938]

It actually is a very good still camera. i'm considering to purchase it as my first DSLR and having the ability to take hd video pretty much sealed the deal.. now i need to wait until it is launched in singapore.
Manual focus is actually better.. because you might want to focus something nearer to the camera but the camera might focus behind it.. somehow ruining the film..

One device that takes good quality photos and good quality hd video is a plus too.. do you prefer carrying a d60 and a hd video camera.. or just one device.. further more.. a decent hd video camera starts at sgd 1k+ and with the d60 probably around 2k.. with 2x the stuff to carry.. as opposed to the d90..

From sample pictures.. iso performance seems quite good:) even iso 3200 is usable.. +increased still fame shot.. 4.5fps..
and a improved lens with vr compared to the d80.

[xStep]

Several customers have posted some test video on Vimeo. Just enter the keyword D90 to find them.
An interesting one is this; http://www.vimeo.com/1688532