Nikon D90 – UPDATE

My Original Post
I sort of blew off the D90 movie mode rumors from our friend at Nikon Rumors. Now that I see it in action, I can see a lot of great uses. As pointed out by some readers, the DOF will be crazy fun to work with.

I have my name on the local stores list for a D90 & 50 1.4. I'll give it a shot at a couple of weddings to see if I can get some cool candid video moments.

It could just be novelty, but I'm eager to give it a whirl.

I just assumed Canon would have done this first.

Please don't stop coming to Canon Rumors because I will be using a Nikon for a bit!

Reader Response – Kwanonista

You should at least wait for the 5DMkII, which if your rumors sources are correct would have a superior movie mode, 1920×1080 full HD format, instead of the D90's smaller 720p mode. Having read the preview at DPR, I came to the opposite conclusion regarding the D90's movie mode. It is a rather primitive experiment, for the ff reasons:

– at the highest 720p resolution, the clips can only last for 5 minutes, no doubt because the sensor might “burn out” if used for a longer period. Live View modes in the various SLRs also have time limits for the same reason.

– there is NO AF at all when using the movie mode, so people can forget about “shallow DOF-effects” unless you're using a tripod and the subjects are brick walls & statues. =P

– the optional sound is strictly mono-only.

I think the tag of “world's first DSLR with movie mode” is rather premature, since the still-unannounced 5DMkII would most likely have the same feature, and both the D90 & 5DMkII would be released at roughly the same time. Nikon can claim they were the first to announce a DSLR with movie mode, but not the first to release one. Announcing vaporware is not the same as delivering it at the same time. Wait a while for September-October and we prolly would have 3 DSLRs from Canon, Nikon & Sony all claiming to have the “first DSLR with movie mode”.

Personally, I'm not impressed with the D90 overall, just looking at the models bracketing it (450D, 40D & 50D). Aside from the 5DMKII, the 500D slated early next year would most assuredly have this same novelty feature, albeit at full HD 1080p resolution & better usability (i.e., none of the D90's limitations).

Also, I've read one of the reasons why Canon didn't make a push for this movie mode in their DSLRs even earlier than Nikon is that in some countries (mostly EU?), a “movie-taking device” nets a higher government tax than a pure “stills-recording device”.

This is also aside from the obvious fact that both Canon & Sony have a thriving pro & amateur video cam market for themselves since they are both large electronics companies, unlike Nikon whose business is more or less just optics & still cameras, so there are no products in the Nikon lineup which would be cannibalized (aside from their P&S movie-taking cams).”

Thanks Kwanonista, clearly I was going loopy and you brought me back. I really fell for Nikon's marketing movies… they're great. This is less practical than I thought. I will still try one out however.