A seldom discussed topic for the D90... HD Video

[eric-holmes]

I am an avid wakeboarder in the summer. I always go to the lake with my friends and try to snap a lot of cool action shots. But this summer I was thinking of trying to piece together some awesome videos. Is there any risks of using the video function on the camera? I have heard about something and pixels. I will just stick to taking pictures if it will negatively affect the camera. But I NEVER hear of anyone using the video feature on their camera. Just looking for a little input.

 

[Live_free]

I am an avid wakeboarder in the summer. I always go to the lake with my friends and try to snap a lot of cool action shots. But this summer I was thinking of trying to piece together some awesome videos. Is there any risks of using the video function on the camera? I have heard about something and pixels. I will just stick to taking pictures if it will negatively affect the camera. But I NEVER hear of anyone using the video feature on their camera. Just looking for a little input.

I have the d90. The video function in an action sequence on ANY Dslr is useless because they simply can't autofocus fast enough. Many like the d90 don't auto focus in video at all. I have used it for artsy projects like for my video productions class of the breeze blowing in a field followed by people running through it in a peaceful way. However this was very hard. i find the capabilities of a dslr just are crap in the video department any way you spin it.

 

[icassell]

Well, I don't have any experience with the D90, but the video on my 7D is awesome (although I haven't used it much). The weakness on mine is the poor audio quality, but professional videographers who use the 7D and 5D Mk II have work-arounds.

 

[eric-holmes]

Many like the d90 don't auto focus in video at all.

I do find that to be a hindrance, but you can always manually focus.

 

[icassell]

I can't imagine there would be any risk to the camera from using the video. It was, after all, designed with video, right?

 

[IgsEMT]

D90 in video is a WHOLE lots of manual controls. Many people don't like, and others don't have a problem with it.
The only thing you should keep in mind is that water and electronics don't mix, so be careful.

 

[iPwnF00lz]

I'd prefer to have the video feature manual personally. I have seen quality and it's high and nice.

 

[Live_free]

Video shot with d90.
YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.

 

[Overread21]

Have a look around the net and join up to a few film/video forums and have a chat with the members there (find a big forum so there is more chance of responce). Many who are into stills photography are not into video work and even if they are many consider the DSLR video function to be "cheap".

It's is however far from cheap, it simply needs to be used in a different way to a stills camera capture. There are many in the video (esp amateurs) who are seriously looking and using the DSLR for both still video and action video work - it might have its limitations over a regular video camera, but for the features it does offer you would be looking at a lot of money to invest in a video camera for that purpose. Do have a look around as there is some fantastic work being made with these cameras.

 

[brianT]

Video shot with d90.
YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.

I don't shoot much video, but I generally find that the exposure lock needs to be used, otherwise there's a noticeable choppy 'jump' in exposure -- as evidenced in that example video. Of course, if using the exposure lock the framing is somewhat limited because you can't suddenly aim the camera at the sky as it would probably be completely blown out. However, just like any video production, good lighting is important.

 

[Sherman Banks]

Two words: Jelly effect.

I don't like the lack of exposure control either. Canon definitely has the upper hand here.

 

[dyyylan]

D90 in video is a WHOLE lots of manual controls. Many people don't like, and others don't have a problem with it.
The only thing you should keep in mind is that water and electronics don't mix, so be careful.

By manual controls you mean that you can't adjust anything on the D90 in video mode? You can't even change the aperture beyond a certain range unless you have a lens with an aperture ring, and the shutter speed/iso are all automatic unless you do crazy stuff to trick it.

The 7D's video feature, as mentioned above, is very robust.

this isn't to say you can't get nice stuff out of video on a dslr, it's just that the lack of features on lower end cameras make it difficult.

 

[Dominantly]

Well, I filmed the latest Star trek movie with my D90.

 

[KmH]

Video shot with d90.
YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.

It's to bad the person shooting that video was essentially clueless how to shoot video.

 

[Overread21]

Video shot with d90.
YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.

It's to bad the person shooting that video was essentially clueless how to shoot video.

This is part of the "Video is pointless in a DSLR and its bad" problem. Stills photographers just don't know how to use a video camera well - so they shoot a bit of film and get something that technically better than a point and shoot video cam, but not really that good and they blame the tool.

Fact is that a lot of video work is done on a rock steady tripod (their tripods are something like 3 or 4 times the price of a good Gitzo stills tripod) and shot with a smooth motion head (again more cost). Handheld work often has (expensive) powerfull software run over it these days to help remove the shake effect of handholding.

I also seem to recall reading that many video shooters actually prefer manual focus over auto focus (more precise and they can keep the focus locked on what they want rather than have to either keep the shot to a single AF point all the time or prey that auto aquire the af point works)