Equipment Nikon D90

RED makes highly specialised gear. They make high-end video cameras and now they want to make high-end DSLRs. They are not cramming video as an afterthought into a consumer level DSLR.

 

I read somewhere else that it is actually draining the battery via the hot-shoe.
Now there's just no discussion of it being a bad design.

And yes Vers suggestion of incorporating it like a battery grip (especially if you could fit a couple batteries in there as well) is a whole lot better solution.


What really makes it a stupid solution though is that it drains via the hot-shoe... tsk tsk tsk! I see the reasons why but still it just seems silly.

Oh well... It's still a whole lot more usable than some of the geotagging solutions I've seen for the Canons.

 

While it would work that way, personally I'd rather see it as a separate unit that would fit on the upper left side of the body--of course they would have to route a power line to the outlet if the unit did not have a battery itself. In the end I will most likely never use it, but I can't help but think of a 'better' way.

 

I doubt what Nikon has done could be considered an afterthought. More like a relatively low-cost (after R+D anyways) thing that tremendously increases the potential market for the camera. For strictly photography it's next to useless, but it's a fantastic idea from a business perspective. Hell, a lot of high-end Nikon shooters will probably pick one up just because it's compatible with their existing glass. I'd put money on Nikon wedding shooters grabbing one of these for each of their assistants.

Is it what I'm looking for in an SLR? No. But I'd be terribly foolish to ignore it, both from a business perspective and that of the future market. You can be pretty sure that all new bodies (probably after the 5dII) will have something along these lines incorporated. Like Matt and so many others around here, I'd rather see better low-light performance, higher burst speeds, faster and more accurate autofocus, but it's not like I'd ignore a body with this feature. If the technology is there, why not use it? This could quite plausibly be patched into any existing body via firmware (it won't be, but it technologically could).

 

Just seen an ad for the D90 at BH photovideo, 999 dollars for body only. Not bad if you already have nikor lenses. I wouldn't mind the D90, but I might as well spend the extra cash and get the D300 body, or wait till next years D300 successor which will probably have AF on the hd video lol.

I can't wait for a review on this thing.

 

I might agree with you if it had autofocus. Manually focusing video can be tricky. With HD video it's even harder, as the increased resolution reveals every flaw. A lot of professional videographers noted that the transition to HD has made them concentrate on their focus even more because everything is so crisp and clear. With SD, if you missed your focus a little bit, the natural fuzziness of the video covered up your mistake. Trusting your assistants to follow the action while manually focusing is asking for trouble, especially considering the fact that they're using a small LCD screen. Even with a prosumer level Canon G1, we don't use the viewfinder to set the focus.

High dollar production houses might record audio separately to be dubbed later. I've never seen a wedding photographer record separate audio. I've always seen them use external microphones or, if available, plug into the venue audio system. Either way, a good wedding videographer would be better served by spending another couple thousand on a dedicated HD camera.

-monkey

 

Fair enough. Keep in mind though, assistants wouldn't be limited to grabbing video, it would just be an option. I never touch video production so I'm sure you're right about the manual focusing. Nikon's obviously touting it as giving you the added control which is true to a point, but I still use AF 99.5% of the time for stills as it's just so much more accurate than I am (blame the focusing screens a bit for that, but I'd rather grab the action than mess with focusing manually). The one excetion that comes to mind was a model rocket launch - the AF was consistently missing things since the rockets are so thin that you'd move the camera half a millimeter and Servo AF would jump somewhere else (obvious in hindsight: one-shot AF). Whatever.

 

You're actually not that far from the truth IMO. On the old Nikkormat cameras the focusing screen made it dead easy to tell if you had focus. Even when wearing glasses you could easily tell. The focus screen had this little circle that was made up of two halves that would align and look correct. Dunno how they did it but it was dead easy telling if you were right.
On any of the DSLRs I've held the focus screen is just a joke... I can't even say I trust there is any... So... I've got a 40D so if anyone knows of an improved focus screen I can add please let me know

Edit: Is this (split prism focus screen) what I'm talking about above? http://www.katzeyeoptics.com/item--Katz-Eye-Focusing-Screen-for-the-Canon-40D--prod_40D.html

Edit edit: Found it on flickr:
Man that's one hell of an upgrade IMO.

 

I don't know about improved, But there are others available. There is the Ef-d and EF- A focusing screens made by Canon, And i Also found another one which seems to work the way you described the old film SLR's working.

EDIT: there is also a EF-S focusing screen made by Canon : http://www.amazon.com/Canon-Focusing-Screen-Digital-Camera/dp/B000X02ARI

Links:
EF-A : http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/523872-REG/Canon_2376B001_EF_A_Focusing_Screen_for.html
EF-D : http://www.canogacamera.com/detail.aspx?ID=42574
Katz Eye: http://www.katzeyeoptics.com/item--Katz-Eye-Focusing-Screen-for-the-Canon-40D--prod_40D.html

 

I have the Katz Eye focusing sceen on my D200. It is a world of difference. I rarely manual focus, but when I do it comes in handy. I also like it when I am using AF for night shots. It helps me check if the lens is actually focused on the right thing. I forget that I have it until I used another D200...then I get all wierded out by the normal one.

Nick

 

D90 preview shots just posted on DP review;
http://www.dpreview.com/gallery/nikond90_preview_samples/

That Iso 3200 shot of the croc looks pretty good

 

Yes, yes you should. Trust me, you won't regret it. Just be sure to get a good lens, and read the manual. With the AF in this thing, you need to.

 

I'd considered a Katz Eye for that reason indeed, I wasn't just randomly blaming the focusing screens. The stock ones are designed to let as much light into the viewfinder as possible but that comes at the expense of... actually being useful. There are a couple others from Canon that fit the 40D (which is the first body outside of the 1D/5D that supports changing the screens I think) but none of them will come close to matching the Katz Eye.