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Nikon D90 brings movies to digital SLR

Tue, 2008-09-02 16:00 — tekro
Nikon D90

Name: Nikon D90
Category: digital still and movie SLR camera
Price: About JPY120,000 (body only)
Release date in Japan: September 9, 2008

It's the norm now that digital still cameras include some sort of video recording feature, and video cameras offer still-shot capability. Nikon's adding a new twist to the combination, with what it calls "the world's first digital SLR movie function that delivers genuinely cinematic results".

The D90 is the latest in Nikon's popular D line of digital SLRs, featuring 12.3-megapixel still shots. Its movie function records video at resolutions of 320 x 216, 640 x 424, or HD720p (1,280 x 720) in motion JPEG format, at 24 frames per second. (Sorry, no higher-resolution HD1080 video.)

What makes that exciting is not just the combination of a great still cam and decent HD video cam in one unit, but the ability to use Nikon's array of interchangeable lenses for video shooting. Fish-eye, wide-angle, telephoto... you'll swap lenses like a Hollywood movie-maker, something you can't do with general consumer video cams.

Aiding the moviemaker is a large DX-format 23.6 x 15.8mm CMOS sensor ("far larger than that in typical camcorders", says Nikon) with a sensitivity range of ISO 200 to 3200. A microphone and built-in speakers handle audio recording and playback. (There's speculation that the D90 will function as an audio player if you load it with MP3s, though Nikon itself doesn't say this.)

Still, this may not be your tool for feature films. When shooting video, you lose both autofocus and the viewfinder (use the LCD panel on back instead, via Live View previews). You can't go beyond 24 fps, which is fast enough for many but not all shooting purposes. Some pros are also wondering about the maximum video scene length before sensor overheating (hastened by Live View) becomes a problem.

In addition to that Live View preview in the 3-inch LCD display, other functions include Nikon Vibration Reduction (when used with compatible lenses), Multi-CAM 1000 autofocus module with 11-point AF system, face recognition, built-in flash, Image Sensor Cleaning, 0.15-second quick start-up time, and comprehensive image editing tools. Body weight 620g.

More info: http://nikon.com/about/news/2008/0827_d90_01.htm (English)

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