Nikon D90 has 720p24 over HDMI

[Kurth Bousman]

ohh - I wondered what the advantage was to living on the other side of the Atlantic - you guys get an extra hour - now it's all making sense - I'll look forward to seeing your review- thanks/k

[Chris Hurd]

Originally Posted by Kurth Bousman

you guys get an extra hour

And their day starts earlier as well.

[James Millward]

Ok, I'm still confused. Im not a technical guy so please excuse my ignorance but can someone clear a few things up for me.

On my consumer 3ccd panny camcorder, I can set the following in manual mode:

White balance
Exposure (ie F stop)
Gain (add or remove gain)

Now as far as I understand, the d90 in video mode only allows manaul focus. Thats fine, but can you set the WB?

Am I right in saying that you CAN choose an apature value (F number) and lock it in place whilst shooting video? ie the cam will keep that chosen F value regardless of light level?

(If so, I understand that this would be unusable if I wanted to pan from say a room where I had set exposure and locked it, to a bright lit doorway, BUT if I wanted to light a controlled situation, I could lock for that scene which would be fine).

Does the D90 add gain? If so, can this be locked in place also?

Sorry for the dumb questions...

James

[Gints Klimanis]

Originally Posted by Vincent Oliver

I have been using the D90 for a couple of days now - just getting the feel of the camera. My first gut reaction, based on what I have shot, is that the movie feature is 18 - 24 months too early. Shooting on a bright sunny day here in london (yes, we have finally had some sunshine) it was near impossible to see the LCD viewfinder.

Is this much different from shooting with a camcorder's LCD? Camcorders are a little better in that their LCDs do fold out and rotate.

[Nathan Nazeck]

I want the answer too so I will repeat the same question

Is the HDMI output clean with no overlays?

Does it output live at all? output while recording?

[Vincent Oliver]

Originally Posted by Gints Klimanis

Is this much different from shooting with a camcorder's LCD? Camcorders are a little better in that their LCDs do fold out and rotate.

At least you can look through a camcorders viewfinder on a bright day. The Nikon viewfinder blacks out and you only have the LCD screen. I found it near impossible to see the LCD screen whilst shooting on a sunny day.

[Kurth Bousman]

Vincent - sound like , if one is going to shoot video with the d90 , they need a hoodman , or similar device /k

[Vincent Oliver]

A camcorder might be the better option - for now.

[Gints Klimanis]

Originally Posted by Vincent Oliver

At least you can look through a camcorders viewfinder on a bright day. The Nikon viewfinder blacks out and you only have the LCD screen. I found it near impossible to see the LCD screen whilst shooting on a sunny day.

Very true. Critical focusing will also be a problem in most cases, and the Gen1 versions of these cameras have little to help. There are some new ~$500 HD monitors with HDMI inputs. manhattanlcd.com (shipping because I just received mine) and smallhd.com (not shipping yet.) They don't have zooming in the monitor, but perhaps the DSLRs will pick up in this area.

[Kenneth Tong]

With all the limitations in its HD video, can I say that it would be better for me to wait for an improved version of the D90 or even consider Canon 5D if I really want to do some good HD from a D-SLR?

[Vincent Oliver]

Yes, I think the second generation of HDSLR's will iron out many of the limitations of the current cameras.

[Kenneth Tong]

I hope after Christmas there will be a quick drop in the price of all video capable D-SLRs and also the emergence of more brands and models of such similar products.