Video on a DSLR

[Sime]

So, Video on a REAL* camera! Who would have thought? I heard it and was horrified, the thought of our PURIST stills cameras having video introduced to them, sure, I have an Ixus 960 and it has a fun video mode that means I can take it to the snow for example and film myself jumping out of trees on skis... But, for my dSLR to have video... unheard of!.. Soon the Hasseblad will be shooting HD movies!.. So, anyway... I wanted to know more and have since seen a couple of examples of the movies that you could take with, say, a Nikon D90....

What Nikon Say:
D-Movie Mode—Cinematic 24fps HD with sound: Record cinematic-quality movie clips at up to 720p HD (1280 x 720 pixels) in Motion JPEG format, enhanced by NIKKOR interchangeable lens quality and versatility..

What Canon say:
Well, nothing, but the rumours are starting to fall into line around a 1020p video mode (amongst other awesome specs) with the new 5X series...

So, what do you all think of VIDEO on a dSLR?... (I've dropped a link to the D90 video below)



*they're all real... I'm just being dramatic!

[private]

I will say that when I jumped on the Dslr bandwagon, I really missed the video option. I never had a digital camera that did not have it, so for me it was weird having less functionality...(my old digitals all had a manual mode - I was to scared to use it )

And now there are cameras with live view (which my old digitals had), the downside to that is that you will never be forced to learn how to use your camera. It shows on screen what the photo will look like, so you can change the settings and the picture on the screen will also change to reflect the changed settings.

I am rambling, so I will stop now...

[Sime]

See, I thought live view was a bit weird, till I saw it in action... 50mm lens, on the other side of a river from a building (St. Pauls Cathedral) and I watched Nathan slip into live view mode, zoom right in with live view and make the focus pin sharp, then take the shot... He shoots in RAW, so it didn't really reflect what the shot would look like anyway, but, live view is now another friend of mine...

[Spike]

I suppose I'm a bit of an old-fashioned dork, but if the time coems I decide to start making movies, I think I'd rather spend the extra cash and get a dedicated DVD camera and save my DSLR for stills.

BUT for what it's worth, my good ol' Olympus makes movies. Nope, they don't have sound. Nope, they aren't very large or very high in frame-count...and yes, for some strange reason this actually appeals to me. If I record in greyscale, the movies look an awful lot like the old 8mm family movies my aunt used to make.

Hey! Can you still buy 8mm movie cameras?

[Sime]

Originally Posted by Spike

Hey! Can you still buy 8mm movie cameras?

certainly can!!...woo hoo

[Cuchulainn]

Hmm. I never used the "movie" mode on any camera I have owned that had it. Sooo.. can't see ever using it on a dSLR. I guess if I ever get the urge to be the next Tarantino I will invest in a video camera

Seems to me to be a bit of a marketing gimmick to get P&S owners to step up to the dSLR.

[xxpinballxx]

I got a DSLR to make great stills and thats what I want from my DSLR.....
plus i laready have a nice video camera...lol!
I see where it would come in handy for travel and things like that but i dont think i would be happy with it as my main video camera.

[Nicole]

I have honestly very little opinion on this because the thing is, I would use it about as much as I use the video function on my P&S... and the answer to that is that I've used it a handful of times on my latest P&S and less than a handful of times on my old P&S. Fact of the matter is just that taking video just doesn't interest me at the moment. So as long as it doesn't actually impact the quality of the still pictures, it's a big ole' meh to me

[Taallyn]

Times are changing and with part of that comes the convergence of still photography and videography. Video in DSLR style cameras has been predicted by various pros and pundits for the past couple of years. There is a certain demand for it in both the amateur and professional areas. With the introduction of Live View to DSLRs in the past year or two, it was only a matter of time before we started seeing this progression.

How do I feel about it? I welcome it to a degree as I find it an inevitable progression in digital imagery. Will I use it? That is really hard for me to say as I didn't use it very much on my point and shoot camera. However, my son has that camera now and he uses the video function as much as he does the still photo function. It is really his generation (he's 8 years old now) and those in middle-high school age that will grow to embrace and make use of this convergence the most. For us older whipper-snappers that remember Kodak 110 point and shoot film cameras, it may not get as much use from us as we have that still vs. video division ingrained in our brains. The younger generations will not see them as that different at all though, and the fact is that the technologies are not that drastically far about these days.

It is exciting times to live in these days with the explosive advancements in consumer technology available.

[PHugger]

The current DSLR offerings are pretty feeble for any serious video work, but I expect that to change quickly. Things like auto-focus, auto exposure, audio, and clip length will need improvement.

It's very easy to make bad video.
I do a lot of video editing and find it far easier to produce high quality photos than it is to produce high quality video. We all know how easy digital photography is.........(c8

It has been said that audio is 80% of video.
Audio recording is an art unto itself -

Microphones
Mixers
Wireless gear
Software
Music Licenses

(you think RAW workflow is painful)
You never really finish videos, you just stop working on them.

I would watch Red Digital Cinema in this area - they are the real game changer.

"We believe, and are developing for late 2009, a replacement for DSLRs. Currently, we call it a DSMC (Digital Still & Motion Camera).

While (insert code name) is not a replacement for Epic or Scarlet, it is strategically targeted at the DSLR space. As Nikon and Canon release their 720P and 1080P, respectively, DSLRs with video capture... RED has a more advanced view of the future. We look forward to rapidly pushing the "big guys" along in feature sets and capabilities.

RED firmly believes in higher resolution, higher S/N, higher DNR, higher frame rates, smaller bodies, more system flexibility, and many more options as we move forward in camera development.

The strength of RED is in our sensor development program, REDCODE, and having no legacy platforms to deal with. That left us free to explore, develop and prepare to deliver a new platform. DSMC.

We think all our customers already know what the future will bring. They are just afraid to wish for it for fear of disappointment. Fear not. Sleep tight. RED is awake."


PCH