Manual control

[ItsJanosz]

Hey guys
May be asking a stupid question here, but been doing a fair amount of research, and haven't found anything conclusive.
Is there any kind of firmware update for gaining full manual control in video mode on the D90? Thus far I've been pretty happy "tricking" the camera, using fully manual lenses and such, but I would love more control.
Thanks!

[Paul Hudson]

There is nothing I know of now. I sure wish there were. The auto controls makes the D-90 pretty useless for any serious work.

[Adam J McKay]

The auto controls makes the D-90 pretty useless for any serious work.


I guess this depends on what you define as "serious". There have been many short films, music videos and even a couple features shot on the D90. Granted it's not on par with a dedicated video acquisition system, but you can definitely get some pretty amazing results.

There are also a number of things you can do to get some control over how your image looks. IE getting it to shoot with a lower shutter speed or lower ISO with manual lens and some clever exposure locking.

[Tracey Lee]

I agree and could show you a LOT of professional work done with the Nikon DSLRs.


I guess this depends on what you define as "serious". There have been many short films, music videos and even a couple features shot on the D90. Granted it's not on par with a dedicated video acquisition system, but you can definitely get some pretty amazing results.

There are also a number of things you can do to get some control over how your image looks. IE getting it to shoot with a lower shutter speed or lower ISO with manual lens and some clever exposure locking.

[John Caballero]

This is old news. The D90 was a start, but nowadays is old technology for video. It was good to practice but nothing much came out of it as I predicted a long time ago. There will never be manual controls for it and the "jello" is awful. It is a dinosaur. Get a GH 1 or a 7D. They are pretty capable pieces of equipment. If you want to shoot photos the D90 is still excellent.

[ItsJanosz]

i have nikon lenses, so not about to switch to canon (although i do agree that dslrs are not feature-grade material; they're just for projects here and there). still, would like more control w/ the d90

[mediamilitia]

i have nikon lenses, so not about to switch to canon (although i do agree that dslrs are not feature-grade material; they're just for projects here and there). still, would like more control w/ the d90


You can always get a Nikon to EOS adapter.

[Thomas Lew]

You can always get a Nikon to EOS adapter.

what I was going to say. Do adapters give any quality loss though?

:bath:

[mediamilitia]

what I was going to say. Do adapters give any quality loss though?

:bath:

A good quality lens adapter will not pose any problems or degrade the image in any way. An adapter is simply a snap on ring; there is no glass or optics involved.

[Zim]

The 7D and the G1 have problems too. They are good but you still need to work around the issues.

[Lammy]

There are no manual controls yet, but email Nikon Support for it and tell us the reply here ;)

Also man, stop with the d90 bashing and the 7d and GH1 bumming around here. Yes, we all know the 7d is great and the GH1 is "technically" better, but its becoming like white noise now...

[Zim]

I agree with you Dan.

[Tracey Lee]

I think we should highlight the good here...I agree to no more bashing...let's bring out the good that Nikon has...I just got a d300s and plan to post a lot of work.

[BradM]

I think we should highlight the good here...I agree to no more bashing...let's bring out the good that Nikon has...I just got a d300s and plan to post a lot of work.


you need both views to get a good cross section of any discussion...


Anybody with a few of these cameras has insight into why they are good and bad and seriously all of them have some bad things to say about each. It just happens the D90 is worst offender and you can't cover that up no matter how you want to dress it up.
There has been great stuff done with the D90! Like the videos Kevin Joelson has done and others who clearly have overcome some major flaws to produce outstanding professional work.
If you have a D90 and 7D or 5D or a GH1 you seriously wouldn't take any of this as bashing but more just the reminders of where the camera came from and where its going.

[dadoboy]

If you really want manual control on a Nikon, get the new D3s. Samples of video I've seen look very good (for a DSLR). Yep, $5000 is a lot of cash, but relatively speaking, it's cheaper than the HVX200 when it first came out, and it's also no doubt a fantastic stills camera.