Should I buy the D90 to learn video?

S

superakuma

New member
My background is still photography. I have a arsenal of Nikon dslr gears(over $5k) but unfortunately non of them do video.

As a photographer and someone who wants to get into the pro wedding business, Video is something that I can't ignore. Right now I can get the job done with just still alone. But as many pro photographers have predicted, "We need to learn video or we will be left behind in this competitive world".

We all know that Nikon's dSLR video is sucks compare to Canon. But at the end, I really think that Nikon can catch up to Canon. Hopefully by next gen or the gen after that, they could come close to what Canon has to offer TODAY.:cheesy:

Since one of my camera body just got stolen(long story) I need a replacement mid level Nikon body for my STILL photography as a backup. The two camera that I am looking at is the D90 and the D200. Honestly if I don't need video, I would go for the D200 as a backup. The D200 is still an awsome camera for still and cheaper as well. But now since I want to learn video, the D90 seems more interesting.

One of the problem with the D90 in the video world is the lack of control. For someone who has never done video before, do you think the D90 is a good camera to learn on? I am in NO rush to do video for full time. It is something that I feel I need to learn and understand. I am willing to wait a year or two for Nikon to catch up, but I wouldn't mind getting a head start in playing with video. But I do need to buy a camera before the weekend.

So should I buy a used D200 for $500 or buy a D90 for about $760 and start playing with video now? Or should I say, is the D90 good enough for learning on even though it has no manual control? No I will not buy the D5000.

I know I wrote a lot but if you are going to answer please read what I wrote and understand MY situations before you reply.

Thanks in advance for those who is willing to answer my question.
 
I;ve shot Nikon for abut 15 years - and then owned a DVX for several. Nice camera, learned to edit with it, etc...

Got a D90 - I think it's currently the "prettiest" sensor in the Nikon line right now. Video can be very nice - no fast pans, no hand held (the jello is far worse than canon).

Thing is, what you'll learn with a D90 is "how to shoot with the weird D90" - you'll never really know what your ISO or shutter is. You'll be goofing around with all that "tricking" the camera stuff.

I got a Canon 550D with a $40 Nikon lens adapter. If you have lots of Nikon glass, I'd suggest you consider that. If you get the (really really good) Canon 50mm (for like $110?) you could use it full-auto as a stills backup. heck, even the kit lens with the 550d isn't that bad and has its sweet spots.

If you edit 720 at 24 or 30p, you can also shoot 60p with the Canon and have true slowmo with no artifacts and frame blending - it's really really sweet.

The D90 is the best Nikon I've ever owned for useability, ergonomics and images. But Canon has it whipped for video.
 
No. I shot 5 shorts, a documentary and an add with my D90 (essentially same video as D300s), and while in perfect conditions it was nice, it had horrible rolling shutter, no control over shutter speed or exposure, no audio input. Basically a nightmare to work with.

I upgraded to a Canon 7D and have never looked back. I have some nice vintage nikon glass that i easily use on my canon.

I have an old nikon 50mm 1.4, and a Vivitar 70-210 mm 3.5 macro. I just shot some footage with the vivitar, and ungraded it looks dreamy. (albiet a little oversaturated ungraded). The macro is really nice to.

JUst get a $15 adapter and your all set.

I <3 nikon glass

heres some recent footage with it. (this was just me goofing around at the farmers market, so footage is handheld with the long zoom, hence some shakes, but you get the idea)

http://www.vimeo.com/11583738
 
Well I need a mid level dSLR for shooting still by this weekend. I guess video will have to wait. I can't afford to buy a canon dSLR to use for video just for now.

Is it common that people shoot with TWO dSLR for video? I would image it would help because they could use each one for different angles. Maybe I should just get the D90 and play with that for now and when I do decided to concentrate on video more, I can buy a better Nikon if they have it out at the time or go with a Canon body for video with my Nikon lens.

I am interested in the fact that many people have said they buy canon body and use with Nikon lens with adapter. How does that work with metering or does it matter? How would the camera know what aperture to shoot at or do you control the aperture on the lens? I am still new at this sorry for ignorance. I still need to do more research on this subject.
 
If your using for more still than video, D90 is a great camera. I loved it, in fact if i didnt want to make films i probaly would have kept it forever.

I got mine for $650 refurbished through j&r.com (and that was about a year ago).

Some people shoot 2 camera setups, but honestly after being on several shoots, most people use one, and i think its just easier for lighting etc... to setup for one angle. (Unless its a one shot deal, like blowing up something)

The T2i, is basically same video quality as the 7D, but for only $800 (not as good still wise, probably somewhere close to D90 in terms of stills, id probably put the D90 a bit ahead on the still front, but T2i way ahead on video). That might be a good compromise for you.

Nikon glass is good cause its plentiful, pretty good (and also pretty cost effective if you go for some of hte older stuff).

Keep in mind any nikon lens you shoot with needs to have a manual aperture ring on it because thats how you adjust aperture (not on the camera).

Metering works, but its not always 100% accurate (i find its usually off by a few bars on the metering bar, but that might be my cheap $15 adapters)

In video mode, you can see on the screen what it looks like, so you just kinda adjust that way.

Trust me it wasnt an easy decision to go to canon. We have been a nikon family literally since before i was born. I waited and waited for nikon to release a firmware, or release a new model with more features, and the D300s was a pretty big dissapointment. (basically same video mode as D90). So in the end i had to jump ships.
 
if i was you i would stay away from the D90, pick up a GH1 or T2i; waiting for a better Nikon might take a while.

i have both a D300 (D90 sensor, but a MUCH more pro oriented setup for photography) and a D300s (we never use the video mode).

The 1st gen/2nd gen HDSLR's are NOT really a good solution for video by themselves, and the Nikons are the worst of the pack as of right now.
 
When you're shooting video, metering doesn't matter much, if at all. What you see on the LCD is basically what you get. That's one of the reasons why video is so much easier to shoot than motion picture film.

If you have Nikon lenses that don't have manual aperture rings, then you can get an adapter from the Web site http://www.16-9.net that adds manual aperture control.

Really, nobody should buy the D90 for video, unless it's to be used to achieve a very particular effect. As a video camera, it's one of the worst on the market for its price. The only advantages that it offers are shallow DOF, interchangeable lenses, and good performance in low light, none of which is essential for learning video. You might as well just buy a $100 Flip HD pocket camcorder for that purpose.

Why won't you consider the D5000? It's 95% the same camera as the D90, with the same sensor and image quality, but costs a lot less. You might be able to afford that plus another DSLR for video.
 
ydgmdlu said:
When you're shooting video, metering doesn't matter much, if at all. What you see on the LCD is basically what you get. That's one of the reasons why video is so much easier to shoot than motion picture film.

If you have Nikon lenses that don't have manual aperture rings, then you can get an adapter from the Web site http://www.16-9.net that adds manual aperture control.

Really, nobody should buy the D90 for video, unless it's to be used to achieve a very particular effect. As a video camera, it's one of the worst on the market for its price. The only advantages that it offers are shallow DOF, interchangeable lenses, and good performance in low light, none of which is essential for learning video. You might as well just buy a $100 Flip HD pocket camcorder for that purpose.

Why won't you consider the D5000? It's 95% the same camera as the D90, with the same sensor and image quality, but costs a lot less. You might be able to afford that plus another DSLR for video.
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i would agree; if you want a DSLR that shoots video, and want to stay with nikon gear but dont want to drop too much money, i'd go with a D5000, save, and hopefully nikon brings out a 1080p full HD DSLR soon.

and while the D5000, D90, D300, and D300s all do share the same basic sensor, the AA filters are wildly different, as well as the processing in-body and the horsepower behind it.

I see no difference in shots between the D300s and D300 whatsoever, but the D90 is a tad softer than the D300/s, and the D5000 softer still, but barely.

Then again you could always buy a D5000 and remove the AA filter entirely, something i am considering doing to my D300s.
 
The reason why I don't wNt the d5000 is the body sucks. I am used to a pro and semi pro body for shooting still. I need buttons on the camera, I can't mess with menu when I am shooting a wedding. Again like I said I am looking for a replacement for a mid range body backup for shooting still. Adding video ablity would be something nice to have to play with and learn on.

I know the d90 isn't that great when it comes to video, but I thought it would be good enough to learn on. That was the reason why I was thinking about the d90. My first choice is the d200 because the body is a lot more robust and faster to operate.

It seems like I will just have to wait and go with the d200.

Thanks for the tips and advice everyone.
 
Like I said, get a Flip (or any other cheap pocket camcorder), and you can learn video about as well as you would with the D90.
 
Unfortunately the Nikons don't offer proper manual controls...manual controls are even more important for video than for photos because things changing in real time is very noticeable. I would get the D200...the D90 doesn't even support stop-down metering for older lenses, and you'll miss a lot of other things like that.
 
well in that case i would skip the D90 and buy a used D300 if you want a pro body, and buy a dedicated video camera to learn video. D90 and D300s video is TERRIBLE IMO, and i have a D300s. my girl has a D90; neither of us uses the video function at ALL.
 
its special 'charm' is aggravating jello/skew, a complete lack of any manual controls and no real aftermarket options to flash the ROM/OS, and some interesting 'issues' with stair stepping.

...charming.
 
If your main purpose is video get a real video camera and skip the D90, D300s and the 7D.
 
It would be a total mistake to write off all VDSLRs because Nikon hasn't kept up with manual control. I gave my D90 to my wife and went with a 7D and it has more than paid for itself in the first few months I've owned it. Perhaps most rewarding is client reactions to the 7D video compared to the video they've been getting from "a real video camera". They are delighted with the obvious (even to total laymen) superior picture.

I'd say, figure out what you want to do with video and buy something appropriate. VDSLRs don't do everything and they have lots of got'chas you've got to learn to avoid. But their PQ is nothing short of phenomenal when you do things right.
 
Michael Carter said:
Thing is, what you'll learn with a D90 is "how to shoot with the weird D90" - you'll never really know what your ISO or shutter is. You'll be goofing around with all that "tricking" the camera stuff.
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Totally agree.
I bought a GH1 with Nikon adapter, but that was before the 550 was introduced. Given todays choices I would get a 550 (but I am very pleased with my GH1).
 
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