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Nikon D90

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,029
7,549
the video feature is cool, i must admit. still 1.6x crop, however, hmph.
 

H8R

Cranky Pants
Nov 10, 2004
13,959
35
the video feature is cool, i must admit. still 1.6x crop, however, hmph.
You're talking a whole different price point.


Show me a full-frame digital SLR body available from any mfr for $1k and under.

Nope?
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,029
7,549
but i want crop AND video. bwah

(yes, probably not for $1k this year. in two years, who knows?)
 

kingbee

Monkey
Mar 29, 2004
902
0
Ohio
Full frame? Your second link says this.

"a DX sized (ie. non full-frame) CMOS sensor"

I see where later it says you can use any Nikon lens, but how does that work?
 

binary visions

The voice of reason
Jun 13, 2002
22,092
1,132
NC
Full frame? Your second link says this.
It is a crop. H8R was pointing out that you can't get FF in this price range.

I see where later it says you can use any Nikon lens, but how does that work?
Not sure what you're asking? The mirror is flipped up and the CMOS records video at 24 fps. No different than taking still pictures, so you can use any Nikon lens that fits on the camera.
 

kingbee

Monkey
Mar 29, 2004
902
0
Ohio
I thought you couldn't use a full frame lens on a camera with a crop. That's what I was confused about.
 

firetoole

duch bag
Nov 19, 2004
1,910
0
Wooo Tulips!!!!
I thought you couldn't use a full frame lens on a camera with a crop. That's what I was confused about.
When you use a full frame lens on a crop body it only uses the center of the lens, and actually the "best part" of the glass.

you can also use a crop lens on a full frame body it just doesn't fill the frame all the way and the edges will be black.
 

narlus

Eastcoast Softcore
Staff member
Nov 7, 2001
24,658
63
behind the viewfinder
I thought you couldn't use a full frame lens on a camera with a crop. That's what I was confused about.
as Firetoole mentioned, you can w/ Nikons. for Canon, the EF-S design has the rear element poking too far back into the body, and it will interfere w/ the focusing screen/mirror assembly.

words of experience - don't mount an EF-S lens on a full-frame body. :dead:
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,029
7,549
as Firetoole mentioned, you can w/ Nikons. for Canon, the EF-S design has the rear element poking too far back into the body, and it will interfere w/ the focusing screen/mirror assembly.

words of experience - don't mount an EF-S lens on a full-frame body. :dead:
you can use full frame lenses on 1.6x crop cameras in the canon camp, too. what you can't do is the opposite (converse?).

wrt the D90's movie mode: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/28/technology/personaltech/28pogue.html?_r=1&em&oref=login . autofocus doesn't work once you start shooting video... that's kind of a big deal.
 

binary visions

The voice of reason
Jun 13, 2002
22,092
1,132
NC
Yeah, saw that when the specs were released, but on the flip side none of the SLRs have particularly great contrast detect AF yet. I'm not entirely sure why since all of the digicams seem to be getting speedier every year but without that, AF isn't that useful.

So, why can Nikon, Canon, et al put speedy contrast-detect AF into their digicams but the SLRs are much slower?
 

narlus

Eastcoast Softcore
Staff member
Nov 7, 2001
24,658
63
behind the viewfinder
you can use full frame lenses on 1.6x crop cameras in the canon camp, too. what you can't do is the opposite (converse?).
yeah, i misunderstood his post..


for Canon:
crop lenses on a FF body = bad
crop or FF lenses on a crop body = good

edit - for 'crop', that is for Canon-only...the EF-S designation...'digital' lenses from 3rd parties like sigma can fit, but vignette quite a bit due to the smaller image circle.
 

kingbee

Monkey
Mar 29, 2004
902
0
Ohio
The killer is I just bought my D80 3 weeks ago. I dont ever see my self using the video feature on the D90. But the photography upgrades on the camera are nice.
 

H8R

Cranky Pants
Nov 10, 2004
13,959
35
Note:

The only Nikon lenses that are not compatible with most of the new bodies are the crap-tastic Pronea series. The back end of the lens mount sticks into the camera body too far and may strike the mirror.

Other than that most all are fine.

Ref:
http://www.nikonians.org/nikon/slr-lens.html
 

H8R

Cranky Pants
Nov 10, 2004
13,959
35
autofocus doesn't work once you start shooting video... that's kind of a big deal.
Not too big a deal. I shoot manual all the time anyway. It's a $1k body with 12mp and good low light sensitivity that will shoot HD vid. There had to be one caveat.
 

binary visions

The voice of reason
Jun 13, 2002
22,092
1,132
NC
Any pre-AI lens can damage the camera body on most of the SLRs. You can get them converted for not much money, though.

I do like to troll eBay for older AIS glass. Picked up an extremely nice 75-150 f/3.5 "Series E" lens, in flawless shape, for no money. The bokeh is stunning and the color/contrast is awesome. God bless the masses who don't want MF lenses.
 

narlus

Eastcoast Softcore
Staff member
Nov 7, 2001
24,658
63
behind the viewfinder
Not too big a deal. I shoot manual all the time anyway. It's a $1k body with 12mp and good low light sensitivity that will shoot HD vid. There had to be one caveat.
using manual focus isn't a big deal if you are shooting stationary items (and or have huge DoF).
 

H8R

Cranky Pants
Nov 10, 2004
13,959
35
Any pre-AI lens can damage the camera body on most of the SLRs. You can get them converted for not much money, though.

I do like to troll eBay for older AIS glass. Picked up an extremely nice 75-150 f/3.5 "Series E" lens, in flawless shape, for no money. The bokeh is stunning and the color/contrast is awesome. God bless the masses who don't want MF lenses.
And the stuff that ain't series E is even better.
 

moff_quigley

Why don't you have a seat over there?
Jan 27, 2005
4,402
2
Poseurville
Honestly, video capture on an SLR? Seems like fluff(to me). How much better could they have made this body without expending the money and effort into adding a video mode?
 

binary visions

The voice of reason
Jun 13, 2002
22,092
1,132
NC
Fluff?

It's the future.

The merging of high definition video and still photography is inevitable. There will still, of course, always be higher quality still cameras, but Nikon is smart to jump on this right now. Where else can you get an extremely high quality, HD video camera with an interchangeable lens system (especially one that has such a huge catalog of existing lenses) for this price?
 

H8R

Cranky Pants
Nov 10, 2004
13,959
35
Honestly, video capture on an SLR? Seems like fluff(to me). How much better could they have made this body without expending the money and effort into adding a video mode?
If you look at the model it's replacing (the D80) it's a huge improvement. Live view, better high ISO shooting, face recog AF, 12.3mp, bigger LCD, etc etc. It's a way better camera aside from the video.


The thing to ask is WTF was Canon thinking with the 40D to 50D? Not much of a jump there.
 

binary visions

The voice of reason
Jun 13, 2002
22,092
1,132
NC
The thing to ask is WTF was Canon thinking with the 40D to 50D? Not much of a jump there.
The 40D -> 50D contains all 5 improvements you name for the D90 (live view, better high ISO, face detect, more megapixels, bigger LCD) as well as AF & vignetting adjustment, larger buffer, HDMI out, better sealing...

No video but depending on how well the pixel binning works that could easily make up for it.
 

moff_quigley

Why don't you have a seat over there?
Jan 27, 2005
4,402
2
Poseurville
Fluff?

It's the future.

The merging of high definition video and still photography is inevitable. There will still, of course, always be higher quality still cameras, but Nikon is smart to jump on this right now. Where else can you get an extremely high quality, HD video camera with an interchangeable lens system (especially one that has such a huge catalog of existing lenses) for this price?
For the same money I guess I'd rather have HQ still camera than an add-on video mode. While I don't disagree that it's the future and it would no doubt be sweet to shoot some vid through our 70-200 2.8 L IS (assuming Canon offered something similar) I think I'd rather have a dedicated HD camcorder.

The thing to ask is WTF was Canon thinking with the 40D to 50D? Not much of a jump there.
Agreed. I think we'll just make the jump to a 5D body.
 

blue

boob hater
Jan 24, 2004
10,160
2
california
All said, a 40D is a better camera than this for me and can be had for the same price. Movie mode is a more or less useless novelty.

NEEEEXT.
 

binary visions

The voice of reason
Jun 13, 2002
22,092
1,132
NC
I wouldn't count on waterproofing...but a mag body would be bueno. I'd probably kill it.
Have you actually been destroying high quality plastic bodies (i.e. not the original Rebel series which were built like Tonka trucks - don't know about the XSi)?

I seriously it.

Mag bodies sure feel nice but they're heavy and a well built plastic body, in reality, will hold up to 90% of what a mag body will take. Probably slightly more fragile in long drops onto concrete or rocks but you're looking for a lot of luck if that happens anyway.
 

H8R

Cranky Pants
Nov 10, 2004
13,959
35
The 40D -> 50D contains all 5 improvements you name for the D90 (live view, better high ISO, face detect, more megapixels, bigger LCD) as well as AF & vignetting adjustment, larger buffer, HDMI out, better sealing...
Hmm. True.

http://www.dpreview.com/previews/canoneos50d/

I actually missed alot of the new details about the 50D until I read your post. :banghead:


But the jump from D80 to D90 is still WAY bigger.

The improvements they made to the 50D aren't so much as to make anyone sell their 40D they bought only a matter of months ago.
 

IH8Rice

I'm Mr. Negative! I Fail!
Aug 2, 2008
24,524
494
Im over here now
The improvements they made to the 50D aren't so much as to make anyone sell their 40D they bought only a matter of months ago.
i got my 40D back in November and didnt want to wait until the new model arrived.
in my industry, if you dont put out a new model every year, then you are lacking way behind every other consumer electronics manufacturer.
god forbid if we dont put out a new tv or HD video cam every 10 months, we'd look like just another japanese manufacturer.
thats why im suprised that the 5D has lasted so long...obviously the market warrants a new model, especially in the 5D's case
 

binary visions

The voice of reason
Jun 13, 2002
22,092
1,132
NC
I'm only talking in MSRP. You can't really compare a camera that's been out for a long time (the 40D) where the price has been reduced (and will be reduced further with the 50D out) to a brand new body.

The expected MSRP of the D90 is the same as the D80 at least in the U.K., so I'm assuming it'll hit at the same MSRP in the US: $999. The expected MSRP of the 50D is $1299.
 

IH8Rice

I'm Mr. Negative! I Fail!
Aug 2, 2008
24,524
494
Im over here now
$999 huh? not bad, especially compared to $1400 for the 50D(their site has it at $1400)

but like others said, if i did get the D90, i wouldnt use it for HD video. it would be nice to use in a pinch, but wouldnt be a selling feature for me personally.
ive got enough HD cams to do the job at 1080i/p