basically a D300ish camera with D-Movie Mode — Cinematic 24fps HD with sound

looking forward to this

Brochure: http://www.nikonusa.com/Assets/Digital-SLR/25446-Nikon-D90/PDF/25446_D90_brochure.pdf

Are there any sample videos out there?

Presumably the limiting factor is the cache memory giving very limited shot duration (based on resolution)? I'd assume you'll get about 10 seconds at a decent res, completely wild guess though.
Steve

does anyone have confirmation of the release date?
OR if it will have continuous shooting of more than the measly 3fps of it's predecessors? i'm crossing my fingers for the 6fps, 8 with a battery pack?? :) ...otherwise i'd rather buy the d300!

A.f.a.i.k there's a Nikon press conference sept. 3rd (next week); everyone is expecting the formal D90 announcement. Especially with the Canon 50D just released.

Doubt it will do 24fps though.

George/

D90 from Nikon (http://www.nikonusa.com/Find-Your-Nikon/Product/Digital-SLR/25446/D90.html)

no words, its unbelievable.

I stand corrected: Nikon | News | Nikon D90 (http://www.nikon.com/about/news/2008/0827_d90_01.htm)

George/

I see it, I see it. A taste of things to come... imagine what'll happen when they use a 25mbits/sec codec at 1080P. Oh yes, it will happen. And if it's like HDV and 4k, it'll happen sooner than I personally will expect.

Good taste of the future. Nikon, you have a chance, so implement a good codec at 30mbit/sec and 1080P.

TOTALLY feasible, and if Nikon, a DSLR manufacturer, doesn't do it first, someone else will.

Nikon D90 Hands-on Preview: 2. Specifications: Digital Photography Review (http://www.dpreview.com/previews/nikond90/page2.asp)

Im holding my breath with anticipation at the potential. Aparently it has a 5 minute max shoot cut off but thats still very good.

Sure there will be a million other gotcha's, especially with the motion jpeg codec they have choosen to go with (cough..stone age...cough).

But definately a great sign of things to come.

Very exciting stuff, I'm calling Nikon tomorrow to see if they'll let me put it through its paces video-wise for 16:9 Magazine.

I can't wait to see what Canon has in store for us....

I hear a full frame ~20m pixel is coming... Canon also just released the 50D yesterday...

Chase Jarvis Blog: Chase Jarvis RAW: Advance Testing the Nikon D90 (http://blog.chasejarvis.com/blog/2008/08/chase-jarvis-raw-advance-testing-nikon.html)


samples

http://chsvimg.nikon.com/products/imaging/lineup/d90/en/d-movie/

Things are getting better all the time...

I would expect Canon to be able to make quite a "crossover" camera quite easily.

Full frame with 1080p over HDMI.

Would eliminate the need to 35mm adaptors.

Sound sync, preview and fluid aperature would be the weak areas imho.

HERE are the sample movies from the D90.. all I can say is WOW WOW WOW

D90 | D-MOVIE (http://imaging.nikon.com/products/imaging/lineup/d90/en/d-movie/)

Step aside, SCarlett, step aside LETUS, BREVIS.. their offerings have just become obsolete.. digital sensor technology has finally caught up with our needs.. The D90 is probably not the most ideal form-factor or features but this sensor and sensor technology will trickle down to a camcorder body that would accept DSLR lenses and with full pro audio support. VERY EXCITING!

I need to sell my Letus Mini now..

seriously.. when downsized, those D90 samples look as good as the RED ONE samples I've seen..

It's quite funny, because i'm about to purchase a new camcorder today, then i read about this :)

Check out this Vimeo video: Nikon D90 sample video on Vimeo (http://www.vimeo.com/1612204)

Pay attention to the 'auto exposure'. I'm wondering if this can be set to manual.

Anyway, it's an incredible start yet a shocking news for photo and video convergence. When the 1080p version is released, say goodbye to recent camcorders and adapters... *sobbing*

Just saw the video, I don't think Red has to worry ... yet. I think it needs a better recording format. But, if the Scarlet is a hit I would be surprised if Nikon jumps on the band wagon.

I think it needs a better recording format.

Getting the video out from the HDMI to cineform can be a solution. That Cineform standalone recorder can be the perfect match for this camera.

But it's still a shame that public chipsets still cannot injest or produce unencrypted HDMI 1080p.

Step aside, SCarlett, step aside LETUS, BREVIS.. their offerings have just become obsolete...

I don't think Red has much to worry about yet, but I do think this is the beginning of the end for 35mm lens adapters considering the d90 body is in the same price range and will produce cleaner, sharper images with less fuss than an adapter. I don't see audio as much of an issue here - I'd personally choose shooting dual system sound over messing with a lens adapter.

Don't get me wrong, the camera looks really good, but as for the video, it looks like it's lacking in the audio. I didn't see any XLR connection for mikes.

All the videos posted are downsized, it would be nice to be able to get a copy of the source file and see it full size. Maybe it's OK, but I don't know if it is or isn't. There could be compression noise...

Still, once it come out it should be interesting to see in action.


Bob Diaz

I think it is fair to assume that pretty soon (if not already) the technology will be cheap enough to do 1080P on DSLRs in this price range, no? If so, wouldn't other companies stand to lose a great deal... say Sony, Panasonic, JVC? I'd almost venture to say that Nikon would do this but Canon wouldn't since it could cannibalize sales of their camcorders and HD cams.

Compression, lack of pro audio, and work-flow issues aside--I think this would have to squarely beat any other 720P camcorder in that it shoots with a 35mm sensor size and can use so many wonderfully cheap lenses and cost about a grand.

I don't think Red has much to worry about yet, but I do think this is the beginning of the end for 35mm lens adapters considering the d90 body is in the same price range and will produce cleaner, sharper images with less fuss than an adapter. I don't see audio as much of an issue here - I'd personally choose shooting dual system sound over messing with a lens adapter.

But I'm thinking.. for someone who's used to shooting videos using the DX format or the FF format(hopefully in the near future).. how can they revert back to shooting 2/3" format with the Scarlett? granted, there are some inherient "advantages" with the larger DOF 2/3" format, but I suspect most of us want narrower DOF.. The audio issues will be worked out with future models, that is a simple thing to implement...

Presumably the limiting factor is the cache memory giving very limited shot duration Steve

Who cares? Hook it up to a NanoFlash or a Cineform Solid and record to your heart's content.

Things are getting better all the time...

I would expect Canon to be able to make quite a "crossover" camera quite easily.

Full frame with 1080p over HDMI.

Would eliminate the need to 35mm adaptors.

Sound sync, preview and fluid aperature would be the weak areas imho.

Feed it into a XDR and you have preview, sound sync and archive :-)

I don't know if anybody has seen the announcement of the Nikon d90 with the film mode. It is a 720p 24fps film mode in mjeg using the apsc format (35 mm film size) on a $ 1000 Nikon digital slr. It is not perfect in some ways but we are getting a 35mm capable (DOF, low light) digital slr image quality with the whole range of Nikon lenses at a fraction of the cost. Many have speculated before that the Digital photo cameras had all the technologies to produce excellent film cameras and I think it is just a start, at least for Nikon who on the contrary of Canon and Sony has no video or movie camera line to cannibalise. I guest this will be implemented in the next iteration of the Nikon professional range aka D4 - D400 with perhaps 1080p capabilities.

I come from the photography world and had always an interest in movie making. I have followed most of the development of the diy camera here and hope that some like the Sumix materialise. Hoping that someday we would get the same imaging possibilities in the movie world compared to what can be done with photography at way below prices. I think it is just a start but very exiting one.

You can check some clip here D90 | D-MOVIE (http://imaging.nikon.com/products/imaging/lineup/d90/en/d-movie/#c-4)

Nikon already knows how to make movie cameras . The nikon s8s were some of the best . This will probably be the beginning of a new category for nikon that will change the video industry as much or more than Red ever could - hopefully apologies accepted - and it will probably be designed more like their earlier super8s , as Nikon seems to archive all of those beautiful designs , as a starting point. Next we can probably expect this to migrate down the Nikon chain to the d60 , and be even cheaper, and up to the d4 and be alot more useful on a ff model with probably higher frame rates too !! very cool

www.kurthbousman.com

Feed it into a XDR and you have preview, sound sync and archive :-)

Your right Ray. XDR seems like a must have.

I see this application (once faster framerates appear) as a great specialty tool in the kit.

Not an everyday camera, but something to pull out on a stationary green screen shoot or interview with shallow DOF.

The keys pulled from the near 4:4:4 color have a real use...

I love my 30D & 5D, but would dump them in a second if any other models also had a decent movie mode.

Who cares? Hook it up to a NanoFlash or a Cineform Solid and record to your heart's content.

What Cineform Solid? This product is still in the planning stage.

You're right, of course. The Cineform Solid is, unfortunately, still very much vaporware at this stage. The Convergent Designs unit is real.

My point was just that, with HDMI recorders available or looming on the horizon, you needn't be hampered by Nikon's codec or short record times.

Looks to have a pretty bad rolling shutter problem to my eyes :(

I wonder what controls are available to you in D-Movie mode ?

:SLDKGJ:SLDKJG:SDLKJGF:SDJG

No words.

I'm a photography guy and a movie guy. And then this comes out right after I order parts for a 35mm adapter. OMGOSH.With this I may be able to sort of combine both. I'm not a proffessional so this would be great. Use this for photography and short films and then my actual camcorder for less important stuff.

Can't wait until it comes out for real and we can see any major major drawbacks.

I think this is great. I attend car shows and it is hard to carry both my DSLR (Nikon D70) and camcorder (Sony HD1000 which is big or Canon HV20). I have a Sanyo HD1000 that does ok, but to small to get steady video and the focus is not the best. So if I am using any of those I just use the photo mode on the camcorder if that is what I am carrying and settle for a lesser quality picture.
But to have the D90 and be able to take high quality pictures and video will be great. Since there is not a lot of movement at shows the 24fps won't be a big deal and sound is not as important as I can mix in music. Also will be able to get very creative with DOF on the video which will be nice. Looking forward to seeing reviews once it comes out.

This could be my move into digital SLR. Maybe a new POV camera.

Ben

I have only seen one 720p sample (the BMX one) and am presuming it is the original from the camera (OpenDML JPEG / AVI).

Aside from very obvious rolling shutter wobble - there appears to be odd exposure changes through the clip (auto exposure doing it's thing?) - you can lock exposure so that should be straightforward to overcome.

There is also very obvious 'stair stepping' (see the wheels of the BMX) and the overall clarity looks decidedly average - to the extent that it looks like it has been run through a median filter (!).

Of course you cannot tell much from a single sample that we don't know the provenance of, but the quality falls short of any of the current crop of prosumer HDV cameras (Sonys, Canons HV30 etc).

Depth of field looks great though and this would be a fantastic low light/indoors camera. The audio side can be dealt with by using a dedicated recorder.

You can't lock the exposure, you can only tell it what to keep exposure compensation at.

Nikon D90 Hands-on Preview: 10. Displays: Digital Photography Review (http://www.dpreview.com/previews/nikond90/page10.asp)

This is just the tip of the iceberg of things to come. I sure am glad that I have all of those wonderful (expensive) Nikon lenses. Come on Nikon. Where is the 1080i version with XLR audio inputs? I think this is really exciting. BTW, I thought I read one post where someone mentioned that it is a full 35mm sensor. It is a Nikon "DX" image device which means it is more like 24mm. Not full frame 35mm.

I don't quite understand if Nikon has come this far, why it doesn't implement the video function with stereo audio recording and the option to lock the exposure or control the exposure manually either via shutter speed and/or aperture? An internal audio circuit could easily be built into the camera to allow better audio recording via the hot shoe, for instance.

The ability to autofocus in video mode will also be useful despite the shallow DoF of the DX format as focusing manually during recording would be troublesome due to the form factor of the camera body.

But improvements will definitely come because Nikon has no camcorder products to worry about.

Wacharapong

With the D90, I only have some questions that is bothering me.



Can't the Sony's, Canon, Panasonic's not make a apc-c sensor based video cam at U$1,000 - U$1,500?

You have a U$999 body that basically does stills. What would it take to make one that does video? With video controls, proper sound, in-body stabilization, form factor, etc.? Can't the problem of how to cool sensor to allow it to shoot for extended period, maybe with the use of heat pipes to dissipate the heat?

I am not knowledgeable as to the issues on how to implement a video camera, but what the D90 done, is to show how an HDV footage be made on a body that is supposedly good only for photos! Sure there are so many issues needed to be addressed, (stereo sound, xlr inputs, image stabilization in-body, etc) but again, this is a DSLR! It wasn't made for video, but for stills! If this can be done with this camera, why can't this be done by those who are really making video cameras?

Or is there a deliberate effort not to go into this line by the video cam makers?

Or is there a deliberate effort not to go into this line by the video cam makers?

I think there is probably an effort to protect their existing cameras from a $1,500 unit that offers so much!

As much as we want the convergence, still and video cameras are very different and I don't think it is quite as easy as it seems to be, but that is changing.

"You can't lock the exposure, you can only tell it what to keep exposure compensation at.

Nikon D90 Hands-on Preview: 10. Displays: Digital Photography Review"

I think this only applies to the digital lens, not older AI lens. It can't adjust the iris on the lens becuase it's not electronic like the rest.

And why would you want or need XRL inputs on this? This is why it's probably cheaper than most prosumer camera's out there. Just buy a mixer and sync sound. It's not hard and not that expensive.

This camera looks killer. I can imagine making a rig out of this with audio gathered by a Zoom H4 or something like it.

You could put an older Nikon lens on the front and have control over zoom, focus and iris just like we do now with adapters. Looks like my rig might be going into the trash. I needed to upgrade my SLR anyway. Now looks like the perfect time.

Still want to see some raw shots but I don't see how the adapter manufacturers can compete with an SLR that takes video.

If my calculations are correct it will be about

16mbps at MotionJPG 1280x720 24p

5 minutes of D90 footage is 600MB

So 600MB * 8 (to make it into bits from bytes) = 4800 mbp(5 minutes)

4800 / 5 minutes = 960 mbp(minute)

960 mbpm / 60 (seconds) = 16 mbps

Update:

Its at 13.56 mbps, my rough calculation was pretty close though!

Alright so I pushed that Vimeo BMX clip pretty hard in color correction and it held up well. I immediately converted it to ProRes422 then put it into Shake and pushed the heck out of it with a Saturation set to 5 and an Expand. No extra artifacting was noticeable other than was already seen in the original flat AVI.

You'll notice on the jeans of the first guy on the left some dancing artifacts and also some banding on the R of his skateboard.

Also it looks like some weird auto iris stuff is happening toward the end. Hopefully there is an option to do it manually or lock the iris. Maybe the old school lenses I'm currently using with my 35mm adapter will allow me to circumvent this unnecessary measure.

Here's crossing my fingers. Maybe we'll even get a hacked firmware out of this thing. This is starting to look pretty promising.

Regarding the rolling shutter that people have commented on... was that on shots with the wide angle lens? You might be seeing a fisheye effect as the subject moves between the center and the edge of the lens.

that flicker was from photographers playing around with video mode now knowing how to use it. it's the automatic exposure with electronic lens. it's been official announcement over at dpreview that it has exposure lock so that flicker won't be there on your AI lens.

I am not knowledgeable as to the issues on how to implement a video camera, but what the D90 done, is to show how an HDV footage be made on a body that is supposedly good only for photos!


It is not HDV.

it's the automatic exposure with electronic lens. it's been official announcement over at dpreview that it has exposure lock so that flicker won't be there on your AI lens.


I think the catch is that the shutter speed can't be locked (manually selected) so the auto exposure will keep shifting as the scene changes or the camera moves.

Wacharapong

This camera looks killer. I can imagine making a rig out of this with audio gathered by a Zoom H4 or something like it.

You could put an older Nikon lens on the front and have control over zoom, focus and iris just like we do now with adapters. Looks like my rig might be going into the trash. I needed to upgrade my SLR anyway. Now looks like the perfect time.

Still want to see some raw shots but I don't see how the adapter manufacturers can compete with an SLR that takes video.

If my calculations are correct it will be about

16mbps at MotionJPG 1280x720 24p

13.56 mbits/s


[EDIT: just noticed you have updated with the actual data rate !!]

Regarding the rolling shutter that people have commented on... was that on shots with the wide angle lens? You might be seeing a fisheye effect as the subject moves between the center and the edge of the lens.

Subject was not moving, worryingly the effect is most prominent when the camera and subject at pretty much still.

My mind is blown. This kicks my HF100's ass. I'm definitely a Canon guy, but I'm selling my 40D asap and preordering this. I understand it isn't 1080p, has an outdated codec at a low bitrate, but honestly, I doubt me or any other person using this camera will need anything more. I can finally carry just one camera around to parties/shoots/gigs/whatever.

Also, the D90 can provide ridiculously high "noise-free" ISOs up to 6400 (compared to about 500 for the red one, roughly 3.5 stops faster)

Btw, Ken Rockwell gets that this is a big deal for filmmakers: Nikon D90 (http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/d90.htm)

Ken is funny. Do like his opinionated (but in a good way) stuff...

George/