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Author Topic: Nikon D90  (Read 58056 times)

Morgan_Moore

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Nikon D90
« Reply #40 on: October 01, 2008, 03:42:04 pm »

Well I got one today so I will report back sometime - I have never shot video before

Initial impressions - I need a screen shade and a new tripod head

Focus is visible on screen - (was shooting with 85 f2 @ F2)

Pull focus ie going from one subject to another is an art that I did not master in the first 10mins

Follow focus will be hard

The 10 fish at F8 seems to be less focus critial (unsurprisingly)

Interesting I found I could nail focus fastest by composing in the viewfinder before hitting the LV button - but then I have been looking through viewfinders for 20 years

A steep learning curve will ensue

S
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Morgan_Moore

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« Reply #41 on: October 02, 2008, 01:19:09 am »

Could someone give me a newb lesson in editing software..

I am using I movie on my MAC

Easy to make basic edits.

Now I am not too sure about how to export at the hihgest quality

File > Share > Then what ?

I have been using the setting QuickTime DV quality

Looks lossy to me even with footage shot on a proper Sony - not just the D90

TIA

SMM
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James R Russell

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Nikon D90
« Reply #42 on: October 03, 2008, 06:17:55 pm »

Quote from: Peter McLennan
The "skew" evident in this clip is objectionable mainly because of the inept hand-holding of the operator.  Only very fast-moving action would exhibit this amount of vertical skew in normal use.

IMHO, the D90 will be able to provide some very nice looking video indeed, given careful, competent users.

I think we're seeing just the very beginning of this new capability.  If only Nikon had included intervalometer and slow shutter functions, and true 720X1920 24P,  this new function would be really fun to use.

I just bought the d90 for an upcoming project.  The project is primarily still advertising photography, but I want some semi locked down motion imagery and I want it in low light, wide open with lots of fall off, which is the reason we will primarily use the D90 instead of a standard hdv cam.

I also have Canon 5d2's on order so the Nikon may go away after the Canons come in.

My take on the D-90 is not much different than Micheal's review, though I see a lot of great benifit to the camera.

To begin with the skew is really pronounced but only if you move fast or are working in hard vertical lines.  Slower panning, or really, really fast panning and it shouldn't be noticeable.  Smooth paning with a fluid head also helps.

The exposure lock allows you to set the exposure visually, lock it and then shoot.  

I used only old Nikon manual lenses, (the 50 1.2 and the 35mm 1.4) and you can throw depth of field very nicely.

I assume the camera has some form of auto iso (gain) feature so when you go from a bright situation to a dark situation you see noise but nothing even close to what standard prosumer hdv cameras produce.  I did a quick test in an almost dark room situation and the frame rate didn't change and get jerky and the gain was not unreasonable, once again nothing like standard hdv cams I've used in low lit and dark subjects.

Focusing is an art and I will put the camera on rails with a follow focus and see how that works, I assume it will work well.

I like focusing on the live view screen and it's so well detailed for me it's easier than looking through the viewfinder.  

I did some stil focus tests with the 50 1.2 wide open and was more in focus on the live view than the viewfider.  But maybe that's just me.

I guess right now, without really working the camera hard, I think I'm very impressed.  It throws focus like a 35mm cinema camera, it doesn't require a letus, or any adpater which softens the images and the gain and noise in low light is good, once again much better than I've seen from anything before.

The one drawback is the skew which is just freaky when you first see it.  Nothing you can't work around and actually you could probably make something quite cool out of it, but it is a limitation of sorts.

I took the 720p footage and uprezzed it though QT to full 1080 and it look good and to me, much better than what I'd seen from my 3 ccd canons.

The real upside to this little camera is how well it shoots stills.  It really is an amazing still camera and for $900 it's more than amazing.

JR
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Morgan_Moore

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« Reply #43 on: October 04, 2008, 03:57:22 am »

Quote from: James R Russell
It really is an amazing still camera and for $900 it's more than amazing.

JR

James - nice mini review !

Back to basics of the total Neewb..

Getting the highest qualty setting from the footage - what menu options do I select ?

Locking the exposure - how do I set that up ??

----------

Interesting MRs minireview mentions the aperture being non controllable, whereas JR and I did not notice this due to having grabbed old nikkor glass - mine the 80/2

With these lenses it seems you just select the required aperture

SMM
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James R Russell

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Nikon D90
« Reply #44 on: October 04, 2008, 05:26:10 pm »

Quote from: Morgan_Moore
James - nice mini review !

Back to basics of the total Neewb..

Getting the highest qualty setting from the footage - what menu options do I select ?

Locking the exposure - how do I set that up ??

----------

Interesting MRs minireview mentions the aperture being non controllable, whereas JR and I did not notice this due to having grabbed old nikkor glass - mine the 80/2

With these lenses it seems you just select the required aperture

SMM


As Michael mentioned there is a menu setting that allows you to hit the ael button once and it locks without holding it down.

There are three ways with manual lenses to set exposure, one is to just point at something until you like the look and lock it, the other is to set your scene then adjust the exposure correction +- until it's where you want to be and the third obviously is to lock the ae and just set the f stop as the camera doesn't know what f stop the manual lens is at, though of course this effects dof.

For focusing I added a cheap follow focus that makes it much smoother and less jerky than working it like a still camera.  It also gives you some distance from the camera to step back and use the lcd for focus.

If you are locked down with set to live view you can zoom in on a point of the frame, set you focus then zoom back.




JR

P.S.  I take the part back that fast panning cuts down on the skew.  The Skew when working in a fast pan is just amazingly awful, slow pan and it doesn't show, but when it shows you will see it.

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pix2pixels

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« Reply #45 on: October 04, 2008, 11:49:34 pm »

Quote from: Morgan_Moore
Locking the exposure - how do I set that up ??

Menu > Custom Settings (Pencil Icon) > f (controls) >> Assign AE-L/AF-L Button > Ae lock (hold) > Ok

Menu > Custom Settings (Pencil Icon) > C (Timers/Ae-Lock) > Auto Meter-off Delay > Select amount of time.
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Morgan_Moore

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« Reply #46 on: October 05, 2008, 01:05:06 am »

Quote from: pix2pixels
Menu > Custom Settings (Pencil Icon) > f (controls) >> Assign AE-L/AF-L Button > Ae lock (hold) > Ok

Menu > Custom Settings (Pencil Icon) > C (Timers/Ae-Lock) > Auto Meter-off Delay > Select amount of time.

Done both of those - set the amount of time to a minute ?

Seems good now - will get that hang of it soon

Im still trying to get my head around 'forcing' low ISO as per the thread on the DV site

James - we both went stright for the same lens - manual 50 1.2 no - mine has been awaiting an appropriate home since I swapped for an AF one for using on the D3

Thank you both - now to find something to film

----------

Heres an idea - whats the chance of a D3 firmware upgrade that records the LV

S







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Sam Morgan Moore Bristol UK

pix2pixels

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« Reply #47 on: October 06, 2008, 09:21:42 am »

Quote from: Morgan_Moore
----------

Heres an idea - whats the chance of a D3 firmware upgrade that records the LV

S

We shouldn't forget that a lot of Canon's P&S digicams  are more or less the same components re-packed and re-badged with minor firmware tweaks. Just compare the A650 v G9.

Firmware update is possible, but at Photokina, a lot of people were waiting for the BIG Nikon announcement, maybe the much anticipated D3X...

After all the bru-ha-ha surrounding the EOS 5D2 30fps vs 25/24fps saga (more than 1.5 million downloads of Vincent Laforet's spectacular test shoot and almost 1000 - and counting requests  logged on his blog asking a 24 / 25 fps inclusion with the commercial release of the camera), I hope that the manufacturers (ALL of them) are listening.

1.5 million views in about a week is something that will make the marketing boffins worried.

I hope, again,  that Nikon in its wisdom, will bring something better than D90, with the pro user in mind, a camera closer or better than 5D2 with 25 fps as well, for the rest of the world.  

It would be very interesting if a D3X or a D400 with killer video features will be announced before 5D2 hits the retailers' shelves.

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jjj

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Nikon D90
« Reply #48 on: October 06, 2008, 06:06:09 pm »

Quote from: Peter McLennan
The "skew" evident in this clip is objectionable mainly because of the inept hand-holding of the operator.  Only very fast-moving action would exhibit this amount of vertical skew in normal use.
Better hope there are no vehicles on shot then as the van that drove past  had a severe lean to it. Not to mention hand held camerawork with no steadicam is very common these days

Quote
IMHO, the D90 will be able to provide some very nice looking video indeed, given careful, competent users.
You mean if there's no movement in shot or with camera!
« Last Edit: October 06, 2008, 06:07:33 pm by jjj »
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« Reply #49 on: October 06, 2008, 08:58:03 pm »

The D90 won't provide "some very nice looking video indeed" even WITH "careful, competent users".

I bought one at Central Camera on a trip to Chicago before my local dealer had one in. I was sold by the quality of the video image on the camera's beautiful 920Kpix monitor. When I got home and uploaded video files to my computer, my disappointment was bitter. The video quality on-screen (computer and HDTV thru HDMI cable) is LOUSY—gauzy and lacking in resolution, very video-by-digicam-ish. In fact, that description pays it an unwarranted compliment, as the 1024 x 768 video from my Canon G9 P&S digicam is literally twice as good (subjective characterization, but telling)—although the G9's frame rate of 15 fps is less pleasing than the D90's 24, the sharpness and crisp detail are stunningly better. The D90's is practically unwatchable by comparison. [Yes, it was in the highest resolution setting and properly focused.]

Let me repeat that as a simple statement and an invitation to others to make similar comparison tests:

           
                    THE D90'S VIDEO IS FAR INFERIOR TO EVEN THE CANON G9 P&S DIGICAM'S!!![/b][/i]


Two things puzzle me: How is it that the quality is no better than it is, considering that both the D90 and the G9 are primary still cameras with the secondary capability of recording the live-view video, with all the problems that go with binning 12 Mpix down to HD spec many times per second, etc, while the D90 has a much larger sensor and more room for processing hardware; and: Why did Nikon think it was a good idea to include this feature when the implementation was so poor? Did Nikon knowingly settle for performance that's put in the shade by $300 digicams?

And to think that I bought this camera about 3 days before Canon's announcement of the 5D MkII, and about 3 weeks after I bought a D700...argh! I am dreaming of an announcement from Nikon of a downloadable, user-installable firmware upgrade that will bring 5D MkII video performance to the D700, or at least one that will bring respectable video performance to the D90. Else they both go on the auction block while I stand in line for the 5DII.

--howard
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Ray

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« Reply #50 on: October 06, 2008, 09:35:31 pm »

Quote from: --howard
                    THE D90'S VIDEO IS FAR INFERIOR TO EVEN THE CANON G9 P&S DIGICAM'S!!![/b][/i]

My guess is, this is a software/conversion problem. There's no fundamental reason why 24p should be better than 30p (or 15fps better than 24fps), unless one is aiming for the slight stuttery effect of a frame rate that is below the visual threshold for completely smooth video. But there is a reason for not using 24fps if your display does not have the hardware/software for correctly displaying 24 fps. Even 15 fps could then look better. Likewise, there is a reason for preferring 24p over 30p if your editing software and/or display is optimised for 24p rather than 30p.


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Morgan_Moore

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« Reply #51 on: October 12, 2008, 07:29:25 pm »

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Sam Morgan Moore Bristol UK

JMCP

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« Reply #52 on: October 13, 2008, 11:19:13 am »

Hi,

you should try loading your clip into vimeo as it allows for a far higher resolution to be displayed. It is hard to tell the quality of any video when looking at utube but yours actually was one of the better quality clips I have seen on it. I quite enjoyed your clip and the fast pace editing, a good first effort, as far as the music, don't give up the day job LOL


Cheers John

Quote from: Morgan_Moore
My first D90 Effort..

SMM
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Morgan_Moore

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« Reply #53 on: October 14, 2008, 05:38:02 am »

Quote from: JMCP
Hi,

you should try loading your clip into vimeo as it allows for a far higher resolution to be displayed. It is hard to tell the quality of any video when looking at utube but yours actually was one of the better quality clips I have seen on it. I quite enjoyed your clip and the fast pace editing, a good first effort, as far as the music, don't give up the day job LOL


Cheers John

I have tried Vimeo ..

Dont know if I have actually got the full res because Im not too hot at Imovie Exports/Imports

It was MPEG4 as 1200PXL 16:9

IMO either I am importing/exporting from Imovie incorrectly or the D90 is NOT very sharp - lenses like my 14.28 should provide good results even if a few of my old MF nikkors are a bit goudged

S

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jjj

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« Reply #54 on: October 14, 2008, 09:37:01 pm »

Quote from: JMCP
I quite enjoyed your clip and the fast pace editing, a good first effort, as far as the music, don't give up the day job LOL
I quite liked the music. Each to his own.
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Serge Cashman

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« Reply #55 on: October 29, 2008, 01:25:03 am »

Quote from: James R Russell
For focusing I added a cheap follow focus that makes it much smoother and less jerky than working it like a still camera.  It also gives you some distance from the camera to step back and use the lcd for focus.

Could you describe in more detail what's on top of that Manfrotto 501 head? It definitely does not look "cheap". What's "follow focus"?
« Last Edit: October 29, 2008, 01:25:53 am by Serge Cashman »
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BernardLanguillier

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« Reply #56 on: October 29, 2008, 04:29:37 am »

Quote from: Morgan_Moore
My first D90 Effort..

Nice, much better that anything I could ever get with my 1080i flash based Canon HV10, especially during the low light part.

Cheers,
Bernard

Morgan_Moore

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« Reply #57 on: October 29, 2008, 11:21:50 am »

Quote from: BernardLanguillier
Nice, much better that anything I could ever get with my 1080i flash based Canon HV10, especially during the low light part.

Cheers,
Bernard

It does indeed have a look

a lot of people have commented on that shot - almost in the dark manual follow focus with the 400 2.8 wide open - while panning on a 60s gitzo

luckily I shot some football for local papers on a 300 2.8 in the F3 era

In my self learning process I have now aquired (on loan) a  sony XL1  the experience is interesting in the extreme

no 'look' at all but an absolute piece of cake to use - AF and VR

It is so easy that one thinks one is absolutely hampering onself buy trying to shoot moving with the 90 - Its like being stanley kubrick - every follow focus, or pan needs to be planned and practiced and directed - a different world from the XL1

check out www.vimeo.com/sammorganmoore for more

Ive had a swimmer posing for the 90 in the housing - that  will be my next cut : )

SMM


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