I ruminated at length on the subject of convergent
cameras some while ago and the new Nikon D90 with its ability to record
HD video is interesting. In my view it is the most exciting camera on
the market at the moment.
As the camera is a 12+MP Nikon
there is not much doubt about its ability to shoot still images, given
the capabilities of the other models in the range. The only issue is the
video potential, and the way in which it might be used.
No one would seriously view the D90 as
a replacement for a proper video camcorder. It is not designed to be,
and I suspect that way in which it will be used will be quite different
to either a stills or video camera.
It has enormous creative potential
and I think that we haven't yet begun to understand its creative potential.
On a simple level being able to record up to five minutes of high definition
vision (and mono sound) at 24 frames per second as well as produce high
quality stills without having to swap cameras, is going to revolutionise
how we use images.
Stills and movies will meld in as many
ways as we can imagine. As a very basic example, a company I did work
for had to illustrate a new welding procedure in great detail. Ideally
stills and a 16mm film should have been produced, but budget and time
constraints meant that we used stills only. The D90 would have done both
in little more time than it took me to shoot the stills, with comparable
quality to the film.
That's the conventional, and perhaps the
most common use for the D90, but more exciting is its potential as a tool
for multi-media and video art projects.
If video art has drawbacks most them
relate to quality as very few artists have the funds to employ high end
video equipment. The D90 is, in these terms, very cheap. For around $US1,000
you are getting a quite marvelous stills camera combined with a High Definition
quality video device.
A maximum of five minutes shooting time,
and the high wear and tear rate on the shutter assembly are drawbacks
in a sense, but no one is going to shoot video all the time with the D90.
On a serious level I can see it being used
for street photography, certain types of news work and it has a place
in industrial photography as I've already outlined. At the other end of
the scale it would be a hoot for shooting parties and events in much the
same way as people are using mobile phones these days except that you
would actually be able to see what is going on.
The D700 was at the top of my shopping list to
replace my D100, but I will be having a very close look at the D90.