Shooting HQ Video With Nikon D90

My first DSLR camera was Nikon D60 which I loved so much but one thing I missed in my D60 was video recording. I wished Nikon could have included video recording feature in D60. But better late than never, Nikon came with another powerful camera, Nikon D90, with the video recording feature in it. Nikon D90 is considered as the first DSLR camera to record high quality video with the sound. I am glad that Nikon brought this feature with D90 for which I waited for a year or more. I finally got my hands on D90 this march and can’t wait to do some experiments with it even though I am more interested in taking still pictures. Obviously D90 shoots amazing sharp pictures with rich color and the greater details of the subject. Nikon D90 has a CMOS sensor built into it and is able to capture 12.3 Mega Pixel photo which is enough to print large size pictures for family gathering, wedding pictures and other daily events. There is no doubt that Nikon D90 is an excellent DSLR to capture your moment of life with amazing quality photo but now D90 also comes with the additional feature of taking video which can add extra flavor to your photography life.

Despite of being excellent HQ quality movie camera, D90 has some downsides while recording the video. D90 lacks Autofocus feature while taking videos. That means you have to manually focus your subject with one hand using the focusing ring on the lens barrel and hold the camera with another hand. If you are not using tripod to capture a video, I guess it would be very hard to hold D90 along with the with the heavy lens like 18-200mm for a long time. I believe most of the people don't shoot video with D90 but rather carry a small camcorder to record the video. But we can't ignore the fact that D90 records HQ video and can use it whenever we need it in case of emergency.

Nikon D5000 Vs Nikon D90

With the release of Nikon D5000 DSLR camera, market is buzzing with it's new features and comparison to other cameras in the market. I meet increasing number of people everyday getting into photography and the release of this new camera, Nikon D5000, is targeting those customers who are fresh and want to get into photography or upgrade themselves from point and shoot cameras. I started with Nikon D60 and later upgraded to D90. When I bought my first camera, I also did lots of comparison between different brands and the models of same brand. It is always confusing task to compare when you are not sure what exactly you are looking for on your first camera. But if you already know the specification you are looking for, your task is half completed and the next question would be comparison between the price of two. Since the release of Nikon D5000, it has been compared to the models of different brand or even within Nikon lineup. Since, I haven’t used other brand DSLR yet, I am trying to compare it with my own D90 and see how it differs to each other from different perspective.

People started comparing these two products because it has similar features. Due to rapid technological innovation, D5000 seems to have even more features than D90 and the price is much lower. But when you look more closely about the features avaialble in Nikon D90 and it's flexibility over the situation, there is no doubt that D90 is the best camera for the price you pay. But let’s discuss some of the key differences I found out during my research about these two cameras.

Nikon D5000

As I mentioned earlier, Nikon D60 was my first DSLR camera which I bought almost 18 months ago. And D5000 is considered as a replacement for D60 with some add-in features. D5000 offers more features than D60 like vari-angle color LCD monitor, 12.3 MP picture quality, records 720p HD movie with sound, 19 Auto-exposure Scene Modes, Live view, GPS Geo-tagging, 15.8 x 23.6mm size CMOS sensor like in D90 and many more. D90 lacks some of the features of D5000 like 19 Auto-exposure modes, vari-angle color LCD etc.

The main features that D5000 lacks over D90 are wide range of lens compatibility, off-camera flash control, dedicated buttons that allow immediate access to the settings. Nikon D90 has a built-in AF motor which gives the capability to support wide range of lens available in the market. This is one of the most important feature to be considered that D5000 doesn't have. When the camera has a built-in focus motor in it, it can utilize the AF lens for autofocus that doesn't have a motor inside the lens itself. Since D5000 doesn't have a AF motor inside the body, if you use AF lens with it, you have to manually focus. Next thing I noticed is Nikon D90 has a commander mode which allows you to control off-camera flash using the built-in camera flash. When you setup a commander mode in D90, you can actually use the built-in camera flash to send a signal over the air and control off-camera flash. This is pretty impressive feature and lot of time specially when we do indoor shooting, we use this feature for proper light setting. D90 has dedicated buttons for frequently used settings like ISO, preview of DoF, White Balance etc. Instead of navigating through menu setup, you can use those dedicated buttons to change your settings which is very handy and useful when you are in a hurry to capture the shot.

D90 has many other features that most of the people may not use in daily shooting but it is worth to have it there in-case if you need it. But that doesn't mean D5000 is a bad camera at all. Actually, Nikon D5000 comes with more features in affordable price. When it is time for you to decide which camera should you be buying, you have to answer few question to yourself; what do you want from your new camera and what is your budget? If you own point and shoot camera and want to upgrade, D5000 might be the perfect choice at this moment but if you already own one of the DSLR body like D40 or D60 for example and want more features, then probably getting Nikon D90 will be the best option.

FX Format Vs DX Format DSLR

I have got many requests from the readers to talk about FX vs DX format DSLR camera. They also asked me to briefly discuss whether the FX and the DX camera bodies and lenses can be used with each others or not. In short, FX is a full-frame camera which uses bigger censor (36x24 mm) like in the film camera to produce lower pixel density or high quality pictures. This kind of camera is used to produce highly pixelated full framed picture under the low light condition by increasing ISO sensitivity without affecting much on the picture quality. In the current market, Nikon D3X, Nikon D700, Nikon D3S and Nikon D3 are FX format camera from Nikon. Whereas DX format DSLRs use censors that are usually 2/3 of the size (almost 24×16 mm) of the FX censors. That is the main reason DX cameras are cheaper than the full framed FX camera and also they are more sensitive to lights than the full frame camera. Nikon D40, Nikon D60 and Nikon D90 are the examples of DX format camera.

Now the question is, can I use the FX format lens with the DX format camera body or the DX format lens with the FX format camera body? The simple answer is, in case of Nikon, you can use either DX lens or FX lens on the DX camera or the FX camera but same is not true for Canon cameras. You have to have a FX format lens for the FX format Canon body. Lots of photographers think this is the strength of the Nikon camera that you can use either FX lens on DX body or DX lens on FX body (even though there are some limitations on cross combination). You may not want to use DX lenses on the FX camera because, since the lens won't fill the entire frame, the corners of your picture will come out dark. Similarly, if you mount the FX lens on the DX camera body which has a smaller sensor size, only the center of the lens's image circle is captured. The edges are cropped off,  which is equivalent to zooming in on the center section of the imaging area. To be more precise, 1.5 x crop factor will be applied when you use the FX format lens with the DX format body. That means if you mount the 50mm FX format lens on the DX format camera body, it will work as a 75mm (=50mm x 1.5) on the DX body. Actually, this technique is very much popular among the wildlife photographers to reach the long distance subjects by taking advantage of this crop factor.

There are also other pros and cons of both body types. The main advantages of DX sensors are compact wide-range zooms, and you can reach farther with the FX telephoto lenses. You will also have a greater working distance for the close-up or macro shots with the DX sensors. The advantages of the FX sensors are you can shoot with the less noise even at the higher ISO and get the good wide-angle shot with certain type of lenses. If you have something to add or comment, please let me know using the comment box below.

Happy Shooting!