Taking Video using HD Camcorder vs HD Camera

[CT 3833]

Hi,
I have a SONY HD camcorder for two years, serving the purpose well. I use Sony Vegas to edit my video and photos into HD video clip. Play with some FX, transition etc, cut into DVD and m2t or h264, happy with it so far.
I have a D80 with bright lens mostly, happy with it also. There is no need for me to upgrade to a D90s to D300s.......

But I am very tempting to buy a D90 for HD video purpose, becuase of the much better bokeh produced by the larege apertur lens....as well as the ability to manually adjust in and out of focus selectively,....but I also understand that D90 come only with mono mic, non stereo.

I would like to have stereo recording when filmimg, I do not need 5.1, but not mono. My questions:
(1) does D90 or D300s have stereo recording capability?
(2) if I buy a D90 assuming, is it good enough to complement it with a compact stereo MP3 recorder ? Note, I am taking reference to the stereo recording of a HD camcorder.
(3) Any other disadvantages of using a camera like D90 for video recording?

Thanks for your advice.

 

[DXNMedia]

Due to sensor overheating in video mode, there is no way that you can continuously record video using a D90 at full 720p resolution...that's already one of the biggest drawback between using a true video cam vs a video-recording capable DSLR from Nikon.

Moreover, the recording quality of the D90 is significantly more heavily compressed as compared to your HD video cam that may be using HDV or AVCHD.
:thumbsup:

 

[CT 3833]

Due to sensor overheating in video mode, there is no way that you can continuously record video using a D90 at full 720p resolution...that's already one of the biggest drawback between using a true video cam vs a video-recording capable DSLR from Nikon.

Moreover, the recording quality of the D90 is significantly more heavily compressed as compared to your HD video cam that may be using HDV or AVCHD.
:thumbsup:

DXNMedia,
thanks for your valuable input. How long(roughly) would a D90's(or any typical HD camera) sensor be able to withstand continuois video mode before it stop to function? And I supposed that would shorten the lifespan of a sensor significantly?

With regard to compressed file format, I supposed it is storage friendly at the expense of minor degradation in HD quality?

 

[astroboy]

Just curious, can the same be said about the 5DII?

Due to sensor overheating in video mode, there is no way that you can continuously record video using a D90 at full 720p resolution...that's already one of the biggest drawback between using a true video cam vs a video-recording capable DSLR from Nikon.

Moreover, the recording quality of the D90 is significantly more heavily compressed as compared to your HD video cam that may be using HDV or AVCHD.
:thumbsup:

 

[DXNMedia]

DXNMedia,
thanks for your valuable input. How long(roughly) would a D90's(or any typical HD camera) sensor be able to withstand continuois video mode before it stop to function? And I supposed that would shorten the lifespan of a sensor significantly?

With regard to compressed file format, I supposed it is storage friendly at the expense of minor degradation in HD quality?

Based on my experience with my D90 for outdoor filming it will last no more than 3x 5mins recording at one go before you need to shutdown for the sensor to cool off.

As for compressed file format, yes it is storage friendly, but if quality is of critical consideration, then the D90's motion JPEG compression won't be acceptable by our standards.
We have experienced a lot of motion artifacts and soft-edges in some of our stock footage collection.

 

[DXNMedia]

Just curious, can the same be said about the 5DII?

So far I haven't personally encountered any issues of sensor shutting down in the middle of our filming sessions with a 5DMkII, but I do hear of overheating issues with that camera.

 

[jaegersing]

The D90 will overheat just by having it in Liveview mode, there is no need to actually shoot video to get the problem. I sild mine within 6 days after purchase because it is just not suitable for video work.

And the image quality is quite poor, there are many compression artifacts whenever there is movement of fine detail in the picture. Maybe it would be good for shooting models posing, but anything with water rippling or leaves waving in trees will show the artifacts.

 

[CT 3833]

Based on my experience with my D90 for outdoor filming it will last no more than 3x 5mins recording at one go before you need to shutdown for the sensor to cool off.

As for compressed file format, yes it is storage friendly, but if quality is of critical consideration, then the D90's motion JPEG compression won't be acceptable by our standards.
We have experienced a lot of motion artifacts and soft-edges in some of our stock footage collection.

Thanks for your reply again and apprecaite providing the sample clips in the link. Nice video though. Now I understand more about the limitation of using a camera for HD video purpose.

Thanks again.

 

[crusher]

How about comparing with cameras like SX20IS & FZ35, they have stereo recording, are their video quality on par with those of HD camcorders?

 

[DXNMedia]

How about comparing with cameras like SX20IS & FZ35, they have stereo recording, are their video quality on par with those of HD camcorders?

I have no experience with the video capabilities on hybrid compact cameras except the old Canon Powershot TX1 and the current Panasonic FT1 with AVCHD Lite recording.

Canon Powershot TX1 was one of the first compacts that does 720P recording and during it's time, quality doesn't match up to a dedicated HD camcorder.
The Panasonic FT1 records in AVCHD @ a limited 720P resolution as opposed to a 'full HD' 1080 resolution in HD camcorders. For home video and consumer grade video expectations, I guess they function as they are designed for.