When the Nikon D90 was first announced, I was particularly interested in its video capabilities. Shortly thereafter, I bought one so that I could become familiar with a feature that will soon become a part of other new DSLRs as well.
The D90 is an excellent still photography camera. I am more than satisfied with the top notch images that I’ve taken with it under a wide variety of lighting conditions. I can’t say the same about its video capabilities, but not because it isn’t a capable video camera. Instead, it’s due to my lack of familiarity with shooting video. Over the past four months, I’ve taken enough “sample videos” to convince myself that the quality of the video from the D90 is quite good. However, I am still quite the novice when it comes to shooting real videos (not samples). There’s no disputing that the quality of video is quite good, but discovering the new camera’s video features has been a deliberate learning experience for me.
With such mixed results from the the D90’s video, why would I want to add the new Canon 5D Mk II to my equipment collection? First is my the stash of full-frame Canon lenses - I’ve been using the older 5D for a few years and have accumlated more than a few lenses. Next is the low-light capabilities of the new 5D Mk II. Finally is the chance to compare the 1080p video resolution with Nikon’s 768p. When my friendly salesman from Norman Camera called just before Christmas to say that he had a 5D Mk II in stock, I felt compelled to buy one so ran over to the local branch to pick it up.
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