Along with the release of the Canon 50D, Nikon announced the successor to the D80 the Nikon D90.

I’ve been a fan of Nikons since the release of the D3. Basically until then Canon lead the way with Digital SLR technology.

The D90 introduces a new feature which has rocked the digital slr world and the forums at DPreview the world’s number one digital camera website. Nikon introduced at Photokina 2008 the D90 with live video recording. The first of it’s kind on a Digital SLR.

I never thought it would be any good, i mean, you can’t autofocus, zoom and the ergonomics are wrong. HOWEVER, after some time to digest it, its truly ground breaking.

The video above shows some footage recorded on the camera using fisheye and big aperture lenses. Amazing.

You cannot do anything like this on a digital video camera under $1000. For me who does video work and even now i’m trying to do some shallow depth of field shots in post-production which is very time consuming can be done easily with a D90. You can even get this effect with the cheapest nikon 50mm lens.

So obviously you can’t use the D90 for event work but for creative shots, its revolutionary. Live view has been around for digital slr’s for a while, why haven’t they thought to just record the feed in the past?

Canon has missed the mark this round. I’m sure they could do a firmware update down the track.

UPDATE:
Sample D90 Video – HOT!

Canon’s new EOS 50D bridges the gap between the novice and the seasoned pro with a perfect combination of high-speed and quality. It features an APS-C sized 15.1-megapixel CMOS sensor for tremendous images, new DIGIC 4 Image Processor for fine detail and superior color reproduction, and improved ISO capabilities up to 12800 for uncompromised shooting even in the dimmest situations. It features a refined 3.0-inch Clear View LCD (920,000 dots) monitor, supercharged Live View Function with Face Detection Live mode, plus a number of new automatic Image Correction settings and HDMI output for viewing images on an HDTV. Pick up the EOS 50D and you’ll experience true digital inspiration!

Canon announced the successor to the Canon 40D at Photokina 2008

Check out the hot new Canon 50D at DPreview:

http://www.dpreview.com/previews/canoneos50d/

Here are some Canon 50D sample shots:

Canon 50D Sample Shot 1 (Portrait)

Canon 50D Sample Shot 1 (Landscape)

Canon 50D Sample Shot 1 (Nightscene)

Canon 50D Sample Shot 1 (Sports-High ISO)