Fantastic LX3 Video example

Here is a fantastic example of 720p video shot with a Lumix LX3 over on the Panasonic Lumix LX3 Blog

http://vimeo.com/4114620

Video in DSLRs … why?

This is my pet peeve at the moment, like the last couple of sips of a really good whiskey it’s a peeve worth savouring and nursing.  Let me explain why, even better and being a photographer let me explain in pictures.

1. This is a video camera.  The form factor and technology which have gone into making this technological marvel means that it is really good at shooting video.  It is light, has that nifty hand strap so it won’t crash to the floor if you suddenly need to salute someone and has a nice big fold out screen so you don’t have to watch the world go by by peering into that satanic little eye-periscope.

2. This is a digital SLR.  It excels at taking still images.  It is streamlined so that all its little nobs and buttons work most effectively in allowing a photographer to take still images.  It’s menus are supposed to be uncluttered and allow you to most effectively select whatever you require for taking still images.  Although it is a little on the pricey side the entire cost of the camera has been justified by R&D into hardware and software requirements for the [still] photographer.  [yes ... I know it's a D700 but I'm trying to make a point here!]

Right so far so good … we have two items which both excel at their core function.

3.  The following revolting metal brick is actually a steaming pile of horse manure, one which I had the misfortune to own recently before the iPhone rescued my sanity.

 

It is supposed to be a phone.  It tries really hard to be a baby computer, a camera, voice recorder, pda, music player and GPS unit.

It was incredibly pricey and failed miserably on all counts.

Get the point now?

Video on a DSLR, what were they thinking?

I must admit that the news that the new Nikon D90 shoots video really disappoints me. We are a society obsessed with having ‘the one gadget’ that can do everything (often just not particularly well). We have cell phones which do email, they are web browsers, cameras, they shoot video and even try to be mediocre GPS units but on the whole, with all those extra cool features crammed in there, they’re all pretty unreliable at being a phone.

Now it seems that Nikon thinks that photographers who have made the jump to an SLR want to shoot video. This is a trend that doesn’t excite me; I love still photographs and I want to carry a piece of equipment that excels at taking stills. I have a video camera and use it for my son’s concerts but moving media just doesn’t excite me to the same extent and I don’t want to have the extra weight and menu clutter around video … it just doesn’t make sense to me.

Nikon should possibly tackle the market from the other direction – get into building a video camera which takes good quality stills; offer consumers top quality equipment for their preference but don’t try and mash everything together and then come across like it’s the next big thing to a resounding marketing fanfare.

What do you think?