A new trend has been started by DSLR manufacturers; adding HD video recording capabilities to their top DSLRs for enthusiasts has make people thinking about upgrading their cameras for sure. HD video recording capabilities of DSLR cameras are not as good as dedicated video camcorders, but it is more than enough to record moments instantly. There are also limitations as to frame rate and length, but for most people HD video recording capabilities built into a DSLR is more than just enough.
Out of several DSLRs with digital HD video recording, Nikon D90 and Canon EOS 5D MK II are the most favorite ones. Both are targeted for different consumer — we are not making apple-to-apple comparison here — and offer different range of HD video recording features. Nikon D90 records M-JPEG, 720p video and outputs an AVI file, but the time length of the recording is limited due to the excessive heat generated on the sensor while recording HD video; it can only records HD video for a couple of minutes. As Nikon D90 is cheaper, the HD video recording feature can be used to record short clips than a full-length video.
Canon EOS 5D MK II, targeted at a more professional level with more expensive price tag, has better HD video recording capabilities. 5D MK II’s CMOS sensor captures 1920x1080p frames and outputs 1080i H.264 video at 30fps, which is in fact superbly good even against dedicated HD video camcorder. EOS 5D MK II also has microphone jack for stereo microphones as well as built-in monaural microphone, although audio recordings are sampled at CD-quality audio (16-bit, 44.1 kHz). The only limitation is you CompactFlash size, allowing you to record 4GB worth of video at a time; although larger CompactFlash units are available, the size limitation persists.
There are other DSLRs now equipping themselves with HD-Ready or Full-HD video recording. Compact and bridge digital cameras are also enjoying a nice boost with HD video recording capabilities, so we will still see the trend develops in the next couple of years. Who knows, maybe in a year or two all digital cameras can be used to record HD video clips.
Ankur Jain is a Software Engineer in Test Automation. After a 5 years stint with Accenture and Oracle, he started his eLearning company. A long-time blogger and proud owner of the "Learn" series of websites. 