Nikon D90 movie and video clip samples

This page has links to Nikon D90 sample movies and video clips.

Browse the Nikon D90 Video page for more information on the movie mode / video capture capability on the Nikon D90.

Commercial for a German champagne Henkell

Follow the links for more information on this video, which was shot by Martín Miguel Crespo of ISO1600.com and MartinCrespo.net.

1. Related forum discussion. There's a link to a 30MB version of the movie. Martin wishes that the video compression on the D90 wasn't so high
2. He explained why the D90 for this production. The footage has a "cinema look" that is not possible to obtain using video cameras with small sensors.
3. Shooting required only two days, but editing required 20. Editing software used were Adobe Premiere Pro CS3 and Sony Vegas Movie Studio Platinum 9. The Vegas software is able to edit HD clips much faster than Premiere.
4. The Zoom H2 Handy Portable Stereo Recorder was used for audio recording.
5. Martin was helpful in answering some questions I had for him. To synchronize the movie clips with audio tracks recorded with the Zoom H2, a clapperboard was used. For lighting, Martin discovered that fresnel lights helped ensure that there were no horizontal scrolling or flicker artifacts in the clips.
6. Lenses used: Nikon 400mm f/2.8, Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8, Nikon 50mm f/1.8D AF, Nikon 17-55mm f/2.8G and Sigma 10-20mm (Nikon mount)

Nikon D90 footage on Flickr

There are a few group pools that feature clips and movies from the D90, do check out:

1. D90 Videos
2. Nikon D90 Video
3. Nikon D90 Video Group

Here are some that I like.

More D90 Footage Compilation, by Jonathan Michaels

Jonathan used the Nikon 18-200mm VR and a 500mm reflex lens (it was not mentioned if the mirror lens is Nikon, Phoenix or some other brand).

Nikon D90 Video Channel on Vimeo

This is the best place for updated Nikon D90 video footage shot mostly by enthusiast videographers.

For best viewing results, make sure you turn on the HD option, which appears whenever you hover your mouse over the video.

You can download these D90 clips to play on your HDTV (high-definition TV). To download the original video files on Vimeo, you'd first have to create a free (and fuss-free) login. Then, on the relevant video page, scroll down until you see this download icon on the right:

Here are some good samples that I like.

Roland Cadieux tests shooting the D90 with a Steadicam Merlin and a Tamron 17-50mm (Nikon mount) lens.

D90 from Roland Cadieux on Vimeo.

It's interesting to note in the comments that Roland has decided to sell off his Sony HDR-FX7

I have to say that the video shot by Roland appears very steady. I've embedded two videos demonstrating how to use a Steadicam Merlin:

Video of bears at the Redoubt Mountain Lodge

Daniel Wood did a fantastic job with this video. Although I think the exposure is a bit bright, Daniel did the right thing by locking the exposure. The entire clip was very educational, as I got a good sense of wha a bear-watching trip would be like. I also appreciate the fact that the camera seemed to be held relatively steady throughout.

Nikon D90 vs. Panasonic Pro AG-HVX200 3CCD P2/DVCPRO 1080i High Definition Camcorder with 13x Optical Zoom (link to video).

I think I much prefer the D90's rendition of the scene in terms of color, skin tone, highlight and bokeh qualities.

Making coffee, by Mike Lewis

This is mainly raw footage with a few edits. A tiny dolly was used, and the clip was converted to Apple ProRes 422 in Final Cut Pro before the starting the edits.

Chatham by Joshua Fahrner

Great weather, great variety of subjects and fantastic colors.

Street / People video clip at Orchard Road, Singapore by SynergyWorld

This was just a quick, unedited clip, hence you can see the exposure and focus jumping around, but I thought I'd just link to it here so you get to see the bokeh effects and perspective compression you'd get with the Sigma 150mm f/2.8 Macro lens (more on the Sigma 150mm macro for Nikon) and a 1.4x TeleConverter.

Read also the related discussion thread.

Nikon D90 samples linked to in a French-language Repaire.net discussion

The total size of three original video files being linked to amounts to approximately 700 MB – be prepared for your bandwidth to be hit big time.

For convenience, I list down the links that were mentioned in the discussion.

Vimeo: Nikon D90 test video – motion artifacts and codec (original file size: 196 MB).

Vimeo: Nikon D90 test video – rolling shutter (original file size: 221 MB).

YouTube: Nikon D90 Movie Mode (fisheye lens + D90 in video mode on your bike seems like a great idea).

YouTube: Nikon D90 plus Nikkor 105mm VR test video (yeah, THAT Nikon 105mm VR).

YouTube: No, I don't understand Japanese, but Google's translation says: Nikon D90 sample Video Rec – right-click this link to download the original, 298MB video). The related article is here. Watching a video of trains moving in and out of focus has a strange, hypnotic effect on me.

For HD quality, click this link and then click on the "watch in HD" link below the video.

The videos hosted on YouTube typically go through a ton of compression, so don't place too much weight on them when judging the quality of the Nikon D90's output. YouTube now has options to watch the video in High Quality or HD (High Definition), where applicable – these options appear as a link below the video.

Official Nikon D90 D-Movie Samples

Go to Nikon.com for some sample clips which I think gives a pretty good idea of what the D90's video mode can do for you, provided you have the right lenses for the job.