Which Camera has the best video recording: Canon 5D Mark II, Nikon D90 or Canon 500D /T1i?
03.31.09
Canon just announced the new entry level digital SLR Canon EOS 500D / Canon digital Rebel T1i with 1080p HD video capture. Together with Nikon D90 and Canon 5D Mark II, there are three digital SLRs with the HD video recording function. Which one has the best video mode?
Canon 5D Mark II has the best of the three with two movie modes: a HD 1080p (1920 x 1080) mode at 30 frames per second which can record ca 12 min and a SD mode (640 x 480) at 30 frames per second which can record ca 24 min. The built-in internal microphone captures only mono audio. But you can use an external microphone to plug in the socket on the side to record stereo sound.
For a Canon 5D Mark II video sample and Nikon D90 video sample,
However, Canon 5D Mark II is very expensive at $2699 and beyond the price range of most of consumers. Canon 500D / Rebel T1i and Nikon D90 are sub $1000 digital SLRs with HD video function.
Canon 500D / T1i, which will be available in May, has three video modes: a 16:9 720p HD video capture at 30 fps, a Full HD 1080p video capture at 20 fps, and a third option to record 4:3 standard TV quality (SD) video capture at 640 x 480 pixels at 30 fps. You can adjust image sharpness, contrast, color saturation and white balance and apply these settings to video capture. EOS Rebel T1i camera will record video up to 4GB per clip equaling approximately 12 minutes of Full HD video, 18 minutes of 720p HD video, or 24 minutes of SD video.
For a video sample of Canon 500D / Rebel T1i, watch here.
Nikon D90, being the first digital SLR to record video, has very limited video recording. HD video recording on Nikon D90 has only 1280 /720 (720p) at 24 fps. There is a 5 min limit. The SD video mode on Nikon is also not as good as Canon T1i, 640x 424 at 24 fps with a 20 min limit. There is one more movie mode: 320 x 216 at 24 fps, not very useful, apparently.
Never the less, Nikon D90 is a great camera with higher shooting speed (4.5fps) than Canon T1i (3.4fps). In addition, Nikon D90 has better building quality and better AF.
Which one is you? If you prefer a high quality camera with top video mode, Canon 5D Mark II is the one for you. Full frames cameras have better image quality and a wider angle of view than small sensor cameras.
If you have Nikon lenses, go for Nikon D90. However, if you are looking for your first digital SLR, Canon T1i 500D might be a better choice for the HD video, and most important, availability of a wide range of lenses at more affordable prices comparing with Nikon lenses. For the comparison of Nikon and Canon digital SLRs, read here.
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