TORN Between worlds - Video or Photography? I NEED HELP, ADVICE, INPUT, Thanks! (D90

So, here's my history on things. Went to Hawaii, got a $15.00 35mm camera. I then went to Jamaica and Freeport and was using a Pentax W90. I got certified a year ago; and bought a Nikon D3000. I was stupid, did no research and realized it had no Video - so I sold it on ebay. I bought myself a Nikon D90 (Tokina 12-24). I'm a bit pissy, because similar to my stupidity I didn't realize there was no autofocus. I realized this in my house the other day when making a video :-(

I'm going to Nassau in 2 months and wanted to get my housing (yet to get a housing). I have a D90 with Tokina 12-24. I mean I don't know what I should do. Should I sell this camera and lens, and just buy a camcorder? Should I sell this and buy something that does both (but has autofocus).

What do I want?
I want both. I want to take nice pictures. But given something interesting comes by, like a shark - I'd like to make a video.

I appreciate any responses, thoughts, inputs on the subject. Stuck and dont know what to do!

Nearly every video I've seen shot from a still camera has been shaky and hard to watch. Unless you use a tripod or hold the camera down on the reef you will get shots that, once magnified on a monitor will result in the viewer getting seasick. If you want to shoot video, the best advice I've been given is to get a video camera with lights and a housing big enough to hold stable with two hands.
Here's an example of great underwater video using a video camera and housing.
[vimeo]6265455[/vimeo]

The D90 does have autofocus. So if you don't have AF available, its either something in camera setup or the Tokina lens. Double check all menu settings relating to AF.

If you generally like the D90 (assuming everything works) then consider the D7000 for stills & video in a sturdy housing to help provide stability in the water. Small housings are harder to keep steady while shooting video than a larger one with more mass.

D90 has autofocus for pictures, but not for video which is what I wanted :-/ Im seriously considering getting a HD camcorder of some sort and buying a housing. I think I'll be more satisfied with video, than pictures. (but I would like to do both if feasible)

I use a Sanyo Xacti with an Epoque housing, wide angle lens, and red filter. No lights.
Push one button and it's shooting HD video. Push another and it snaps a 10mp still. You can even snap a still while the video is recording.

I know very little about this but I do know that all the experts say the D7000 is a vast improvement on the D90 and in fact better than any camcorder. Hopefully, my friend Fota will give his informed input on this thread soon. He has recently put together his first videofilm, taken here on the west coast of Sweden with a D7000 in an Ikelite housing with dual DS161 strobes, and the result is impressive.

Hi,

I have shot a little video with D300s and a little (3 dives) with D7000.

In short, the D7000 is very good for video, much better than D300s/D90. It is still possible to get quite good results from D90, but it requires clear water and sun, or you have to bring your own strong lights. The D7000 handles low light situations much better, but even in good light the D7000 is much better.
So, yes using the correct technique it is possible to get pretty good video with D90, but everything is relative. With a D7000 you can with the correct technique get stunning video.

The D300s has AF during video. It's not fast and it's not that good, but it's better than nothing. The D90 does not have this. The D7000 has AF during video, it's faster, very correct and very useful, but it's not as good as they are on dedicated video cameras or on some mirrorless D-SLR (NEX-5). The way I use it is to retrigger AF now and then when shooting video. You can you see the focus searching so I remove those scenes in post. It is still so much better than having to stop recording, retrigger AF and restart recording.

The Canon 5D Mark II can produce stunning video and many people have proven that. Both topside and uw-video. It does not have AF during video!
So, obviously it's possible to create close to national geographics quality video with a D-SLR with no AF on video. I don't know how other do it, but I made a little video from the second time I used my D7000 underwater, and I find it both sharp and stable. I have not used any tripods or similar.
See for yourself, play it on your big screen TV in 1080p!

Sure, some footage is a little shaky, but I think that most parts is pretty stable. Please note that I am an uw-photographer, I have _just_ started to shoot uw-video. I have tons to learn and there are so many things to improve. There are both macro and wide angle scenes.

YouTube up to 1080p

If you like the result, you are welcome to comment it. ;-)

Anyway, here are my best tips for getting good results when shooting video:

* Dedicate the dive to shoot video or pictures. Switching beteen stills and video will only make you take bad pictures and shoot bad video.

* Let each scene take some time. Don't start recording before you have the settings right.

* As always, make sure you are as close to the subject as possible.

* If you shooting in natural light, shoot down, not up. The sun is you light, use it!

If you decide to shoot video with the D90, there are some tricks I can share, so let me know.

Here is one of my first videos from the Nikon D7000. Its basically straight out the camera and no editing.

[youtubehq]yjNeqUNIqkA[/youtubehq]

Cheers Mark

Here is an example with a little editing and some music on a D7000 clip. I didnt have video lights and the couldnt get the WB correct so I turned the whole clip into black and white.

[youtubehq]HnYZ-DWPNrA[/youtubehq]

Cheers Mark

Here is a clip taken with the nikon D90. Again I couldnt get the WB right as I there to shoot stills. Had no video lights and a simple change to black and white on windows movie maker makes it look ok.

[youtubehq]hSwSqkkLOXQ[/youtubehq]

Cheers Mark