[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=if0ZFtkmdyE&hl=en&fs=1&hd=1]
The Nikon D300s, at $1800, represents a good option for serious prosumer photographers who don’t want or need a full-frame camera like the 5D mkII. Now that it shoots video, it’s an even more serious contender — but does it have the same rolling shutter/skew/jell-o-vision as the D90 and other DSLR video? Check out these two videos and see for yourself.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIXbmcPjUJw&hl=en&fs=1&hd=1]
The videos, by Robert Bosch and Ami Vitale and commissioned by Nikon to show off the D300s’s movie mode, don’t offer much on that point. I can’t see a lot of skew, but then again, it looks as if the creators went out of their way to avoid situations where skew would be evident (basically, any kind of horizontal movement). I’m also skeptical that YouTube adequately preserves 24fps video. There are some more videos here at Nikon’s site.
Here’s a frame that shows an example of skew (obviously the helicopter blades are moving very quickly, so skew is unavoidable):
Needless to say, this kind of distortion tends to distract the eye, and a filmmaker would be right to avoid it when using a camera prone to it.
Commenters at the original post are debating what manual controls, if any, there are. The consensus seems to be that there’s manual focus and a selectable aperture before shooting. That pretty much makes it difficult to use for serious filmmaking, but it doesn’t mean it won’t be great for this and that.
