Back in 2000, when digital cameras were just being introduced, people marveled at their ability to record images on an electronic chip. Yet what they were missing was that video cameras, the precursor to digital still cameras had been doing it for years. The 3 CCD chip in these cameras was where our digital cameras' got their beginning. Knowing this we could see the writing on the wall with the introduction of that first digital still camera. There was bound to be a convergence in the industry sooner of later. Well just this last fall that day came.

Almost simultaneously Canon and Nikon introduced a still digital camera with full frame video capabilities. These cameras both have ushered in a new generation of still/videographer that will forever change the landscape of photographic media.

Many of you might be saying "big deal" video cameras have been doing still frame shots for some time. Yes this is true, however, the quality of these images was poor at best and the reason is the size of the chip being used to do the recording. Most consumer and even into the prosumer model video camera's, the recording chip size is no where near the full frame size of a 35mm piece of film. Additionally, video cameras are designed to show their images on a television. The necessary pixel count for even an HD TV is less than that of a photograph. Meaning that the images from a video camera were lacking a few pixels in that 5x7 print you made from your still.

Conversely, the still cameras' that would be video cameras have a huge mega pixel count 12 and up. The video produced is done with photographic quality interchangeable lenses as well. This allows the still/videographer to choose from a wide angle to a zoom, or super telephoto lens for their video just as they do with their stills. There are limitations to the still video marvels though. You can't shoot in manual mode for one, you can't record for extended times due to chip degradation and battery loss, and the sound is poor with no external jack for a mic and only recording in mono from the camera.  Additionally the CMOS chip produces a "jello" like video during action scenes. This problem is not wildly apparent but is caused by the fact the chip records each color ( RGB) separately meaning that there is a micro second between each recording causing a visible shift while recording action.

Below are some stunning video's shot by both manufacturers to show off their camera's new abilities. Very very cool.

• Canon 5D MKII - You will want to make sure you have the latest flash player in your browser before viewing this one.
• Nikon D90 - This site will show you both sound and non sound videos with different lenses, and other camera benefits.
• The "jello" effect is shown in a video here.

Overall these camera's are very cool though. Given their shortcomings would I still buy one, yep. Why? Cause they are cool! They are also the first of their kind. I am more than sure later models will incorporate changes for the shortcomings of this first offering. Which means the learning curve for those of us that choose to use these convergence monsters will be a little ahead of the curve. We encourage you to check out both the Nikon D90 and the Canon 5D Mark II.  Nikon's model is a 12 mega pixel camera retailing for just under 1K and Canon's model is a 24 mega pixel camera retailing for just under $2500. Either way you splice your video; these new cameras are just the beginning of a new era in digital photo/videography. We expect more of these hybrid units from the bigs and for the others like Sony ( who also has a model ) and Olympus as well. Stay tuned this is by no means the end of this subject. - Aloha

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