Thanks, Martin. That's a compliment coming from you!

Thanks for your comments, Trevor. I used FCP, and applied custom color grading to the footage, as well as using Nattress filter plugins. This was a very quick edit, so much of the footage was modified with the Nattress plugins, and not much else.

Final Cut is a real powerful application, and therefore has a fairly steep learning curve. Take it one step at a time, and you'll have a hang of it in no time. Hope that helps!

Hey, thanks for your comments Joey. I didn't see any noise in these clips, simply by nature of the time of day, etc. All of the noise in these clips was added in post. I have seen noise in other clips, especially inside or in low light. Of course, I don't mind noise, and usually try to add a little here or there to many of my pics/vids.

As for adding the clips to FCP, you definitely need MPEG Streamclip, a free converter for Mac or Windows. I have read this is much faster than Compressor, and I prefer the interface much more than compressor's, and that's not saying much. :)

MPEG Streamclip will take the AVI files from the D90 or D300s and convert them to MOV files so they can be natively displayed in realtime on the timeline.

I import my D300s files into MPEG Streamclip, then I do the following (on Mac):
1) Choose File -> Export to QuickTime...
2) Compression -> Apple ProRes 422
3) Quality -> 100%
4) Sound -> Uncompressed, Stereo, Auto
5) Frame Size: 1280x720 (unscaled)
6) Frame Rate: Blending and downscaling UNCHECKED
7) Interlaced Scaling UNCHECKED (VERY IMPORTANT FOR D300s VIDEO)

The rest of the settings should be set as needed by default. Then click "Make Movie, and let 'er rip.

Also note, you can go to List -> Batch List (in the top menu bar) and add multiple files from a folder at once. This is how I go about things.

I've only used this for a short while, but it's been great, and I haven't had any real issues other than a slight gamma shift (brightness) after converting clips. In researching, it seems that this is an inherent problem with Quicktime, and not MPEG Streamclip. YMMV.

Good luck!

Thanks so much. I had used that exact workflow myself. It does work well. I did not know about the batch though and thats what I was really missing from compressor. Thanks a million. I have also used the upconvert to 1080P just to see if there would be any change or loss and it looks the exact same so if we need to intermix our footage with an HD 1080 camera this should work well also. I leave for Africa to shoot a documentary and some other stuff for a month but I am looking forward to posting stuff on here as I just signed up. Have a GREAT day!

I was wondering about the upconvert, so thanks for the tip. That's good to know. I figured it would look good. The compression on the d300s is heads above the D90, at least from what little footage I have from the D90. Can anyone else confirm that the compression is much cleaner on the D300s?

Thanks, Oliver!

Yeah, most of the video was fast SS, as I only yet have a .3 ND filter. Others are still on order. I appreciate your feedback.

I love the video though.

Thanks, Jeff! I will admit, there are some clips with rolling shutter in here, and I'm glad you brought it up. Of course, there was more total footage which I edited out, but the clips I left in which exhibited RS seemed ok - not great, but ok. Also, please note that this was my first real attempt to shoot with the D300s, as well as the fact that it was mostly shot at 200mm on a monopod. I feel that a lot can be said for the footage considering these points.

The shutter artifacts are definitely controllable with better stabilization, which I'm in the process of getting (I now have a glidecam, and am looking at fluid heads).

If anyone has suggestions for great (and I mean GREAT) fluid heads on the cheap, or a used microdolly, I'm all ears!

Thanks Nik!

Thanks, Grant. If you are prepared to handle the limitations of a VSLR (Video SLR), then you're going to love the D300s. The footage looks yummy, and the D300s is a very capable camera in every other right. I haven't regretted it for one second!

Let me see what I can do. Maybe I'll just upload the same movie with all of the grading/effects removed. Would that work for you?

I was using the 80-200 2.8d lens. The only stabilization I had at the time was a Bogen Monopod. At 200mm, you will get more pronounced temporal artifacts (jello), and therefore need better stabilization. At shorter focal lengths, it's pretty rare to see temporal artifacts if you're not doing whip pans, etc.

Thanks, Victor!

Only if you are buying me the new D3s as a replacement. :)

mmm... wait me... :D

I am biased. I use Nikon, love Nikon, and hate Canon (for my personal use). I'm not saying Canon is bad, but I much prefer the Nikon systems. The build quality is better, the image quality is better, the lenses are better, the prices are typically lower, and just as importantly the user interface and layout of buttons/menu items is much more sensible on the Nikons vs. the Canons.

I have used the 1DsMii, the 5d, the 5dMii, and other various Canons. I'm always disappointed with the above aspects of the Canons.

For example, I have shot the 5d next to the D2x, and gotten much better results with the D2x. Likewise, I've taken the 5dMii out and been extremely disappointed in it's resolution compared with the Nikon D700, even though the D700 is almost half of the resolution of the 5dMii.

In my opinion, the Nikons produce cleaner, sharper, lower noise, and higher color fidelity images. Some may disagree, but this is my experience time and time again.