Nikon D90: the first of its kind and definitely not the last

The first digital SLR with motion capture has debuted:

http://reviews.cnet.com/digital-cameras/nikon-d90-with-18/4505-6501_7-33232672.html?tag=mncol;lst

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0808/08082702nikond90previewed.asp

A few words...

Pros: The ability to shoot in HD and with any of the battery of Nikon and compatible third party lenses in existence. Imagine being able to impart surrealness to a scene with a fish eye or emotional intimacy with an extreme telephoto; the options are endless. However, if for you, practicality trumps all, you can fall back on a wide range zoom.

Caveats: Auto focus cannot be used in movie mode, and I have a big enough problem manually focussing when shooting photos. Also, the amount of HD footage that can be aquired maxes out at 5 minutes. While this can be dealt with by keeping scenes short and stitching them together in post production, it's still a (possible creativity squashing) constraint.

Semi Caveats: Exposure is locked once shooting begins, which is a disadvantage if weather/light conditions change dramatically, but I imagine that wouldn't happen frequently within a 5 minute time span--the max length of a clip.

Recently, I transitioned from shooting in Av priority to full manual, which forced me to start making use of my Rebel XT's light meter, which, unfortunately, I've found to be inconsistent and inaccurate. (The fact that I had no exposure problems in Av mode is quizzical, as the light meter is used to set shutter speed in that instance as well, albeit automatically by the camera). Many of the photos that were "properly exposed" per my camera look washed out. It would be one thing if they looked consistently washed out, bc then I could automatically increase shutter speed to compensate, but maddeningly enough, some of the pictures turn out metered correctly. And my newly devised modus operandi of metering, eyeballing the LCD, making frantic adjustments, and reshooting is still not full proof. I used to think that it's the lens that dictates picture quality--not the camera, but that's changing. As soon as I have the wherewithal to upgrade to a new body, I'll do so.

Even though I'll soon be in the market for a new camera and the D90 has piqued my interest, I'm still committed to the Canon, er, canon, in the form of two pricey lenses.