Canon D60 or nikon D7000 ???

[Anbesol]

if you want a hybrid movie DSLR then the Sony SLT A-55 is the best way to go, with the phase-detect AF during video, def the best video DSLR of the bunch. Nikons continuous AF during video is contrast detect = much much slower than phase.

I'm really surprised to be the first to mention this - John?! -

Only Nikon has that right now

, you even wrote an article on the SLT series and specifically talked about that feature.

[whmitty]

An addtional consideration for RiverCity is that the Canon 60D requires considerable manipulation of the function dial to get to the video mode. This dial also has a "lock" button in the center of it which must be depressed to permit turning the dial. The point is that this may slow you down some in quickly being able to switch to movie mode to get that "cute" video of the kids. My understanding is that the Nikon D7000 does not present this problem and you simply press a button on the back to immediately start recording. Other than this issue the Canon will edge out the Nikon in the video department with it's wider range of recording frames per second and very handy articulated screen.

Best of luck with whichever you choose.

[RiverCity]

"The Canon does have auto focus in video mode, but not continuous auto focus"
What does that mean????

The idea of the movie thing is not for shoting movies of the kids but this quote is perfect

"quickly being able to switch to movie mode to get that "cute" video of the kids"
You it is gong to happen fast and furious when it does. I would like these moments to be in focus if at all possible.

Any one have an idea of when the d7000 will actually be available to hold. Other than this one feature anything else that makes one of these cameras shine. (I do like the screen on the D60.

Thanks for all the help so far.

[whmitty]

The Canon 60D autofocus is said to engage once upon first beginning to shoot any given video. If the subject subsequently changes position, and with children you can count on it, you'll be required to manually focus from then on. I suppose you could stop the video and start again to force the camera to refocus but in no time the subject distance will change and you're in the same situation all over again plus you've lost continuity in the video.

Many will argue that learning to manually focus when making a video produces higher quality results over time. I don't doubt this at all. In fact I'll defer to those suggesting that if you don't want to learn to manually focus while making videos you are better off considering a high-end point-and-shoot with video capability. If you can handle the usable but much lower resolution stills you could also look into a dedicated video camera that has "realtime" snapshot capability like that of the Canon Vixia models. I've seen samples of the auto-focus capability of the Nikon D7000 on the Internet and based on those it is not terribly impressive compared to even the aging Panasonic FZ35/FZ38 point-and-shoot super zoom.

Sometimes I find this mixing of high-end video with high-end still cameras somewhat like trying to put 5 pounds of stuff into a 3 pound bag. Although it has it's conveniences it's a bit of a stretch.

[Photo-John]

I'm really surprised to be the first to mention this - John?! -
, you even wrote an article on the SLT series and specifically talked about that feature.

It's hard to keep track of all the options and he did ask about the 60D and the D7000. But yeah, the new Sony SLT cameras do look like the best bet for a true hybrid video experience. That said, from what I've been told by video pros, the shallow depth-of-field on any DSLR-style camera (the SLT cameras technically aren't SLRs) makes the value of any continuous AF questionable. The smaller sensors on dedicated camcorders have a lot more depth-of-field, which makes continuous AF more useable.