The percentage of returned gadgets that have nothing wrong with them.
Of the $13.8 billion worth of returned products in 2007, only 5 percent were because gadgets were actually broken, according to a 2008 study.
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The biggest problem isn't the motion JPEG, but the audio -- a crappy mono mic and no input jack just won't cut it. Nor will the 5-minute clip limit.
The image quality is astounding -- you simply cannot get that shallow depth of field with a $1000 video camera.
You could probably make a decent short film with a D90 if you recorded the audio externally and sync'd it up in post -- but it won't replace a camcorder just yet.
The D90 is a good start -- a shot across Canon's bow showing that the old market segment lines aren't going to stand for long.
The list of what they need to fix to make it a true HD camcorder competitor is pretty short:
- 5 minute clip limit
- 24p frame rate
- Mono audio
The first one is a firmware fix. The second is probably a sensor limitation, but going from 720/24p to 1080i/60 shouldn't be rocket science for the next generation. The third could be fixed with a grip-style add on that includes a stereo shotgun mic and external jack.
Verdict: A good v1 experiment, and inches away from changing the market for good.