From stills to video

Both of my D90 and D7000 can capture video but are they the best tool for it?  I have tried using my D7000 a few times and did not get good results.  The problem is in the auto-focusing system.  I have read that while shooting video, you should not use auto-focus.  Why?  Because the lens' auto-focus system (even with AFS) keeps on hunting every now and then, and it is very loud.  The D7000 picked up clearly the sound of the motor on my Nikkor 18-200mm AFS lens.  So, I shut off the AF system but then, manual focus was a bit tough to use.  Perhaps I should have reduced the aperture.

I was not too impressed with the video capturing capability of the D7000 so for the dragonboat race festival in June, I decided to purchase a used Canon HD Vixia HG20 camcorder.  It used to cost $1000 in 1998.  Today, one should be able to find a used one for $500 or less--talk about the speed of obsolescence vs. price!

When I first used the HG20, I was somewhat disappointed in the movie format.  It saves the video in .m2ts (MPEG-2 Transport Stream) format. I thought Flickr and YouTube do not support this format but from reading a couple of articles, it appears that they do.  I will test that out one of these days.  For now, I use a combination of two software in my workflow to produce video.  First, I use Pixela's ImageMixer 3 SE ver.3 to transfer the m2ts video from the camcorder to my notebook, then use the built-in Video Editor to cut the video.  Second, I use a free software called "Free HD Converter" to convert the .m2ts files into MP4 format.  Here is a sample video converted to 640x480 at 24fps with "Free HD Converter":

(The video is of Chris unpacking his D5100 for the first time.  The D5100 and the two lenses were packed in a black Nikon camera bag.)

This HG20 is what I am planning to take with me on my winter camping trip.  It's got a hard drive so while it is running, it will generate heat, hot enough I hope to keep the battery from freezing up.  I have two batteries so there should be enough for capturing at least a couple of hours, but even if I can get one hour out of them, that would be more than enough.