 You can tell the D90 was designed by photographers and not just engineers! Wonderful user interface and image quality! |
| Review Date: September 30, 2008 |
| Reviewer: E. Kim, |
I am far from a professional photographer, but I take it as seriously as possible while still referring to it as a hobby. I take mostly pictures of people at events and many of my baby son without flash in low light situations.
I had been using a Nikon D40x for 1 year and very early reached my limitation with that camera. The Nikon D40x has very nice image quality, but the camera's interface is not suited for a more serious shooter who wants quick single button or dial access to such shooting parameters such as white balance, shooting mode, metering mode, etc. I also felt very limited by the D40x not having an in-body focus motor that would allow me to use non AF-I/AF-S lenses (which are lenses without the focus motor built-in).
The Nikon D40x limitations were severe enough that I was about to consider purchasing a Canon 40D until the Nikon D90 appeared just in time.
PROS:
1. Fantastic set of separate buttons on the camera to control parameters like ISO, white balance, metering, autofocus, image quality, shooting mode, etc.
2. Two command dials
3. High resolution 920K pixel LCD screen (like the one on the Nikon D300)
4. 12.3 megapixel CMOS sensor
5. Low noise high ISO capability (for low light shooting) I can shoot ISO 1600 with good image quality with this camera, while on my D40x I could only shoot with ISO 400 and obtain acceptable IQ. I will even use ISO 3200 frequently with very usable results!
6. Separate top-viewing LCD screen in addition to the rear high res screen, to show shooting parameters constantly
7. In-body focus motor which allows the use of Nikon's non AF-I/S lenses, including wonderful and CHEAP prime lenses such as the Nikkor 50mm 1.8 (~$100 lens!)
8. Continuous shooting of 4.5 frames per second
9. Small size, although larger than the D40/D40x/D60, it is still substantially smaller in the hand than the D300/D3
10. 720p 24fps MPEG video shooting capability with incredible ability to use depth of field that I cannot achieve with my Sony High-Def camcorder.
11. Eleven auto-focus points (not as nice as the 51 points on the D300, but substantially better than my D40x with its 3 points)
12. GPS option
13. HDMI output
14. Enormous number of options to customize camera and shooting settings to fit your style of shooting
15. Fantastic image quality right out-of-box if you don't want to do any post processing
16. Terrific build quality
17. Top notch camera ergonomics (but this will be a very personal opinion that differs for each shooter)
CONS:
1. "Rolling shutter" phenomenon while recording video: The D90 CMOS sensor has the same problem that other CMOS video recorders have when recording video. If you move the camera, especially horizontally, you get a "jelly" or "rubberbanding" effect where the image wobbles significantly. It is nice to have the video features, which looks very sharp at 720p, but it is NOT a substitute for a video camera. If you use a tripod, and do not do quick zooms/pans, the video quality is excellent. Without a tripod, however, you may get nauseas watching a wobbly video. The sound is also in monoaural.
2. 1/200 flash synch: Not a problem for me, but it might be for you.
3. No weather sealing: This is found on the Nikon D300/D3 and even on similarly priced models from other camera companies
4. The buffer will fill up after about 8 continuous RAW + JPG (FINE) shots. This number differs depending on the shooting parameters that you will choose. If you shoot primarily JPG, the buffer seems to allow a very large number of continuous shots, but I have not quantified this for JPG only.
TIPS:
1. Get the FREE Nikon ViewNX software from Nikon's site as your 1st step in your workflow. This will let you examine your RAW images that you can process for either Nikon CaptureNX2 to do further RAW processing or just export to JPG for a JPG editor such as PhotoShop.
2. Recommend buying the Nikon CaptureNX2. It is a RAW converter (if you shoot in RAW) that will read the camera settings properly for export to JPG. Capture NX2, however, is not as slick as the Adobe products and Capture NX2 requires a fairly powerful computer, otherwise it can run pretty slowly on a PC > 3 years old.
3. If you use JPEGs out-of-camera, consider increasing the sharpness above the default 3 or 4. Nikon uses a very conservative sharpening default setting. Nikon has decided to change the default JPEG images to match the higher end D3/D700/D300 cameras which produce more neutral images. Consequently, the D90 images that are less punchy than the D40/D40x/D60/D80, so you may also want to turn up the in-camera saturation and contrast.
The Nikon D90 has all of the interface features that serious and even professional photographers need with wonderful image quality. |
Finest camera I have ever owned.
|
| Review Date: December 3, 2008 |
| Reviewer: James R. Lowell, Gilford, NH USA |
| So far this camera has outstripped my talents, however I am learning more each day I use it. This camera has many capabilities I have yet to experiment with, however it is also relatively easy to use for general picture taking for an the inexperienced. What I am saying is if you are new but serious about learning SLR photography this camera is for you. It will take you from the simpilist full auto point and shoot to features only a pro would use. Bravo Nikon!! |
Nikon D90 bundle
|
| Review Date: December 16, 2008 |
| Reviewer: desull, |
| While researching the Nikon D80 and D90 there were slight differences which I thought were worth the extra money since the D80 price was so drastically reduced. The D90 has a better sensor, it has an auto cleaner, video capability (I have a brand new grandbaby on the way and know I will use this feature quite often). The "Bundled" kit came with everything I needed with out buying and extras (I already own a tripod) The choice of lenses, 18 - 105 and 70 - 300 pretty much covers any focal length I would need. Highly recommended. |
D90 Nikon Review
|
| Review Date: December 22, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Frank A. Conner, Irvine, CA United States |
After getting away from shooting pictures with an SLR for a few years, succumbing to the ease and quality of digital point and shoot cameras, I took the plunge and decided to buy a digital SLR. I have been a Canon owner for a lot of years, but the D90's video capability sold me on it. There are a few things that video just does a better job with than still shots.
What has really impressed me with the D90 however, is the ease of changing the most used creative settings with the push of a button or quick twist of a dial. Shooting available light in low light situations (one of my favorite things) is just a one click turn of the thumb wheel. Moving the shutter to multiple setting is just a button push and the turn of a wheel. Moving to shutter priority or aperture priority is likewise quick and easy. None of these things require going into lengthy menus (which there are many if you really want to take control) and make casual photography in a creative way fun and EASY. I really like this camera. |
|
No video reviews found for this product.
