Nikon D90 12-Megapixel Digital SLR Camera - Body Only

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the 3-year old 5D has it beat big time here. I know it's unfair in a certain sense since the 5D is full frame, but as I said I think this camera has it beat in sharpness which is not supposed to happen when comparing a cropped sensor to a full frame. The fact that it wins sharpness is huge. Unfortunately, the low-light performance is nothing to write home about here. It is certainly better than the D200/D80/D70/D60/D50 (all previous Nikons I have used) but noticeably worse than the 5D. I'm not sure if Nikon was marketing this camera as a good low-light performer like the D3 and the D700 (I don't pay much attention to the marketing stuff) so this might not be a detraction but I just thought I would mention it since people care about low-light performance more and more these days. Of course also I am speaking from the standpoint of someone who has to market/sell most of my pictures. I rarely take pictures for fun unfortunately. I am quite sure that for anyone not using the low-light feature for professional work intending to be sold, it will be more than fine. Frankly it will even be fine for some professional work at ISO 400-800 but nowhere near the level of competence of the D700/D3.

Bottom line, in most situations this camera is superior to the 5D which really is saying a lot since the price is half and the sensor is cropped. At the end of the day, however, if low-light performance is key to you then I would recommend the Nikon FF D700/D3 or the Canon full frame offerings such as the 5D.

I haven't used the video feature yet (and probably won't for a while since I bought this to take pictures) so I don't have anything to report there.

Ergonomics are great and battery life is awesome.

Overall after shooting a few thousand pictures with it my rating would be 92/100. Again please take any of my seemingly negative opinions as what they are--my attempt to be thorough because I know some people want to know the finer points of some of these issues. I do not have a negative opinion of this awesome camera by any means.

Nikon D90 12-Megapixel Digital SLR Camera - Body Only

...

the 3-year old 5D has it beat big time here. I know it's unfair in a certain sense since the 5D is full frame, but as I said I think this camera has it beat in sharpness which is not supposed to happen when comparing a cropped sensor to a full frame. The fact that it wins sharpness is huge. Unfortunately, the low-light performance is nothing to write home about here. It is certainly better than the D200/D80/D70/D60/D50 (all previous Nikons I have used) but noticeably worse than the 5D. I'm not sure if Nikon was marketing this camera as a good low-light performer like the D3 and the D700 (I don't pay much attention to the marketing stuff) so this might not be a detraction but I just thought I would mention it since people care about low-light performance more and more these days. Of course also I am speaking from the standpoint of someone who has to market/sell most of my pictures. I rarely take pictures for fun unfortunately. I am quite sure that for anyone not using the low-light feature for professional work intending to be sold, it will be more than fine. Frankly it will even be fine for some professional work at ISO 400-800 but nowhere near the level of competence of the D700/D3.



Bottom line, in most situations this camera is superior to the 5D which really is saying a lot since the price is half and the sensor is cropped. At the end of the day, however, if low-light performance is key to you then I would recommend the Nikon FF D700/D3 or the Canon full frame offerings such as the 5D.



I haven't used the video feature yet (and probably won't for a while since I bought this to take pictures) so I don't have anything to report there.



Ergonomics are great and battery life is awesome.



Overall after shooting a few thousand pictures with it my rating would be 92/100. Again please take any of my seemingly negative opinions as what they are--my attempt to be thorough because I know some people want to know the finer points of some of these issues. I do not have a negative opinion of this awesome camera by any means.

Nikon D90 12-Megapixel Digital SLR Camera - Body Only

...

the 3-year old 5D has it beat big time here. I know it's unfair in a certain sense since the 5D is full frame, but as I said I think this camera has it beat in sharpness which is not supposed to happen when comparing a cropped sensor to a full frame. The fact that it wins sharpness is huge. Unfortunately, the low-light performance is nothing to write home about here. It is certainly better than the D200/D80/D70/D60/D50 (all previous Nikons I have used) but noticeably worse than the 5D. I'm not sure if Nikon was marketing this camera as a good low-light performer like the D3 and the D700 (I don't pay much attention to the marketing stuff) so this might not be a detraction but I just thought I would mention it since people care about low-light performance more and more these days. Of course also I am speaking from the standpoint of someone who has to market/sell most of my pictures. I rarely take pictures for fun unfortunately. I am quite sure that for anyone not using the low-light feature for professional work intending to be sold, it will be more than fine. Frankly it will even be fine for some professional work at ISO 400-800 but nowhere near the level of competence of the D700/D3.





Bottom line, in most situations this camera is superior to the 5D which really is saying a lot since the price is half and the sensor is cropped. At the end of the day, however, if low-light performance is key to you then I would recommend the Nikon FF D700/D3 or the Canon full frame offerings such as the 5D.





I haven't used the video feature yet (and probably won't for a while since I bought this to take pictures) so I don't have anything to report there.





Ergonomics are great and battery life is awesome.





Overall after shooting a few thousand pictures with it my rating would be 92/100. Again please take any of my seemingly negative opinions as what they are--my attempt to be thorough because I know some people want to know the finer points of some of these issues. I do not have a negative opinion of this awesome camera by any means.

Nikon D90 12-Megapixel Digital SLR Camera - Body Only

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At the same sport mode, D50 chose ISO 500, F5.6 and 1/60. The subject is well lit, the gym background faded into darkness. When not using flash, D50 just can't get the white balance correct no matter how i set it. D90 white balance was perfect.

The D90 giant colorful LCD really tells instantlly if I have got the shot. I would buy D90 again just for catching the highlights of my daughter's belt test.

D90 is actually the same size of D50. D50 felt more comfortable in my hands initially, but after 3 hrs, the D90 felt just better. It could be a weight issue. I don't know why.

So bye bye to my wonderful D50. Hello to D90.

Nikon D90 12-Megapixel Digital SLR Camera - Body Only

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24-127mm. Very wide with decent telephoto. Canon's closest lens in the price range is the 17-40mm zoom (which has great glass), but I'd have to settle for an equivalent focal range of 27-64mm. Those missing 3mm on the wide end are VERY noticeable, let alone the missing 63mm on the long end. For me, there are no good daily-use Canon zooms that can showcase the artistic aspects of wide angle photography. The D90 was a no-brainer (not mention I already had two good lenses and a flash unit).

Nikon D90 12-Megapixel Digital SLR Camera - Body Only

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the tripod.

Even though it sports a 12-megapixel DX-format sensor, it's not the same sensor as in the D300. Pixels are the same size and it uses only 12-bit processing rather than 14-bit like the D300. High ISO quality is due in part to the same on chip noise reduction as the D300. The D90 performs well up to and including ISO 400. However, photographs are quite usable up to and including ISO 3200. As usual with all Nikon digital cameras, the D90 tends to underexpose. The dynamic range of bright shots fare better than dark, but compensation is easy. Colors are accurate and perfectly saturated.

Overall I am very satisfied with the quality and performance of the Nikon D90. It is without a doubt a cost effective and welcome back up to my D300. I would highly recommend this camera.

Nikon D90 12-Megapixel Digital SLR Camera - Body Only

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is batting. (The sound of the crack of the bat just can't be captured on a still!) So I have been getting great stills at games as well as fun batting videos and end of game celebrations. Also, I have used it at school programs, at the moment when my son is reeling in a fish, at special moments at the zoo and park, etc. Some people may think it's just a gimmick for a serious shooter, and I probably won't use it when I am out seriously shooting. But it's great to have for the user who also has a family and wants to use it to capture memories in their everyday lives. And that's why I think it's brilliant. I can't think of any other purchase that I have made in recent years that has as much versatility and opportunity for use as this camera. Plus, as previously mentioned, I am absolutely thrilled with the photographs that it is producing, and that's what really matters at the end of the day. If you're thinking about getting it, just do it! You won't be disappointed!

Nikon D90 12-Megapixel Digital SLR Camera - Body Only

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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, like the D300 but it has actually has improved high ISO performance as per independent testing from Ken Rockwell
5. Better high ISO capability (for low light shooting) than even the D300 (because of Nikon's tweaking the same sensor) 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
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


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


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. Heavily 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. Initially the D90 was not yet supported by NX2, but at the time of this writing, there is word that D90 support is almost out.



The Nikon D90 has all of the interface features that serious and even professional photographers need with wonderful image quality.

Nikon D90 12-Megapixel Digital SLR Camera - Body Only

...

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, like the D300 but it has actually has improved high ISO performance as per independent testing from Ken Rockwell

5. Better high ISO capability (for low light shooting) than even the D300 (because of Nikon's tweaking the same sensor) 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

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





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





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. Heavily 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. Initially the D90 was not yet supported by NX2, but at the time of this writing, there is word that D90 support is almost out.







The Nikon D90 has all of the interface features that serious and even professional photographers need with wonderful image quality.