Nikon D90 12.3MP DX-Format CMOS Digital SLR Camera with 18-105 mm f/3.5-5.6G ED AF-S VR DX Nikkor Zoom Lens by Nikon
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Digital camera reviews of Nikon D90 12.3MP DX-Format CMOS Digital SLR Camera with 18-105 mm f/3.5-5.6G ED AF-S VR DX Nikkor Zoom Lens
Digital camera Review: Advice from Professional Photographers
Summary: 5 Stars
I am not a camera expert at all. I wanted to take a digital SLR class, and to do so, I needed to buy a digital SLR. I was looking at the Canons in the $650 price range.
I mentioned this to a friend of mine who is a professional photographer. She said that if I had any willingness at all to spend more, I should get the Nikon D90 - that it stood alone in class - it was the only pro-quality camera that was priced as though it were not a pro camera.
This is what she said "This camera is sick and does video too. You may have seen the ads for it on TV. It has these brand new Nikon sensors which are incredible at shooting at all light levels. A lot of people are saying it's technically almost the same as my five thousand dollar camera. It's the kind of camera which is making pros scared that people will not hire pros any more."
A professional photographer I trust endorsing it to this level, basically telling me that it was my only option - that was enough for me. More than my analyzing a chart of what features it has and what it doesn't - things I don't understand yet. So I bought the camera and brought it to work, and a coworker's husband is a professional photographer and he said that the Nikon D90 was his backup camera and he can't tell the difference. So that makes two pros who unequivocally say it stands alone in its class.
So I'm not a pro, and what I can say is that it was very easy to learn, the video quality is also actually quite good, I've been taking pictures that look great, and the battery lasts forever. Also, any of my friends who know I have a camera drool when they find out I have the Nikon D90.
The short answer is this - either trust me that I've had two pros tell me what I've told you, or find a professional photographer and ask them about the Nikon D90. I'm positive that they will tell you that there's nothing comparable unless you want to spend 5 times as much.
Sometimes you just want the expert to point and say - that one, that's the right choice - your only choice. Sometimes you don't want to analyze tables of features and try to make heads and tails of it.
Digital camera Review: After 15,000 pics, still humming along
Summary: 5 Stars
Picked up the camera when it first came out, and over 15,000 shutter releases later (according to my EXIF photo data), I couldn't be happier with this purchase.
Ergonomics: First, the camera has enough weight to it and curves to your hand to just feel solid when you are holding it. After playing around with settings, buttons, wheels, and walking through the manual to read up on everything, I slowly became competent at getting my camera into the right setting for the shot with one hand.
Pictures: The low light performance at ISO 3200 is incredible, and combined with the 4.5FPS mode, I've nailed some awesome pics at evening football games from the stands. The pre-set color settings, and built in editing (mostly crop & straighten) definitely speeds up my post-production. The Autofocus took a while to master (center, zone, 3D), but works well now that I have the hang of it. My friends and colleagues are blown away by my shots, but that's more a result of getting some direction on composition from friends and doing lots of culling of the bad ones.
Video: Manually refocusing a video mid-shot is a pain. The contrast/brightness/white balance adjustments mid-video can get a bit odd as well. It is a bit rough, but can still produce some nice results if you have a unipod, and not a ton of motion with your subjects. For the most part, video has just been a toy, as I haven't attempted anything serious with it. My $180 Canon SD780IS does better job overall with video, but I can't put a f/1.8 on that, and play around with the focus to get a neat hollywood effect.
Lenses/Extras: The lens selection for Nikons is nice (have since picked up a 50mm f/1.8, and a 55-200mm VR to go along with the kit 18-105mm, but envy the Canon 55-250mm IS lens at its similar price point to the nikon 55-200mm VR), and the auto-focus performance on the kit 18-105mm lens is pretty fast. The SB-400 was a nice addition (lets me bounce light for indoor shots and get some good results), but using my f/1.8 without a flash has been a better low light solution, even though the color requires more retouching. In retrospect I would have gotten the D90 with the Nikkor 18-200mm VR instead as changing glass is a nuisance.
Digital camera Review: All I can say is WOW!
Summary: 5 Stars
There are plenty of reviews out there, and I don't want to be redundant. So here are some helpful points that I had a hard time ferreting out when doing my research before pulling the trigger on this purchase, given that I was upgrading from a D60 and that I am, like many who are reading reviews on this product, not a professional:
1. I owned the D40, then the D60. So this is my third Nikon. I had trouble deciphering how my lenses, purchased for the D40/D60, would behave when used in this new model. The answer is that the D90 handles all of them perfectly. This includes lenses that have the HSM built in (the Hyper Sonic Motor is packaged in the lens, because the D40/D60 range doesn't have a built in auto-focus motor) as well as those with no internal motor. The D90 has an internal focus motor, so all lenses built for Nikon cameras will auto-focus, including the Nikon 50mm f1.8 lens that I had to manually focus in the D60.
2. The D90 is heavier, but certainly not uncomfortable to hold or carry. Weight will not be a discouraging factor in purchasing this camera.
3. The D90 takes different batteries, so any spares you have for the earlier models will not work on it. Battery life is truly outstanding. I am not even going to buy a spare battery.
4. The user interface is completely different from the D40/D60. I found it intuitive however. The functionality is just superb, much easier and more flexible. This is a pro level camera with the ease of use of a high end amateur camera.
5. Live view is a great enhancement. Really.
Overall, there is nothing I can say negative about the D90. It's everything I was hoping it would be, and it's so worth the money to upgrade. I'm selling the D60 for half what I paid - and doing it gladly - because the D90 is worth more than it's being sold for. I absolutely highly recommend it.
I also thought I would offer some lens advice, because I had trouble finding a reviewer that just cut to the chase and said "look, just do this." So, look, just do this: I do NOT recommend the kit lenses that you can obtain bundled with the D90. Get the body only (Nikon D90 DX 12.3MP Digital SLR Camera (Body Only)), and buy yourself that Nikon 50mm f1.8 (Nikon 50mm f/1.8D AF Nikkor Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras). It's a no-brainer at the price point, and the images I have already achieved have been just excellent. For the rest of your lenses, I highly recommend Sigma. I own the 18-200 (Sigma 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 DC Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras), the 10-20 (Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 EX DC HSM Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras), and the 150-500 (Sigma 150-500mm f/5-6.3 AF APO DG OS HSM Telephoto Zoom Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras). I cannot say enough positive things about the quality of the lenses or the images. Pack the 50mm and the 18-200 superlens for normal occasions. If you can stand the extra weight, you absolutely cannot go wrong with the 10-20 for landscapes, it just pulls in everything and the quality is shocking. The 150-500 is enormous, you are not going to want to carry that thing around, but when you need it, you really need it. I captured images of my son playing in a soccer game that blew me away; could not have gotten the shots without the big lens. Get the lenses in the order I have specified if you cannot afford them all.
I have just learned all this over the past 2 years. I am no expert but I have discovered the joy of capturing great images that you just cannot get from a point-and-shoot. I think once you see the quality you can achieve with a better camera, you will be thrilled with the decision to spend the money and the energy. And Nikon has truly produced the best camera at this price point in the world. It's a pro camera with an amateur price and it's very easy to use. Words really don't do it justice; you need to experience it to understand.
Any questions, please send me a comment. Happy to help!
Digital camera Review: Almost Perfect
Summary: 5 Stars
Just go ahead and buy this camera if you are even thinking about it and wondering whether it will do what you want it to do. It seems to be a great combination of automatic features and advanced amateur/professional decisionmaking and far better than some others that I've seen.
My only gripe is that the menus are a little cryptic or perhaps overloaded with information at times. But I've been adding some of my most frequent menu items to my own custom menu and that is helping quite a bit.
The only other gripe that I have is that there it is so easy to take lots of photos "on the fly" that there are sometimes so many great photos to review it can take far longer than with a camera of lesser quality. As a professional photographer once told me, "film is cheap, memories are dear." Well, pixels are even cheaper.
I have been a Nikon user since my first Nikon F borrowed from my father in 1973 and this is the first digital SLR that I've used after finally giving up film SLRs and having my fill of Nikon's various point-and-shoot digitals. It has been an absolute pleasure.
Oh, one more thing to worry about. The camera is so easy to use and takes such great pictures that you will want to take it with you everywhere and use it all the time. After a while, your family will get annoyed that you keep taking photos of everything and they may threaten to toss you, and the camera, overboard. NOTE: This result may not happen to every user, but don't say you were not warned.
Digital camera Review: Amazing
Summary: 5 Stars
Where to start, this camera is amazing, it is very user friendly (after a brief review of the manual), very accessible because you don't have to access the menu every 2 seconds to change the seconds, simply use the turn dials on front and back, and the pictures are simply amazing. Even an amateur coming from a point and shoot can benefit 10 fold from this camera, simply amazing