Nikon D90 Review
The Nikon D90 is Nikon’s newest DSLR aimed directly at the consumer. Released in late August 2008 the biggest feature of this DSLR has to be the video capability. The MSRP on the Nikon D90 is $1195 CDN ($999US).
The feature set for this DSLR includes the following:
12.3 Megapixel CMOS sensor with an ISO range from ISO 200 to 3200
Built-in sensor cleaner
EXPEED processor with live view feature
Scene recognition with Face Detection System
Picture Control System
Active D Lighting
11 point AF system
Advanced scene modes
D-Movie. Allows you to shoot High Definition Video (1280×720)
other features include a fast .15second start up, 65ms shutter release time lag and 4.5fps continuous shooting, a 3 inch LCD display with 920,000 pixels for bright and detailed composing and editing of your photos, a built in flash that’s compatibile with Nikon’s iTTL and Nikon CLS system. The built in flash ,can act as a controller for other Nikon Speedlights allowing you to control two groups of remote speedlights wirelessly. High Efficient battery system allows approximately 850 photos between charges. HDMI output to display your photos on HDTV’s and displays.
Optional Accessories (not included)
The MB-D80 battery pack gives you a choice of using one or two EN-EL3e batteries or six AA batteries to extend battery life between charges further. (If you’re upgrading from a D80, the D90 uses the same battery pack).
Remote Cord MC-DC2 enables shutter release and time exposures remotely.
Compatible with the optional GP-1 GPS unit which records the latitude and longitude of the camera’s location allowing you to geo-tag your images.
Out of the Box, and Video
The first thing I did (after charging the batttery) was pull the Nikon D90 out of the box was to play with the video, as this has to be THE feature of this camera that sets it ahead of it’s competition in the same price point. So, I look for a big button that says video, or at least a switch or setting. Nope. Nothing. So, I had to resort to the manual:
Here’s ALL the steps required to record video.
1: Press the Live View Button
2: Focus
3. Start recording by pressing the OK button.
4. Press OK button again to end recording.
That’s it. After reading so much about the video, I find it kindof that’s there’s only ONE page in manual dedicated to the video recording with this camera. I guess this is a good thing that it’s this easy. One thing I wished for is autofocus when recording mode. You have to focus manually. I went for a walk and recorded a quick little movie and the one thing I miss is the autofocus. I found it hard to autofocus using the live view mode. My movie will show this, believe me.
Shooting with the Nikon D90.
The Nikon D90 feels like a SLR, and not some toy, or a smaller point and shoot. Yet it’s lightweight and easy to handle. I shoot with a D300 and motor drive, and it’s a heavy beast to drag around all day sometimes. I can see why the Nikon D9o is a top seller. It has most, if not all the buttons available on the body itself, as opposed to having to wade around in the menus via the 3 inch LCD display. I prefer to shoot with buttons, than menus. All buttons are placed in the familiar Nikon locations, but one thing I found was that with the LCD protector screen displayed, I found it hard to press the left direction on the multi selector dial, as the dial protrudes from the body the same as the protector. I wish the entire multi selector dial were moved over to the right on the body a bit. I feel it’s too close to the LCD display. I didn’t try this with gloves but I can imagine it would be worse. This is really the only quibble I have.
As with most all new generation digital cameras, shooting at high ISO’s isn’t really a problem and the Nikon D90 found and saw light that I sure didn’t time and time again. This camera turns night into day with little, or manageable noise in the final photo.
The Nikon D90 is fast. Maybe not D3 fast but this retails for 25% of the price of D3 – Apples and Oranges. But I didn’t feel like I was waiting for the processor to catch up. Startup times and shutter lag were minimal and manageable. Scrolling through playback was also fast as well.
As it’s a newer camera, there’s a few features on the Nikon D90 that my D300 doesn’t have and I welcomed to the feature set:
1. On the LCD display, the ISO is displayed instead of remaining frames. With large sized memory cards, a frame counter is becoming less and less of a neccessity. The frame count is displayed you you depress the shutter. It’s nice to see the ISO as opposed to the frame count, especially when you shoot on AUTO ISO.
2. Live view seems to work better than the D300. First, the dedicated live view button is a welcome feature and secondly pressing this button gets the live view running straight away. You’re ready to shoot after pressing the live view button – either video or stills.
3. The calendar view is a nice touch in playback mode and the 72-frames in on the LCD at one time is a nice feature to have. The LCD display has enough detail to pull this off. It’s like having a a contact sheet of 2 rolls of film all in a little 3 inch window.
4. The info button is nice to have. especially if you’re shooting with a tripod and can’t look at the top of the camera and the LCD display, the same info (if not more) is displayed on the LCD display allowing you to easily see and change your settings.
Summary.
There’s not much not to like about the Nikon D90. It shoots video and shoots and handles well in all lighting situations that I could find. I wish I didn’t have to focus for the video. In the days where autofocus is the standard it seems like a setback to have to focus manually. And I mentioned I wish there was a bit more space between the LCD display and the multi-controller but that’s a minor quibble. At time of writing the Nikon D90 is probably the best bang for buck DSLR from Nikon available.
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