Nikon D90 Overview
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
$1100.55
Nikon D90 Overview
by Shawn Barnett,
Dave Etchells
and Zig Weidelich
Hands-on Preview: 08/27/08
Update 08/27/08: First test shots posted! See the Samples tab.
Update 08/28/08: Added more test shots, including our low-light, flash and macro series.
Update 10/08/08: Posted full test results from a production unit! See the Optics, Exposure and Performance tabs/subtabs for all the details.
Update 10/10/08: Posted competitive comparisons and conclusions, brought to full review status.
Update 10/20/08: Posted a number of video examples and observations on the Nikon D90 Video page.
Nikon has been cranking out new digital SLR camera upgrades like crazy these last two years, with the low, high, and pro end of the lineup getting update after update, but the mid-level SLR in particular has gone more than 18 months without an upgrade. While the Nikon D80 has a rich feature-set and maintained a high resale value throughout its tenure, it's due for an upgrade.
Though it's late to the party, the Nikon D90 arrives fashionably, just as its predecessor did in late 2006. It comes sauntering in with most of the current hot features that the D80 lacked, plus a new twist that will bowl them all over with its relevance and utility.
With a 12.3-megapixel sensor, the Nikon D90 rises to the resolution of the more professional D300. It also shares the same sensitivity as the D300, ranging from ISO 200 to 3,200, plus L1 (100) and H1 (6,400).
Another essential upgrade on the Nikon D90 is the move to a high resolution 3-inch LCD screen. The 920,000-pixel display has a 170-degree viewing angle and appears to be as nice as the new screens found on the D3 and D300. It makes checking focus and using Live view mode that much more pleasant.
New to the intermediate range for Nikon, the Live View feature offers some new tricks over the mode found on the Nikon D90's high-end predecessors, particularly including Face Detection. Surprisingly, there is no phase-detect autofocus available on the Nikon D90 when in Live view mode, only three contrast-detect modes: Face Priority, Wide Area, and Normal Area. Just as we've seen on consumer cameras, in Face Detection mode, a box surrounds detected faces and follows them around the screen. The Nikon D90 can track up to five faces. Live view is activated with a dedicated button just right of the LCD.
Though Face Detection is helpful in Live view mode, its utility goes further, as it's now an integral part of Nikon's Scene Recognition System (SRS). Thanks to the Nikon D90's 420-pixel matrix metering sensor, the SRS can combine color metering with autofocus sensor data and tune white balance and exposure with a particular bias toward getting faces exposed properly. In theory, this should also include making sure the Nikon D90 focuses on an eye rather than a nose or forehead. If true in practice, this is quite an advance. Face detection even comes into play in i-TTL Flash control.
The Nikon D90's 11-point phase-detect AF system is arrayed in a diamond pattern and now includes 3D focus tracking as found on the D3 and D300.
Since the dawn of Live view on SLRs, the obvious question has been, "Why no movie mode? If you can draw a live image off the sensor, why can't you record it?" Nikon is the first to answer the question with a resounding, "You can!" The Nikon D90 records movies as a Motion JPEG in AVI format at 24 frames per second at what they're calling "720p equivalent" resolution: 1,280 x 720. Other resolutions include 640 x 424, and 320 x 216. Though you have to focus manually, and aperture remains fixed during recording, audio for the videos is captured through the monaural mic on the camera.
A new lens will ship with the Nikon D90 kit, as well: the Nikkor 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6 ED VR, with one extra-low dispersion element and one hybrid aspheric element to improve image quality.
The Nikon D90 began shipping to the US market in September, 2008, with a suggested retail price of $999.95, or $1,299.95 with the 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6 ED VR lens. (Note that you save about $100 buying the lens with the kit.)
Nikon D90 User Report:-
by Shawn Barnett and Dave Etchells
There are a lot of great digital SLRs on the market, and I've had the pleasure of using most of them. But I've never taken to a camera as quickly and easily as I did to the Nikon D80, announced in 2006. Within moments of using it, I could tell I had a winner in my hands. The fit, the operation, and the lens was just right for getting all the shots I saw around me, in one camera.
The Nikon D90 felt so much like the Nikon D80 that I had to check the badge to make sure I hadn't picked up the wrong camera. Even the new lens felt pretty much the same, if a little shorter. The dimensions of the Nikon D90's body are indeed identical, measuring 5.2 x 4.1 x 3.0in (132 x 103 x 77mm), and the weight is only 1.2 ounces (35g) heavier. But what you get for that extra weight is noticeable indeed.