Nikon D90 Review

I recently reviewed the Nikon D300, and whilst concluding it is a truly exceptional camera it is aimed at the professional market and comes at a price that may place it out of the reach of many an enthusiast. So now I’ll have a look at its little brother the Nikon D90. The D90 is aimed squarely at the enthusiasts’ market. It borrows many of its components and features from the Nikon professional range of cameras, so its performance especially in terms of image quality is very good. With the D90, Nikon have attempted to make the D90 appeal to the broadest range of customers possible. Therefore as well as some top end features the camera also features the more user friendly interface found on some of the lower range DSLRs like the D60. What you get then is a camera that has the performance to satisfy the serious enthusiast yet is simple enough to use for someone who is moving up to a DSLR from a compact camera for the first time. 

At first glance the D90 looks very like the camera it replaces, the D80. A quick look through the main technical specs reveals however that rather than just a small upgrade some considerable changes and upgrades have been made. Here are some of the main features.

• It has a 12.3 mega pixel resolution using a Nikon CMOS sensor. Nikon claim that this produces the same quality as that in the D300 at up to 1600 ISO.

• It features the same high quality 3 inch LCD screen as the top end D300/D3 models, and comes with a live view mode.

• Metering modes are, 3D matrix, centre weighted and spot.

• It uses a similar AF system to the D300, although with 11 AF points. With single point, dynamic area or 3D tracking modes available.

• Produces Raw NEF files, (Nikon Electronic Format) Tiffs or Jpegs that are stored on SD cards.

• Built in Flash with Auto, portrait and night portrait modes.

• Continuous shooting at up to 4.5 fps in continuous high speed mode.

• High resolution video capture (720p HDTV quality) and HDMI output.

• Image output through high speed USB 2.0

• Compatibility with a wide range of Nikon accessories.

Nikon D90 :: Pros

Image Quality

The most important aspect of any camera is obviously the quality of the image it produces. And here the D90 proves itself to be really very good. The images are sharp and detailed. The colours are vibrant, but not unnatural and can be changed using in camera options to tailor them to your preference. Noise levels are very low even at high ISO settings, not quite as good as the D300 but excellent compared to the competition for a camera of this price.

LCD

The LCD screen is the same as the D300 and is great. Really high resolution meaning you can really see sharpness and tonal range of your captures in camera.

Speed

For a camera of this price it is very quick. Start up is almost instant, the focusing is quick and accurate. It has a fast continuous shooting rate and image processing is rapid.

Built-In Features

It has some very useful features, such as a built in wireless flash commander, allowing you to control off camera flashguns. Also you can process RAW files in camera, so you don’t need any additional software to gain the benefits of shooting RAW.

Build Quality

The camera feels really well built and solid, without being too heavy. Not being a professional camera the body is made of plastic rather than the magnesium alloy of the top end models. It still feels of a very high quality though.

Video Capability

High definition video capability.

This is an excellent camera capable of producing outstanding results. It is therefore quite hard to find too much to fault.

Despite Nikon’s claims, the image quality isn’t quite up there with the D300. having said that the camera is about half the price so really this is not too surprising and the quality is very good.

When metering the camera does have a tendency to very slightly overexpose. Which in certain circumstances can lead to slightly blown highlights. This is very easily overcome with the exposure compensation though.

The camera is very easy to use straight out of the box However when you delve into the menu system you’ll find so many options available that the whole thing seems rather long and complex. I guess this is down to consumer demand for features. Having said that the menus are well organised, straightforward and to some extent customisable.

Whilst it’s great to have high def video, its use here is limited and it’s no replacement for a good camcorder, but then I’m sure that wouldn’t be your main reason for choosing this camera.