While it may look a lot like its predecessor, the D90 is essentially an all-new camera on the inside. The D90’s most talked-about feature isn’t its sensor, continuous shooting performance, or anything like that. Rather, it’s the fact that it’s the first D-SLR with a movie mode — and in HD, no less.
Some of the other highlights on the D90 include:
- A 12.3 Megapixel CMOS sensor
- Continuous shooting at 4.5 frames/second
- Live view on an ultra-sharp 3-inch LCD display
- Active D-Lighting for improved dynamic range
- Numerous in-camera photo retouching tools
- HDMI output
- Optional GPS for geotagging
On paper, the D90 sounds like a very impressive digital SLR. How does it perform in our tests? Find out now in our review!
What’s in the Box?
The D90 will be available in two kits. You can buy it in a body-only configuration ($999), or along with the new 18 – 105 mm VR lens ($1299). Here’s what you’ll find in the box for both of those kits:
Here’s what you’ll find in the box for each of these:
- The 12.3 effective Megapixel Nikon D90 camera body
- F3.5 – 5.6, 18 – 105 mm DX Nikkor VR AF-S lens [lens kit only]
- EN-EL3e lithium-ion rechargeable battery
- Battery charger
- Body cap
- LCD cover
- Eyepiece cap
- Shoulder strap
- USB cable
- A/V cable
- CD-ROMs featuring Nikon Software Suite
- 278 page camera manual (printed)
If you buy the D90 with the 18-105 kit lens, then you’re ready to start shooting right away. This lens features Vibration Reduction, which is Nikon-speak for image stabilization. With the body-only kit, you’ll have to supply the lens, and you can choose from almost the entire collection of Nikon F-mount lenses. Unlike the D40 and D60, the lens doesn’t have to be AF-S in order to use autofocus, as there’s a focus motor built into the camera. Being that camera has an APS-C sensor, there will be a 1.5x focal length conversion ratio with whatever lens you use.
Like all D-SLRs, there’s no memory card in the D90’s box, so you’ll need to pick one up (if you don’t have one already). The camera supports both SD and SDHC memory cards, and I’d recommend starting out with a 2GB card. It’s definitely worth spending a little more for a high speed card when you’re using a digital SLR.
Here’s the front of the D90, with the lens removed. The D90 works with nearly all lenses that use the Nikon F-mount. Unlike the D40 and D60, you can use autofocus on nearly all of them — there’s no AF-S requirement to worry about — since the camera has a built-in AF motor. As is the case with all DX format Nikon cameras, there’s a 1.5x focal length conversion ratio to keep in mind. Thus, a 50 mm lens will have the field-of-view of a 75 mm lens. To release an attached lens, simply press the button located just to the right of the lens mount.
While the D90 and D300 both have 12.3 Megapixel CMOS sensors, they’re not exactly the same. Nikon says that the D90’s sensor is “inspired by” — but not identical to — the one on the D300.
One of the new features on the D90 is a dust reduction system. The camera sends ultrasonic waves down the low-pass filter, which removes the dust from it (in theory, at least). You can choose to have dust reduction operate when the camera is turned on and off, or you can run it manually. Since dust can be a real annoyance on a D-SLR, features like this are always welcome.
Directly above the Nikon logo is the D90’s pop-up flash, which is released electronically. The flash has a guide number of 12 meters at ISO 100, which is average in this class. Only the Canon EOS-40D has a more powerful flash. Should you require more flash power and a smaller chance of redeye, attach an external flash to the camera. You can attach one to the hot shoe that you’ll see in a moment, or you can cut the cord entirely and go wireless — the D90 lets you control up to two sets of flashes using its “Commander Mode”.
What else will you find on the front of the camera? Under the D90 is the camera’s microphone, which is used for the much-touted movie mode that I’ll tell you about later. Next to that is the receiver for the optional remote control.
Over on the grip side of things, we find the camera’s front command dial, which has the AF-assist lamp to its right. Unlike the majority of D-SLRs, which use their flash for AF-assist, this is lamp is dedicated to the cause (and very bright). This lamp is also used for redeye reduction, and for serving as a sort of visual countdown for the self-timer.
Under the AF-assist lamp is the camera’s Function button, which is customizable. By default, it locks the flash output, but you can have it perform a number of other tasks (described later). The button located to the lower-left of the lens mount is for depth-of-field preview.
Video Review of Nikon D90
