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 (OLD MODEL)

Who am I? Beginning at age 11, in 1965 and originally taught by my grandfather, photography has played an important part of my entire life. My digital photography began with scans I made back in 1987 using a 'Thunderscanner' that converted my printer into a scanner. More recently, I began photographing using digital cameras beginning in 1997. This Nikon D90 is my 3rd Nikon DSLR. It was preceded by my Nikon D70 and later a used, Nikon D200. Overall, I feel that the D90 outfit, which includes the 18-105 and to which I added the 70-300 nikkor lens is my personal, 'perfect' camera outfit! These two lenses have Nikon's VR (optical image stabilization) which does a phenomenal job, stabilizing your images shot handheld. And the lens's qualities are very good, too. I find the optimum sharpness to be around f/8-f/9 for both of them. There is some chromatic aberration on each at the shortest focal lengths but this is easily removed in software such as the Aperture 3 which is what I use. The 18-105mm lens is the one I leave on the camera a take about 95 percent of my shots with. I use the 70-300mm for longer reach when I need it, especially for small subjects such as birds and other wildlife that are at a distance. I had an old well padded LowePro bag that is about 14"x14"x5" and the camera with both lenses and all of my other personal items (keys, wallet, iPhone, etc.) all easily fit into it and slung over my shoulder so that I can 'draw' my camera and shoot within a few seconds of seeing something worth photographing. With everything in the LowePro bag, including my personal gear, it weighs less than 8 pounds! Not bad at all when you consider I'm set to shoot from the equivalent range of 27mm all the way up through to 450mm. That is the same view you see with 9x binoculars! Not bad at all! The speed that I can turn on and shoot the D90 is so short that it feels like a film camera! There is almost no delay so I am able to grab shots, effortlessly. I leave it setup with the following camera settings preset ... RAW plus JPEG, Autofocus on, VR on (this is amazing image stabilization in both of my lenses!), Aperture priority (with the lens typically set to f/9 for sharpest image quality) and the amazing Auto-ISO set with a minimum shutter speed of 125 and a max ISO of 3,200. My images are gorgeous ... sharply focused, with no motion blur from handholding the camera and well exposed (note that using RAW files in Aperture 3 makes it possible for me to both fine tune each exposure AND remove the slight chromatic aberration that appears when the lens is shot at it's widest 18 mm setting). Nothing is 'perfect' so, I'd admit that the D90 isn't as well built as my D200 was and because it was the first DSLR that had video capability, the video quality isn't the best. Still, when I consider the cost of the better built D300s (twice as much as the D90!) and that I bought this for serious still photography and not video, this outfit ranks all A's in my book! My decades of experience has also taught me that Nikon gear holds up much better in the long run AND that is the reason it holds a much higher resale value, too! If you want a DSLR camera with the best LCD (nobody has a better one so far!), a glass pentaprism viewfinder that lets you 'see' what you are shooting, even in low light and the Nikon brand name that means it will hold it's resale value, it is hard to go wrong with the D90 kit! BTW I've ordered the optional battery holder/side hand grip for it. Using two batteries, having a grip for portrait shooting AND adding just enough more below the D90 body so that ALL of my right hand's fingers can grasp the camera makes this a must have, addition.

This is my first DSLR, and I couldn't be happier. I read endlessly about different cameras before I decided on the D90. In the end it came down to the D90, and Canon's 50D, mostly due to their price points. Both are truely awesome and feature packed camera's. I loved the feel of the 50D, as I have pretty large hands. The 50D is about a half inch wider than the D90, and a slightly larger grip. The D90's grip is great as well, just a little smaller. Because of this, I purchased a battery grip along with the camera (Zeikos ZE-NBG90), and it feels great. (If you're wondering why I'm only talking about Nikon and Canon, it's because both companies have an extensive range of products for all skill levels, so plenty of room for me to upgrade bodies and lenses in the future. They are also both extensively used by professional photographers, so there must be something good about them.) A few things made me ultimately buy the Nikon D90..... First, the included kit lens. Nikon includes a 18-105mm VR lens, and Canon includes a 28-135mm IS lens. Both have Vibration Reduction/Image Stabilization, and both cost about the same if you bought them separately. On a crop frame camera (aps-c size), which both of these are, The 18-105mm is more usefull and versatile as an all purpose lens. I felt that it would serve better indoors, in smaller spaces, than the Canon lens would. For other beginers out there, on a crop frame camera you have to use a multiplier to figure out what the actual range is of a lense. For Nikon, it's 1.5, and for Canon, it's 1.6. So my Nikon 18-105 lens functions like a 27-157 on my D90 crop frame (18x1.5 , 105x1.5) The included lens on the Canon 50D is 28-135mm which, on the 50D, would function like a 45-216mm lens. This would be a great range for outdoor use, but I felt it didn't get wide enough for indoor use. This lens mounted on a full frame camera would be more appropriate (no multiplier). In Canon's defense, there are two other 50D kits available, one with a 17-85mm lens, and another with an 18-200mm lens. In my opinion, both lenses are inferior in quality to the 28-135, and they both are more expensive. The 17-85 kit was about $200 more, and the 18-200 kit was about $400 more. This made the 50D to expensive for me, especially when you could step up to the Canon 7D for $1500(body only) and $1900(with 28-135mm). Second are the number of buttons, and button placement. Everyone is different, and has different ideas about how cameras should be set up. For me, I like the idea of having more buttons on the outside, as the Nikon does when compared to Canon. If I have to go into a menu to get at a certain function, chances are, I'll forget I have that function. Being a beginner, I wanted as much in my face as possible to help me learn. This also makes for very fast adjustments for beginers and advanced photographers alike. As for button placement, the Nikon just felt more natural. Again, everyone is different. Lastly, I considered both Nikon's and Canon's full line of cameras. I do plan on upgrading in the future, so I looked at the upper end cameras as well. Whatever lenses I buy for my D90, I want them to work on whatever body I might upgrade to in the future (lenses are expensive!!!) I think I just liked Nikon's take on photography tools a little better. From styling to functionality, Nikon just seemed more... me. I may regret this, as Canon also makes outstanding products, and it seems like they have a lot more lenses, although I havn't actually counted. For now, I'm looking forward to a long relationship with Nikon, expecting that their more pricey camera bodies function as naturally and comfortably as the D90 does. I absolutely love the Nikon D90, and am very happy I bought it. I feel it's a great camera for beginers, and it'll grow with me as a photographer. I was able to create amazing images right out of the box. It's very easy to use. I sat on the couch with it that first night and just played with menus and settings, and learned my way around the camera very fast. I'd recomend the D90 to anyone, beginners and advanced amatures alike. I used cameralabs.com extensively before I decided on anything. Outstanding website with a lot of writen and video reviews on a great many cameras and lenses. Thanks Gordon!! A few tips if you buy the D90... *an 8g memory card will give you about 350 RAW+JPEG shots, or 1000+ JPEG shots *the D90 shoots video... barely. If you want to shoot video, buy a video camera.... seriously. *if you're going to shoot video, or are going to use live-view a lot, you NEED an extra battery.

I've owned this thing for 4 years or so now. Nikon has introduced a few models since then, but this thing is still just about perfect for the picture taking I do. Lots of lens choices, tons of features, ergonomics just fit my hands like I designed it for myself. I've looked at the newer stuff, and for the few things they've "improved" on, I still think this was and is the best fit for me. Only reason I could ever see moving it to second camera status is if I ever decide to go full frame. I'd love too, but tough to justify the price when this D90 does such a fine job even with the reduced sensor size. Here's some points to consider if looking at one of these to buy. Its a 12.3 megapixel camera. Smallish by recent new cameras, but more than enough to print very nice pictures 11x14 or larger in some cases. If you are using it for 4x6, you will have excellent results. The camera does shoot HD video, but it is limited to the 720, it will not shoot 1080. In my experience, autofocus during video shoots leaves something to be desired. The camera, with the kit lens, 18-105, has very decent low light capabilities. Of course, the kit lens is slow, so a faster lens would improve low light capabilities. On a nice bright day, without using flash, the camera pops off 4.5 or 5 frames a second. I have used this camera a lot at the drag strip and have captured lots of great wheelie action using the continuious shooting. My daughter was also a polevaulter, and this feature allowed me to catch lots of great action shots as she went up and over the bar. I used it a few times, indoors, for high school basketball, with the 18-105 lens, it was slow and not so great. With a faster lens, excellent results indoors shooting action shots. The camera itself has lots of choices to select the type and heat range of the lighting you're shooting in, so great results are possible with incandesent, florescent, halogen, sunlight, moonlight, you name it, the camera can shoot in it. There are quite a few in camera editing functions to correct, um, operator error. LOL. Camera shoots in both color and black and white. There are various settings which allow quit, low grade snapshots, fine picture quality, and up to RAW settings. RAW allows, actually demands, that you have computer capabilities to edit the photos. RAW prints cannot be processed at your local Wal-Mart. The detail possible and editing possible in RAW is unbelievable. Be forewarned tho, RAW eats up lots of storage on your SD cards. There is an option to shoot both fine and RAW at the same time, which allows easy printing of the fine, and the capability to edit and change appearances in the RAW format. This camera has an internal focusing motor for the autofocus lens'. Nikon 3000 series does not have this feature. What does this mean? Not all lenses will autofocus on a 3000, where practically all autofocus lenses will function on the D90. There is also an auto/manual switch on the camera body which allows you to manually focus any lens attached to the camera if you desire more control than the autofocus feature allows. Speaking of lenses, the mounting design Nikon is using has been around since the late 70s. This means that some really nicely made Nikon lenses that you may have laying around from the 80s or 90s have a really good chance of working great on the D90. In the first part of my review, where I give my personal likings of the camera, I mention its a reduced sensor camera. This sorta works to your benefit. The reduced sensor has a multiplying effect on the lens rating. This is approximately 1.5 times. So, a 100mm lens on a D90 is equivalent to a 150mm lens on a full framed camera. 400mm is equal to 600mm, and so on. The camera has a nice large screen on the back to select options in the cameras menu. You can also change to live view which allows the screen to function as the eye piece. The screen is stationary, it does not tilt, swivel, flip, etc. Using it in live view also slows down the reaction of the shutter a bit. On top of the camera is a small simple screen that shows many of your settings at a glance. Using the small screen and function buttons you can switch shot quality, ISO, check battery charge, number of shots taken and number remaining on card, F stop, flash, etc. The camera also has two dials in very well placed positions. A front dial right below the shutter release, and a rear dial behind the shutter release. These dials do quite a few things, such as changing ISO, flash, and using both front and rear dials, you can change F stops and shutter speeds without pushing any other buttons first. So, for those desiring manual operation instead of auto, everything is very easy to change while looking through the eyepiece. The camera has a pretty decent built in flash and the capability of adding external flash attachments. In this review, I've only touched on a fraction of this cameras capabilities. I highly recommend this camera if you can get ahold of one new or used.

I have had the camera now for about three months and I haven't taken a bad shot yet (slightly exagerated). The Nikon D90 if left on auto, would be the best point and shoot I have ever had but I am starting to learn what this camera is capable of when I become involved (AKA. Photographer). This camera is truly a painters palette waiting for the composer. The camera is also very intuitive and tries to cover my mistakes if I choose to let it. You can take as much or as little control as you are comfortable with. As a previous poster has mentioned, do not buy the kit, purchase the body only and add lenses separately. I borrowed a friends D90 with a kit lens to see if it was the camera for me, thank goodness he had another premium lens or I would have probably not bought the D90. With the kit lens it gives the camera a feel of cheapness and the picture quality is OK. I have added a Nikon prime 50mm f/1.8 and a Sigma 50-150mm f/2.8. Both have great glass and great response time (I highly reccommend them both). I also bought the kit lens 18-55mm 3.5($50.00 used from the friend I initially borrowed the D90 from), it has its uses. My day job is a quality engineer for a major aerospace company (space shuttle core component supplier), and I am very scrutinous of everything engineered. My opinion of construction quality is very favorable. I love the way the lenses snap into place with no slop. At first I was a little skeptical of the plastic body as opposed to the metal body of the D3 (which I have used). My night job is shooting youth sporting events for hours on end and the weight savings is sooooo apprecitated. I geuss what I am trying to get to is, do not evaluate this camera with a kit lens. I also recommend purchasing at least two (2) 4G cards with as high a write speed as possible. Not because the camera can't keep up but because your computer probably won't. This camera has a large buffer, so fire away. If you want a very well written opinon of this camera from a professional photographer, I recommend you visit Ken Rockwells web page [...] I do not know the gentleman, but when I was researching for this purchase I consumed all the information I could get and I made my determination after reading his review. I highly recommend his webpage for just practical information on all things photographic. In closing, I highly recommend the D90 camera body with quality lenses (so far Nikon (not kit) and Sigma, I like). If you thrive on validation and flattery, I also recommend this camera, because you will get a lot of attention much like Ashton Kucher on the Nikon commercial. I never tire of hearing "let me see, let me see". I would rate it third behind children and puppies as a chick magnet.

Right out of the box, this camera had all of the problems that everyone else has reported - the flashing F-- error (indicating that a lens isn't attached, even though it is), CHA error (tried three different authorized SDHC cards, and it had problems with all of them), and the random lock up with the flashing ERR message. The only solution was to remove the battery. Then I could take five more pics before it would crash again. No good. I wanted to get an exchange through Amazon, but they no longer carry the camera (after one week!), so I'll have to wait a couple months for it to be back in stock. Of course, at that point, I'm sure it will be cheaper since the new Nikons are slated to come out at the end of August - lose lose for me. Or I can get a refund, but then I'll have to spend more on the same camera somewhere else. I had already maxed out my budget to buy this one, so I can't really afford to spend more. I bought mine when everyone was having a sale on Nikons, and now no one has them on sale, so not only would I be out another $100 at least, there's still no guarantee that I won't have to go through all of this hassle again the next time. I wish I had bought from anyone else besides Amazon, as everyone else seems to still have it in stock! I called Nikon, and I'll have to pay shipping to send it to them, then wait at least 7-10 business days for service (their quoted *average* service time - who knows how long it will actually take), then have them ship it back to me (don't know if I have to pay for that or not, didn't say). So I'm out additional money, I STILL won't have a camera for at least two or three weeks of prime summer shooting season, and when I do, I'll just have to hope that they indeed fixed it properly (exchanging for a new one would make me feel a lot better than forever owning a known lemon). I was so excited to have this camera for the summer, but now I'm just sad and frustrated. The camera itself seems like it would be great if it worked. It seemed very sturdy, had a fantastic feature set, and took great images. It looks like my best option is to just return it to Amazon and buy the Canon T2i from someone else instead. :-(

I was fortunate enough to get a Nikon D40 several years ago, which kicked off my photography hobbie. Originally I wanted a nicer camera to shoot for the family, and I knew Nikon was a reliable brand, and the D40's were very well priced. (It's how they hook ya!!!) A few photography courses later (and a couple photos published in international magazines!) I've been hooked on Nikon cameras. Last year I upgraded to the Nikon D90. I love taking pictures of animals and children and landscapes as this is how it all started for me. I wanted something that could keep up with my family and pets. A shutter with a high enough speed to catch that "one" moment. Some of the eye-catching qualities this D90 has, is a 3" color screen with a "live view". People who use some of their earlier models (such as the D40) are probably used to having to view through the lens to get their picture. Well, now you don't. In addition to that, you can also shoot video (more on that in a bit.) 12.3 megapixel DX format CMOS sensor, ISO 200-3200, image sensor cleaning, AF, and in-camera retouching. The camera is easy enough to use for a newbie, as you can set it to "Auto" (One of seven shooting modes) and literally just point and shoot and go about your merry way. The camera uses an SD card for memory, though Nikon warns that it should be of a couple certain brands or the camera may not accept it (After formatting the card through the camera, I have not had a problem using 'cheapie' SD cards with it, however). Being a Nikon DSLR, however, you can, of course, go through and set anything and everything up manually to your liking, for the more serious hobbyist or professional. The camera comes with a good quality lens, (18-105mm) a certain upgrade from the stock lens with the D40. (Though the lenses are interchangeable) I enjoy it's "sounds" compared to the D40, if that makes any sense haha! It's heavier and larger than the D40, which I appreciate as well. I am a firm believer that one shouldn't by hybrid products with the hopes or assumption that the product does both (or all) tasks as well as the individual product would be. (Ie, point and shoots should not be expected to be a good video camera, or vice versa) And many other digital cameras I have used have proven this over and over, however the D90 video camera is quite impressive. Videos are limited to 5 minutes in length and have to be done via the lcd screen. It shoots HD videos with great color and quality, however has no AF (Auto Focus)--the only negative I can really give. It's perfect for catching special, spontaneous moments, high enough quality to use to create your own short film, and even easy enough for the responsible kid to use for school projects or just for fun. All and all, the camera is great. Good, hardy build to it. I've trucked it around to our farm, taken photos in the rain, and it has survived all our kids and pets without fail. If you are wanting a DSLR and you haven't ever used one before, this one is easy enough to set, point, and shoot, and still come out with professional looking, breath taking photos. If you are a hobbyist, looking for something that does more than auto-set, this one has all the manual settings one could hope for. And if you're a pro? Well, I don't need to be telling you that you need this camera, because you already know!

I got the Nikon D90 after considering the Canon T2i in some detail. The two major features that sold me on the Nikon was a superior exposure and color system, and a better kit lens. Since I have a long technical involvement in photography I don't mind customizing a lot of settings and changing settings before shots. If that isn't your style, you might think twice about the complexity of the D90. The biggest drawback is the focussing system, for me. I have tried the automatic and manual focussing both, and seem to trip over some detail of the system a little too often for my comfort. If you have it on single point auto focus, you can be reasonably sure of what you are going to get for focus...reasonably. But too often I have used this set up on, say, a single face in a group or on a flower stamen, for example, and found that the actual focal point in the image fell about 5-8% of the distance to the object behind the object under the focus highlight in the viewfinder. Not terrible, but enough to spoil some carefully set-up shots. Autofocus using 3d focussing does not work for me, and multipoint focussing always leaves me with the focus point highlight somewhere I don't expect it. If I am very alert and fully aware of what is going on, I can catch this and correct it by half-pressing the shutter and manually moving the focus point where I want it using the click dial. But it spoils the flow of attention on a shot. In fairness, I suspect some tutoring by an experienced user might overcome these perceived difficulties, but the documentation and materials I have found online do not address this issue well enough for me so far. I don't think there is a perfect camera out there. It took me over 20 days of shooting every day to finally feel I understood the options and their effects on my shooting style. I only gave the Canon an hour in the camera shop and several hours of close reading on the web, and that isn't the basis of a fair comparison. But the pentaprism viewfinder does provide a larger, brighter in-camera image to compose with. If you like to experiment, the range of control you have is great. And since I am on a limited budget, the kit lens gives me a broader range of focal lengths to work with. I also like the battery life and the size/form factor of the camera. It fits my hand better. My impression might be skewed by the fact that I got a Nikon s8000 at the same time, and despite the smaller image sensor on the s8000, it is giving the D90 a real run for its money in image quality and ease of use in quite a range of picture settings. The D90 is superior in low light and fast response, which alone still makes it worth it all for me. But I have shot the same outdoor scene with both cameras, and printed 13 x 19 prints and could not tell which was from which camera. Indoor shots are usually easy to distinguish. The D90 feels rugged and well made, and I haven't had the info drop-out from the lens problem that seems to plague some users. Ideally I would like to have waited for the next version, which would have full HD, stereo mike external jack, and 50% or more increase in sensor resolution. But I finally decided that the wonderful color and exposure intelligence built into the D90 was not going to get appreciably better in the next version, and increased sensor resolution has hit a physical limit where design tradeoffs have to be made, so I went ahead and took the plunge. I haven't regretted it. But I would be careful to whom I recommend it. If you are impatient or intimidated easily by technical complexity, this camera might end up on your shelf more often than not. As a side note, I was concerned at first about the weird video on this camera. Read around on the web and you will find out what I mean. But after taking a series of videos on the tripod, foregoing zoom and pan and concentrating on focal plane movement only, I am pretty happy with it as a DSLR adjunct to my full HD camcorder.

Ordered my Nikon D90 in December 2009 and got it in a little over a week. Received it with no problems. I have shot maybe a little more than a thousand photos with it and it is sweet. I have 2 Nikon 35mm slrs and used them for many, many years. I bought many optics for them as well as many accessories (ext tubes etc.). I wanted a dslr that I could use many, if not all, of the accessories I already had. The D90 fills the bill. The camera came with the 18-105 lens. All my photos are sharp and clear. If any are blurry it's my fault not the camera's or the lens fault. I ordered a 8 gig transcend sd card with the camera and have not had any issues with it. Later I saw a Lexar 4 gig sd card on sale and it has worked well also. I haven't tried the high speed sd cards yet. Maybe later. These work and work well so why spend more money? After reading many of the reviews, I must admit, I was a little fearful that I would have problems. So far nothing. No error messages, no nothing. It works and keeps on working. In cold weather and not so cold ( I live in so cal and have shot in the snow in the mountains and in the 80's in my back yard, yes and it's not summer yet). The camera has a learning curve. It has many options and it takes a while to learn how to use them. It can be used as a point and shot camera but only if you set it up that way. Learn to use it and use it correctly and it can be a valuable tool. I'm still learning. As far as the lens goes I have no complaints. It's sharp (for my purposes)and as far as the plastic lens mount is concerned, no worries. I'm not a pro. I use my camera maybe 5 or 6 times a week. 95% of the time I leave the lens on. The range of the lens is the one used for most of my pictures (family, vacation etc). I have a 600mm mirror, a 105mm nikor that I use sometimes. These lenses are the ones for my 35mm Nikons. They work on the D90 in manual mode. So I'm not changing the lens every 5 minutes. I don't think the plastic lens mount will be a factor. This camera isn't cheap. I works well and I'm happy with it. If you have some Nikon equip in 35mm and don't want to spend more, this is the camera for you. If you want a good prosumer camera this could be the camera for you. Check out the Canons and the others and if possible hold them and use them. See how they feel in your hands and look through the view finder. They're all good. Buy the one fits you.

Tout était parfais

Great deal, the camera is amazing. It's a great startup camera, the quality is truly awesome! Came in very fast exactly as it was described.