Customer Reviews

Nikon D90 Digital SLR Camera 18-105 VR Kit

5 star:		(64)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is a superb camera that I have been happily shooting on since its release, and given the chance again now, it is still the camera I would choose. Why only four stars then? Let me explain.
The background to this camera is what makes it so great. They incorporated many of the features from the more expensive D300, and managed to fit it and more into its predecessor's, the D80, body. This includes most importantly the sensor in the camera. The sensor in the D90 is superb, and the 12 MP's are more than adequate for prints A2 size (this is the largest I have gone, but I am sure you can go bigger). Better than this is the noise handling of the sensor. The default setting is ISO 200, but the camera is perfectly usable up to ISO 1600, with very little noise present, and it is expandable beyond that. This gives really high quality pictures even in very dim conditions without the need for flash.
The shape and feel of the camera are great as well. It just fits and all of the buttons are exactly where they should be. This is really something you have to try for yourself holding it. The viewfinder is also just so big (96% coverage), and the weight of the camera is balanced without it being heavy.
These are the major things that set it apart, but you really begin to notice the small things the more you shoot with it. The top down display gives you all the information in a really nice and compact way. This small display is also the reason the battery life is so great, as you do not need the brilliant 3" screen every time you change a setting. It is possible to go on about the positives for a long time, but there are some drawbacks to keep in mind.
First of these is the video. Don't get me wrong the video in many ways is brilliant (first time seen on DSLR, and it is high definition 720p.) HOWEVER, you get a phenomenon called a rolling shutter, which gives the images a jelly like appearance(it wobbles if you move quickly). It is therefore really only suited to being kept on a tripod and everything moving in the frame rather than moving the camera. The sound is also only in mono and is not the best quality, and you have to manually focus during the video (though with some practice this is not too hard).
The other main thing while looking at this camera is that it is only an "advanced amateur" camera, and whilst it borrows heavily from the D300 it is not a D300 in a smaller body. The D300 still maintains a better build quality, better auto-focus (with proper tracking for sport), a higher frames per second, and a better processor giving higher quality pictures, and correspondingly it is matched with a higher body only price tag.
In saying all of that, this camera will be more than adequate for the majority of us, and you will love it if you use it. Leaving it on full auto and shooting will leave you happy, but it has so many options that you can tailor it to specifically suit your style, and the way you want to use it. Also don't forget that the sound of the shutter (actually the mirror rotating up) is addictive satisfyingly solid. For this price there is no better camera.

I bought this camera in May 2011, which was nearly 2.5 years later from the its first launch in 2008. There are several reasons that I preferred Nikon D90 over some new rivals like Nikon D5100 and Nikon D7000. I should state that this is my first ever digital SLR but I already had some photography knowledge from film cameras generation.

To make it short I should say The Nikon D90 has a lot to offer even to professional photographers. That's why Nikon after 2 years still supply it along with their new products.If you are confused between D3100,D5100,D90 and D7000, continue to read:

Be honest with you, from image quality point of view all above cameras are excellent.But in respect to other features there are some key differences between them.

Compared to D3100:

1-D90 has a better handling than D3100 and you have better control over every thing. In other words there are many dedicated buttons for each function like ISO setting, White balance etc. This means you take more pictures with D90 rather than get confused in the menu.

2-You Get an excellent 18-105 kit lens with 6x zoom with ED glass (a quality glass used in some expensive nikon lenses). With this lens you don't need to buy a zoom lens immediately, as it covers a longer range than other kit lenses.The 18-55mm lens offered along D3100 and D5100 has 3x zoom and the quality of the glass is not as good as the 18-105mm offered with D90.

3-It has an excellent 920k dots LCD compared to 230K dots In D3100. Don't underestimate this, you will find D3100's LCD useless when you are reviewing your photographs to find out whether they are in focus or not.

Compared to D5100:

1 - points 1 and 2 above are still valid for D5100.

2 - If your primary objective is still photography then D90 is an excellent choice. Although It also offers HD 720p video recording with manual focus, but D5100 has a better video facilities like its Full HD 1080p, auto focus recording and the vary angle high resolution LCD (which is good if you ever need that), But remember you are buying a DSLR camera,if you want a perfect video quality without limitations buy a hassle free HD camcorder for third of this price rather than a DSLR for the movie recording.

Compared to D7000:

D7000 is a D90 equivalent at today's time with some new features like full 1080p HD recording and 16 MP sensor.Image quality in both cameras is excellent. Both have same layout of buttons to control functions.D7000 is a very good camera but it is so expensive. If you ready to pay around £1000 for a D7000 , I would say get its more professional big brother, D300s for the same price (body only) and you will see what the word of "professional" really means!.

Who D90 is Suitable for?

-The D90 is a very good choice as a first DSLR as it offers every things you ever need for an enjoyable photography.

-D90 is a perfect camera for those who don't want to change their camera once they have learnt basics of photography. There is a fact that you will learn photography gradually and when you expand your photography knowledge,you will need a more advanced camera. D90 will grow with you and you don't need to upgrade it at least for 3 years (unless you do photography for a live!).

If you have already owned other nikon entry level SLRs like D40,D50,D60,D70 etc and looking for an upgrade, although D90 can be good choice as it ticks all the boxes,But you may need something more sophisticated like D7000 or D300s or the coming soon D400.

2 year manufacture warranty also is a huge plus.
Overall ,I am very happy with the purchase, highly recommended.

Update 20/10/2011:
I am so happy that I didn't buy D5100 instead of D90.I have used this camera for almost 5 months now and I should say this is a fantastic SLR. I have taken photos in low light conditions, landscapes, indoors,.. Photos are stunning. colour, white balance, noise level all are perfect.

I recently bought the D90. Rather than repeat what others have already mentioned, I'd like to suggest a few accessories:

1. An SDHC card. For some reason, the D90 kit does not come with an SD card. My fingers were itching to try out the D90 but I had to wait a few days for the SD card to fetch up. Nikon should have supplied a low capacity one at least! I would urge you to buy an 8GB SanDisk SDHC Extreme III, which is a fast card (133x). It is optimized for continuous shooting and for video, and writes to the card very fast. In contrast, lower speed cards take some time to write to the card, and you may miss that moment... See SanDisk Extreme III SDHC 8Gb High Performance Card - 20Mb/s 133x edition. Note that the Extreme III cards are rebranded to Extreme HD Video

2. A remote control - for taking self portraits, long exposures, etc.. Dont buy the Nikon ML-L3 (see Nikon ML-L3 Remote Control or its equivalent) as these are not very functional. Though it is highly rated, do read the 3-star and lower rated reviews to understand its limitations before you decide. Instead, try out the Nikon MC-DC2 Remote Cord For D90 or the Hama NI-3 Wireless Remote Control Release for Nikon Camera. Both these work with the D90 and D5000 and not others

3. A UV filter to protect the lens. Note that the 18-105mm VR lens that comes with the kit is 67mm dia, so buy a suitable filter

4. Nikon SB-400 flash - I was pretty impressed with Ken Rockwell's review of the SB400 (Google for it) and I just went ahead and bought it. The flash head can be swivelled upwards 60/75/90 degrees and the bounced light photos are very pleasing. In contrast, the onboard flash does not swivel, and can produce washed-out pictures. See Nikon Speedlight SB-400 External Flash

5. An SD card reader - from the reviews in this topic, I see that the D90 will not be recognized as a USB device and you need the clunky Nikon software to transfer images, etc. The Integral SD card reader (See Integral USB 2.0 Single Slot SD Reader) enables your computer to treat the SD card as a USB pen drive. It is a snap to install.

Hope this helps!

Update 12/12/2011: Another must-have accessory

Nikon's plastic screen protector BM10 for the D90 gets scratched very easily, and ruins the photo displayed on the screen. So I bought a glass screen protector kit (See GGS LCD Glass Screen Protector For Nikon D90) which comprises two tough and slightly flexible glass protectors, one for the main D90 display and the other for the smaller display on the top. Both the protectors are shaped exactly like the screens and have a thin line of adhesive around the edges. Very easy to stick them onto the camera display screens (be sure to clean them first!), and afterwards they blend so easily with the camera, you cant even make out you've stuck anything! I've used it for the past 6 months or so, and the screens have held up pretty well so far (they dont scratch easily). The only disadvantage I see is replacing the screens can be tough (the adhesive is strong), but if you dont break it, you dont need to replace it :).

I am a professional photographer but to be frank you can't really lug around a D3 on holiday - too big and conspicuous. The D90 with the 18-105 VR lens is compact and light enough to carry around all day. It may have a plastic body against the D3, D3X, D300s and D700's magnessium but that really should not deter you.

I would say that you MUST read the manual that comes with the camera to get the best out of the camera. Yep I appreciate no one does read the manual but if you do you will be well rewarded and understand what excellent value for money the camera is. I believe that the sensor is the same as the D300 but you get it at a great price about 1/2 of the cost of the original D300.

Focusing is so swift and sharp and I reckon the images I get from this lens is better than those I get from my D3 with a 80-200 f2.8 lens.

I love the Live View option with video and though I recall complaints about the lack of autofocus I really did not have a problem shooting movies with the camera. Audio id excellent too and this camera gives you the best of both worlds, movies and stills.

I would add that if you can watch Laurie Excell's online seminar at Kelby Training which covers in about 60 minutes the most useful controls of the camera, then I recommend that as a great way to get to know your camera.

The Nikon D90 is a good Digital SLR and I have to say I'm satisfied with the picture quality, feel/weight of the camera and the way the function buttons are layed out. The only problem I have with the camera is the error mesages. Two appear intermittantly. "F--" is the least severe as all it takes to free that is a little twist to the lens as this will make good the contacts between the lens contacts and camera's contact ring. The other "Err" code that appears, again intermittantly with no warning can only be freed by removing and re-installing the battery.The camera completly locks-up and won't turn off from the switch. There are reports of users having to do this a few times but once always cures the problem for me. I'm very disapointed with Nikon as this really is the achilles heel of a very good camera. I purchaed the camera a week ago with the 18-105 kit lens and this has occured at leats 6 times. I'm taking it back to Jessops today to get a full refund. I'll have no problems buying the D90 again but only once this problem has been sorted. If your happy to remove the bettery in the middle of shooting or to give the lens a little twist to cure either, then I can't think of anything else that would deter you from buying it.

05/02/2010 D90 Update.

OK. I bit the bullet and decided to purchase another D90 with kit 18-105vr lens a month later. I'm pleased to say I've had it for several months now and used it extensively without a single error code appearing. No locks up's or any other problems. Sounds to me Nikon have/had some quality issues. Purchase from a supplier with a good returns policy who will allow you to return the camera if faulty and repurchase with no problems . 5 stars for my 2nd and new D90.

As a DSLR newbie I thought long and hard about my purchase i.e. Canon/Nikon/Sony, lenses in future, accessories etc. and eventually settled for the D90 VR Kit.

After a month of casual use familiarising with the innumerable settings I have to say I am hugely impressed with the user-friendly design and image quality. The default settings are sensible and capture great images, but when you want to take control the camera allows you to do so with minimal fuss. As a beginner I especially liked the info button which explains the various menu options in more detail.

The LCD screen offers amazing clarity with 4x the resolution of most of its nearest price point rivals, making the live view option a real advantage when composing images. The only issue I found with this was the lack of a live histogram to check exposure but as this can be viewed after capture perhaps more an inconvenience than a real problem.

The kit lens provided is great for most general scenarios offering acceptable wide angle and zoom options but be aware that for Macro photography or sports for example you will need to expand your lens set and invest in a proper flashgun and tripod etc etc so if you're on a limited budget consider a cheaper body and invest in the glass instead.

HD Video is also a nice option but since there's no autofocus and it only receives mono sound the usability is limited for advanced shooting. But considering there is only one other DSLR camera which currently offers HD video (and that's a Pro level Canon comfortably costing four figures) you have to recognise this is an added bonus rather than a disappointment.

On the software side this package is a bit of a let down. Nikon do not provide their own full image editing program in the same vein as Canon, and the file transfer tool was clunky to install and didn't even recognise my camera as a device. Coupled with the baffling decision to not allow the D90 to be recognised as a USB flash device, I was left having to buy a card reader to transfer data. This wasn't actually a bad idea anyway, as I find this method much more user friendly. As an existing Photoshop CS3 user and with my card reader costing just £15, I hardly felt the impact of the sub-par software, but it's a consideration if on a budget. Also note that Adobe RAW support only exists on Photoshop CS4 for the D90, so if using a previous version like me, you'll need a .dng converter which, fortunately, is free from Adobe.

Overall, the minor niggles don't come close to detracting from the quality of the main product.

I don't think I can add much more than has already been written in favour of this camera, but wanted to give my appreciation anyway.

What I can say is: if you're thinking of moving from a good compact camera to a dslr and are worried about not getting the use out of a dslr due to its size / bulk / value compared with a compact, relax and ask yourself: do i enjoy taking photographs? do i like looking at the photo's i've taken? and do i want to be able to produce the best quality image (within financial reason) possible?

If the answer to the above questions is yes, then buy a dslr and i promise that within a short while, you wont notice the extra bulk over a compact, you'll feel the weight reassuring and the picture quality is light years ahead of anything you've experienced before.

These were my worries before buying this camera a month or so ago and my findings from using it - when I walked out of the shop with 800 pound's worth of camera, I came over in a sweat...but a short while later and i'm convinced it's one of the best things i've ever bought and i know it's going to be a good companion of mine. Indeed, I've already bought a second lens for it, a 35mm 1.8 (= ~50mm) and am having great fun and learning to compose images.

The next question is 'which dslr?'

You're probably looking at this, the D5000 and the 500D and 550D from Canon and wondering whether this is worth the extra money or to go for maximum pixels with the 550D (these were my choices). My suggestion is go to a camera shop and hold these camera's, use them, feel their balance and look at where the buttons are and do this as many times as is necessary to find the camera that feels 'right' in your hands. Even if you ask to hold the cameras so many times that the shop assistant is clenching his teeth while he talks to you, do so. (I did). The most useful piece of information the sales assistant gave me was 'if it doesn't feel comfortable in your hands, you wont use it'. I bet he regretted that after my 20th visit to weigh up a D90 vs a 550D! :o)

UPDATE:

I was on a photoshoot with my club at the weekend and this clumsy idiot managed to drop his Nikon D90 from a height of 2-3 feet from a dressing table onto a solid wooden floor. The Lens cap came flying off and the camera....worked absoulutely fine and not a mark or rattle was found on her. Did the shoot and took over 500 pictures in 4 hrs so kept the camera under reasonable use...unbelievable. I know that mid range slrs are made to be reasonabley durable but to survive that impact was impressive. I don't recommend that you treat your camera in this way, but it's good to know that it can take a knock.

Having moved up from a Canon EOS 350d, which was a superb first DSLR, the Nikon is a different beastie altogether. The Nikon is solidly built and the layout of buttons is superb, the bigger screen with Liveview option is excellent for reviewing video and photos. The lens does a job with good sharpness for a kit lens and lovely colour rendition. Only two complaints - my Photoshop version doesn't cater for Nikon's RAW file version NEFF, although I understand there are ways around this, at the moment it's a pain. There is no RAW "tweaking" software with the camera. Other disappointment was the video, slightly jumpy for moving shots and awkward to zoom, focus and frame at the same time. I have to say I am improving in this department with practice and I'm sure with time and a choice of lenses I will be producing a mini movie marvel!
I was torn between loyalty to Canon and moving up to the 500d (and taking my lenses!) or trying my first Nikon with the D90. I have no regrets at all after a month with the Nikon, it feels like an old friend. If there's a bigger bang for your buck out there I don't care - I love my Nikon!!

Like most people, I played around with a few cameras before falling for the D90. I read many reviews and not wanting to spend a fortune, I had decided on the D60.

A visit to a camera shop is a must to get the feel and try out the cameras. The Canons were not my cup of tea as some of the essential controls were buried in the menu system. The D60 felt great, if a little limited by the 18-55mm lens. I shoot off a few frames in and out of the shop, with outside and inside face shoots.

I then moved on to the D5000, which was a bit heavier and felt a little better constructed. The swivel screen was a nice touch for some applications. Again, a variety of shots were taken.

I then tried the D90, not that I wanted to spend £800 or so on a camera, but just to see what the fuss was about, and where the additional cash would be spent. Wow, what a difference. The lens and focussing system was superb, and the extra focal length was extremely handy.

What blew me away was the exposure, colours and skin tones under indoor lighting. It was astonishing! From that point on I couldn't go back to the others. I was sold.

I have had it a week now, and have been taking pictures in all sorts of lighting conditions. This camera excels at taking incredible photographs in impossible lighting situations with virtually no noise even at ISO 3200. The VR lens is fantastic at reducing camera shake, and I was taking hand-helds down to 1/4 sec, razor sharp.

I had been with film cameras since 1975, only to give up a few years ago when I bought an Olympus digital compact. This SLR is in a different league to anything I have owned before.

If you are in the market for a good Digital SLR, don't hesitate with the D90. Buy one and enjoy.....

PS My FA, F3 and F70 are all for sale.........

I was torn between the Nikon D90 and the Canon 550D. I have been using Canon Poweshot cameras for many years, most recently a G9 and wanted to upgrade. Prior to Digital cameras I had owned a Leica M3 and several Nikon FE's, all of which took quality pictures. After consulting with some professional photographer friends I realised that the Nikon D90 is the best choice. In fact according to my friends there is no comparison. The D90 and is actually equivalent to the Canon 50D and not the 500D or 550D as many people seem to think. What I really liked about the D90 is it's feel of quality, the sensation of quality when I push the shutter release button, the natural colours as opposed to the exagerated colours of the Canon and it's heavier weight. My conclusion, for compact digital cameras I would go for Canon, but only a G9, G10 or G11, but for DSLR's I would always choose a Nikon.