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Nikon D90 DSLR Review |
Review Date: Mar
16, 2009 |
Category: Serious
to Advanced Amateur
Photoxels Editor's Choice Award - Serious Enthusiast DSLR
HANDLING & FEEL
The Nikon D90 DSLR replaces the popular D80 and remains the ideal DSLR for the serious enthusiast photographer. With a body size that is not as large and heavy
as the Nikon D300, the D90 is perfect in size, weight and handling
the moment you pick it up in your hands. The body
is rugged high impact plastic draped over a solid
metal chassis, with the unmistakable feel of quality
that permeates all Nikon digital SLRs. The large
and deep grip is rubber coated and allows you
to hold the camera with all fingers solidly on
the grip.
The lens mount system used in the Nikon D90 is
the Nikon "F" mount (with AF coupling
and AF contacts) which means that almost the complete
range of Nikkor F lenses can be used. Due to the
APS sized image sensor, there is a 1.5x field
of view (FOV) crop. The 18-105mm optically image stabilized kit lens therefore
translates to a 27-157.5mm (5.8x optical zoom) equivalent field of view, providing a useful wide-angle as well as medium telephoto focal lengths.
The Nikon D90 uses the Secure Digital (SD &
SDHC) Card.
Here's how the top DSLRs measure up against one
another as far as dimensions are concerned, without lens attached and without battery
and card:
| Camera |
W
(mm) |
H
(mm) |
D
(mm) |
Weight
(g) |
| Sony A-900 |
156.3 |
116.9 |
81.9 |
850 |
| Canon 5D Mark II |
152 |
113.5 |
75 |
810 |
| Nikon D300 |
147 |
113 |
74 |
825 |
| Canon 50D |
145.5 |
107.8 |
73.5 |
730 |
| Pentax K20D |
141.5 |
101 |
70 |
715 |
| Nikon D90 |
132 |
103 |
77 |
620 |
| Nikon D80 |
132 |
103 |
77 |
585 |
| Sony A-350 |
130.8 |
98.5 |
74.7 |
582 |
| Pentax K200D |
133.5 |
95 |
74 |
630 |
| Canon XSi/450D |
128.8 |
97.5 |
61.9 |
475 |
| Olympus E-620 |
130 |
94 |
60 |
475 |
| Nikon D60 |
126 |
94 |
64 |
495 |
| Panasonic G1 |
124 |
83.6 |
45.2 |
385 |
The D90 is the same size as the D80 it replaces but about 45g heavier.
The AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-105mm (5.8x) f/3.5-5.6G ED
VR Lens has dimensions of 76mm x 89mm long (3.0
in. x 3.5 in.) and adds in a further 420g (14.8
oz.). Filter/Attachment Size is 67mm. Minimum
Focus Distance is 0.45m (1.48 ft).
| STYLE |
| - |
Colors: black body with white and
silver letterings, and chrome accents;
kit lens has silver and gold letterings,
and chrome accents |
| - |
Looks: very professional |
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| FEEL |
| - |
Ergonomic and high quality |
| - |
Controls & menu are precise and
easy to use |
| |
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| DIMENSIONS &
WEIGHT |
| - |
Nice heft |
| - |
Dimensions: 132 x 103 x 77mm (5.2
x 4.1 x 3.0 in.) |
| - |
Weight: approx. 620g (1lb. 6oz.) without
battery, memory card, body cap, or monitor
cover |
| - |
Takes 1 rechargeable Li-ion battery
EN-EL3e 7.4V 1500mAh, giving up to 850
images per battery charge (CIPA) |
| |
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SPEED OF OPERATION
(using SHQ) |
| - |
Startup is quasi instant |
| - |
Shot to shot time in good lighting is as fast as you can
press the shutter. In low light, camera will not fire until focus is achieved first. |
| - |
Burst High: approx. 4.3fps for 100
frames (100 frames
in 23 sec.)
I used a 4GB
SanDisk Extreme III (30 MB/s) SDHC Card and
the camera was set to full Manual
mode. |
| - |
No practical shutter lag |
| - |
Overall, superb performance |
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Included in the box is a rechargeable Li-ion
battery EN-EL3e and a Battery Charger MH-18a
(with power cord) that will recharge a new battery
in about 2.15 hrs. An optional MB-D80 Multi-Power
Battery Pack uses two EN-EL3e or six AA-sized alkaline, lithium or nickel-manganese batteries (optional Battery Holder MS-D200 required).
The control buttons on top of the camera are
placed in a clean layout. The D90 has a nice handgrip
and your index finger falls naturally on the shutter-release
button. The Power Switch is around the Shutter-release
button with 3 settings: OFF, ON and backlighting
for the information LCD. Behind it are the Metering
and Exposure Compensation buttons. To the right
of the LCD Control panel are the Drive and AF
mode buttons. The Mode Dial (on the
left side) allows you to select AUTO, Auto Flash OFF, PSAM, as well as 5 Scene Modes (Portrait, Landscape, Close up, Sports, Night Portrait).
As you'll notice, the viewfinder is quite close to the camera body. Pressing your eye to the viewfinder squishes your nose against the LCD, which pretty much results in what I term the "oily nose syndrome" -- an LCD smeared with oil at the upper left corner. Fortunately, the D90 comes standard with a clear plastic monitor cover to protect the LCD when the camera is not in use -- and which I guess most people would probably leave in place even when they are taking pictures. It would have been good if the viewfinder extruded out from the camera body just a bit more.
The large rectangle is the LCD Control panel
that displays the important exposure settings.
Just in front of -- and a little under -- the
shutter-release button is the Sub-command dial.
This Sub-command dial is operated with your index
finger.
You can lock the mirror up but it's only for sensor cleaning purposes (MENU - SETUP - Lock mirror up for cleaning). You cannot lock the mirror in the up position for picture taking (for long exposures and to minimize camera shake).
The D90 has a large 3.0-in. very high resolution LCD
monitor with wide-angle viewing and the 920K dots are put to the best use with beautifully legible
text and graphics. There is Live View using Contrast-detect AF (Face priority AF, wide area AF, normal area AF). The viewfinder is bright
and large with approx. 96% frame coverage and 0.94x magnification.
Phase detection AF uses 11 focus points and is lighting fast: half-press the Shutter-release
button and your subject snaps into focus. Contrast-detect AF, as expected, is slower and can take up to about 3 sec. to lock focus especially in low light conditions. I have had no problem getting a positive focus lock using Contrast-detect AF even in low light.
There are many control buttons on the D90 so
there is not much need to resort to the Menu.
Falling under your thumb is the Main command dial.
You use the Main command dial and Sub-command
dial to quickly set your exposure values.
In Manual mode, the Main command dial and Sub-command
dial allow you to control the shutter speed and
aperture, respectively (you can switch this in
Custom Setting Menu - f Controls - f5 Customize command dials - Change main/sub - On).
In Shutter-Priority mode, use the Main command
dial to change shutter speed.
In Aperture-priority mode, use the Sub-command
dial to change aperture.
In Programmed Auto [P] mode, rotating the Main
command dial switches you into Flexible Program
[P*] mode (i.e. Program Shift) and allows you
to select different combinations of shutter speed
and aperture while keeping the same exposure.
If you select Easy Exposure Compensation (Custom
Setting Menu - b Metering/exposure - b2 Easy exposure compensation - On), you do
not need to press the [+/-] button down and rotate
Main command dial to dial in an Exposure Compensation.
In P and S modes, simply rotate the Sub-command
dial; in A mode, rotate the Main Command dial. The "0" exposure compensation mark blinks continuously,
which I find unnecessarily irritating. Neither
the viewfinder nor the Control Panel displays
the actual value dialed in but tiny bars display
along a bar to give an indication of the value.
In addition, the [+/-] graphic is also displayed
to indicate an exposure compensation has been
dialed in. You'll have to press the [+/-] button
to see the actual value. Which kind of defeats
the whole purpose of not having to press that
button in the first place. Improvement suggestion
is to display the actual exp. comp. value.
Note that even with Easy Exposure Compensation
ON, you can still press the [+/-] button and rotate
the Main command dial to set an exposure compensation.
In Phase detection AF mode, you can use the Multi selector (UP, DOWN, LEFT, RIGHT) to specify one
of 11 AF areas you want the camera to focus on (as long as you've set the Focus Selector Lock to dot).
In Contrast-detect AF mode, you can pretty much move the AF frame to anywhere on the screen.
There are 4 AF Area Modes to choose from: Single point, Dynamic area, Auto-area and 3D-tracking. The
Framing grid and the focus brackets are fine black
lines which blink red (an irritating color) when you half-press the
Shutter-release button.
Underneath the camera, as expected, the metal
tripod mount is located in line with the center
of the lens and the imaging focal plane. You should
be able to change the battery with the camera
mounted on a tripod.
As you would expect, there are tons of customizable
settings to choose from, more than we can reproduce
here (unless we reproduce the whole manual).
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SHOOTING MENU 1 of 2
- Set Picture Control
- Manage Picture Control
- Image quality
- Image size
- White balance
- ISO sensitivity settings
- Active D-Lighting
- Color space |
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SHOOTING MENU 2 of 2
- Long exposure NR
- High ISO NR
- Active folder
- Multiple exposure
- Movie settings |
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SET PICTURE CONTROL
- SD* Standard*
- NL* Neutral*
- VI* Vivid*
- MC Monochrome
- PT* Portrait*
- LS Landscape |
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MANAGE PICTURE CONTROL
- Save/edit
- Rename
- Delete
- Load/save |
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IMAGE QUALITY
- NEF (RAW) + JPEG fine
- NEF (RAW) + JPEG normal
- NEF (RAW) + JPEG basic
- NEF (RAW)
- JPEG fine
- JPEG normal
- JPEG basic |
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IMAGE SIZE
- Large (4288x2848; 12.2 M)
- Medium (3216x2136; 6.9 M)
- Small (2144x1424; 3.1M) |
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WHITE BALANCE 1 of 2
- Auto
- Incandescent
- Fluorescent
- Direct sunlight
- Flash
- Cloudy
- Shade
- Choose color temperature |
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WHITE BALANCE 2 of 2
- Preset manual |
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ISO SENSITIVITY SETTINGS
- ISO sensitivity
- ISO sensitivity auto control
- Maximum sensitivity
- Minimum shutter speed |
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ISO SENSITIVITY 1 of 3
- Auto
- Lo 1
- Lo 0.7
- Lo 0.3
- 200
- 250
- 320 |
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ISO SENSITIVITY 2 of 3
- 400
- 500
- 640
- 800
- 1000
- 1250
- 1600 |
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ISO SENSITIVITY 3 of 3
- 2000
- 2500
- 3200
- Hi 0.3
- Hi 0.7
- Hi 1 |
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ISO SENSITIVITY AUTO CONTROL
- On
- Off
- Leave as Off if you want to control ISO |
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ISO - MAXIMUM SENSITIVITY
- 400
- 800
- 1600
- 3200
- Hi 1 |
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ISO - MINIMUM SHUTTER SPEED 1 of 4
- 1/2000 s
- 1/1600 s
- 1/1250 s
- 1/1000 s
- 1/800 s
- 1/640 s
- 1/500 s |
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ISO - MINIMUM SHUTTER SPEED 2 of 4
- 1/400 s
- 1/320 s
- 1/250 s
- 1/200 s
- 1/160 s
- 1/125 s
- 1/100 s |
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ISO - MINIMUM SHUTTER SPEED 3 of 4
- 1/80 s
- 1/60 s
- 1/50 s
- 1/40 s
- 1/30 s
- 1/15 s
- 1/8 s |
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ISO - MINIMUM SHUTTER SPEED 4 of 4
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ACTIVE D-LIGHTING
- Auto
- H* Extra high
- H High
_ N Normal
- L Low
- Off |
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COLOR SPACE
- sRGB
- Adobe RGB |
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HIGH ISO NR
- High
- Normal
- Low
- Off |
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ACTIVE FOLDER
- Select folder
- New
- Rename |
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MULTIPLE EXPOSURE 1 of 2
- Done
- Number of shots
- Auto gain |
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MULTIPLE EXPOSURE 2 of 2
- Number of shots |
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MOVIE SETTINGS
- Quality
- Sound |
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MOVIE SETTINGS - QUALITY
- 1280x720 (16:9)
- 640x424 (3:2)
- 320x216 (3:2) |
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CUSTOM SETTING MENU 1 of 7
- Reset custom settings
- a Autofocus
- b Metering/exposure
- c Timers/AE lock
- d Shooting/display
- e Bracketing/flash
- f Controls |
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CUSTOM SETTING MENU 2 of 7
- a1 AF-area mode
- a2 Center focus point
- a3 Built-in AF-assist illuminator
- a4 AF point illumination
- a5 Focus point illumination
- a6 AE-L/AF-L for MB-D80
- a7 Live view autofocus
- b1 EV steps for exposure control |
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CUSTOM SETTING MENU 3 of 7
- b2 Easy exposure compensation
- b3 Center-weighted area
- b4 Fine tune optimal exposure
- c1 Shutter-release button AE-L
- c2 Auto meter-off delay
- c3 Self-timer
- c4 Monitor off delay
- c5 Remote on duration |
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CUSTOM SETTING MENU 4 of 7
- d1 Beep
- d2 Viewfinder grid display
- d3 ISO display and adjustment
- d4 Viewfinder warning display
- d5 Screen tips
- d6 CL mode shootin speed
- d7 File number sequence
- d8 Shooting info display |
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CUSTOM SETTING MENU 5 of 7
- d9 LCD illumination
- d10 Exposure delay mode
- d11 Flash warning
- d12 MB-D80 battery type
- e1 Flash shutter speed
- e2 Self-timer
- e3 Modeling flash
- e4 Auto bracketing set |
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CUSTOM SETTING MENU 6 of 7
- e5 Auto FP
- e6 Bracketing order
- f1 Backlight switch
- f2 OK button (shooting mode)
- f3 Assign FUNC button
- f4 Assign AE-L/AF-L button
- f5 Customize command dials
- f6 No memory card? |
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CUSTOM SETTING MENU 7 of 7
- f7 Reverse indicators |
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d3 ISO DISPLAY AND ADJUSTMENT
- Show ISO sensitivity
- Show ISO/Easy ISO
- Show frame count |
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d6 CL MODE SHOOTING SPEED
- 4 fps
- 3 fps
- 2 fps
- 1 fps |
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d7 FILE NUMBER SEQUENCE
- On
- Off
- Reset |
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d8 SHOOTING INFO DISPLAY
- Auto
- Manual |
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d12 MB-D80 BATTERY TYPE
- LR6 (AA Alkaline)
- HR6 (AA Ni-MH)
- FR6 (AA lithium)
- ZR6 (AA Ni-Mn) |
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e1 FLASH SHUTTER SPEED 1 of 2
- 1/60 s
- 1/30 s
- 1/15 s
- 1/8 s
- 1/4 s
- 1/2 s
- 1 s
- 2 s |
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e1 FLASH SHUTTER SPEED 2 of 2
- 4 s
- 8 s
- 15 s
- 30 s |
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e2 FLASH CONTROL FOR BUILT-IN FLASH
- TTL
- Manual
- Repeating flash
- Commander mode |
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e4 AUTO BRACKETING SET
- AE & flash
- AE only
- Flash only
- WB bracketing
- ADL bracketing |
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e6 BRACKETING ORDER
- MTR > under > over
- Under > MTR > over |
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f1 BACKLIGHT SWITCH
- LCD backlight
- Both |
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f2 OK BUTTON (SHOOTING MODE)
- Select center focus point
- Highlight active focus point
- Not used |
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f3 ASSIGN FUNCTION BUTTON 1 of 2
- Framing grid
- AF-area mode
- Center focus point
- FV lock
- Flash off
- Matrix metering
- Center-weighted metering
- Spot metering |
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f3 ASSIGN FUNCTION BUTTON 2 of 2
- Access top item in MY MENU
- + NEF (RAW) |
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f4 ASSIGN AE-L/AF-L BUTTON
- AE/AF lock
- AE lock only
- AF lock only
- AE lock (hold)
- AF-ON
- FV lock |
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f5 CUSTOMIZE COMMAND DIALS
- Reverse rotation
- Change main/sub
- Menus and playback |
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f6 NO MEMORY CARD?
- Release locked
- Enable release |
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f7 REVERSE INDICATORS
- +EV 0EV -EV
- -EV 0EV +EV |
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SETUP MENU 1 of 2
- Format memory card
- LCD brightness
- Clean image sensor
- Lock mirror up for cleaning
- Video mode
- HDMI
- World time
- Language |
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SETUP MENU 2 of 2
- Image comment
- Auto image rotation
- Image Dust Off reference photo
- Battery info
- GPS
- Firmware version |
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LCD BRIGHTNESS
- -3 to +3 |
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CLEAN IMAGE SENSOR
- Clean now
- Clean at startup/shutdown |
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LOCK MIRROR UP FOR CLEANING 1 of 2
- Start |
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LOCK MIRROR UP FOR CLEANING 2 of 2
- When sutter button is pressed, the mirror lifts and shutter opens. To lower mirror, turn camera off. |
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VIDEO MODE
- NTSC
- PAL |
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HDMI
- Auto
- 480p (progressive)
- 576p (progressive)
- 720p (progressive)
- 1080i (interlaced) |
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WORLD TIME
- Time zone
- Date and time
- Date format
- Daylight saving time |
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TIME ZONE
|
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DATE AND TIME
|
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DATE FORMAT
- Y/M/D
- M/D/Y
- D/M/Y |
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LANGUAGE 1 of 3
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LANGUAGE 2 of 3
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LANGUAGE 3 of 3
|
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IMAGE DUST OFF REFERENCE PHOTO
- Start
- Clean sensor and then start |
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BATTERY INFO
- Battery meter
- Picture meter
- Battery age |
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GPS
- Auto meter off
- Position |
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FIRMWARE VERSION
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PLAYBACK MENU 1 of 2
- Delete
- Playback folder
- Hide image
- Display mode
- Image review
- Rotate all
- Pictmotion
- Slide show |
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PLAYBACK MENU 2 of 2
- Print set (DPOF) |
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DELETE
- Selected
- Select date
- All |
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DETAILED PHOTO INFO
- Done
- Highlights
- RGB histogram
- Data |
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DISPLAY MODE - HELP SCREEN EXAMPLE 1 of 2
|
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DISPLAY MODE - HELP SCREEN EXAMPLE 2 of 2
|
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PICTMOTION
- Start
- Select pictures
- Background music
- Effects |
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SLIDE SHOW
- Start
- Frame interval |
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RETOUCH MENU 1 of 2
- D-Lighting
- Red-eye correction
- Trim
- Monochrome
- Filter effects
- Color balance
- Small picture
- Image overlay |
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RETOUCH MENU 2 of 2
- NEF (RAW) processing
- Quick retouch
- Straighten
- Distortion control
- Fisheye |
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D-LIGHTING
|
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FILTER EFFECTS
- Skylight
- Warm filter
- Red intensifier
- Green intensifier
- Blue intensifier
- Cross screen |
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COLOR BALANCE
|
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SMALL PICTURE
- Select image
- Choose size |
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SMALL PICTURE - CHOOSE SIZE
- 640x480
- 320x240
- 160x120 |
The Nikon D90 is definitely the camera
you want to "move up" to if you are
using a family DSLR with some "missing"
features. I really like the exceptional ergonomics
of the Nikon D90 as well as the extensive features provided. A thorough read of
the D90 User Manual is necessary
to make the most of all the features on this versatile camera.
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