If you want to shoot video with your D90 it is a little quirky (so is the $2800 Canon 5DII) as you have to set focus before you shoot. Once you start recording you can no longer use auto focus. With that said, the video these new DSLR’s can provide is pretty amazing. This is mainly due to the sensor size in the DSLR camera. A video camera has a TINY sensor and they are prone to noise. They usually look flat, like VIDEO. A DSLR can shoot video with shallow depth of field to give you that hollywood movie quality. Like FILM. It’s all in the lenses though.

Shoot with a 50 1.4 or 85 1.4 and you can get some video that will rival that of big dollar camcorders.

I already touched upon the high ISO performance of the D90. I thought it was pretty amazing that I was able to shoot that concert with the camera being set to ISO 2500 or 3200 with minimal noise in my images. Today, we can worry less and less about HIGH ISO noise (Nikon and Canon DSLRs at least). They are truly stepping up the game with each release.

At ISO 200-800 you really do not see any noise. From 1000-2500 you get some noise and at 3200+ you get higher noise, but even at 6400 you can get usable shots. Even in dim lighting. Here are some quick crops.

As you can see, the high ISO performance of the Nikon D90 is great.

I believe in the next few years we will see the mega-pixel war stop. I mean, we have now hit the 21-25 MP arena and I think that is PLENTY for just about anyones use. For example, Nikon will soon release a D700X which will be 21-25 MP. I doubt a year from now we will see a D800X at 40MP. What needs to be worked on and perfected now is high ISO noise, color and the quality of the files. I would be happy with 10-15MP, clean ISO up to 6400 and high dynamic range. From the looks of it, we are close to that already.

The Dynamic Range of the D90 seems excellent to me. I have not noticed ANY blown highlights in any of the shots I took with it. No worse than the Canon 5DII or Leica M8 I have tested.  To me, the Dynamic Range is nothing to worry about with any of the newer DSLRs except a few from Olympus, and I will have more on that later.

As I mentioned earlier in this write up, this D90 was purchased for my Son as he had always wanted one. After I was done with it, I let him know the camera was for him. After a brief moment of screaming and jumping up and down, he calmed down, took the camera and shot with it. He loves this D90, and I feel it would make a perfect DSLR for those who are looking to get more pro quality images.

NIKON D90 - ISO 2500 - 18-105VR AT 18MM

HOW ABOUT A FULL SIZE SHOT?

Usually in these camera reviews I post either a 100% crop or a link to a full size image that you would get out of the camera. Here is a shot I took with the D90 at 25mm and F5.6. Click the image to download the FULL SIZE original.

As you can see, at F5.6 that 18-105 lens is pretty sharp. For me, the only limitation of this lens is its speed, and the character is different from my Leica glass. But keeping it real and as I have stated before, most people (98%) will see this shot and say “oh a dull picture of a hospital”. They could care less about what took it or the “character” of the lens.

Bottom line is that the D90 and 18-105VR can take some crisp, sharp, and colorful images.

One of the limitations of the kit lens is shooting shallow depth of field images. For example, if you want to shoot a portrait and want to get that creamy out of focus background, you can get it a little shooting at 105 at 5.6, BUT to really get a magical portrait slap a Nikon 85 1.4 on the D90 and be amazed.

OK, SO HOW EASY IS THIS CAMERA TO USE

The Nikon D90 is just as easy to pick up and shoot as a D40. It has more features and is more complex, BUT if you are someone who is not into all of these features then you can easily disregard them and just shoot. The camera feels great in the hand and you can set it to AUTO, or A mode for the easiest results. Aim, point, shoot. That is what a DSLR is about. You can do auto anything.

The AF is super fast and can also be set to center point only, which is how I shoot 100% of the time.

Press the info button and the LCD turns into a beautiful, large screen full of all of the settings you have dialed in. This is for those who want a quick glance at your camera settings. Remember, this camera was purchased to be my sons camera. He is 13 and he had no problems using the D90 and getting some cool shots.

If you are a DSLR newbie and want professional quality pictures but are not sure if the D90 is something you could use, I say GO FOR IT. You will be amazed at your results if you are coming from a small point and shoot camera.

SHOOTING VIDEO, HIGH ISO SAMPLES & CONCLUSION

More and more DSLR’s these days are including the capability to shoot HI-Def video and the D90 is no exception. It can shoot 720p and it can be played back on your Hi Def TV or you can bring it to your computer for editing. Below is a quick sample clip I shot with the D90 and the kit lens. I imported it into Imovie and exported it to youtube. Easy.

You really can not judge the quality of the video by this clip as this youtube video is NOT in Hi-Def, but it can indeed show you that the D90 can shoot video! I did have about 18 minutes of video shot with the D90 but my SD card got corrupted and I could not get the data off of it. All I had on another card was this. I know it’s not much but figured it was better than nothing.

Anyone shooting with a small little point and shoot would benefit greatly from a DSLR upgrade. The D90 with 18-105VR lens would make a GREAT starter set. The ability to buy some great Nikon lenses later only adds to it. I would suggest the kit and the new Nikon 50 1.4 so you can get low light portraits with that smooth, creamy out of focus background.

The only niggles I had with the D90 were personal issues. I prefer the D300/D700 body which is more solid, and more ergonomic IMO. I also was not a fan of the slow kit lens though it did provide GREAT results, so really, I should not complain.

The best part is you can get this D90 KIT at B&H for much less than you would pay at say, Best Buy. For $1149 you can get an awesome Nikon DSLR and lens that rivaled my $8,000 Leica set up when shooting a concert. Pretty sweet!

When I shop online, I buy all of my camera gear from B&H or AMAZON. Click here to go directly to the B&H D90 KIT PAGE!