The Nikon D90

[Jordy]

Morning all :)

I'm getting very close to having enough money for my first DSLR

I'm currently using a Cannon EOS 650 (film) and before this i was using my friends D80 which was stolen :( however i loved it.

Anyway, i was wondering if i could get some opinions on the D90.

I'm looking to stick with Nikon as so far i've had a positive experience with them and we already own a few nikon lens'

Cheers

Jordy

[Chucaro]

Hello Jordy, the D90 is much better camera than the D80 so you will be happy with it.
If you can strech your money a bit go for the D300s, IMO it is the best body in its class.
Have a look which deal you can get on DWI
Cheers

[dmdigital]

As Arthur has said D90 is the D80 replacement. The D7000 is actually a really good option too. As it is more current it actually outperforms the D300s in many ways but retains a lot of the D80/90 features. Unlike it's D90 predecessor it has a metal body and good weather sealing like the D300s.

If you can afford it I would go the D7000 over the D90 as the D90 is being phased out. Nikon is highly likely to announce a replacement for the D300s in August, so the price on the D300s will drop in the later part of the year if this happens.

[incisor]

if you intend to do action shots it appears there is lot to be said for the D300s over the D7000 according to a lot of reviews i have been seeing around the nikon forums.

a lot of the more experienced have relegated their d7000 to static shots and gone back to the D300(s) for the action stuff.

[greg-g]

The Nikon D90 is a very good camera but is being superseded by the D7000. This is a major incremental improvement with better high ISO performance.
The D5100 has the same sensor as the D7000, but doesn’t have an internal autofocus motor and hence won’t autofocus with the original screw drive AF lenses. The most recent of these are the D series lenses that are often available on Ebay.
I have a D90 that I’m very happy with, would like a D7000 for its better high ISO performance but can’t justify trading up.

[technophile]

may i suggest you have a look at the nikon D5100.

it is a very good entry level DSLR with many great features.

[300+]

Hi, as has been mentioned the D90 is being superceded. It is still a decent camera.

For my money I'd get a "thousand" model as they are a generation newer. So a 5100 is likely to take better pictures than a 90. However, the lack of internal motor may be an issue for you if you had old lenses.

The D7000 would be better still.

For more money again, the D300s will be in runout soon, so it may end up costing about the same as a D7000 (they are already very close).

The differences are the D7000 is better at high ISO and is a generation ahead. The D300s has a larger/faster buffer so will take more shots before bogging down. You can't really go wrong with either.

You just need to work out which compromises meet your usage & budget.

[Jordy]

Thanks for the feedback, i might go into the city tomorrow and play with the d7000 :)

i'll be taking photo's mostly of static objects and landscapes but might need(want) to take photos of my mates band and such.

Cheers

Jordy

[LSD_AUTOMOTIVE]

I have a D90, my brother in law has a D7000 - I'm pretty serious about my photography but couldn't justify the D7000 at the stage I'm currently at (amateur ;) ). The D90 does everything I need it to - I use it mainly for portraits and then for landscapes. It's fairly simple to navigate, the D7000 seems so much more elaborate when you pick it up after holding the 90! Though down the track the double SD card slot would be nice! The ISO capabilites are only going to matter if the conditions you shoot in want the extended range. I'd personally go the 7000 over the 5100
Not sure if it's even a factor but I'd just suggest steering clear of kit lenses unless you think you'll use them regularly, especially in the twin kits. You're probably better getting one good lense than two lesser lenses. I use my 50mm exclusively now because it suits how I shoot. Also, the D90 was being superceded when I bought my D90 last year...it's taking a fair while to disappear!

[300+]

Thanks for the feedback, i might go into the city tomorrow and play with the d7000 :)

i'll be taking photo's mostly of static objects and landscapes but might need(want) to take photos of my mates band and such.

Cheers

Jordy

Band photos is a special use case - low light (assuming they perform in pubs, etc.). I would look to the 7000, or the 5100 over the D90 as you will get better high ISO performance. Also consider a sigma 17-55 f2.8 over the kit lens.

Cheers, Steve

[dmdigital]

The high ISO abilities of these newer Nikons change a lot of things. For starters it becomes much easier to taken action shots as you can fix aperture and shutter speed and vary the ISO automatically. When I'm after fast moving birds or taking sports shots I'll do this.

As for complexity, don't be fooled by this, the D300s is a far more complex camera again and the D3s/x leaves that behind. However, the biggest thing is there is so much more is at you finger tips where as on a D90 you have to delve into the menu to change things. So in reality, when you learn to use the camera, a lot of the functionality is simpler to access and makes the higher end cameras a joy to use.

[Chucaro]

In my case, the more complex or options that have the camera the more that I like to use it in manual mode.
Only for landscaping 90% of the time I use my camera in aperture priority.

[dmdigital]

Couldn't agree more. Whilst I do like the camera I've found using a friend's D90 very frustrating after the D3s and D200.

I find I shoot manual more often but aperture would be the next most common. The D3s is so easy to change settings. I also make use of the 4 custom setting menus.

One of the things I'm pleased about with the X100 is that many changes to settings I need aren't buried in a sub-menu.