Nikon D90 DX 12.3MP Digital SLR Camera with 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6G ED AF-S VR DX Nikkor Zoom Lens: Customer Reviews & Product Details

I'm not a pro, but just someone who loves photography.

I was looking to reenter the world of photography after a 20+ year absence, last shooting with a 35mm. After reading all the "professional" reviews and the consumer reviews, I was starting to drive myself crazy! Canon? Nikon? High end? Low end? It got to the point where I realized I over-researched and my poor brain was fried. So I just decided to pull the trigger on the D90.

Now, to be honest I had to return the first one because the flash broke almost immediately (it wouldn't stay closed) and I was getting the infamous lens error message. So I started to second guess my decision. I returned it to Amazon (which took forever, probably because it was over the holidays) and I didn't have my camera for Christmas, which was disappointing. But Amazon eventually got their act together and sent me a brand new camera after I returned the first one. And guess what? I got the lens error message during my first shoot! Amazingly frustrating to say the least. But I reset the camera and haven't had an issue since.

I've shot around 2000 photos at this point and am thrilled to death with this camera. I love the quality of the photos and I love the amazing amount of options and control that you have. I have a MAC, so I do my post production in Aperture and am having a blast! Despite the initial problems, I truly couldn't be happier and hope to have this camera for a very long time.

My honest suggestion is pull the trigger, buy the camera, and go out and start shooting as you learn about all its features. You won't regret it. It's a joy to have and own, and everyday I just want to go out and shoot more and more pictures! So much fun!

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.

The camera died in just two months with "CHR" error message. I mailed it to Nikon service (B1/ card reader )and they were waiting for a "part". I called the customer service as we were going on a cruise vacation in 1 week. The customer service rep (Norman) was very helpful and since they could not get the part in time, they replaced the camera and sent it by UPS next day air. We are going on our vacation tomorrow with my D90!
The picture quality is excellent. I hope this one has a better reliability.

Coming from top of the line u4/3 camera I must say that overall I am happy with my choice of D90. It does not come to replace my existing compact (Panasonic LX3) and u43 camera (Panasonic GH1) but rather to add/complete the capabilities those cameras are lacking.

This is just an initial impression after a few weeks of advanced amature use. D90 - even with the kit lens - provides significantly better low light capabilities, flash photography (even with the simple SB-400 it wipes the floor with GH1/FL36 combo), kids (camera is much more responsive) and sports (same reason). Going beyond the kit lens, Nikon today has a very decent line of DX prosumer lenses which are usually cheaper compared to similar lens in u43 world. I can highly recommend 35mm/1.8 prime (200$) and 70-300 VR telephoto.

Ergonomically D90 is better compared to GH1, with more controls available through dedicated buttons on the camera body. The controls lay out works well for me too.

Build quality of D90 body is reasonable. My only complaint so far is related to the fact that D90 has already developed a bright red hot pixel visible at ISO 400 and above. Kit lens build and feel is indeed cheapo (many reviewes mention this) but image quality is surprisingly good for a consumer lens, and taking its price into consideration the price/performance ratio is great.

D90 video capability is a joke compared to GH1. Focusing speed in live view (CDAF) is slower than 50$ compact.

At the end of the day, pretty much in line with what I expected, D90 excells in specialized usages I mentioned above, but GH1 will continue to serve as general purpose/travel kit thanks to it portability, articulated display, video capabilities and reasonable stills quality.

I have been wanting this camera for several months, and I was finally given one for Christmas by my parents. I have to say that I have truly enjoyed this camera. It is easy to use, and the image quality is amazing. The only downside would be the video, but I don't use that feature very often, so not a big deal in my opinion.