The Nikon D90

Since getting a D40 back in March a lot has happened. I have really grown to love photography and look forward to every trip and hike as an excuse to take more pictures. I have gobbled up several books on the subject and have since invested in a new lens and flash. I seldom go anywhere now without a camera.

I realized within a month of getting the D40 that I was going to out grow it fast. It’s a great camera that takes amazing exposures and easily recommend it over point and shoot cameras that cost more – but there are several limitations that I won’t cover here. Since I was happy with Nikon in general I knew I would want to stay with their line of cameras. So my options were to upgrade to the D80 or splurge on a D300. The D80 has long been at the end of its product cycle – so while I could get it affordably I knew it wouldn’t be the upgrade that I really wanted. The D300 is considered one of the best cameras to come out in the past year and is without a doubt my ideal upgrade. But the cost was prohibitive. I enjoy photography but I am not willing to spend upwards of $2k on a camera at this point.

Enter the D90.

The D90 has had an interesting journey. Those who follow DSLRs have known that Nikon was certainly working on this camera. The D80 – while be very popular – was looking long in the tooth compared to recent offerings by Canon. Most notably the lack of LiveView and an old image sensor. This lead people to theorize what would make a worthy successor. The dream was a D80 combined with the award winning features of the D300. Nikon managed to deliver on that dream and more.

The D90 inherits the D300 image sensor. Meaning it’s megapixel count has been bumped to 12 and it’s sensitivity has increased dramatically over the D80 (from 3200 to 6400). It’s LCD has been increased to 3 inches and has gained Live View. In what many consider the biggest surprise the D90 is the first DSLR to include video recording. Though this is probably the feature that I am the least excited about.

A full feature comparison and “preview” can be found here. Chase Jarvis did a fun post and video on the camera. You can find it here.

I had planned on waiting until October or November for the body only release of the D90 – but the combination of an upcoming vacation and a friend’s wedding had made me want to upgrade sooner. I had been saving up in anticipation of the upgrade for a while so I was ready to purchase it whenever it was available. On Monday I found out the local Best Buy had a one and reserved it but I still wasn’t certain as to whether I should make the purchase as I am hesitant about making any big purchase. I shopped around at the local camera stores and no one else had it in stock and luckily for me Best Buy offered no interest financing for 2 years. That sealed the deal for me – happy belated birthday to myself. I may very well be one of the first people in Eugene with a D90.

So how is it?

Its everything I hoped for and more. It is a gigantic upgrade over my D40 while providing all the important features that I needed from the D300. There are some things that I will probably miss (weather proofing, lens focus tuning) but I can live without those for now. Shooting without a flash at PAX on a D40 revealed a lot more noise than I would have liked. In comparison the D90 is able to take great looking pictures at 3200 where the D40 was barely able to get by at 1600. Also I am able to use auto-focus on primes like my 50mm 1.8.

One of the major features I wanted from a D80 was the flash commander mode. This allows you to use flashes off camera and control them from the camera. I plan to get into Strobist like photography in the future.

I plan on selling the kit lens that came with it. While it is apparently a good lens and well reviewed – I don’t need it. I bought a Tamron 17-50 2.8 lens a few months back and have since not had a reason to use any of my other lenses. So if anyone wants a 18-105 VR lens before it is sold in stores, I am willing to part with it unused and with the warranty for $300.

Additionally my D40 is now for sale. I am willing to part with it and the original kit lens for $300. That includes a spare battery. For $150 more I will throw in my 55-200 VR kit lens. The D40 kit still sells for new at $460 at most stores – you can get it used with the 55-200 VR for less than that from me. My flickr account is filled with pictures that I took with this camera.