You've seen it
get official, you've seen it
in the wild, and you've seen it
sneakily unboxed -- isn't it time you saw a few reviews, too? We've scoured the intarwebz for the freshest looks at this here DSLR, and generally speaking, those lucky enough to secure a review unit have been overwhelmingly pleased. As a mid-range shooter, it was decidedly difficult to find any real knocks. Sure, a heap of noise was seen at 6,400 ISO (but barely any was noticed from 200 to 3,200) and the kit lens wasn't all that, but the excellent low-light shooting and the "superb" image quality was enough to keep critics smiling. One thing that should be noted, however, is the so-so 720p movie mode. It's not that the quality was bad, but
Popular Mechanics reported that the "extended exposure to light needed to record video caused the D90's CMOS sensor to heat up dramatically," which limits HD captures to a maximum of five minutes. In other words, don't ditch your pocket HD cam for this, but if you're scouting a new DSLR and wouldn't mind a 720p movie mode on the side, need you really look any further?
Read - Popular Mechanics (" The D90 is first and foremost a still camera. And in this regard, it excelled.")
Read - ThinkCamera ("The D90 is a trophy of a middleweight camera.")
Read - DCBBS Chinese ("Photography enthusiasts now have a new choice.")
Read - CNET's video review ("Very, very nice sub-$1,000 DSLR")
posted September 15th 2008 8:24AM
Very nice. Too bad I already have an assortment of Canon lenses.
I am sorry but 5 minutes of 'HD' video without any autofocus sounds like just a useless marketing gimmick. And I'm not saying this because I'm a Canon guy.
Cant wait for a Dpreview comparison of this with the 50D.
I agree, slr's should not be movie cameras.
The 50D should have a great review. I'm also pumped about the new 5d mkII!!
please don't tell me your one of the camera "traditionalist". sure its not going to replace a dedicated HD camcorder but its the very first execution of video in any dslr and I'm positive that all semipro/consumer dslrs in the next 5 years will have it just like live view. i would suggest checking out the D90 channel on vimeo for some pretty good examples of what this gimmick can do.
Why would manual focus movies be useless? It sounds awesome to me, especially with a shallow DOF lens.
Thanks for the heads up on Vimeo, I've never been there and the videos of the D90 are fantastic! I really liked "Flowers by D90."
The use of the manual focus in the video is kind of neat. While I wish there was a little more auto-focus, the manual focus adds a little more....emotion? I don't know how to put it, but when its done right it looks really good.
They could do it - and they did it. After all - why not?
It's not that extra new functionality ruined something (a-la M$ traditions).
I played with one on Saturday. Something I don't like about the video is that you have to hold down a button the whole time if you want to lock the exposure.
Sub $1000 D90??? WHERE????!!!!!
That's the price without the lens.. it becomes something like $1300+ VAT with the lens..
That's body only. The kit is $1299.
The only way you can get this sub 1K is if you buy the body alone.
http://www.jr.com/nikon/pe/NKN_D90/
With the lens, the price inches up a bit.
http://www.jr.com/nikon/pe/NKN_D90_SL_KIT/
I guess that breaks my heart then...I'm just jumping into the DSLR world and I have no lenses. I guess I have to start with the 18-105 VR lens kit then at $1449.99 in Canada...urgh.
I'm in Canada too--I've seen the body alone for $1120 at henrys.com and vistek.ca;
Henrys has a couple of lens options too--with a 18-55 VR lens included for $1279.99 (probably the lens that came in the D60 kit)
I did the calculations though, and you wouldn't save too much buying from the US with the CDN dollar as low as it is now.
"Sub $1000 D90??? WHERE????!!!!!"
Body only is $999 availability is unknown but presumably before the end of the year.
Thanks for the review roundup! I've been considering picking up a DSLR instead of a camcorder, as I enjoy the stills more than video.
I'm curious though; a lot of people have said the lens that comes with the D90 isn't very good. So if you were to just buy the body, what would be a better alternative for around $300-$500?
I'm in this camp too--I find more opportunities for stills than video, but every once in a while I wish I had a video camera on me. Most of the time 5 minutes is enough to capture what I want. At the same time, I can't stand crap video quality, so don't want to go the P&S route to do both.
Would also like to hear recos on alternate lenses. Thanks!
5 Minutes of video is a long time to be holding a camera in place on the same shot. I have a standard cheapo ($400) flash canon camcorder that I took on vacation recently. I found I took a LOT of stills, and the video I shot was just crap. Color was washed out, video was grainy etc. I wish I had a better still camera in lieu of the video camera.
Check out the D90 video at vimeo.com titled "Flowers by D90." It shows what several brief video shots can really do.
This is new lens - I can't find any reviews of it.
http://www.dpreview.com/news/0808/08082701nikkor_18-105lens.asp - announced August 27th.
I'd rather wait for some hands-on/short review of the kit and check the taken photos. Bad/average lens is quite easy to spot.
And if kit is cheaper than buying lens separately - and kit lens is good - why not go for the kit?
P.S. Kit lenses improved considerably in last couple of years. And I think it was Canon who tried hard and long to establish that "kit lens is crap" cliche since they have major lens.
Very true--and another way to think of it is 'how often to people want to *watch* the same shot for more than five minutes!'
I've also been following the D90 channels on vimeo too, and that's definitely one of the most interesting and best done examples.
I think there's a definite market for this feature, even with all its limitations.
I might wait until after Photokina before I try and hock all my Pentax gear to get one of these!
Hey, guys, you shouldn´t say "intarwebz", it´s very Gizmodo-ish. Ryan would never have approved it...
Best regards,
Sad and sentimental (plus maybe a bit old-fashioned) reader
While I agree that the d90 video mode is not for everyone it can make amazing videos. Check out this one and some others on this site: http://vimeo.com/1709082
But, like many of the reviews have said, the camera still excels at still photos and the worst case for those who hate video is they never have to turn it on!
As someone on the sidelines who is about the get into the game I will say that Nikon is currently winning the DSLR battle by leaps and bounds.
I understand that this is the step in the right direction and the technology in the long term will be great. But in it's current form it's not much of a help.
Yes, u can get great dof and great quality but wat are u gonna do with just 5 mins?
Why are people bitching about only having 5min video clips?
A 5min clip of a single shot can be PAINFULLY long, sure it won't shoot Little Johnny's Christmas concert but that is what you use a camcorder for.
This is a nice added feature but not the primary feature of the camera
I currently have a Canon G7 and looking to get a DSLR - I have been eyeing up the XSi but the video feature may be enough to move me to Nikon - my holdback is that I have a Canon Speedlite which would have to be replaced (no biggie) - I am 'lucky' I don't have a lot of Canon glass that has locked me in to Canon.
I am looking to buy very soon but will wait for Photokina to see what Canon has - they HAVE to have a camera that will compete with this or their marketing department would have dropped the ball big time, an "equivalent" Canon without this video feature would be enough to sway many people to Nikon...and once you have an investment in Nikon glass you won't be going to Canon.
I ordered the kit yesterday and as well as a this extra lens http://www.jr.com/nikon/pe/NKN_70_hy_300/
Its my first DSLR so after reading lots of articles and considering my budget I decided on it.
I have a d50 currently with the kit lens (Nikon DX 18-55 ED). I want the new d90 really bad. I'm tempted to buy it body only and just stick to my kit lens from the d50 for now, but I haven't read if the new kit lens is worth it or not yet.
I think the video feature is cool. Its not the sole reason I want the d90, but its definitely part of it. I'm more after the myriad improvements over the d50. But yeah, me want the d90 very badly.
I received my D90 (from Amazon) 3 days ago. It is a great camera. I used to use a Nikon N60 (with a 28-200 lens) that I bought in 1999. This feels far more solid, responsive, and takes great pictures.
I'm amazed at how quickly the flash recharges - I can take a shot a second with no problem at all (not auto-mode).
The VR lens takes "OK" pictures at 1/8 second - it amazed me. To say that the flash & camera combination is "powerful" is an understatement. I took a picture of my pitch-black (light-proof curtains) movie theater, and it lit the whole thing up with just the internal flash from 17' from the screen.
Tripod picture in daytime (I have not unloaded the theater pic from my D90 yet) with a different camera:
http://goglen.com/post/theater/theater-screen.jpg
5 min is more than enough time for anything. You think movies are just filmed all the way through? NO. They "CUT!"
More than 5 minutes just sets you up to fail. Did you know that the average tv or movie show switches camera angle every 2-3sec? Anyways...
The important questions are: Does it come with good video editing software? and Can you get full resolution pictures from the video?
Also skip the kit lens. Its only a 3.5-5.6! Lame for good DOF.
Go body only for $999.99 and get the 50mm f/1.8 for like $100. its an amazing lens for pictures. Its going to be uber cool for video. Also if your new to photography, or video for that matter the 50mm= 75mm on the DX frame crop. its a great lens for portraits and learning to frame things well.
Also to the canon guy above with the canon flash. you don't have to switch to a nikon flash. just trigger it off camera. Check out the strobist website.
The D90 is an amazing camera. Excellent image quality. I own several bodies from D50 to D300 and soon to pick up D700 but having second thoughts if i should get the Canon 5D MK11 for the pixel count and the movie feature which is going to be better. I believe the movie capabilities of this new generation of cameras will open up many creative possibilities that i am launching a new site for dslr users to post their movies ( http://www.digitalslrfilms.com/ ) Site launching soon!
I played with the movie feature on the D90 and what i got is very useful... Yes it is not your video camcorder, but a little creativity using the movie feature can add some value to anyone's creative intent. The possibilities are endless...
I have used a D70 for many years - excellent camera. I never missed the video or the next next gimmick - the phone in the camera. I am sure the D90 is excellent as a camera - but as a video machine - that's a bit of a let down. Will the next one come with an MP3 player?