Techno Talk

The Nikon D90 camera is an amazing product which provides major improvements when compared to its predecessors. The body is strong and balanced although it is a little heavier compared to other similar models. The Nikon D90 has an image sensor cleaning built in, part of its dust reduction system. You have the option to buy the body-only kit if you already have your lens or you may also buy D90 with its 18-105 kit lens. You will hear recommendations to use prime lens but Nikon D90 review by photo enthusiasts find the 18-105 kit lens rather sharp and good being able to produce clear image quality.

What takes Nikon D90 camera above the competition is that it is the first D-SLR with an HD movie in Motion JPEG format. This feature is best for general use because it lacks autofocus when filming so you will have to shift to manual focusing while filming. However many are still able to generate note worthy, cinematic creations using this feature.

Live view button is easy to use with Face Priority which enables the camera to automatically select focus point when using this mode. Nikon D90 camera has a continuous shooting option at 4.5 frames per second needed for crucial seconds. Serious photographers find this very helpful in addition to giving them precise shots.

Other important highlights of this Nikon D90 review is to feature Active D-Lighting available in Auto, Extra high, High, Normal, Low or off. This helps in maintaining shadow details for a good image quality result. D90 has countless customization and shooting settings that is worth its cost. Furthermore, it has no problem with noise even with high ISO settings with its low noise ISO sensitivity from 200 – 3200.

Technical Specifications:

Type

Single-lens reflex digital camera

Lens mount

Nikon F mount (with AD coupling and AF contacts)

Effective picture angle

Approx. 1.5x lens focal length (Nikon DX format)

Effective pixels

12.3 million

Image sensor

23.6 x 15.8 mm CMOS sensor

Total pixels

12.9 million

Dust-reduction system

Image Sensor Cleaning, Image Dust Off reference data (optional Capture NX2 required)

Storage

Image size (pixels)

4,288 x 2,848 [L], 3,216 x 2,136 [M], 2,144 x 1,424 [S]

File format

NEF (RAW)

JPEG: JPEG-Baseline compliant with fine (approx.

NEF (RAW) + JPEG: Single photograph recorded in both NEF (RAW) and JPEG formats

Picture Control System

Can be selected from Standard, Neutral, Vivid, Monochrome, Portrait, Landscape; storage for up to nine custom Picture Controls

Media

SD memory cards, SDHC compliant

File system

DCF (Design Rule for Camera File System) 2.0, DPOF (Digital Print Order Format), Exif 2.21

(Exchangeable Image File Format for Digital Still Cameras), PictBridge

Viewfinder

Eye-level pentaprism single-lens reflex viewfinder

Frame coverage

Approx. 96% horizontal and 96% vertical

Magnification

Approx. 0.94 x (50mm f/1.4 lens at infinity; -1.0 m-1)

Eyepoint

19.5 mm (-1.0 m-1)

Diopter adjustment

-2 to +1 m-1

Focusing screen

Type B BriteView Clear Matte screen Mark II with focus frame (framing grid can be

displayed)

Reflex mirror

Quick-return type

Depth-of-field preview

When depth-of-field preview button is pressed, lens aperture is stopped down to value selected by user (A and M modes) or by camera (other modes)

Lens aperture

Instant return, electronically controlled

Shutter Type

Electronically controlled vertical-travel focal-plane shutter

Speed

1/4,000 to 30 s in steps of 1/3 or 1/2 EV, Bulb

Flash sync speed

X = 1/200 s; synchronizes with shutter at 1/200 s or slower

Exposure

Metering

TTL exposure metering using 420-pixel RGB sensor

Metering method

• Matrix: 3D color matrix metering II (type G and D lenses); color matrix metering II (other CPU lenses)

• Center-weighted: Weight of 75% given to 6-, 8- or 10-mm circle in center of frame

• Spot: Meters 3.5-mm circle (about 2% of frame) centered on selected focus point

Range (ISO 100 equivalent, f/1.4 lens, 68°F/20°C)

• Matrix or center-weighted metering: 0-20 EV

• Spot metering: 2-20 EV

Exposure meter coupling

CPU

Exposure modes

Auto modes (auto, auto [flash off]), Advanced Scene Modes (Portrait, Landscape, Sports, Close-up, Night Portrait), programmed auto with flexible program (P), shutter-priority auto (S), aperture-priority auto (A), manual (M)

Exposure compensation

±5 EV in increments of 1/3 or 1/2 EV

Exposure bracketing

2 or 3 frames in steps of 1/3, 1/2, 2/3, 1 or 2 EV

Exposure lock

Luminosity locked at detected value with AE-L/AF-L button

ISO sensitivity (Recommended Exposure Index)

ISO 200 to 3200 in steps of 1/3 EV, can also be set to approx. 0.3, 0.7 or 1 EV (ISO 100 equivalent) below ISO 200, or to approx. 0.3, 0.7 or 1 EV (ISO 6400 equivalent) over ISO 3200, ISO sensitivity auto control available

Active D-Lighting

Can be selected from Auto, Extra high, High, Normal, Low or off

Active D-Lighting bracketing

2 frames

Focus

Autofocus

Nikon Multi-CAM 1000 autofocus module with TTL phase detection, 11 focus points (including 1 cross-type sensor) and AF-assist illuminator (range approx. 1 ft. 8 in.-9 ft. 10 in./ 0.5-3 m)

Detection range

-1 to +19 EV (ISO 100 equivalent, 68°F/20°C)

Lens servo

• Autofocus: Single-servo AF (AF-S); continuous-servo AF (AF-C); predictive focus

tracking automatically activated according to subject status (AF-A)

• Manual (M): Electronic rangefinder supported

Focus point

Can be selected from 11 focus points

AF-area modes

Single-point AF, dynamic-area AF, auto-area AF, 3D-tracking (11 points) AF

Focus lock Focus can be locked by pressing shutter-release button halfway (Single-servo AF) or by pressing AE-L/AF-L button

Flash

Built-in flash

Auto, Portrait, Close-up, Night Portrait modes: Auto flash with auto pop-up P, S, A, M: Manual pop-up with button release

Guide number (ft./m) at 68°F/20°C

• At ISO 200: Approx. 56/17, 59/18 with manual flash

• At ISO 100 equivalent: Approx. 39/12, 43/13 with manual flash

Flash control

• TTL: i-TTL balanced fill-flash and standard i-TTL flash for digital SLR using 420-pixel

RGB sensor are available with built-in flash, SB-900, SB-800, SB-600 or SB-400

• Auto aperture: Available with SB-900, SB-800 and CPU lenses

• Non-TTL auto: Supported flash units include SB-900, SB-800, SB-28, SB-27 or SB-22s

• Range-priority manual: Available with SB-900 and SB-800

Flash modes

Front curtain sync, slow sync, rear-curtain sync, red-eye reduction, red-eye reduction with slow sync

Flash compensation

-3 to +1 EV in increments of 1/3 or 1/2 EV

Flash bracketing

2 or 3 frames in steps of 1/3, 1/2, 2/3, 1 or 2 EV

Flash-ready indicator

Lights when built-in flash or SB-900, SB-800, SB-600, SB-400, SB-80DX, SB-28DX or SB-50DX is fully charged; blinks for 3 s after flash is fired at full output in i-TTL or auto aperture modes

Accessory shoe

Standard ISO 518 hot-shoe contact with safety lock

Nikon Creative Lighting System (CLS)

Advanced Wireless Lighting supported with built-in flash, SB-900, SB-800 or SU-800 as commander and SB-900, SB-800, SB-600 or SB-R200 as remotes;

Auto FP High-Speed Sync and modeling illumination supported with all CLS-compatible flash units except SB-400; Flash Color Information Communication and FV lock supported with all CLS-compatible flash units

White balance

Auto (TTL white-balance with main image sensor and 420-pixel RGB sensor); 12 manual modes with fine-tuning; color temperature setting; preset manual white balance

White balance bracketing

2 or 3 frames in steps of 1, 2 or 3

Live View

AF modes

Face priority AF, wide area AF, normal area AF

Focus

Contrast-detect AF anywhere in frame (camera selects focus point automatically when face priority AF is selected)

Movie Image size (pixels)

1,280 x 720/24 fps, 640 x 424/24 fps, 320 x 216/24 fps

File format AVI

Compression format

Motion-JPEG, with monaural sound

Monitor

LCD monitor

3-in., approx. 920k-dot (VGA), low-temperature polysilicon TFT LCD with 170° viewing angle, approx. 100% frame coverage, and brightness adjustment

Playback function

Full-frame and thumbnail (4, 9 or 72 images or calendar) playback with playback zoom, movie playback, Pictmotion, slide show, histogram display, highlights, auto image rotation, and image comment (up to 36 characters)

Interface

USB

Hi-Speed USB

Audio video output

Can be selected from NTSC and PAL; simultaneous playback from both the audio video output and on the LCD monitor available

HDMI output

Type C HDMI connector; camera monitor turns off when HDMI cable is connected

Accessory terminal

• Remote Cord MC-DC2 (Optional)

• GPS Unit GP-1 (Optional)

Supported languages

Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish

Power source

Battery

One Rechargeable Li-ion Battery EN-EL3e

Battery pack

Multi-Power Battery Pack MB-D80 (optional) with one or two Rechargeable Li-ion Battery EN-EL3e, or six R6/AA-size alkaline, Ni-MH, lithium or nickel-manganese batteries (Battery Holder MS-D200 is required when using R6/AA-size batteries.)

AC adapter AC Adapter EH-5a (optional)

Tripod socket

1/4 in. (ISO 1222)

Dimensions/Weight

Dimensions (W x H x D) Approx. 5.2 x 4.1 x 3.0 in./132 x 103 x 77 mm

Weight Approx. 1 lb. 6 oz./620 g without battery, memory card, body cap or monitor cover

Operating environment

Temperature 32-104°F/0-40°C

Humidity Less than 85% (no condensation)

Accessories

Supplied accessories (may differ by country or area)

Rechargeable Li-ion Battery EN-EL3e, Quick Charger MH-18a, Eyepiece Cap DK-5, Rubber Eyecup DK-21, USB Cable UC-E4, Audio Video Cable EG-D2, Camera Strap AN-DC1, LCD Monitor Cover BM-10, Body Cap, Accessory Shoe Cover BS-1, Software Suite CD-ROM