Nikon D90 - Page 1 of 2

One of the most common things people ask when buying a new digital camera is "will it do movie mode?" We seem to be hung up on this whole idea of making movies out of anything. Perhaps it's all about bang for buck or perhaps it's just an inherent desire to be in front of a video camera. Whatever it is, that question still pops up.

It pops up most when salespeople are asked about those professional-looking cameras that have lenses attached to them, single-lens reflex cameras. Previously, the answer has been "no" or at least a humbled "no" followed by a quick explanation of why.

All of that is about to change.

The Nikon D90 is the first of a new breed of digital single-lens reflex cameras. Previous SLRs were only capable of taking stills but the D90 is the first of its kind to actually record in video. But rather than just include a basic 640x480 video resolution like most would expect in an idea seen as a gimmick by most photographers, the video Nikon chose to include hits the almost full HD resolution of 720p. At 1280x720 pixels, it's true you're not getting 1080p's 1920x1080 pixel resolution, but it's still bloody impressive considering what you get.

Modeled around the lighter gauge bodies like the D50 and D80 that came before it, the D90 is more of an amateur to semi-pro camera. With a weight of 703 grams and an overall body size that looks about just right, the D90 feels solid in your hands. Regardless if you have big or small hands, you'll feel comfortable holding the D90. Nikon have continued with the same ergonomics they've been running with since the introduction of the D70 and its Italdesign red triangle.

If you've ever owned a Nikon digital SLR, a few things have changed from the research that has come with the D300 and D700 professional bodies. On the one hand, the D90 keeps the top-down design that was made popular in its other smaller semi-pro bodies with an easy to use rotating wheel for selecting the type of mode you want to be in (sports, automatic, manual, etc.) but on the other the back of the body has changed significantly. The D90 now has the swanky 3 inch 920,000 pixel screen that proved popular on Nikon models released last year as well as a simplified control scheme that needs on a few button presses to run through different options.

As an upgrade on the D80, the D90 fares well. A new 12.3 megapixel CMOS sensor developed by Nikon instead of the usually-used Sony sensors easily bests the older 10.2 megapixel CCD used in the D80. Further, the 12.3 megapixel sensor found in the D90 feels in some ways slightly better than the one in the D300. While you don't get the 14-bit modes, it somehow feels that you're not getting any less of a camera short of weight, size, and full blown weather-proofing.

It also works well on the ability for upgrading it with the D90 being able to take a GPS unit as well as the battery grip from the past D80 model. Get started looking on eBay people, there are deals to be had!

Not hampering you in any way, the D90 will let you shoot in ISO 100-6400 making it able to take pictures in very low light without the flash, something many people with little compact digital cameras often yearn for. Dust cleaning now comes standard with all of Nikon's digital SLR cameras as does a whole array of new cool things you can use like in-camera retouching on RAW files, distortion control, black & white mode, facial recognition, vignetting control, and even a calendar display which is something I didn't expect to see on a digital SLR anytime soon.

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