26 August 2008
Nikon Announces D90 - TWIP
Posted by
Scott under:
News
Nikon announced its new 12.3 megapixel D90 camera with 24fps video.
Read the official deatils at the Nikon page.
UPDATE: Wow this camera looks very interesting. Nikon has sample video from the camera on its site and looking at the video quality, I am very tempted to buy one of these as a video camera that doubles as a very capable SLR. Too bad they aren’t shipping before my trip to Alaska next week. I would have loved to get video of the world’s largest bears with this thing.
25 Comments so far...
Trent Says:
26 August 2008 at 11:54 pm.
And just when you thought Canon was coming back with the 50D, Nikon comes back with yet another updated camera that shoots 720P Video.
Meanwhile, I’m still waiting for 5DMII…..
Gavin Says:
27 August 2008 at 12:34 am.
Will be interested to get my hands on one for a test drive… G
aradilon Says:
27 August 2008 at 12:51 am.
Here is a video link, Chase Jarvis testing the nikon d90:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVQX1rC-fRA
Also Ken Rockwell has written some things about it:
http://kenrockwell.com/nikon/d90.htm
Can only add one thing; i gonna so buy it when i have the money for it.
egilDOTnet Says:
27 August 2008 at 1:13 am.
Also have a look at the in-depth preview over at dpreview.com: http://www.dpreview.com/previews/nikond90/
Jan Says:
27 August 2008 at 1:33 am.
720p + 24fps + low noise at high iso + interchangeable lenses = holy smokes! I think my D70 is finally going to be replaced.
Chuck Says:
27 August 2008 at 5:29 am.
The wait is over. I don’t see any mention of availability though, is it immediate or did they drop a date?
Jason Hatfield Says:
27 August 2008 at 6:41 am.
One step closer to the high quality cameras that will do it all; video, images, etc. I just hope they don’t add an MP3 player 
Kent Goldings Says:
27 August 2008 at 7:56 am.
Video! I just bought a $250 Canon point and shoot as a companion for my Nikon D80 just for this purpose. I feel like I should have waited. However, the P&S option is better for those times when I want videos of the children at the beach or the Aquarium where using a DLSR just isn’t called for. I was hoping for onboard GPS.
Jason Says:
27 August 2008 at 8:05 am.
Maybe most would think I was crazy to buy a D80 on Saturday! Of course I knew the D90 was going to come out this week and still did it because I got the D80 body for only ¥59,000 yen ($541 USD) brand new in box. This allowed me to get the Nikkor 18-200mm VR f3.5/5.6 lens and stay somewhat in budget. Not to mention have a dSLR in my hands right then. Who knows when the D90 will actually ship.
This D80 was my first SLR of any kind and totally love SLR already.
That said, no doubt by the end of 2009 I’ll be itching for a D90 probably!
As a note to new dSLR owners, make sure you thread the strap end through both plastic clips!! I didn’t and tonight the right side of the strap came undone!! Super luckily I was slightly holding the camera in my hand as I was walking.
Having HDMI out would be nice, not to mention that 3″ LCD, and the 4.5 fps. Hmmm, maybe I should have waited and splurged even more?
Joe Rodricks Says:
27 August 2008 at 9:09 am.
It seems to me that any camera that can do Nikon’s Live view should be able to record video with a firmware update. All the parts are there. What are the odds…?
Mark Says:
27 August 2008 at 9:18 am.
Honestly, I thought the demo video looked a bit ‘muddy’. The light shift against the greens was pretty distracting, though I must say that I wasn’t expecting too much since this is the first video I see from an SLR.
I just can’t imagine Scott, who takes beautiful photographs settling for this quality of video during a once in a lifetime shoot. If size and convenience are the concern, why not use either your G9 or get a Sanyo Xacti?
Scott Says:
27 August 2008 at 9:52 am.
@Mark I guess we disagree on the quality of the video. I love the video I get from the G9, but in my opinion, it’s not as good as what I see from the D90. That said, it’s rather a moot point since I will have the G9 with me and I can’t get a D90 in time. As for the Xacti - I don’t want to have to carry one more thing. As it is, it feels like I am bringing the kitchen sink and on the Sea Planes we have to take to get where we’re going, each photographer has a 100 pound limit for gear and clothes. Every pound counts.
Ryan Richardson Says:
27 August 2008 at 10:13 am.
That was pretty hot video (the sound is what always seems to be the problem to me with still cameras) but I’m liking where this is going because I really hate having to carry around so many different cameras to do so many different jobs.
Vlad Says:
27 August 2008 at 10:25 am.
I hope so much they would eventually release a firmware update to add video to D300. Unfortunately it is very unlikely to ever happen.
Aaron Says:
27 August 2008 at 11:07 am.
I am not a gear head, but I have been researching cameras to upgrade my 3 year old D50. The main drivers for an upgrade are better ISO and compatibility with Nikon’s CLS. The new D90 looks like a great camera and well worth my wait. However, I am surprised that it only supports 12bit A/D conversion. 14 bit seems to be the new standard. Is this a significant drawback for the D90? I have viewed many wonderful pictures from the D2X, D200, and even the D50 with great color and tonal range. Is there a discernible difference in images between 12 bit and 14 bit? Should this be a factor when considering an upgrade? BTW - Since the question how you use the camera usually comes up - 75% of my pictures are people portraits (studio or on-location), 25% landscape, wildlife, & travel.
John Says:
27 August 2008 at 12:17 pm.
@Jason, the next iteration will jump right over MP3 functionality and have Google Calendar sync and a twitter client.
aradilon Says:
27 August 2008 at 12:29 pm.
Was saving for a new flash and some other photo equipment (and to hold the rest back for later), i think i just gonna start saving for this in stead.
Rikki / UXXV Says:
27 August 2008 at 3:31 pm.
This was mentioned over on the HV20 forum I use. The videos look great but the audio will be crumby, its limited in length and theres no autofocus plus apparently it exhibits very bad rolling shutter.
Will wait for it to come out before I have a play with it tho.
Mike L Says:
27 August 2008 at 10:26 pm.
Pertaining to the video, I’d rather capture the moment shooting RAW than capturing the moments at 24fps then deciding which frame I want to use. When I pick up a dSLR, the capture is all I’m thinking about. Next thing you know, the new song will be “Video killed the photographer star.” Sorry if I sound preachy, but those are me thoughts about that right now.
Garrett Says:
28 August 2008 at 6:38 am.
dude’s, surely this is a waste of time if in 4-5 months they release a further range of full frame d-slr’s and then we’re all really stuck. i haven’t bought any dx lenses in a while, we all know its coming looking at the d700, how cheap it is….
Michael Van der Tol Says:
28 August 2008 at 2:43 pm.
I have no hope keeping up with all the churn…but why another DX format camera????
Petri Says:
29 August 2008 at 3:03 am.
Why is Nikon coming up with all these new cameras now? Makes me wonder if they want as many people as possible to become Nikon users before Fotokina next month, before Canon announces their new cutting-edge cameras. Still, a high-quality video camera in a DSRL body is just what I’ve been waiting for.
LeetPhotoMan Says:
29 August 2008 at 10:48 am.
I am in love with this camera. For those of us who are not professional photographers this camera is perfect. Low light sensitivity, 12.3mp (much better than my D50), and affordable price. I can part with $1000 for a hobby but that is about as far as i am willing to go. By the way anyone want to purchase my D50?
JeffDM Says:
30 August 2008 at 10:12 pm.
Mark; frankly, the video looks pretty good to me compared to the three consumer HD video cameras that I own, 1080i and 1080p. Have you actually owned or used one? The footage is usually stunning, but if you’re looking for fringing and chromatic abberation, you’re going to find it on those devices.
And you get something far closer to 35mm capabilities without having to resort to those depth of field adapters, which generally reduce the amount of light that can be captured anyway, and it’s still a small sensor in the end. And interchangeable lenses, which is a feature that’s not on many HD camcorders south of $5000, if not somewhere closer to $10k. I’m going to be keeping an eye on this D90.
Mike L, I don’t think this is about grabbing a frame out of a video stream. That can be done with camcorders too, and it’s not that desirable either way. It’s a multimedia world now, and raising the bar on both still shot quality, while letting the user forgo having to bring along a pocket camcorder, and using the same interchangeable lenses? I’m getting very interested. The only problem is that there are so many different kinds of options.
