D90 Owners Thread - Anything D90 related

Agreed about the high ISO from the D90 Dave. You can really push it up and not tell any "major" difference! Top bit of kit for the money.

I was chasing a buzzard up and down the road the other day and tried upping the ISO. Looked great!

Cheers, Rob
 
MScotts said:
Joining the 'D90 club thread', replacing my faithful D80 I took the plunge and bought a D90 body last week (boxed, mint, <3000 clicks, 8 months old, etc.) for £420 colleceted. I got the original receipt and the 2-year guarentee is blank.
A bargain in anyone's books, especially as my D80 grip was fully compatible with it :)

First impressions are very positive, especially after using the Ken Rockwell user guide to set it up and get familiar with features the D80 didn't have. An immediate setting I did was to have it call up the Menu when the 'Prog Funct button' button was pressed, and have followed Ken's advice in 90% of his recommendations through this invaluable PDF guide, including leaving the ISO to auto.

Although I thought LV would be a 'gimmicky' thing, I can see me using it most of the time for set-up adjustments before shooting, low-down shots, exploiting the 'My Menu', etc... Talking of which, the following is what I've set My Menu to contain (in order of preference), but am keen to understand other nifty settings to have in it therefore what have you set yours up to hold :thinking:

1. Set Picture Control
2. AF-area mode
3. ISO sensitivity settings
4. Assign AE-L/AF-L button
5. Exposure daelay mode
6. Active D-Lighting
7. Built-in AF-assist illuminator
8. Image review
Click to expand...

Here's Whats on My Menu

Set Picture Control
White Balance
Active D-Lighting
a1 AF-area mode
c2 Auto meter-off delay
e4 Auto bracketing set
b1 EV steps for exposure cntrl
d10 Exposure delay mode
 
  • Set Picture Control
  • e2 Flash cntrl for built-in flash
  • e1 Flash shutter speed
  • a3 Built-in AF-assist illuminator
  • d2 Viewfinder grid display
  • ISO sensitivity auto control
  • c3 Slef-timer
  • Battery info

I did have a couple of others but I never used them enough.

What's your func button set to? Got mine set to AF-area mode.
 
yup same here func button set to AF-area mode

and i have my

AE-L
AF-L button set to AE lock only.
 
I'm not convinced by Ken Rockwell's guide but it's each to their own. For example I wouldn't take a long exposure without leaving the NR reduction on, he says to leave it well alone. The results from having it on speak for themselves but he seems to have it in for those he refers to as 'old timers'.

Also, apparently 'Bracketing is for the weak.'. Or those who want to try a bit of HDR perhaps? :shrug:
 
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Dman said:
I'm not convinced by Ken Rockwell's guide but it's each to their own. For example I wouldn't take a long exposure without leaving the NR reduction on, he says to leave it well alone. The results from having it on speak for themselves but he seems to have it in for those he refers to as 'old timers'.

Also, apparently 'Bracketing is for the weak.'. Or those who want to try a bit of HDR perhaps? :shrug:
Click to expand...

That's all part of the charm of the "Wonderful World of Ken Rockwell and His Amazing Clanging Contradictions" :lol:.

IIRC, he usually advocates leaving the noise reduction to the PPing stage :| - Nikon Capture NX2 does that and there are (arguably) 'better' software packages out there for this purpose too. In theory, you get to work quicker with the camera by leaving it 'off' and the final, processed image looks better too (if PP'd) :shrug:.

Anyway, one day I hope to come back to this thread and say something good about my new D90, but sadly it went straight back to Nikon Service, due to an AF issue :'(. It felt nice in the hand, for the couple of weeks that I used it, though :D.
 
Naboo32 said:
That's all part of the charm of the "Wonderful World of Ken Rockwell and His Amazing Clanging Contradictions" :lol:.

IIRC, he usually advocates leaving the noise reduction to the PPing stage :| - Nikon Capture NX2 does that and there are (arguably) 'better' software packages out there for this purpose too. In theory, you get to work quicker with the camera by leaving it 'off' and the final, processed image looks better too (if PP'd) :shrug:.

Anyway, one day I hope to come back to this thread and say something good about my new D90, but sadly it went straight back to Nikon Service, due to an AF issue :'(. It felt nice in the hand, for the couple of weeks that I used it, though :D.
Click to expand...

But he also says he shoots jpeg (medium size) all the time, so can't do much PP as this would have a pretty detrimental effect on the image. Don't get me wrong though, there's some good advice in there but if you spend much time reading his site you'll soon be scratching your head.
 
I second your feelings on Ken Rockwell's site, he does have some useful info but you've got to be careful not to take everything he says as gospel !

If you going to follow any guide then Thom Hogans is the one
 
Dman said:
But he also says he shoots jpeg (medium size) all the time, so can't do much PP as this would have a pretty detrimental effect on the image. Don't get me wrong though, there's some good advice in there but if you spend much time reading his site you'll soon be scratching your head.
Click to expand...

:thumbs: Proves my first point, entirely! He writes every word as if it's gospel and then goes and says that exact opposite thing on another page :lol:.

Still, I tend to agree with the majority of his assessments about the quality and performance of Nikon cameras and lenses, so I still refer his site (amongst others) before making any purchase.
 
donrev said:
I second your feelings on Ken Rockwell's site, he does have some useful info but you've got to be careful not to take everything he says as gospel !

If you going to follow any guide then Thom Hogans is the one
Click to expand...

Not having known of Thom Hogan's D90 guide I chose to go with the KR one. Yes, it's got a lot of room for improvement, but in the main it was a far better way to set-up my D90 than go through the Nikon manual.... and, ^^^, I did say ''and have followed Ken's advice in 90% of his recommendations''. Meaning that I took on board the stuff that made sense to me and chose to set up a few other things my way. :)
 
kwacker-snapper said:
what is the d90 like for sports shots, thinking of changing either my d200 or d60 for a 90
Click to expand...

What do you shoot? The D90 is a class above the D60 for sports due to the high ISO performance and the multi point AF, the three point AF on the D60 is really limiting for sports. I've done a bit of football and found the D90 to handle it really well.
 
and i have also been asked to do a couple of weddings, i presume the higher iso will be a big advantage
 
!
 
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Howdy folks, just joined the club a few days ago :wave: having bought a D90 from TPer Mud - nice bloke :)

My first dslr was a D40 which I bought in June 2008. I traded up to a D80 last September but was disappointed with its high-ISO performance hence the D90 so soon after.

I shoot a lot of judo competitions in dimly lit sports halls so the D90's low noise will be a boon. My lenses are a 50mm f/1.9 Zeiss (manual focus), Sigma 28-70 f/2.8 AF, Sigma 70-300 APO and a Nikon 18-135. There's also a Kenko 1.4x TC and SB600 in my bag too.

Looking forward to gaining loads of tips from this thread (and contributing whenever I can) :clap:
 
I received my D90 today from Amazon. Am I pleased with it? You bet I am; it's superb! I've been snapping away like mad today; indoors, outdoors and around town, without a single duff shot. Even after dark, shooting at ISO3200 (without flash) the results are very impressive. Now the fingers on my right hand are hurting from holding it so long :D

None of the software will work on my PC though (Windows 7 64bit) :thumbsdown:
 
Sloper said:
None of the software will work on my PC though (Windows 7 64bit) :thumbsdown:
Click to expand...

Hey Steve, great camera, isn't it?

If your camera has been sat on the shelf at Amazon for a while then the software won't be the latest version and therefore won't support 64bit. Go to the Nikon UK website and download the latest versions which have recently been updated to be 64bit friendly.

HTH :)
 
mrgas said:
Which softwares that ? I got same OS on my laptop
Click to expand...

mrgas, Nikon Transfer and ViewNX both crashed (not responding) on first opening them. Neither of them would close either, even with Task Manager. After rebooting and then uninstalling Nikon Transfer, I looked for ViewNX to get rid of that too, only to find all traces of it had disappeared.. :shrug:
 
Bristolian said:
Hey Steve, great camera, isn't it?

If your camera has been sat on the shelf at Amazon for a while then the software won't be the latest version and therefore won't support 64bit. Go to the Nikon UK website and download the latest versions which have recently been updated to be 64bit friendly.

HTH :)
Click to expand...

You might be right there Steve. I'm not sure whether to bother or not as I've been reading that several D90 users haven't even installed any of the Nikon software. There's no harm in giving it a bash though, I suppose. What do you guys think.. is it worth it?

Cheers :)
 
Sloper said:
mrgas, Nikon Transfer and ViewNX both crashed (not responding) on first opening them. Neither of them would close either, even with Task Manager. After rebooting and then uninstalling Nikon Transfer, I looked for ViewNX to get rid of that too, only to find all traces of it had disappeared.. :shrug:
Click to expand...

Cheers for that , i probably wont be installing either of these though , might just stick with PS elements
 
Sloper said:
You might be right there Steve. I'm not sure whether to bother or not as I've been reading that several D90 users haven't even installed any of the Nikon software. There's no harm in giving it a bash though, I suppose. What do you guys think.. is it worth it?

Cheers :)
Click to expand...

i use transfer and view nx in tandem. i couldn't do without them

transfer: as soon as you pop in your memory card the files are listed. it automatically transfers files that havent been tranfered to a new folder. You have lots of options for your naming and numbering sequence of folders etc.

view NX: automatically opens up after transfer. do your white balance and exposure adjustments on the raw files (single or batch that you select), delete the duffers. Select all and output as Jpegs.

lots of other more complex and probably better applications out there, but the issued Nikon stuff works great for me, and its easy.

Al
 
I mostly use Lightroom for downloading and PPing, but I find ViewNX handy fo seeing what the images would look like straight out of the camera, and also to see where the focus point was. I have never used Transfer.

ViewNX should be at version 1.5.2 and Transfer should be at version 1.5.3. These versions claim to be compatible with W7 64bit. They can be downloaded for free from Nikon
 
Just joined the D90 club :)

Uograded from the D40 and took advantage of Nikon's £60 cash back :D

Also just got a 50mm f1.8 to go with the kit 18-105mm and my Sigma 55-200mm.
 
seventythree and jomike, thanks for that :thumbs:

I don't think I'll bother with Transfer but I'll download the latest version of ViewNX and give that a bash as it does look useful.

EDIT: Ok, I've just downloaded and installed the latest ViewNX. It won't even start.. it just throws up this message, "the application has failed to start because its side-by-side configuration is incorrect". I've Googled the problem and it seems to be common but so far I haven't found a way to fix it. I don't need ViewNX so I'm not going to go through the hassle of trying.

However, does ViewNX offer anything at all that I can't find in other applications?
 
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ViewNX isn't all that great. I just downloaded the NEF codec from the nikon site and view them in the normal file explorer window. I used Picasa for a while but it automatically adjusted the images to what it thought was right, so trying to find my bracketed shots was a major pain in the ass.

I use Transfer just so I can put the card in and it automatically backs them up while I go make a cup o tea, so much simpler than copy/pasting.
 
Sloper said:
I don't think I'll bother with Transfer but I'll download the latest version of ViewNX and give that a bash as it does look useful.
Click to expand...

Actually, I find Transfer to be the more useful of the two - although I use both.

Sloper said:
However, does ViewNX offer anything at all that I can't find in other applications?
Click to expand...

It doesn't offer anything you can't get in Elements/Lightroom/PS/etc but it is much quicker at loading up and correctly displays the image with the in-camera settings applied whereas Adobe RAW makes an "educated guess".

Each to their own, however, and of absolutely no help to you if the apps won't run on your computer ;)
 
Sloper said:
seventythree and jomike, thanks for that :thumbs:

I don't think I'll bother with Transfer but I'll download the latest version of ViewNX and give that a bash as it does look useful.

EDIT: Ok, I've just downloaded and installed the latest ViewNX. It won't even start.. it just throws up this message, "the application has failed to start because its side-by-side configuration is incorrect". I've Googled the problem and it seems to be common but so far I haven't found a way to fix it. I don't need ViewNX so I'm not going to go through the hassle of trying.

However, does ViewNX offer anything at all that I can't find in other applications?
Click to expand...

Only Nikon's ViewNX and CaptureNX can read all the settings that were set in the camera when the image was captured as a raw file (Jpegs will always have all settings regardless of editing app). All the other programs can only read the white balance and apply their own default settings to open the raw file.

I use Lightroom which cannot read the settings, but I have the defaults set up to open the files close to how I like it, then tweak them from there if necessary.

ViewNX is very limited in its actual editing capability (it can't even crop), you have to pay for CaptureNX to get wider editing features. I prefer Lightroom's workflow to CaptureNX.
 
Ta for the info guys. I've just had a nightmare evening of BSODs and error messages, then Windows failing to start unless in Safe Mode. I've done progressive System Restores and only got a smoothly running machine again after I restored back to Thursday, which was before I installed any Nikon software. I'm too scared to try installing any again! :lol:

I'll stick with Windows Picture Viewer and PS CS4 with Bridge for now I think. Nikon Capture looks interesting though.... On the thread about the D90 back-focussing, I noticed it shows the focus points on images? I'd like to check mine is ok from time to time.

Now to swot up on working with RAW files!
 
I have Aperture and Lightroom but now use Aperture for 95% of my stuff since the release of A3. Download Lightroom 3, it's in a public beta stage so you can try it for free until the official release which I believe is in April or May.
 
I'd like to ask a question about D90's on-camera flash, if I may.

I know very little about flash photography and I don't like to use flash at all, but sometimes I just have to if I don't have much time to set everything up or if there's just not enough light available. Or what is mostly the case, when my brother (who doesn't know much about photography) uses the camera...

I was wondering what would be the best all-around, general purpose setting(s) for on-camera flash when it comes to D90. The question is probably too general, but I'm sure you guys have much more experiences with it and there might be something I could do to make my on-camera flash work even better.
Or is there a setting that's best for indoors and one for outdoors at night?

When I pop up the flash my shutter speed always stays at 1/60 if I'm not mistaken. That's all I know.

Any advices?

Thanks a lot.
 
Ivanhoe said:
I'd like to ask a question about D90's on-camera flash, if I may.

I know very little about flash photography and I don't like to use flash at all, but sometimes I just have to if I don't have much time to set everything up or if there's just not enough light available. Or what is mostly the case, when my brother (who doesn't know much about photography) uses the camera...

I was wondering what would be the best all-around, general purpose setting(s) for on-camera flash when it comes to D90. The question is probably too general, but I'm sure you guys have much more experiences with it and there might be something I could do to make my on-camera flash work even better.
Or is there a setting that's best for indoors and one for outdoors at night?

When I pop up the flash my shutter speed always stays at 1/60 if I'm not mistaken. That's all I know.

Any advices?

Thanks a lot.
Click to expand...

Hi Ivan, welcome to TP and the D90 owners club!

The best setting for the onboard flash is the one that it probably is on now, iTTL, which is the default setting. In this mode the camera will work out how much power to give the flash to get a good exposure automatically. When using flash in iTTL mode, the flash controls the exposure time, not the shutter. This means that although the shutter is fixed at 1/60s, the flash will turn on for a much smaller period of time. Because it is probably dark, the amount of time the shutter is open with the flash off should not affect the exposure much.

The time when this does not work that well is when it is not dark and you want to use fill flash for a subject that is strongly backlit. In this case you can go to manual mode (M) and set the shutter manually to a maximum of 1/200s with flash. If that is still too slow you are out of luck because that is the maximum flash synch speed for the D90.

If you intend doing a lot of flash photography, you could think about getting a SB600 or SB900 flash. These can be turned to bounce off ceilings or walls to give stronger and more even lighting, and also you can take them off the camera and control them by using the on board flash to give creative lighting effects.
 
jomike said:
Hi Ivan, welcome to TP and the D90 owners club!

The best setting for the onboard flash is the one that it probably is on now, iTTL, which is the default setting. In this mode the camera will work out how much power to give the flash to get a good exposure automatically. When using flash in iTTL mode, the flash controls the exposure time, not the shutter. This means that although the shutter is fixed at 1/60s, the flash will turn on for a much smaller period of time. Because it is probably dark, the amount of time the shutter is open with the flash off should not affect the exposure much.

The time when this does not work that well is when it is not dark and you want to use fill flash for a subject that is strongly backlit. In this case you can go to manual mode (M) and set the shutter manually to a maximum of 1/200s with flash. If that is still too slow you are out of luck because that is the maximum flash synch speed for the D90.

If you intend doing a lot of flash photography, you could think about getting a SB600 or SB900 flash. These can be turned to bounce off ceilings or walls to give stronger and more even lighting, and also you can take them off the camera and control them by using the on board flash to give creative lighting effects.
Click to expand...

Hey jomike,

Thanks for the warm welcome and for the help.

I will check if the setting is on iTTL, but if it's the default setting it probably is since I haven't touched anything flash related in the menu.

Interesting info about the subjects that are back-lit. I will experiment some more with the Manual mode and see what I get. Thanks for explaining it to me.

Thank you again for the help, jomike!!
 
Hi i have been reading this thread and people seem to be very pleased with their d90s, i have at the moment got a d50 and are thinking of upgrading to a d90. I take a lot of action photos of my dogs plus wildlife and would like to have larger than a4 photos printed would it be worth upgrading to the d90 ?
 
blackwolf said:
Hi i have been reading this thread and people seem to be very pleased with their d90s, i have at the moment got a d50 and are thinking of upgrading to a d90. I take a lot of action photos of my dogs plus wildlife and would like to have larger than a4 photos printed would it be worth upgrading to the d90 ?
Click to expand...

i went from the D50 to the D90 and even with the D50 had no issues printed upto 15"*10" but have only gone upto 10"*8" since getting the D90 but the pics are much better than the D50 produced.
 
Bristolian said:
It doesn't offer anything you can't get in Elements/Lightroom/PS/etc but it is much quicker at loading up and correctly displays the image with the in-camera settings applied whereas Adobe RAW makes an "educated guess".

Each to their own, however, and of absolutely no help to you if the apps won't run on your computer ;)
Click to expand...

I dont use transfer, but I really like the ease of use ViewNX offers, particularly the convert option. Its so easy to select which RAW files you want to convert to jpeg, tiff etc. Just a case of selecting the file conversion type, resolution of the pictures and clicking OK :thumbs:
 
Can I join in now.

I picked my D90 up this morning from Calumet :D Just waiting for the battery to charge so that I can have a play.

I have had a quick look at the manual (278 pages :eek: ) and it appears that the D90 is controlled by witchcraft :lol:

I am sure it will make more sense when I put the battery in.
 
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