flawedperf
So I'm thinking about buying my very first digital slr
The nikon d90
is that okay to start off with?
I heard many people thought it was an okay starter dslr
Answer
Nikon D90 DX 12.3MP Digital SLR Camera with 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6G ED AF-S VR DX Nikkor Zoom Lens
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001ENOZY4?tag=dcmb-20
Review:
Several months before the D90 came out, I bought a D60 to hold me over until the D90 was released. Well, I've enjoyed using both cameras, but this one is a huge step up and more suited to an advanced enthusiast, like me. It's a real pleasure to use.
ERGONOMICS - The D90 is solid, tight, and well-balanced with the 18-105 VR lens. It's always ready and it shoots very fast. I love all the direct access buttons; they're easy to press, with good tactile feedback. And since you're not going into the menus as much, you can work faster. It's heavier than the D60, but that's OK. It's still very manageable to carry around and it fits my average-sized hand better too. The shutter sounds different than the D60 (if that matters to you). It sounds more like a professional camera; more like a fast "whoosh" than a "click-click". And there are so many internal customizations that you can set it up exactly as you want.
LENS - Biggest surprise was the 18-105 VR lens which I expected would be ho-hum, but turned out to be pretty sharp and clear. Better results than the 18-55 VR. We've really come a long way from the days (30 years ago) when you were cautioned to ALWAYS to buy a prime lens, NEVER the kit lens because of it's poor image quality. With computer-aided design and new technology, that's not true anymore.
IMAGE QUALITY - I shoot RAW for maximum detail and the ability to adjust settings afterward if necessary - like exposure or white balance. Image quality is very good to excellent depending on your RAW converter. To my eye, best results are obtained with View NX/Capture NX, but Adobe ACR/Lightroom still do a very good job. When shooting JPGs using the Standard Picture Mode, images are sharp and colors are true, without over-saturation. You can always use different Picture Modes and customize any of them to get closer to the in-camera results you want. For example, you can boost saturation and contrast and save the setting as your default if that's what you like.
LIGHT METER - Metering is fine and seems to be quite accurate in most cases. I use matrix metering mostly. As with any camera, you have to get to know the meter. If I had to be VERY critical, I'd say when it's pushed, it's more likely to preserve shadows than highlights, usually when Active DLighting is on. To me that's a good thing. Another website mentioned a slightly "over-enthusiatic" meter in its review. The good news is: if you really feel exposure results are not to your liking (whether over or under exposed), the meter is fine-tuneable, so go ahead and customize it as you see fit. I would just work with the meter first -get to know the camera and adapt yourself to it before you start making any adjustments. That said, I've used the D90 in a very wide range of lighting conditions and I can truly say that while exposures may vary occasionally, they've always made perfect sense for the situation. I've never been shocked or puzzled by the output.
LIVE VIEW - is great for the occasional high or low shot. I didn't think would need it, but when I had the D60, I found myself in many situations where I really could have used it. Unlike a point-and-shoot, focus is slower in this mode and shooting seems somewhat clunky. I wouldn't use Live View if I were in a rush or trying to get an important shot. It's just a nice little extra.
MOVIE MODE - this is a nice novelty and may be handy in a rare moment, but I'm generally not a video camera person. I'm surprised to read that some people have made movies and commercials with the D90. I keep promising myself to use this feature more, but I don't have a tripod and I'm just too jittery and uncreative to get good cinema-like results. Moreover, from the little I've tried it, I'm not impressed - there's no autofocus during filming and the movie comes out over exposed and far from HD quality. The user manual is not very helpful either. But I didn't purchase the camera for this feature, so I'm not disappointed.
ISO - I really like the new wide range of ISO settings, especially when coupled with the Auto-ISO setting. Mine is customized to keep the camera at ISO 200, but kick in at 1/30. In this example, anytime lighting decreases enough for the shutter speed to drop below 1/30, the D90 will automatically compensate by raising the ISO high enough (up to an ISO limit you set) to help keep your shutter speed at 1/30. Once the ISO maxes-out at your limit, the camera has no choice but to start bringing down the shutter speed. Noise at high ISOs isn't an issue. In fact, you have to zoom in pretty close for it to be even slightly noticeable. I use Auto-ISO mostly all the time. Its an amazing feature! I only turn this feature off when I want to stick to a particular ISO at all times (if its on a monopod or I've stabilized the camera in some way).
ACTIV
Whats the difference between the zoom camera lense and SLR lens?
bobs3301
The average priced SLR lenses provide a zoom of only 4X noramlly (high-mm / low-mm ) . Why do ppl buy those cameras when the ultra zoom cameras have a zoom range of almost 20X noadays ? Whats so great in SLR and a separate lens ?
Answer
OK first of all saying a camera has 20 X or 10 X is really more a marketing thing than telling you any data about what the lens does, A 10mm-50mm a 20mm to 100 mm and a 100mm to 500 mm are all 5X lenses though they are nothing alike. Point and shoot cameras can more easily give you a larger zoom range because they have to only focus the image on a small sensor. Also they are not worried as much about things like chromatic abberation or lens distortion ( e.g. Barrel Distortion ). They do not have to be particularly fast lenses ( dSLR lenses can have much larger aperatures to let in more light, large aperature lenses are called fast lenses) In short they are not held to the same standard that optics on a dSLR are. And will never have the ability to deliver the same quality images.
In addition dSLR will have a bigger sensor. A larger sensor will give you more light to each pixel which gives better dynamic range, better color saturation, better geometric accuracy and lower noise, A dSLR has interchangable lenses so you can change the perfromace of the camera dramatically by changing the lens. An example of this is thats its almost imposible to get good bokeh whith a point and shoot but with a dSLR you can put a 50 mm 1.4 lens on it and get great bokeh. If you need a faster zoom you cannot add it to your point and shoot. If you want a wider angle than your point and shoot goes to again you are out of luck.
A dSLR has a better image processor. A dSLR will have faster write times to a card and a larger buffer so the ability to take more shots per minute, In a dSLR what you see in the veiwfinder will be what you get in your photo as far as composition. A dSLR will give you more control over your settings and therefore over your photos. A dSLR will have a quick phase-change autofocus system that aquires the image much much faster than the , contrast based autofocus on a point and shoot. Doing away with that lag that occurs when you push the shutter release on the point and shoot. A dSLR will have a more accurate metering with more metering options a dslr can use multiple flashes and some will control several flashes that are off camera to be used in the same way studio lights are
In short a point and shoot gives you light wieght and OK photos over a large range at a cost of image quality and image control. The dSLR gives you more control, the ability to make better images, more versatility at the expense of having to put in the time and effort to learn how to use it.
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