D90 Owners Thread - Anything D90 related

evening guys, im currently using Sandisk UltraII 15mb/s 4 gb cards ((i have 5), just wondered what everybody else used and wht yoiur thoughts were, im wanting to do abit more sports photography so isdeally a bigger buffer if possible to capture more pics, iv just ordered a d90 grip to help things along abit aswell.

Paul
 
paulmitchell1984 said:
evening guys, im currently using Sandisk UltraII 15mb/s 4 gb cards ((i have 5), just wondered what everybody else used and wht yoiur thoughts were, im wanting to do abit more sports photography so isdeally a bigger buffer if possible to capture more pics, iv just ordered a d90 grip to help things along abit aswell.

Paul
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I'd say the grip is a must for the D90, doesn't feel right otherwise imho :)

your cards will be fine, I use sandisk although one has fallen apart now

:)
 
does it improve the camera though, or just make it chunkier and last longer, or would it help the flash aswell?
 
Hi guys - I'm new here so please be gentle - this thread is quite long and I am slowly chugging my way through it - so apologies if this has already been covered - but just a quick question - how many pictures will a D90 take from full charge (very roughly of course) - and do you find that leaving the battery in for a few weeks at a time without using it rapidly decreases the remaining power when you do finally switch it on to use it?

I'm used to a very good battery in the Sony DSC-W80 and considering a D90 as a massive upgrade, but don't want to be disappointed on the battery front if I can help it.

Thanks
 
paulmitchell1984 said:
does it improve the camera though, or just make it chunkier and last longer, or would it help the flash aswell?
Click to expand...


It makes it chunkier and last longer, although I wouldn't be without it. To be honest, if you wanted to do sports, I'm not sure why you'd shoot without a grip anyway. You get the controls on the grip to be able to shoot in portrait mode without bending your arms around, that alone is invaluable to me.
 
paulmitchell1984 said:
does it improve the camera though, or just make it chunkier and last longer, or would it help the flash aswell?
Click to expand...

It doesn't up the frame rate, but it can hold two batteries which means you can shoot longer and it does have the vertical controls, meaning portrait shots will be easier, yes it does make the camera chunkier, but it adds more balance if you are using long lenses

:)
 
pg333 said:
Hi guys - I'm new here so please be gentle - this thread is quite long and I am slowly chugging my way through it - so apologies if this has already been covered - but just a quick question - how many pictures will a D90 take from full charge (very roughly of course) - and do you find that leaving the battery in for a few weeks at a time without using it rapidly decreases the remaining power when you do finally switch it on to use it?

I'm used to a very good battery in the Sony DSC-W80 and considering a D90 as a massive upgrade, but don't want to be disappointed on the battery front if I can help it.

Thanks
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Not sure without a grip as I only shoot with. With a grip, I get around 5,000 shots, so bearing in mind an ungripped D90 only has half the battery life, I'd say at least 2,000-2.500.
 
as above i can usually fill up all my membory cards in raw and fine jpeg, so apporx 800 pics 3 times so just under the 2k mark, and some of that is "chimping" editing, deleting etc so the cameras in use aswell,
 
OK - I only joined this forum the other day and after reading around for days and on this forum - this thread - especially, I have now joined the club and am a proud owner of a D90!

I took the camera out for its first trial today - my first attempt at DSLR-ing. (pics on my new Flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pg333/sets/72157624550356351/)

All I can say is wow! For the first time in using digital cameras, I can now at last say that I am beginning to take the kind of shots I've always wanted to take - most point and shoot cameras take what you wanted to snap and turn the image into something flat and meaningless - but with this lovely new camera - its takes the shot almost exactly how you see it - even better than that almost!

In fact after 4 hours of wondering around taking pictures today, I swear the visual part of my brain has suddenly switched on after I stopped peering through the viewfinder! I started seeing things in the way the camera would have auto-focused in on things, if that doesn't sound too strange! I'm a glasses-wearer, so perhaps the camera is teaching me to see properly! Anyway enough rambling - what a joyful camera to use!
 
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Hello guys,

I have a question if I may:

Which AF-Area mode is the best for moving subjects, please? Dynamic-Area or 3D-Tracking (11 points)?

Lets say I want to take photos of people walking on the streets. Which AF-Area mode should I be using for best results?
Or, for example, children playing. Running around with the ball, chasing each other...
What about if I'm in a moving vehicle (car, train, bus...) and want to take a photo of something stationary?

Thank you.
 
pg333 said:
OK - I only joined this forum the other day and after reading around for days and on this forum - this thread - especially, I have now joined the club and am a proud owner of a D90!

I took the camera out for its first trial today - my first attempt at DSLR-ing. (pics on my new Flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pg333/sets/72157624550356351/)

All I can say is wow! For the first time in using digital cameras, I can now at last say that I am beginning to take the kind of shots I've always wanted to take - most point and shoot cameras take what you wanted to snap and turn the image into something flat and meaningless - but with this lovely new camera - its takes the shot almost exactly how you see it - even better than that almost!

In fact after 4 hours of wondering around taking pictures today, I swear the visual part of my brain has suddenly switched on after I stopped peering through the viewfinder! I started seeing things in the way the camera would have auto-focused in on things, if that doesn't sound too strange! I'm a glasses-wearer, so perhaps the camera is teaching me to see properly! Anyway enough rambling - what a joyful camera to use!
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Hi pg and welcome to TP and the wonderful world of the D90(y) I've just looked at your Flickr thread and there are some excellent shots on there!!!:clap: If these were taken when you're new to the camera then I really look forward to seeing what you can do when you've gotten used to it.

I especially like the one of the Rook and the Grasshopper(y)
 
Ivanhoe said:
Hello guys,

I have a question if I may:

Which AF-Area mode is the best for moving subjects, please? Dynamic-Area or 3D-Tracking (11 points)?

Lets say I want to take photos of people walking on the streets. Which AF-Area mode should I be using for best results?
Or, for example, children playing. Running around with the ball, chasing each other...
What about if I'm in a moving vehicle (car, train, bus...) and want to take a photo of something stationary?

Thank you.
Click to expand...

firstly, welcome to TP and to the D90 club (y)

I use Dynamic area for stationary subjects and 3D Tracking with continuous AF (AF-C) for moving subjects.

:)
 
I don't trust the 3D tracking so I just use dynamic area on AF-C for moving subjects.

For static subjects, especially people, I never stray from single point on AF-S.
 
Dman said:
I don't trust the 3D tracking so I just use dynamic area on AF-C for moving subjects.

For static subjects, especially people, I never stray from single point on AF-S.
Click to expand...

:agree:

I found the 3d track works if there is nothing else for it to focus on.
So I stick with the above
 
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Just got a nice new D90 today after my old faithful 5 year old D50 went to the repair shop in the sky. Camera is sitting here 'screaming' at me to be used, but as it's just the body there ain't much I can do :-( .

Can't wait to try this out later.
 
mindcrime said:
Just got a nice new D90 today after my old faithful 5 year old D50 went to the repair shop in the sky. Camera is sitting here 'screaming' at me to be used, but as it's just the body there ain't much I can do :-( .

Can't wait to try this out later.
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do you have any lenses that you can try it out with?

:)
 
Rob 80386 said:
do you have any lenses that you can try it out with?

:)
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I do, I still have the lenses in my Signature below but they are all at home. I was going to bring one into work with me but didn't want to tempt fate and get disappointed if it didn't arrive. Been without a camera for over a month now and it's been killing me :bang:
 
Thanks Rob for the welcome and for the answer.

Dman, thank you.

And whitevanman, thanks too for confirming what Dman wrote.

After asking the question here I did some more research on the net and discovered that most people are using Dynamic Area and AF-C for sports/moving subjects.

I experimented a bit today with both Dynamic Area and 3D Tracking and found that 3D Tracking was very unpredictable with picking the right focus point for some reason. If the subject was moving very slowly it worked ok, but... I got more in-focus photos with Dynamic area, but that might be due to my not-consistent (read: poor) technique rather than to the AF-Area modes.

Thanks all for the kind responses.
 
Ivanhoe said:
Thanks Rob for the welcome and for the answer.

Dman, thank you.

And whitevanman, thanks too for confirming what Dman wrote.

After asking the question here I did some more research on the net and discovered that most people are using Dynamic Area and AF-C for sports/moving subjects.

I experimented a bit today with both Dynamic Area and 3D Tracking and found that 3D Tracking was very unpredictable with picking the right focus point for some reason. If the subject was moving very slowly it worked ok, but... I got more in-focus photos with Dynamic area, but that might be due to my not-consistent (read: poor) technique rather than to the AF-Area modes.

Thanks all for the kind responses.
Click to expand...

Just had a look online, I may give that a go next time I'm shooting moving subjects, switch the camera from 3D tracking to Dynamic Area and AF-C, then compare results

:)
 
Murph said:
Hi pg and welcome to TP and the wonderful world of the D90(y) I've just looked at your Flickr thread and there are some excellent shots on there!!!:clap: If these were taken when you're new to the camera then I really look forward to seeing what you can do when you've gotten used to it.

I especially like the one of the Rook and the Grasshopper(y)
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Thank you very much Murph! That's made my day that has! That was my first day out with a DSLR, let alone the D90, but I think its probably just a bit of beginner's luck to be honest!

I've added a few more pictures from today's outing to my flickr page - the lighting was a bit of a struggle today as there was quite a bit of bright cloud cover, which I don't know how to deal with yet as I'm still getting used to the WB settings in conjunction with which modes you can and can't use them in. Its quite a lot of learning to do! How long does it take to learn it all?!?!

Loved the pics of your deer park trip - I liked the surreal deer in the water shot - as someone else commented - not what you normally expect! Which is half the fun! (y)
 
Hi guys - I ordered a 16GB SDHC card that has just arrived but I've just read somewhere that the D90 can only take 8GB SDHC cards - is that correct?

Luckily, I stopped to check before I opened the packaging, but stupidly forgot to check before ordering it! :bonk:
 
pg333 said:
Hi guys - I ordered a 16GB SDHC card that has just arrived but I've just read somewhere that the D90 can only take 8GB SDHC cards - is that correct?

Luckily, I stopped to check before I opened the packaging, but stupidly forgot to check before ordering it! :bonk:
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I got a Sandisk 16Gb SDHC card and it works fine. Just have to upgrade my reader now so I can see what I've taken :bang:
 
mindcrime said:
I got a Sandisk 16Gb SDHC card and it works fine. Just have to upgrade my reader now so I can see what I've taken :bang:
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You could of always downloaded your photos through your camera!

I have a 16Gb card and its also works fine. I think i get just over 1000 images on RAW
 
SimonBalaam said:
You could of always downloaded your photos through your camera!
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I did do that, but I just hate hooking the camera up to the PC; always think the side cover will break on the camera.
 
got my "cheap" ebay grip today and it works fine :D also got an sb-600 and a few scre in marco filters, so il be doing some playing later,

Interesting to see the 16gb cards work, may be my next purchase as i have 4 4gb cards and only get 180 images shooting raw and fine :D
 
has any body used the d40 kit lens 18-55vr on this and compared it to the 18 105? just wondering what its like as im wanting to get a smaller lens but not sure if i should fork out £300+ on the tamron 18-75
 
I bought the 18-55VR lens kit and the Tamron 70-300mm lens deal through Jessops. Its already a bit annoying having to change lenses so frequently as typically I like to wander around in the big outdoors normally for wildlife and Nature photo opportunities and I alternate between closeups, moving wildlife and landscape shots and the difference between the wide lens and the zoom lens is of course quite dramatic!

As a newbie, I may however learn how to juggle more efficiently over time - e.g., change my approach and do all closeup work first, then swap to the zoom afterwards...The 18-105 may be a better all-rounder from that perspective, but it depends on what you envisage using it for more often.

Thanks for the advice about the 16GB SDHC - I took the plunge and undid the packaging and have found no problem using it - unfortunately my laptop's inbuilt SD card slot does not recognise it though, so, yep, its the same situation with the usb or another external card reader to buy!
 
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Update: I have managed to get my onboard SD card slot to recognise the 16GB SDHC card and work in Vista.

Basically after much messing around, you have to use FAT32 as the file format and you have to format the card whilst its in the camera and connected via USB.

I also managed to get the Windows Photo Gallery program working with .NEF files, as Vista uses this program as default for viewing images. The codec is on the Nikon site for anyone interested - just search for ".NEF files codec nikon download" (currently here: http://nikonimglib.com/nefcodec/) and scroll to the bottom of the Nikon download page once you've found it.

Unfortunately the codec doesn't allow you to rotate images in WPG or the Windows Explorer, which is a shame. I use Irfanview to do the latter as its quick to load and perform simple functions like this (y)
 
Not wanting to pee on anyone's parade but there has been a bit of chatter here of late regarding using large memory cards rather than smaller ones. From experience, I would urge you to spare a thought to the consequences of having one of these cards go kaput.

On the plus side, it holds more pictures than a smaller one, so the consequence is you'll lose more pictures than you would have done if using a smaller card :crying:

Is it really that much of an inconvenience to spend 20 seconds changing cards a couple of times a day?

Just a thought :)
 
Bristolian said:
Not wanting to pee on anyone's parade but there has been a bit of chatter here of late regarding using large memory cards rather than smaller ones. From experience, I would urge you to spare a thought to the consequences of having one of these cards go kaput.

On the plus side, it holds more pictures than a smaller one, so the consequence is you'll lose more pictures than you would have done if using a smaller card :crying:

Is it really that much of an inconvenience to spend 20 seconds changing cards a couple of times a day?

Just a thought :)
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Totaly agree
Having had a couple of cards corrupted it's not worth the loss of all those pictures with the 16g cards. I stick to 4g sandisk
 
That is a good and valid point to raise about the card capacity risk.

My perspective on it is that it was cheaper for me to buy one 16GB card than 4x4GB cards. Having 4 cards instead of one raises other issues - mixing them up, leaving them behind, losing them, etc. Of course, you can lose/damage/corrupt the 1 card and be in more trouble if it was full at the time. Its all about how comfortable you are with yourself and your equipment and the trust in the technology.

If you really want to highlight the risks associated with data storage, how many of you backup all your data to multiple devices?

If you really want to be secure in your data it needs to be transferred off your card to HD then burnt/copied to a separate disc/disk, copied to DAT, etc then regularly archived "offsite" too, in case of fire/damage/corruption/theft.

How many of you do all of the above I wonder? :whistle:
 
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