Any Experiences with the Nikon D90? Or D300?

Pete Nolan Oct 28, 2008

  1. Pete Nolan

    Pete Nolan TrainBoard Supporter

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    My D90 is coming this week. I've read it's a grand camera, but I don't really know what to expect from doubling the pixels of my D70 and D100. I suspect it won't make that much difference on anything smaller than 11 x 17, but may be pleasantly surprised. Anyone have any experience with it or the D300, which has the same sensor?
     
  2. okane

    okane TrainBoard Supporter

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    Peter

    I just sold my D200, a real disappointment and purchased the D300 as well as a 70 to 400 mm VR-Zoom Lens. Still have the D70 which the wife prefers to use.

    The D300 pictures so far are amazing and the menus rival that of the D3. You are right you will not notice much difference below I would say an 8*10. The one surprise was the vividness of the colors compared to either the D70 or the D200, simply outstanding.

    I am quite happy with the results so far, although it is taking a little longer to get use to all the menu options and features.

    At first I had some problems with pictures and focus, but quickly realized I had some settings wrong, and also needed to make some diopter adjustments for the eye piece. I love the Live Mode for Hand Held and Telephoto shots, some quite spectacular pictures in this mode.
     
  3. Pete Nolan

    Pete Nolan TrainBoard Supporter

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    Owen,

    I've always turned up the vividness on the D70. I used to do it in Photoshop; but the camera is much better then I am. I turn up the vividness especially for model railroad shots. What a difference!

    I'm taking off for a long photo trip next week with the D90.
     
  4. fitz

    fitz TrainBoard Member

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    Pete, please keep us informed of your experiences, good or bad, with the D90. I'm ready to upgrade and will be very interested in your comments. :tb-biggrin:
     
  5. EL03440

    EL03440 TrainBoard Supporter

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    Don't have either the D90 or the D300. I just purchased the D700 and so far I am impressed. It's great and so far I love the images.
     
  6. William Cowie

    William Cowie TrainBoard Member

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    Pete, I have a lowly D60... how do you turn up the vividness on your camera?
     
  7. Pete Nolan

    Pete Nolan TrainBoard Supporter

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    First Test Images

    As I partially suspected, all the D90 does is show the limits of Nikon's cheaper lenses. These were taken with a 24-85 ED lens. I'm not sure how these will come across on your monitor at 640 wide. Now these were taken at f/22 at 85mm, which is not the best setting for this lens, but a typical aperture for model railroad photography.

    Here's the D90 image:

    [​IMG]

    and here's the D70 image:

    [​IMG]

    The D90 has better color--but then I may not have had vividness on with the D70--Ack, I didn't check! But it's usually on. I matched sizes as best I could, which means the D70 image is actually at 142% while the D90 is at 100%--relatively.

    I'm going to repeat the experiment with the better 12-24mm lens next. I expect to see more of a difference, as this lens in very sharp at 24mm. And then I'll go outside and shoot at f/11, where most lenses are better than at f/22.

    Hmm, looks like I need to glue the rocks back onto the foam!
     
  8. Pete Nolan

    Pete Nolan TrainBoard Supporter

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    On the D70 and D90, there is a "Picture Control" entry in the CSM (Custom Shooting Menu?). The two menus are different, and I don't know what the D60 has for menus. Nikon often just cripples some functions on lower priced cameras. Most photo software applications have an adjustment for saturation, which is all vividness is. I use vividness only for model photography. For everything else, I do it in Photoshop. The cameras are smarter than I am!
     
  9. Pete Nolan

    Pete Nolan TrainBoard Supporter

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    Lucky you! Being semi-retired I couldn't spring for lenses to replace the DX format lenses I've gotten since 2002. With good glass that should produce spectacular images.
     
  10. Pete Nolan

    Pete Nolan TrainBoard Supporter

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    Hi fitz,

    So far, I like the camera very much, especially the back panel LCD. I'm still doing tests. My old card reader didn't recognize the 16 Gbyte SD cards, so I had to run out today and buy a new reader, which delayed my tests. I will say the color on the D90 is just spectacular. It will take me a few days to get more familiar with it. The in-camera controls are much better than anything I could do with Photoshop.

    It's funny. I bought a D70 as a backup to a D100, and soon found the D70 a superior camera in every way except weather protection. I expect the D90/D300 versions are the same; the D300 will be the choice for foul weather. But I just couldn't spring for the D300 this time around!
     
  11. Pete Nolan

    Pete Nolan TrainBoard Supporter

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    D90 vs D70 with 12-24mm lens

    These were shot with the 12-24mm zoom at f/11. The D90 clearly wins with a better lens; the 12-24 is very sharp at 24mm, and the D90 deals with it. The color rendition is clearly better.

    The D90 results:

    [​IMG]

    The D70 results:

    [​IMG]

    Ooops, I forget to resize, as these were smaller than the 640 limit! At the same size on my monitor, the D90 clearly takes the advantage in sharpness and color rendition. I could sharpen both, and correct the D70's color drift, but thought it would be more informative to leave the jpgs as they were shot.

    The D90 is worth it if you have good lenses; otherwise, stick with the 6 Mp cameras and buy better lenses! I'm guessing that the 18-200 VR DX lens ($$$) on a 6 Mp camera might give better results than kit or DX lenses on a D90. Just my opinion.

    More tests to follow.
     
  12. Pete Nolan

    Pete Nolan TrainBoard Supporter

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    650 shots later on the D90 and about 300 shots on the D70, I can affirm that the lenses are the limiting factor on resolution. The 12-24mm and 70-300mm zooms render better results on the D90; I can see little difference with the 24-85mm lens. The dynamic range and color balance are much better with the D90 in all cases, and it does a much better job in difficult lighting situations than the D70. The focusing is much better, much smarter.
     
  13. MK

    MK TrainBoard Member

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    Sorry for coming to the party late but life's weirdness (stressful situations is more like it) has taken me away from MRR for the past few months.

    I concur with Pete having shot with a D300 since late July. Certainly a different beast and SO much more enhanced than my D70. The focus is faster and sharper is the most noticeable difference that I immediately picked up on. I still use my old D70 though. :)
     
  14. Pete Nolan

    Pete Nolan TrainBoard Supporter

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    Hi, MK! Glad to see you back. I know all about the stresses these days.

    Anyhow, I'm seeing very little difference in sharpness between the D70 and D90. As I've protested here, good big pixels match little less-good pixels all the time. DX lenses just don't seem to need much more than 6 Mpixels. But other firmware improvements are worth it, I think.
     
  15. MK

    MK TrainBoard Member

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    Pete, I'm glad your still remember me. There's so much craziness at work that I can't even describe it in words. I've seen politics at work and saw a good buddy of mine get let go on trumped up charges. I've been working 7 days a week for the past month.

    Anyway, back to more fun stuff!

    I guess I chose my words poorly. When I meant 'sharper' I really meant more accurate focusing. Using the same 18-70 DX lens that came on my D70 on my D300 I noticed a WORLD of difference. That 18-70 now sings like the 17-55 f2.8 lens! The only thing I could attribute that to is the superior CAM 3500DX focusing system.

    I slap my 70-300VR on the D300 and I can shoot my son's sports like no tomorrow and it's not even a f2.8 lens!
     
  16. Pete Nolan

    Pete Nolan TrainBoard Supporter

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    Ah, I see! I've been a little stressed out myself, what with divorce and job loss. I couldn't spring for the D300 nor the VR lenses. I had a terrible time with the D90 and a non-VR 70-300 yesterday trying to shoot a kestrel, the smallest of hawks. I rarely see them, so I was disappointed the D90 just couldn't find a focus quickly enough, no matter what I tried. I can't remember if the D90 and D300 have the same focusing system--the kestrel was moving pretty fast across a stormy sky.
     
  17. MK

    MK TrainBoard Member

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    Pete, sorry to hear that. I'm still employed but barely as they've gotten rid of many people and I get stuck with all their former responsibilities - yep, setup for failure. It is starting to affect my family life and that's where I draw the line. No job is more important than my family.

    The D90's focusing system is one notch below the D300. The D300 uses the same focusing system as the D3 but in DX format. Also, the non-VR 70-300 is not AF-S but the VR version is so the focusing is much faster with the VR version.

    I've taken my D300 with the 70-300VR to R/C airplane meets and tracking was superb. I use the 9 or 21 point focus points in my D300 with great success. The 51 point is a bit over kill in my opinion.
     
  18. Pete Nolan

    Pete Nolan TrainBoard Supporter

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    It happens. The divorce was mutual and amicable; the job loss was due to a ruling in the site office about funding during a Continuing Resolution from Congress. Nothing about the funding that I haven't gone through before.

    Thanks for the info about D90 vs. D300. I think an RC airplane might be bigger than a kestrel. They are no bigger than a robin, perhaps smaller. There are not very many photos of them, so I'm hunting. I really wanted the D300 body, as I often shoot in bad weather, in very rough terrain. But it wasn't to be this time.
     

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