engchin said:
still worth to buy D90 in year 2011?? will it discontinued soon??

It's worth it now more than ever—same amazing camera, new low price (I should be in sales). It will likely be discontinued soon.

Don't know where in the World you are engchin , but here in the UK you can pick up a lightly used D80 for £300 which would leave you £300 to spend on a lens or two ?

engchin - sounds like it is going to be your first DSLR? If it is, prepare to be completely amazed.

engchin.....D90 is what I shoot and it's an awesome camera. You can still buy them through Walmart online at great savings. D3100 is another awesome low cost DSLR and I plan on getting one soon to shoot low light situations with, it's ISO is incredible.

still worth to buy D90 in year 2011?? will it discontinued soon??

i plan to have a DSLR. but, D7000 is our of my budget, looking that D90 was great for me.. how about u all opinion?? thx!!

For what they call a "plastic" camera the sucker (D90) is very durable.

gratz Fubar, I'm sure this camera will suite You well, just remember to share Your picture with us, as there's a infinite photographic possibilities in India

adamz said:
ronin.1 - check this, page is in polish, but pictures speak for themselves: LINK, also check this photo gallery "HADES" by Tomasz Tomaszewski (NGM photographer) - LINK

That was awesome. Thanks for the links. As a side note my father grew up and lived up to his mid 20ties in Katowice, Slask. I will make sure to show him these photos.

I Purchased the D90 yesterday with 16-85mm VR. Apart from what adamz pointed out, I have consulted some photojournalist friends currently attached with Zuma Press, who took this camera to worse locations with no problems at all.

ronin.1 - check this, page is in polish, but pictures speak for themselves: LINK, also check this photo gallery "HADES" by Tomasz Tomaszewski (NGM photographer) - LINK

NikoDoby said:
Welcome to the forum FUBAR. Sounds like you need a D700 for very low light photography but I guess it's too expensive for you. If you can only afford a D90 then I guess your only choice is a D90. I'd be hesitant to take it into a working dust filled coal mind or brickfields though. In those situations you'd need the weather/dust sealing of a D1 series.

That is SAND not paint!

credit: JoeMcNally.com/blog

I do not think you would be allowed to take any electronic device into "a dust filled coal mine". I seem to recall speaking with a presenter at the Nikon school who shot a series in a coal mine with a purely mechanical film camera (and no batteries for the meter either).

@adamz,
I live in Kolkata (former Calcutta) eastern part of India.

You welcome Fubar.
BTW: which part of India You come from? I was once working in Noida for couple months.

Thank you for your answers. I think this is the perfect time to buy D90!

NikoDoby said:
+1 with PB PM

I actually wouldn't mind losing the top LCD if it meant gaining space for function buttons instead of flipping through menus. A large swivel monitor would be more beneficial to me to check my camera's status. It's also easier, I think, to "step back" and look at the main LCD from the viewfinder instead of tilting the camera up or lowering it to see the top LCD.

I have mixed feelings about the top LCD, I like having it to some degree. When shooting most of the changes I make involve the top LCD. The rear LCD is for reviewing shots, and changing settings for remote flashes, that's about it. All the other changes that I make that require the rear LCD are before I start shooting.

But the D7000 sounds more like a D5000 with some D90 features and excludes most of the functions found on the D300 (which the D90 has it's fair share on). This is why all the "pros" I know that don't have amazing salarys, gravitate towards the D80/D90 and don't even bother testing the D5000. In fact a few of the replaced the D200 with the D90 due to cost.

+1 with PB PM

I actually wouldn't mind losing the top LCD if it meant gaining space for function buttons instead of flipping through menus. A large swivel monitor would be more beneficial to me to check my camera's status. It's also easier, I think, to "step back" and look at the main LCD from the viewfinder instead of tilting the camera up or lowering it to see the top LCD.

The D90 is able to do the job, most of the time, but honestly it just wasn't cutting it for me. Everyone's shooting style is a little different, and I like having the controls at my finger tips. I found more buttons very useful, no more digging into menus to complete simple tasks. I use the different shooting banks a lot, so having that feature is important to me. Plus I found the focus tracking of the D90 unable to keep up with many birds in flight. The ergonomics of the D300 fit me better to, my fingers were always getting pinched between my lenses and the camera body with the D90.

I also like having the weather resistant body, with all the rain we get here in the Vancouver area, not having one keeps you indoors a good chunk of the year. Yes I could use a plastic bag over the body, but I found that to get in the way too much. So I'll stick with the D300 thanks. ;-)

PB - I also shoot wildlife, and to be honest don't see any problem with d90 - can set it up almost as fast as my d200. moreover, I actually like the idea of having less buttons, as this speeds up my process.

It can be tough to justify. I have three bodies though, but one is an older film body, and the other is a 4/3s DSLR. What I could not justify was two $800+ DSLRs. Kind of makes me wish I'd kept my old D80. ;-)

I agree with the difficulty in justifying having both the D90 and the D300s. I started with a D90 to save cash and I wasn't all that sure I'd like digital. Now too many lenses later there are features the D300s has that I'd like, but now spending $1500 for the same sensor is tough. Give me a bit more (sensor wise) and the decision would be easier. I can't quite justify a second body either.

I didn't think you were trying to attack me either. :-) I loved the D90 for general photography, I just couldn't justify having both. :-(

The metering mode issue is true to a point, PB PM. The Fn button is assignable on both bodies to any metering mode, and on the D300 the dof preview button can be assigned to the other (I had center-weighted as my default, spot assigned to function, and matrix on the dof preview button). As I got more comfortable starting each situation by metering a few different locations and then shooting M instead of A (which I used to use all the time), I stopped using matrix metering and switched to center-weighted all the time. This is why I don't miss that, and if I ever wanted spot again, I could assign it to Fn but I like on-camera flash settings there.
If I changed AF modes often the D90 would bother me. You're right about that.
And having settings banks was a nice feature that I miss sometimes, but that's just a software handicap.
Thanks for the conversation. I'm not trying to attack you; I was really just curious about what you thought was better about the D300. I love both of those cameras.

You have to look at the LCD any time you want to change metering modes. If you want to change dynamic or single point AF mode, you have to dive into menus, vs with the click of the knob on the D300. Those things are important to me as a wildlife photographer. Also, changing the drive mode is so much faster, no need to look at the top LCD of the D300 to do that like you must on the D90.

What do you change that makes you look at the top LCD? ISO is the big thing missing through the viewfinder by default, but there's a custom setting on the D90 to replace the number of shots remaining with the ISO setting. I don't like the feel of the smaller body (another upgrade--who says the D90 replacement needs to be the same size as the D90?), but as far as changing settings I meant what I said about a painless switch. I'm as fast 'on the draw' with a D90 [roll High Noon theme music].
The viewfinder I'll give you, but it's another easy upgrade. What else is missing?