Hi all.

Some thoughts and advice...

I have just seen that Kogan have a D90 on sale Body only for $679!!!

http://www.kogan.com.au/shop/category/dslr-cameras/

I have two Nikon lens (about 6 years old) already, and I know that buying the basic lens kits that come with the camera are not that great.

I have be struggling to justify/afford a DSLR for a while now - I don't want to get a cheaper Nikon. The D90 is what I want.

Do you think I should get this great deal and use my current lens (the only negative thing I can think of is that the auto focus may not work - which doesn't bother me so much) and then buy lens as I need/can afford??

well, the d90 is on closeout. it's been replaced by the d7000. not sure of the price difference but the d7000 is really good. the d90 was good back in the day, but the newer cameras have better video for sure. also check the d5100. not sure about prices though, so if $679 is a great deal...

Hi Ozgirl About those lens, they should work well if they are of a Nikor DX format. But its best to know for shore before buying. I think it a bargain for a D90 body. Make shore you get an extra battery. I think they eat the power when in video mode.

hmmmm thanks for that.....

the D90 has been on my wish list for far too long then!!!

What about the lenses question?

thanks JohnoT - how do i know that?

just checked and both have nikkor written on them but no DX?

what lenses do you have already?

I would def recommend NOT getting the d90 and getting the d5100 instead!

Image Quality

Image quality is definitely the D5100's trump card. It offers effectively the same image quality as the higher-end D7000, at a lower cost, and it's hard to argue that this is not a good thing. Since we're comparing the D5100 to the D7000, it is also worth noting that of the thousands of frames that we've shot with the D5100, we haven't seen the same overexposure problem that bothered us with the D7000 in some conditions.

At low ISO settings, the D5100 is on a par with the best of the competition, but at the higher ISO settings, it produces some of the best image quality that we've ever seen from an APS-C camera. Noise levels are impressively low, and default noise reduction does a good job of controlling chroma noise while still preserving detail. The D5100's 16MP sensor is one of a new generation with an impressively low noise floor, and as such, a huge amount can be drawn out of both its JPEG and RAW files. JPEG shooters will love the ability to shoot with Active D-Lighting turned on with little penalty in noise levels (or continuous shooting performance) and more advanced users will enjoy the malleability of its NEF files.

Seriously can't afford a more expensive camera! I really thank you for the advice but I think i will stick with the D90 - i would be happy with that.

It was more of a question of to save and get a lens kit or just get the body and wait and get better lenses later.

I don't know what lens i currently have besides the focal length! One is a lens kit one and one i bought separately.

I use Konica- Minolta and can not be certain but I,m sure that Nikor hasn't change since the first Nikon DSLR. Only recently that Nikon they change to a FX format. So the 2 lens should be all right. But if they don,t in will be only AF and may be the Anti- Vibration that will not work. like you said, you can match up latter if they don,t and you be able to pick up some cheap lens seeing that Nikon is changing their Format because they usually bring out lens also to cash in.

just looking at the link u posted...d5100 is cheaper than the d90.........

Okay hang on the D5100 come with a lens about the same price

Why???

it will be written on the lens ie 18-55 and 1:3.5-5.6 <-which is the f-stop

YEAH! thats what i noticed!

Yeah but thats not going to say/help whether it will AF?

Anyway 70 - 300mm 1:4 - 5.6

and 28 - 80mm 1:3.3 - 5.6 G

Nothing flash I know.

ozgirl - 14 September 2011 09:41 PM

Okay hang on the D5100 come with a lens about the same price

Why???

so the newest midrange consumer model (5100) is the same price as the top consumer model (d90) on closeout (it has been replaced by the d7000).

Now, technology gets better and better, right? the d90 was the first nikon camera to have video. Since then, they've released more than 4 new ones with video, each time improving on it. Same with the camera innards. The d5100 will have better low-light shooting capabilities than the d90 (prob a stop difference). This means that in a dark room, with the d90 you could shoot up to iso 800 before the picture got too noisy to be useable. Now, with the d5100 you'll be able to bump the iso up to 1600. (not sure what the exact specs are.) for comparison, with my 6 year old d200, I cringe at anything higher than iso 400. iso 800 is doable but needs lots of photoshop, and most of the time the pics look like crap anyways. So high iso is good.

The only place you lose out in the d5100 vs d90 is frames per second. d5100 only goes up to 4fps. the d90 is higher, either 5 or 6 (haven't looked it up).

ozgirl - 14 September 2011 09:45 PM

Yeah but thats not going to say/help whether it will AF?

Anyway 70 - 300mm 1:4 - 5.6

and 28 - 80mm 1:3.3 - 5.6 G

Nothing flash I know.

http://sincerityboy.blogspot.com/2010/02/nikon-d5000-compatible-lenses.html

well, your lens won't autofocus on the d5100