Nikon Does It Again
Chase Jarvis tests the new Nikon D90 -
We had a blast, gaffer taping up the logos, running in stealth mode with all these black beauties so that they wouldn’t be noticed around other crew, cast, and the general public. Secret agent fun. We worked the cameras hard during my piggy-backed commercial shoot for more than a week. We shot them constantly, me–along with the D3–and the crew just with the fleet of D90’s. And funny how this happens, but go figure…our work with the D90 on location soon bled into shooting over dinner, then drinks, and then into the night, then into the next week, and so on. And the more we beat on ‘em, the more the crew liked ‘em.
Even if you’re not a camera guru, it’s always encouraging to see a company do so many things right with a product launch. The Nikon D90 was no secret—the rumor mills were talking about it months in advance, and Circuit City leaked the feature list hours before launch.
Yet there has been a significant amount of hype around this product. Canon users are drooling, and Nikon users are rejoicing—happily laying down their money for this “revolutionary” camera. The only other company that has pulled off an announcement to this level of hype is Apple.
And as much as I love Apple, there is something that Nikon did right with the D90. They gave a handful of cameras to pro photographer Chase Jarvis and his staff to test extensively on commercial shoots. Commercial shoots that are usually shot on $5000 Nikon D3s.
The D90 delivered. From superb high-ISO performance to 720p HD video in a DSLR for the first time, the D90 is a breakthrough camera. At $999 for the body only, this is the perfect camera for aspiring amateurs. This is the future—having a HD video camera and a DSLR in one. All of a sudden the D90 becomes the best photo journalism device. It’s small, light, preforms amazingly in low-light, and does video to boot. Flickr video is starting to make a bit more sense, eh?
Compare this to the incremental Canon 50d announcement yesterday that was greeted with little fanfare, obviously Nikon is doing something right. Even Canon lovers are jumping on board. Smaller companies like Nikon and RED are innovating like crazy by bringing pro-level features to the mainstream audience, and changing the game in the camera industry.
Until today, I was eyeing the D300 as an upgrade to my current D40x. But the D90 packs most of the punch of the D300 in a smaller, lighter, cheaper form factor. And it shoots HD video. Nikon really has a winner on their hands, and now I’m looking to sell my beloved D40x with a Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 lens in preparation a D90 purchase. Contact me if you’re interested.
