Nikon D90 breaks new ground. By combining a 12.3 mexapixel image quality with a cinematic 24fps D-Movie Mode, Nikon looks to capture the heart of passionate photographers as well as new media creators.

Nikon affectionados are in for a real treat with the D90. For starters, the D90 is underpriced for the features it contains. In creating the D90, Nikon took the great “feel” of the D40/D60 style cameras and beefed it up with some real pro style bling…such as the new 12.3 megapixel sensor, an incredible 3 inch rear display screen, and live view functionality.

Borrowing from the D300 model, Nikon is basically giving you an upgrade to the D300 at a 30% savings! One note, the D300 has the ability to shoot 6 frames/second continuously vs. 4.5 fps with the D90. Unless you are a professional photojournalist, the slight difference should not be a show stopper.

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Scene recognition. First introduced on Nikon’s D3 and D300 flagship cameras, the D90’s Scene Recognition System uses a 420-pixel RGB sensor to analyze scene and color data of the subject being photographed. Based on these readings, the camera optimizes its focus points, exposure and white balance moments before the shutter is released. The D90 also detects human faces to render up to five faces with stunning sharpness and accuracy and more natural skin tones in your images.

D-Movie Mode—Cinematic 24fps HD with sound: Record cinematic-quality movie clips at up to 720p HD (1280 x 720 pixels) in Motion JPEG format, enhanced by NIKKOR interchangeable lens quality and versatility. Ok, being a photog purist I never thought I’d say this, but I do like the video capture on this camera. I assume the term “still camera” will soon vanish from our vocabulary, however, not without a fight. The D90 makes switching from still photography to video capture absolutely effortless. In addition, photog/videog can now use their existing arsenal of Nikkor lenses for either task. While this video capture will not be confused with professional videography, it does a nice job for what it was designed for.

Overall, the D90 great camera in the long tradition of excellence from the folks at Nikon. The styling for the D90 is sleek and form fitting. Controls are placed where you would expect to find them (assuming you are a Nikon user). While not all of the features offered with the D90 are “best of breed”, it can safely be said this feature filled camera is attractively priced and will prove to be a solid performer.