Nikon D90 has Arrived to Advance your Artistic Tendencies

With the newly announced D90, Nikon is finally blazing new trails in digital photography (after playing catch-up for years). Recently, Nikon has been: developing their own sensors that push the limits of low-light sensitivity while producing less noise, improving their Vibration Reduction (VR) lenses to the allow sharp handheld shots at shutter speeds as low as 1/15 of a sec, and, the biggie, integrating HD video recording w/sound (720p @ 24fps) into the D90, a DSLR first.

The HD video files are formatted in AVI; these are easily imported in most video editing software. 5 minutes per video clip is all you get, and the camera can’t adjust the focus automatically while recording, because the mirror is up, but that doesn’t stop you from manually adjusting the focus through live view, if you're up to it.

Other cool new features include the an HDMI port, simulated Fisheye Effect, Straighten, Distortion Control, and up to five faces can be detected with the face detection software. Once the faces are identified the photographer can then press the zoom key to quickly verify that the focus was accurate; something portrait photographers will love.

The D90, the top model of the DX format cameras in Nikon's line, is set to drop in a matter of weeks. The body will be sold for at or around $1000, while the kit, with the AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-105 f/3.5-5.6, will sell for around $1300. I think I've found my new backup cam to the D300.

A Video of Chase Jarvis and his lucky crew that got a sneak preview, playing with the new Nikon D90 after the break.