As if my life wasn’t busy enough, I decided to start a new reviews website and community.  Guitar playing is something that has been a very big part of my life - not only because I enjoy it so much, but because I’ve been able to learn and play with my cousin since the very beginning.  We’ve played in every band I’ve been in since, and I wouldn’t trade those experiences for anything.

Getting back on topic here, I decided it would be a fun project to create a message forum for guitar players.  Yeah, I know there are plenty of those already, but this is more of a relaxing project for me, so there aren’t any real expectations - well, not yet anyway.  The plan is to bring my editorial experience to the table with my cousins John and Stephen to review guitars, gear, and albums as well as anything guitar-related.  The site is not finished yet, but we’re getting there.  Have a look and let me know what you think.  www.guitartechnica.com

On August 27, Nikon changed the landscape of photography by introducing the first D-SLR camera that can shoot movies.  Is that exciting?  Not really to me, but I can see the advantage of having on-demand ability to shoot 720P HD movies.  Before I get into that, let’s see what the D90 really is - an upgrade to the existing D80.

 
:: Nikon D90 - Click on image to enlarge ::

Logically, the D90 inherits the same (or very similar) 12.3 megapixel CMOS sensor from the pro-level D300.  This in itself is a significant improvement, in my opinion, as the D300 outperformed the D80/D200 in terms if dynamic range and high-ISO performance.  The D90 inherits the D80’s polycarbonate body, however this time it’s weather sealed.  As expected, continuous shooting performance is up from 3 to 4.5 FPS, however the RAW buffer’s 7-frame capacity is disappointing.  The D90 keeps the D80/D200 Multi-CAM 11-point 1000 autofocus system, which in my experience works very well for action/sports photography.  The final major improvement is the addition of the D300/D700/D3 3-inch, 920,000 pixel LCD, which is a beautiful display that shows far greater detail in images than the previous LCD.

:: Nikon D90 - Click on images above to enlarge ::

Aside from the many consumer-friendly features added that I will not bother mentioning here, D-Movie seems to be the show-stopper for this camera.  Shooting HD movies with the advantages of the large SLR sensor is an appealing prospect, but there’s a caveat with this camera - there’s no autofocus in movie mode.  Yes, you read right - this one confuses me, since the D90 can autofocus in Live View mode, however the user must manually focus in D-Movie mode.   Further, while the D90 shoots in 720P HD, the movies are limited to 24 FPS.  I know this isn’t a camcorder and it’s not designed to take the place of one, but I think at the very least it should do what even consumer point-and-shoot cameras can do while shooting movies - automatically focus.

Will I buy a D90?  Maybe as a backup camera, especially if its image quality is on par or close to that of the D300.   Canon also introduced their update to the 40D - not surprising called the 50D.  I’ll post more on that model later.