Im looking at picking up a second hand d90 for £230. Thats just the body without kit lense. Think this is a good deal? Or should i just stump up and buy one of the newer models? Really close to pulling the trigger on it & Ill just pick up a 35mm to go with it i reckon. 4900 shots taken on the body so its not been used that much. Regards William
To be honest, I can't tell you because I don't know the current going price for a D90. But the question regarding newer model: for the same price, you can only get entry levels such as D3200, compared to those, D90 are much better to learn photography. This is mainly due to extra controls. If you can stretch you budget, I hear D7000 is brilliant.
As above on current prices however I would be tempted to go for the d3200 over the 90 as you get pretty good video on the newer cameras and the ISO ranges have been improving massively since the 90. You also loose quite a few grams and get a far smaller camera which can be an advantage or disadvantage depending on the size of your hands. Personally I like being able to fit my camera in a relatively small bag where the D90 is a bit bulkier. What you lose out on with the 3200 is the autofocus motor so you need AF-S lenses. You also have less buttons so there are a few combos required. It's a risk reward thing really. The D90 will always look more pro though.... Oh and I too am lusting after a D7000 which is a major upgrade over the D90. edit Oh and I would factor in another 120 (second hand) to get yourself a 18-105 lens to go with it. You'll need it soon enough a kit lens is just so handy.
Im 6"4 with big sausage fingers so small camera doesn’t really bother me that much would rather it fitted comfortably in my paws. Cheers for the advice, been looking at a camera for ages now. Just never end pull the trigger on it..so indecisive.
My cousin said the same thing about his D90 and much prefers using it to the D5000 that he returned to upgrade from. If you have no interest in video I would suggest that this is a very good way to go. It also means you can use older AF lenses which means more lens for less money.
The D90 is now quite old in camera years, depends of course on your budget but there are quite a few new Nikon models with higher spec available for only a few quid more than £230 and there are a lot of bargains to be had when buying slightly older models, I've just bought a Nikon D5200 + 18-55m VR II + extra battery and 2 year warranty for £435, that includes the £50 cash back Nikon have been offering but I'm not sure the cash back is still running, the D5200 cost £700 in 2013 and has recently been superseded by the D5300, that's a big price drop in 12 months and it's an excellent camera, I'm really happy with it. I wouldn't be concerned about the quality of kit lenses if that's why you are only buying a body, the Nikon 18-55mm is perfectly adequate unless you want to go making very big enlargements. While I would like to support the small camera shops they can't compete on price and I bought my D5200 from...wait for it...PC WORLD! They were the cheapest I could find so you might want to have a look here, so far their service has been fine, although I still wouldn't buy a PC from them
D90 is not a bad starter unit. 12MP is more than enough for the average amateur photographer and if you're buying for the stills then don't worry too much about the video. There will always be a cheaper, better unit in the future. Invest more in good lenses, as these do not depreciate as much as bodies and will outlive several camera models. As Umbra said, you're not missing much by not getting kit lenses.
