In 1994, I went on a three-week photo safari in Botswana with Galen Rowell,
author of Mountain Light.
. One thing that I noticed towards the end of the trip was how
well his Nikon equipment held up to three weeks of dusty, bumpy beating from a
Land Rover. Upon my return, I sold off my older Minolta Maxxum equipment and
bought a $5000 Nikon AF system. It seemed like a lot of money, but I take my
equipment seriously. I never want to be on a shoot when the perfect picture pops
up and I'm not ready or capable of taking it.
I chose the N90s as my primary camera over an
F4. This
surprised some of my photographic friends, especially those that equate cost with
quality, but if you know anything about the two cameras you already can guess
why. The primary advantages of an F4 over the N90s are:
- Interchangeable viewfinders (right angle, waist level, reflex prism,
etc.)
- Mirror lockup
- Conventional (traditional) controls
- Slightly higher continuous frame rate (5.7 fps versus 4.3)
- 100% view in viewfinder
The advantages of the N90s over the F4 are:
- Faster and better autofocus mechanism
- Lighter weight
- More sophisticated matrix metering
- Lower price
Only the missing mirror lockup and 100% view gave me a moment of pause in
making my decision.
Having used the N90s for two years now--including shoots in Alaska, a
high-altitude Andes trek in Peru, as well as a number of local, shorter, trips--I
have strong opinions about what is good and not so good about the camera.
The Basics
The N90s is a professional caliber, Autofocus camera. It features a wide-area
autofocus module (CAM246) with predictive autofocus that can track objects moving
quite fast. Autofocus detection works from EV -1 to EV 19 (ISO 100; f/1.4 lens),
and the metering range extends out to EV 21. Unlike the N90, the N90s uses 1/3
stop shutter speeds from 1/8000th of a second to 30 seconds (the N90
uses half-stop changes). You can shoot single shots, continuous at 2 fps, or
continuous at 4.3 fps.
A lot of marketing noise has been made about program modes. Personally, I've
yet to find anything other than auto program, aperture priority, shutter
priority, or manual modes useful on any camera. Besides these, the N90s includes
seven additional modes: portrait, portrait with red-eye reduction, landscape,
silhouette, sport, and close-up.
An eight-segment matrix that incorporates information about the focus point if
you're using "D-type" lenses does the metering. Alternatively, you can chose
Nikon traditional spot or center-weighted metering. An exposure compensation
button gives you a +/- 5 stop range in 1/3 stop steps. Exposure (as well as
autofocus) can be locked by on-camera controls. ISO values from 25 to 5000 are
automatically set from DX-coded film, with manual override and automatic override
setting also possible.
Flash sync works to 1/250th of second for normal flash. Flash
metering uses five segments and can be TTL balanced, red-eye enabled,
slow-synced, and synchronized with the rear curtain.
In the viewfinder, you'll see about 92% of the full frame. Shutter speed,
aperture, exposure mode, metering method, focus indicator, exposure compensation,
flash ready, and frame counter are all visible, even to eyeglass wearers like
me.
The N90s takes any Nikon F mount lens (early models may need to be adapted
first). And like all professional Nikons, it uses AA batteries (four). A depth of
field preview button is included, but no mirror lockup. The self timer is user
settable from 2 to 30 seconds; one useful addition is the ability to make two
shots with a single self timer trigger.
The camera weighs in at 26.6 ounces without batteries or any other
accessories.
Here are some significant missing features: mirror lockup, 100% viewfinder,
built-in vertical grip, built-in exposure bracketing, and built-in multiple
exposure abilities.
Handling
Pick up the N90s and you're immediately struck by how substantial it feels.
Some might say "heavy," but it really isn't a heavy camera, just a densely
packed, well-built one. The N90s is certainly heavier than the Minoltas I used to
use, but the build quality is also higher, with more gaskets and better buttons
all around. (Hint: invest in an Optech strap--you'll feel a lot less of the
weight around your neck.)
Some of the controls on the N90s fall naturally under the fingers, others
don't. (Caveat: I have rather small hands.) The shutter release and auto exposure
locks are right where I want them to be. I can't say the same for the exposure
compensation, autofocus lock, or metering method buttons, however. The exposure
compensation button is a long reach from the shutter release for my index finger,
although over time I've managed to get used to it. The autofocus lock involves
using your ring finger pressing 90 degrees opposite of the shutter release
mechanism, and is a small, hard-to-find button (fortunately, you can put light
pressure on the shutter release to do the same thing). I've never managed to use
it effectively. The metering method button is on the left side of the pentaprism,
and this almost guarantees that casual shooters will have to take the camera away
from their eyes to change metering methods.
The only stupidly placed button is the LCD light button (it lights both the
LCD and the viewfinder display). This button is too close to the eyepiece.
All controls with multiple settings (flash, metering, exposure compensation,
ISO, mode, drive) are set by holding down the appropriate button and rotating the
knurled dial. Since the viewfinder provides a wealth of information, generally
you can change these settings without removing your eye from the camera. Again,
however, it helps to use the camera enough to know by feel where each control is.
This is certainly possible, and I've watched masters in the field change settings
without ever looking at the LCD panel on the top of the camera. On a three-week
shoot, the first week I'll still be groping to control the camera; by the third
week, I've nearly got it mastered.
One nice touch is that program modes and settings you've made are remembered
when you turn the camera off and back on. This is both a blessing and a curse. If
you're using the camera a lot, you'll find it a blessing. If you use the camera
infrequently, you'll curse this feature. An example: you're shooting on snow, so
you intentionally set an exposure compensation to make sure you don't get gray
snow (typically +1 to 2 stops, by the way). You go home. A month later you take
the camera out to take a picture of the goddaughter. The camera will still have
the exposure compensation set (and be politely reminding you of this with a very
discrete indicator on the LCD and in the viewfinder). It's easy to overlook those
indicators and start shooting with the compensation still active. On the other
hand, it's nice not to have to keep setting aperture priority, spot metering, 1/3
stop ISO adjustment, and so on, every time you turn on the camera.
So, my first rule of N90s use: always zero out any one-time settings before
turning off the camera. The corollary: always check the LCD indicators when you
turn on the camera.
As you would expect with a Nikon, mounting lenses, loading film, turning on
the camera, and returning to the "idiot" settings are all straightforward. The
camera back is opened by a two button lever on the side of the camera--it's near
impossible to accidentally open the camera, and it's a one hand operation to open
the back when you need to. I've never had a misload on the automatic film takeup,
although I have had ISOs overridden due to my own mistake (see rule #1,
above).
I've abused my N90s for a little over two years (it's been strapped to a
goat's back, dropped, rammed into trees while falling down a hill, rained on,
bounced around in a dusty vehicle over dirt roads, and more). There are two very
small scratches on the pentaprism that you can't see unless you're right on top
of the camera. And the rubber eyepiece accessory I bought refuses to stay on
(fortunately, the eyepiece itself has a rubber gasket around its edge, so I'm not
putting my glasses against metal or plastic as on some cameras). That's it. I've
never had a camera that's stood up better against my clumsy follies.
One final comment on handling: if you're moving up from an 8008, the N90s will
be intuitively obvious to you; the user controls are similar. If you're moving up
from an N50 or N70, however, you'll probably be baffled at first. Why Nikon chose
to use three distinctively different user control methods on the N-series cameras
is beyond my capability to understand, but it does mean some extra learning for
those who step up.
Modes
I noted my predilection against custom modes earlier, but the Nikon's seven
special modes deserve a few more words of derision. In short, none of them are
extreme enough to work as advertised.
The basic program mode (Ps) works well. It adjusts to the lens you're using
(picking higher shutter speeds and wider apertures for longer lenses in the same
lighting situation, for instance). Better still, you can use the control dial to
"shift" the selected program if it doesn't meet your needs. For casual shooting,
this works well, and as you would expect. (Caveat: I almost always shoot in
aperture-preferred mode.)
The so-called vari-program modes don't do as well. For example, the Hyperfocal
Program (HF) is a misnomer. A true hyperfocal program would look at where you're
focused, select an f/stop and focus setting that would put everything in focus
from in front of that subject to infinity (with the subject itself probably about
1/3rd of the way into the "in-focus" field). A bit of experimentation
with this mode tells me that it simply sets a modestly small aperture (typically
f/11). Sorry, close but no cigar. Worse still, none of the vari-program modes
allow the control dial to shift the program! So you can't make up for the
mistakes the vari-program modes make. Useless.
Want more? Portrait mode always picks the fastest aperture it can. It's not
very useful unless you have fast lenses, and then it really is no different than
setting aperture mode and picking your widest aperture. Portrait with red-eye
reduction simply preflashes the SB-25 or triggers the SB-26's incandescent lamp;
otherwise it is the same as Portrait (again, you can set the camera to do this
without using the special mode).
The Landscape mode is similar to the hyperfocal mode, but even lamer, as it
typically selects apertures between f5.6 and f16 using a method I can't fathom.
The Sport program almost always selects a shutter speed of 1/250 or 1/500 (you'd
think the predictive autofocus would be used here to calculate how high a shutter
speed was necessary, but it isn't). The close-up mode picks relatively wide
apertures (typically f/5.6 on most lenses), which seems contradictory to the
limited depth of field you have at close range.
The only program that seems to work as advertised, and then only if the
conditions are correct, is the silhouette mode. If--and that's a big if--you have
a strongly backlit situation with an object in the foreground, this mode does
indeed seem to ignore the foreground exposure, resulting in a silhouette. Most
professionals, however, will still want to calculate their own exposure to make
sure they get the amount of silhouette they want.
Exposure
The eight-area matrix metering is pretty darn intelligent. It does a good job
of ignoring backlight and sky in horizontal exposures, and with fill flash and
D-type lenses is nothing short of awesome in its accuracy. (Note: the N90s
doesn't have a vertical detection mechanism like the F4, so it doesn't do as good
a job ignoring backlight and sky in exposures when held vertically.) I've checked
the camera against my Minolta flash meter on many occasions, and the results are
dead-on.
If you don't like matrix metering, I suggest trying the spot metering option.
Spot metering reads only the innermost 1% circle (the inner ring in the
viewfinder). Switch to spot metering, place the inner ring on a neutral gray
area, and you've got your exposure. If only the auto exposure lock button were
easier to use and actually locked (you have to hold it to save exposure
info).
It is possible (but not probable) to get outside the possible exposure range.
The N90s does a good job of letting you know, popping up indicators in the
viewfinder to help. In manual mode, you get an electronic match needle in the
viewfinder that indicates up to one stop each direction in third stops. Unlike
almost any camera I've used before, the N90s's exposure system feels natural to
me, and always provides useful information.
Autofocus
I can't say enough good things about the N90s's autofocus system. Suffice it
to say that it works better than my eyes do most of the time. One thing that will
fool most newcomers is the ground glass indicators. While the brackets indicate
the size of the autofocus area, what they don't prepare you for is the predictive
nature of the continuous autofocus. What this means is that if you press lightly
on the shutter release to start autofocus on something that's within the
bracketed area, and then that object moves out of the bracketed area, there's a
good chance the autofocus system is still locked onto it, even though it's
outside the brackets. The autofocus detection on the N90s is wider than that of
the 6006, 8008, and F4, although you can set it to a narrower view, if
necessary.
Predictive autofocus is something you need to experience to understand and
appreciate. My suggestion: shoot some test rolls of a friend riding towards you
on a bike at varying speeds. Note the difference between starting with the
subject centered and not. Note the difference between locking the autofocus on
the subject first and just stabbing the shutter release. Note the difference in
vertical operation from horizontal (the autofocus areas favor horizontal
exposures).
Unlike my Minolta 7xi, the N90s does not hunt for focus with longer lenses
anywhere near as much (longer lenses are sensitive to this due, in part, to depth
of field differences). Autofocus works with any lens with a maximum aperture of
f/8 or larger. I've even gotten the autofocus to work with a 2x auto extender on
a 300mm f/4 lens (extenders are often have a problem with autofocus mechanisms).
In darkness, the SB-26 flash system can emit an infrared signal that can be used
by the autofocus system. Because of the autofocus system, you must use circular
polarizing filters. Finally, if you use a manual focus lens, indicators in the
viewfinder help identify when the lens is properly focused.
In my experience, the autofocus system works as you would expect. It's faster
than I can manually focus, it deals with off-center subjects well, and except for
macro photography, I use it all the time. (Note: with the expensive, fast long
telephotos like the 500mm f/4, you can override the autofocus by simply rotating
the manual focus ring on the lens, a nice touch that is especially useful in
wildlife and sports photography.)
Flash
It's always been interesting to me how the three major SLR manufacturers
differ in flash technology. I see nothing compelling about Canon's flash
technology--it seems pretty basic. Minolta was the first to provide wireless
flash, and I was a big user of dual, off-camera wireless flash with my Maxxums
(the new Nikon flashes can also go wireless, but they don't work as well as the
Minolta did). Nikon's claim to fame is the slow-sync, rear curtain abilities.
Indeed, it was the rear curtain function that attracted me to Nikon's flash
system.
When you press the shutter release with most cameras, even in slow sync mode,
the flash fires immediately. The net result is that your subject thinks that
you've taken the picture and starts to move. And if the movement is long enough
or directional enough, you'll end up with subject streaks that often go the wrong
way (we expect streaks to be behind the subject, not ahead of it). Rear curtain
firing of the flash means that the flash fires at the end of the exposure.
Movement streaks suddenly go the right way, and your subject (think about
wildlife here, folks) doesn't tend to move during the slow sync portion of the
exposure.
I also like the ease with which you can set fill flash with the Nikon cameras.
Galen Rowell has written often about the magic fill number (set -1.7 on a Nikon
flash head), and having watched him in the field and tried the same techniques
myself, I now swear by fill flash for many, if not most, situations I encounter.
(As Galen says: it's easier to control contrast when you're taking the picture
than it is after you've processed the film.) The N90s and SB-26 make a great
combination. I leave my SB-26 set on standby and the magic fill number. When I
need fill flash, I mount the flash on the camera and shoot. Don't need fill? Pull
the flash off. With a little practice, it's that simple. This method even works
well with a remote flash cable (SC-17). The 1/250th top sync speed
gives you a lot of flexibility when you're working with flash, and the camera is
smart enough to remind you when you're out of its shutter speed range.
Better still is the way the flash operation integrates with the exposure
system. First, with D-type lenses, both the flash system and the exposure system
consider the focus point. This alters which of the matrix areas is used to
calculate the primary exposure (the TTL exposure system uses a five-matrix
pattern). In the aperture priority mode I use most often, the camera will even
tell you if the background is likely to be over or underexposed! It does this by
displaying a HI or – in the viewfinder (in slow sync mode, a LO may also
appear to indicate background underexposure).
The SB-26 also allows a special high-speed flash up to 1/4000th of
a second on the N90s (yikes!). Unfortunately, the guide number is substantially
lower, meaning that this is only useful if you're close to your subject.
Drawbacks
Some controls are more difficult to use than necessary
Live with the N90s for awhile and the controls become more and more
comfortable. But if you use this camera as an intermittent tool, you'll find that
there's always a few day adjustment period as you relearn the feel of the
exposure compensation, metering, and various lock buttons again.
Lack of some F4 features
You can't do anything about the lack of mirror lockup (use the self-timer to
lower vibrations, if necessary), but some of the other missing features are
possible to achieve with an N90s. The MF-26 databack provides multiple exposure,
for example. The MB-10 grip provides a vertical release and battery flexibility
(including Lithium power capability).
No exposure bracketing
Again, an MF-26 databack can add this function to the N90s, as can the Sharp
Datalink connection. Unfortunately, neither is very convenient to use.
Competition
I'm not familiar with the current Canon or Pentax line-up, so I won't comment
on them.
The nearest Minolta model is the 600si. I've also used 7xi's and 700si models,
which also are in the same feature league as the N90s. The Minoltas are lighter,
more plasticky in feel, and have slightly better control ergonomics than the
N90s. The autofocus mechanism on the Minoltas is noisier, hunts more, but does as
good a job as the N90s's. I found high variability in exposure accuracy in the
Minolta models (over a stop), very little amongst the three or four N90s's I've
used. The wireless flash on the Minoltas is better than the Nikon version, but
the Nikon flash metering is more accurate. On the other hand, the Minolta models
are substantially less expensive than the N90s, making the choice difficult for
an advanced amateur. (One thing that put me over the edge was the availability of
a completely manual backup body, the FM2n, which gives me the ability to use the
same lenses on a battery-free camera, if necessary.)
In the Nikon realm, the N70 is the most likely camera considered by someone
looking at an N90s. Feature by feature, the N70 is pretty much equivalent. It
adds auto exposure bracketing and a built-in flash to the N90s feature list, and
makes some minor modifications to the program modes. But an N70 body has a street
price of about $500-600, while the N90s is impossible to find at under $1000. For
a casual user, the N70 is probably a better choice than an N90s. For an advanced
amateur or professional, the N90s is still attractive, however. As much as I've
maligned some of the ergonomics of the N90s, it is possible to keep your eye at
the viewfinder and control anything on the camera. The N70's control design is
centered on a fancy, colored LCD display. Changing a setting on the N70 just
won't happen as fast as a skilled N90s user can do the same thing. The depth of
field preview button is also another vote for the N90s. Finally, the N90s's
casing seems more substantial and sturdy, and I can certainly attest to how well
it has stood any number of field abuses.
The N90s is one of the most expensive 35mm bodies on the market, pushing $1000
even at a discounter like
B&H
Photo. I've found my investment in the N90s worth it, however. I trust my
N90s. I've taken better pictures with it than with any previous camera. I know
its abilities and controls well enough for the camera to have become second
nature, something I've not achieved with a lot of other cameras. The N90s is the
best photographic tool I've owned.
Is it the best possible photographic tool? I've experimented briefly
with an F5 and I liked it well enough to order one. Will the N90s go into the
closet for good, or be relegated to a backup body only? Nope. My quick and dirty
shooting kit, which I take everywhere, will consist of the N90s and the new
24-120mm zoom. That's how much I like my N90s: it accompanies me everywhere.
Copyright 1997 Thom Hogan
Article created 1997
Add a comment
Notify me of comments
