Nikon AF-S DX 18-105mm f3.5-5.6G ED VR

With the new Nikon D90 dominating the headlines, many photographers may not have noticed that a new kit lens was launched at the same time. Nikon now has quite a few standard zooms to go with its DX-format DSLRs, which include the D60, the D90 and D300. It could all get a little confusing, so here’s a quick update on what’s available.

First, there’s the basic 18-55mm kit lens sold with the Nikon D60 and, before that, the D40 and D40x. The latest version now has VR (Vibration Reduction). Next up is the oldest lens in the group, the 18-70mm. This appeared with Nikon’s first consumer DSLR, the D70. It’s a bit long in the tooth now, and doesn’t have VR, but it may still turn up as a kit lens with some retailers and, in particular, the old D80. The D80 was also sold with a longer-range zoom, the 18-135mm, though this too doesn’t have VR.

The 18-105mm VR reviewed here is a worthwhile step up from all of them. Still with us? Well, there are three more lenses to go! The 16-85mm VR is a slightly wider-angle kit lens aimed more at enthusiasts and pros. It’s not cheap, but its optical quality and build quality are first rate. The 18-200mm VR is an early image-stabilized kit zoom which was hard to get hold of at first and has been criticized for its ‘zoom creep’, but it’s still tempting, especially at today’s prices.

Finally, the 17-55mm f2.8 is a weighty and expensive non-VR lens with a constant maximum aperture, aimed squarely at professionals and which, to be fair, only balances well on the equally massive D300.

So where does that leave the 18-105mm VR? It’s an excellent mid-range zoom, which complements Nikon’s lighter bodies perfectly. You can pay more and gain marginal improvements in certain directions (zoom range, maximum aperture), but the benefit of these more expensive lenses is most likely to be felt only on Nikon’s pro-spec DX models. So what makes the new 18-105mm so good?

First, there’s the handling. It’s pretty compact, and tight, too. The barrel is neatly cylindrical, so it’s easy to slide into and out of a camera bag. The Zoom ring has a perfectly weighted action - not too light, not too stiff - and yet there’s no zoom creep if the camera is held pointing downwards (this is where the weight of the optical elements inside the lens cause it to extend).

The autofocus is excellent. Like Canon, Nikon routinely builds autofocus motors into the tens itself (other makers often rely on AF motors in the camera body). And, like Canon’s USM system, Nikon’s Silent Wave Motors are whisper-quiet and super-fast. This is where Canon and Nikon (and Olympus, for that matter) still have an advantage over manufacturers like Pentax, Sony or Samsung.

There’s a manual Focus ring too, of course, and this does produce one of the few disappointments with this tens. The focusing feer isn’t the best and there’s no focusing scale, either. This means you can’t ‘zone focus’, for example, when juggling with depth of field.

If you’re in a picky mood, you might also point out that the lens mount is plastic (the more expensive lenses use metal). Having said that, though, how many of us have ever had a plastic lens-mount wear out? And the tack of metal on the mount helps keep costs down - meaning you save money in the long run. How many of us would really argue with that?

For an inexpensive kit lens, the 18-105mm VR looks good, feels good and, perhaps most important of all, delivers excellent results. We performed Imatest tests using both a Nikon D90 and a D50 (for the sake of comparison with earlier tens tests). As you can see in the chart printed below, the results show that other kit lenses can match this one for peak sharpness, but not for outright consistency.

Test Chart

With most lenses we might expect to see a drop-off in definition at the edges of the frame, a loss of sharpness at maximum focal length or some other kind of optical weakness, but this lens hardly appears to have any weaknesses at all.

At Digital Photographer we test all new lenses, including kit optics, to ensure that standards are improving for the consumer, and in the case of this lens, t certainty looks like Nikon is offering a better quality direr of glass to accompany its newest DSLRs.

Published on Digital Photographer Magazine.

The world’s first DSLR to offer movie recording to photographers, is the D90 feature-packed or just trying to do too much?

Gone are the times when cameras simply took photographs. In a world where there’s an increasing demand for products that can multi-task, it was inevitable that this ethos would eventually creep into the DSLR market. We already have camera-phones, all-in-one printers and PDAs, but for the most part, it’s taken several generations of evolution to get the balance right when it comes to performance. Often, if a product claims to be capable of fulfilling more than one purpose, it turns out to be a jack of all trades, yet a master of none. Is this the case with Nikon’s latest DSLR? Read on to find out.

Back Face

The Nikon D90 supersedes the D80, and brings with it a host of new features. The newly developed 12 3MP DX-format CMOS sensor is kept dust-free thanks to the in-built sensor cleaning system and offers Live View and movie shooting capability, with the latter function being new territory in the DSLR domain. To make the experience of using these new modes as pleasurable as possible, the D90 features the high-res 920,000 dot, three-inch TFT LCD that’s found on higher-spec models in Nikon’s range of DSLRs (four times the resolution of the screen on the D80).

Nikon’s reputation for excellent build quality is upheld with this camera, which feels solid and reassuringly weighted - poles apart from the ‘toy-like’ build of some of the entry-level models from other manufacturers we’ve seen come to the market of late. We’re yet to encounter a Nikon DSLR that doesn’t fit like a glove in the hand: the D90’s rubberized ergonomic curves provide plenty to get hold of for a comfortable day-long shooting experience.

Seasoned Nikon aficionados will be accustomed to the manufacturer’s logical approach to control layout, and won’t be disappointed with the user interface on the D90. All the controls are well-placed, easily accessible and intuitive to use, making the camera incredibly easy to operate.

On the top panel of the camera body, you’ll find a handy LCD panel that allows you to keep tabs on your shooting settings, ISO, Drive mode, image quality and number of shots/battery power remaining - to name a few - as well as providing the interface where you make quick selections using the dedicated buttons adorning the body in conjunction with the main Command dial. Visually impaired users are catered for too, with an info button on the back of the camera generating a display of your settings on the three-inch rear LCD, which becomes interactive if a button relating to a function (eg, ISO/WB) is pressed while the display is active.

The viewfinder offers a marginally larger field of view than that on the D80, increasing from 95 per cent to 96 per cent. It’s bright, displays a range of settings and features a comfortable surrounding rubber eyecup and diopter adjustment. Through the viewfinder you can also see the D90’s 11-point AF system, which is quick to find a lock and - like the camera’s bigger brothers - uses a 3D-tracking mode to maintain a lock on moving subjects while you’re shooting. This system looks great on paper and performs pretty well in practice too, although a few more AF points would improve its accuracy even further. As previously mentioned, you’ll find an array of dedicated buttons adorning the D90’s body - in a very similar layout to the D80 - making it quick and easy to alter settings including Drive mode and Metering, as well as accessing Live View and/or the video recording mode via the Lv button on the back for the camera. An additional Exposure Compensation button is located next to the shutter release and is having to take your eye away from the viewfinder. Settings are simple to fine-tune: you just need to press the button relating to the relevant setting, then rotate the main Command dial to scroll through the options displayed on the top panel or on the larger rear LCD. This system works very well in practice and - in our opinion - is far less complicated than the methods employed by some of the D90’s competitors.

Top Face

Down the left-hand side of the LCD you’ll find a set of five buttons, three of which each perform multiple functions (with the exception of the Playback and Menu buttons). The Help/Protect button also allows you to alter the WB setting, the Zoom out/Thumbnail button accesses the ISO sensitivity options and the Zoom in button allows you to change the image quality. To do this, you’ll need to press and hold the buttons and rotate the main Command dial to scroll through the options displayed on the top panel/rear LCD.
All of the connection ports on the D90 - including DC In, USB, HDMI, AV and GPS/Remote - are grouped together on the left-hand side of the camera body, under two robust rubber doors that protect against water and dust ingress.

As you’d expect from a camera of this class, the D90 sports a built-in pop-up flash unit, which sits atop the camera and can either be triggered manually, or will activate automatically in Auto or some of the preset shooting modes. The camera offers a comprehensive selection of flash modes that should cater for most situations, providing a superb level of control over the output. Results are clean and aesthetically pleasing, although you still have the option of attaching an external flash unit (purchased separately) if you want to maximize your creative options. Photographers who already own an external flash gun will be pleased to learn that the D90’s built-in flash can also function as a commander when shooting with one or more compatible wireless flash units.

In use, the intuitive user interface and ergonomic styling come together to deliver a superb handling experience. The D90 is responsive, with the AF system being quick to lock onto most subjects - stationary or moving. The combination of the information seen in the viewfinder, on the top panel LCD and the three-inch rear display means you’re never out of touch with your current settings and the several methods available to fine-tune your settings are all simple to change.

The D90 ’s Live View mode is - as aforementioned -activated by a single button press. Here, the high quality of the rear LCD is particularly evident, making it a joy to use. As well as an almost full-screen view of the scene in front of the lens, key settings like aperture, shutter speed, ISO and number of shots remaining are displayed along the bottom, as well as your WB setting and image quality at the top, among others. Half depressing the shutter release focuses on your subject and fully depressing it takes the shot. Alternatively, once you’ve focused, pressing the OK button in the centre of the four-way multi-selector begins recording.

The D90 offers several different quality settings for movie recording (including 72dpi) and you have the option of turning sound recording on or off. As photographers, we’re no experts on video capture, but to us the quality looks very good: movement in the D90’s movies is pretty smooth, colors are vibrant and detail is sharp, however we did notice that panning causes the verticals in your image to skew until you come to a stop again, even when moving relatively slowly. The sound quality is ok, but we suspect this will take a bit of work to perfect in a future incarnation of the D90. You’re also limited to around five minutes of recording time at the highest quality setting and, while the camera can be set to control things like exposure automatically during recording, Auto WB is disabled, so you need to perfect your setting beforehand. It’s a bit of a mixed bag really, but a fun feature that amateur moviemakers should get a lot of enjoyment out of, with a bit of patience.

Still images, however, are simply stunning. The photographs the D90 is capable of producing are vivid and accurately colored, with superb clarity and exceptional detail that serve to complement the excellent handling this camera delivers. The dynamic range in JPEGs is very good, however extra shadow and highlight detail is retained if you turn on the excellent Active D-Lighting feature, which does make a perceptible difference in high-contrast scenes. The camera’s Auto WB option is generally accurate. However we found images shot in shady lighting were a little cool by default. Shooting RAW files obviously delivers the maximum flexibility when it comes to perfecting the look of your images, and more advanced users won’t be disappointed with the amount of detail that the Dgo’s RAW files retain.

The features the D90 borrows from its prestigious semi-pro/pro-grade siblings certainly add weight to the camera’s newly developed qualities, and will no doubt help to increase its appeal to consumers. Throw in the superb VR kit lens, and you have a very tempting proposition indeed. It’s astonishing to see how much the D90 has evolved when compared to the D70, to which it owes its heritage, a fact that serves to highlight just how much you’re getting for the price of this camera. With the good but yet to be perfected Video mode aside, this is a solid, well-made piece of kit that handles extremely well and produces fantastic images. What more could you ask for?

Contenders

Sony Alpha 350
Boasting a 14.2MP sensor, Live View and a 2.7inch articulated LCD, the A350 is formidable opponent. It is much cheaper than Nikon D90’s and includes Sony Super SteadyShot, but lacks video capability.

Canon EOS 450D
The 450D features a 15.1MP sensor and DIGIC 4 processing, but only nine AF points in comparison to the D90’s 11. It is faster, however, delivering 6.3 fps compared to Nikon’s 4.5 fps.

Technical Data

Model: Nikon D90
Megapixel: 12.3 (effective)
Max. Resolution: 4,288 x 2,848
Sensor Info: 23.6 x 15.8 mm CMOS sensor
Lens Data: By lens
Zoom: By lens
Focus/Macro: By lens
Shutter speed: 30 to 1/4.000 sec.
ISO Sensitivity: A, 200-3,200, Hi & Lo mode
Exposure modes: Auto, P, A, S, M, six presets
Metering Options: A, RE, SS, FF, RC, FC, RE+FC, SS, RER
Connectivity: USB 2.0, AV, HDMI
Weight: 620gr (excl. batt)
Dimensions: 132, 102, 77 mm
Batteries: Li-Ion
Storage: SD, SDHC
LCD: 3”
View Finder: Eye level pentaprism, single-lens reflex.

Verdict

Features (9/10)
Live view, video capture, a three-inch high-res LCD, built in flash with commander mode and VR kit lens.

Build Quality (10.10)
The camera body is robust, ergonomically shaped and rubberized in all of the right place.

Handling (9.10)
The layout of the controls is intuitive, with most key function just a button press or two away.

Quality (9.10)
Still images are beautifully detailed, accurately colored and certainly won’t disappoint.

Value For Money (9/10)
We think the RRP is justified, considering the number of features Nikon has packed into this camera. Throw in the VR kit lens and it is tempting package indeed.

TOTAL (9/10)
This is a superb mid-range DSLR that advanced amateur photographers will get many years of satisfaction.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX150

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX250 looks, at first glance, just like many other compacts on the market. It has a surprisingly uninspiring squared-off design, juxtaposed with an all-metal build that enhances the camera’s appeal.

Upon closer inspection, however, the unassuming FX150 is actually a bit of a wolf in sheep’s clothing, as it features a comprehensive set of controls and shooting options that include manual control. Disappointingly, you only get ‘proper’ Shutter Priority control with just a minimal nod to aperture control.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX150 - back face

The first headline feature must be the camera’s 14.7mp CCD sensor. This captures the light from the rather excellent 28mm wide-angle zoom lens with a zoom ratio of 3.6x, and runs to a tong zoom focal length of loomm, a useful range indeed. Accompanying the lens and aiding sharp detail capture is Panasonic’s effective MEGA OIS (optical image stabilisation), which uses CCD-shift mechanisms to counteract camera shake at lower shutter speeds and offers about two stops of extra handheld control. While this feature is very useful indeed, we’re not convinced by the wisdom of cramming that many pixels onto the sensor, since excessive image noise is almost always the result.

Despite this setback, there are other tricks that the FX15o sports that make it a little more mouthwatering than its rivals. First, there’s a clever E-Zoom button adjacent to the shutter release, with its encompassing lens zoom lever. A press of E-Zoom zooms the lens from its wide end to full zoom in around 1.5 seconds, while another press activates the’Extra Optical Zoom’ (actually it’s a 7.7x digital zoom) - a rather misleading misnomer in our view. The camera has Panasonic’s Venus Engine IV image-processing chip that helps provide responsiveness to the package and deals with colour and noise too.

With speediness in mind, you’ll not be disappointed by the FX150. There’s a burst mode of 2fps for up to eight images, coupled with an unlimited (or at least to the capacity of the SD card) burst mode at 1.5fps. Switch to the Hi-speed Burst mode and you can shoot up to one hundred images at 7.5fps, though the image size is reduced to 3mp in order to achieve that rather respectable shooting rate.

Shutter lag is evident - although it’s no worse than some competitors - and the focusing is unfortunately slower than in should be. In bright daylight it can take over a second for the AF to bite, even using the ‘Quick AF’.

On the upside, there are abundant AF modes including tracking AF, which works very well once it has locked on to a target. Face Detection AF is in there too, and while faces in profile are a challenge, it gets it right most times.

The multi-area AF provides 11 zones that you can select depending on the subject, so when shooting macro on a tripod, say, you can move the AF point without changing the camera’s position. It’s a shame the camera does not auto select the AF zone in this or any other mode, but here the ethos seems to be around user control instead. The AF zone chosen can only be selected in the AF menus, although it does allow you to select groups of AF zones (up to five at a time) in various configurations.

Area high-speed focusing supposedly offers a speedier single-zone AF solution, yet it appeared no quicker than the normal settings. That aside, the inclusion of i-Area and Spot AF modes mean that while the overall AF response times leave something to be desired, you cannot fault the focus flexibility afforded to the FX15o.

Another of Panasonic’s recent innovations is iA (intelligent Auto). This function allows the camera to choose the correct shooting mode depending on the scene in front of it. Although this system works welt, a downside is that you cannot use some of the advanced controls on offer, such as simultaneously shooting RAW and JPEG images. What’s more, you lose control of the otherwise excellent intelligent ISO mode.

In terms of handling, the camera is actually rather good to use, with the shutter release and zoom lever well placed for ease and accessibility. The aforementioned E-Zoom button is straightforward to use, while the four-way jog buttons on the back provide scrolling and entry into various settings: Manual Control, Auto Bracketing, Colour Bracketing, Exposure Compensation and Flash Compensation.

The Q (Quick) Menu button is useful and is reminiscent of Canon’s ‘FUNC’ menu control, as here it launches a
drop-down menu hosting  the key image controls. It allows for fast access and changing of chosen parameters without having to delve into the camera’s deeper menu systems.

The usual array of scene modes are included (24 in all), with an odd Pin Hole mode and a Film Grain setting. An Image Leveling mode is more useful as it automatically straightens wonky horizons, though it does mean that it crops the image accordingly as well.

In terms of image quality, the FX150 isn’t bad. The ISO range starts at loo to 6400 (a high-sensitivity Scene mode) with noise appearing above ISO 400, although it’s very subtle. Over ISO 800 it’s more noticeable, but overall noise is very well controlled (bar the ISO 6400 setting, which is a step too far). Highlight detail’s good, while shadow detail goes AWOL too quickly. Image sharpness is quite low by default, but you can change it in settings and the noise processing doesn’t scrub all the detail away at higher ISOs.

Overall, the 14.7-megapixel sensor is well tamed by performance of a camera of this ilk.

Review by Digital Photographer Magazine

Zuiko Digital 25mm f2.8 Pancake

We live in the Zest Century, an era of high-tech auto focus zooms, and Olympus comes up with a fixed focal length lens that’s as retro as a bake-lite radio. What’s going on? Don’t knock fixed focal length tenses. Zooms may appear to make life simpler, but that doesn’t necessarily equate to quality. Yes, a fixed focal length tens is less flexible, but only in terms of composition.

This 25mm ‘pancake’ lens is so slim, it makes your Olympus DSLR not much larger than a prosumer compact. And its f2.8 maximum aperture is half a stop faster than the average zoom, even at its minimum focal length.

It’s surprisingly how quickly you get used to using a fixed focal length lens. This may surprise a generation of photographers raised on zooms, but not those whose memories stretch back to the 198os, the last great heyday of photography. Back in those days, cameras came with a 5omm ’standard’ tens, not a zoom. The Olympus 25mm, thanks to the 2x focal factor of the Four Thirds system, reproduces that classic focal length exactly.

But here’s the first issue. A standard lens of that time typically had a maximum aperture of f1.7, and the better ones were f1.4 so this tiny Olympus is one to two stops slower. Having said that, f2.8 is typical for pancake lenses. Indeed, this lens closely resembles a Pentax 40mm f2.8, which was once (sigh) part of your reviewer’s collection.

Olympus hasn’t quite recaptured the feel of classic prime lenses, though. There is a manual focusing ring but no distance scale, so old zone focusing and depth of field techniques aren’t going to work here. There’s no aperture ring either, which is one of the greatest losses of all in modern lenses.

It’s still nice to use, though. The lack of a zoom is oddly liberating because it makes photography a much more instinctive thing. If your subject doesn’t fill the frame you have to get closer. If it doesn’t fit, you have to move further away. It sounds cockeyed, but this primitive picture-taking approach is actually rather refreshing. It means that you pay more attention to the subject and less to the camera, which is exactly how it should be. If you haven’t shot in this way before, it will change the way you think about your photography.

Test Chart

Optically, the 25mm is good. It’s a very simple design with only five elements in four groups, and that’s because when you take away the need to zoom in and out, the optical parameters become far simpler. And yet there is some chromatic aberration towards the edges of the frame, which is slightly disappointing.

The resolution figures are very good, though. Not surprisingly, it’s a little soft at maximum aperture, though it’s still resolving 1200 line widths/picture height, so properly focused images will look crisp. Between f4 and f8 this piece of glass is at its best, and the definition is limited as much by the camera sensor as the lens itself. Beyond f8 the definition starts to fall again, but this is inevitable with smaller sensor sizes as diffraction effects take hold.

Overall, this is a nice little lens which offers a very different and more traditional way to take pictures. We’d highly recommend you at least try shooting in this way once. The lack of a distance scale is perhaps its biggest weakness, but it’s very nicely made and rather good value for a modern prime lens, too.

Review by Digital Photography Magazine

Sony Alpha A900 - front face

The latest innovation from Sony proves the brand’s commitment to its loyal consumers, providing prosumer and professional photographers with the comprehensive tool to master their trade. The Sony Agoo sets a new benchmark for serious photo enthusiasts who demand the unrivaled quality and creative possibilities of full-frame imaging, using its full-frame 24.6 effective megapixel CMOS sensor Exmor T1 with on-chip A/D conversion and dual noise reduction for superlative, detail-packed images.

Through the dazzling optical glass pentaprism viewfinder with l00% coverage the world seems brighter, inspiring photographers to expand their creative horizons. The A900 produces ultra-sharp shooting responses and flawless, low-noise images from its newly developed dual B10NZ T1 image processors, which also facilitate an impressive shooting rate of 5fps continuous shooting at full resolution (24.6MP).The A900 is the only full-frame format (35mm) DSLR camera to have optical image stabilization in the camera body, offering up to 4.0 steps anti-shake performance with A-mount lenses or Konica Minolta A-mount lenses and helping you achieve blur-free shots regardless of the lighting conditions.

Make the most of the 921,000-dot high resolution 3.o-inch Xtra Fine LCD, which has to be seen to be believed and makes reviewing the fine detail in your images an effortless task. The fast and highly accurate 9-point AF feature provides user with a fantastic tool that helps to capture those moments that other DSLRs miss.

The blisteringly quick, highly accurate nine-point centre cross AF system integrates ten focus assist points and an f2.8 sensor, meaning you’ll never miss a shot. The camera’s rugged magnesium bod, encompasses a lightweight aluminium alloy chassis and all controls are sealed against dust and moisture.

Sony A900 - back and side faces

While the A900 is packed with professional features and delivers outstanding image quality. it’s not the reserve of the full-time pro. This camera is ideal for existing APS-C digital camera owners looking to further their skills, as it offers a familiar ar intuitive interface. This is coupled with an expanded range of customizable features that afford the user greater creative control over their images, in addition to the unrivaled quality that the full frame format offers.The new Sony A900 definitive tool to realize your creative vision.

Advertorial by Digital Photographer Magazine