gear

THE DIGITAL SOAPBOX OF ANDY CLEAVENGER

NIKON N90s

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Email:  graycard18@gmail.com

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For the love of God, do NOT buy an N90s.

No, wait... buy mine!

Alright, that’s not exactly fair. The N90s is, or I should say WAS, actually a very good camera back in the mid 90’s. When I got mine the only camera you could get that was better was the recently announced F5. For its time, the N90s was widely considered to be a reliable pro level workhorse. All of the pro photographers I assisted (except one) had an N90s as their main 35mm body. That last guy had an F4S, I think only because its bigger size made him feel more important.

At the same time that the N90s was popular with pros, it was also extremely popular with serious amateurs because it was a pretty feature rich camera for its time and the price was not terribly far out of reach. I think I paid around $700 - $800 for my first one, and I was just a student in school. Eventually, my wife and I would have three between the two of us. One for each of us and one as a backup. The one you see above was our backup. It’s the only one we have left.

We used them for several seasons without ever having a single problem. Never once sent them in for a tune up or service of any kind. They never needed it. They just worked.

These days, this camera is functionally little more than a doorstop. Nikon’s most popular new lenses are all G lenses, which means that your camera body has to have the ability to control aperture. The N90s does not have this ability. Vibration Reduction won’t work either... a truly fatal blow. The F100, however, will do these things, and it will do them with vastly improved ergonomics, more impressive fit and finish, a more advanced meter, and WAAAY quieter auto focus.

It’s sad to see such a good camera get cast by the wayside. I mean, really... if you’re willing to live with using older lenses that have an aperture ring, and you can put up with an auto focus motor that sounds like it was borrowed from a Mustang, then this is a great camera.

So come on, do the right thing... give my camera a home. $200 and she’s yours.

Anyone?

Bueller?