Strong construction and weatherproofing
Fast AF
Superb and flexible metering
Fast motor drive
Extended flash capabilities
Low price for used examples

It doesn't have mirror lockup
A special coating on the back wears off of some early units
You can't take it with you when you die

The Nikon N90S/F90X is as advanced as any film camera needs to be. You can get more bells and whistles on an F100 or F5 or F6; but all you really need is on the 90. It has fast autofocus, matrix metering, rapid motor drive, and top-level flash capabilities. You can add more features by adding a special back; but that would complicate unnecessarily an easy to use machine. It cost over a thousand dollars in the 1990s; now you can get a hardly used example for around fifty dollars! If you like a hefty camera, you can add a special base to the 90. The base steadies the camera and also gives you a vertical-release button.

If you have a backlog of Nikon MF lenses, you can use them on the 90 in Aperture-priority and Manual modes. You don't lose matrix metering by doing this, and you don't lose all the functions of autofocus. With Nikon's AF "D" lenses, you can exploit the 90 to its fullest.

I am most impressed by the 90's flash capacities. You can put an inexpensive SB-23 gun on it, put the camera in Program mode, and flash away in the confidence of getting superb results. The 90 is especially effective a providing fill-flash in outdoor light. The results look natural, which is quite a trick. You can also slow-sync the flash when you want to retain background details indoors; and you can use rear-curtain flash to give natural-looking blurs when you drag the shutter. The 90 synchronizes with flash all the way up to 1/250, which gives you a lot of choices in even Manual mode. All the dedicated flash guns for the 90, including the low-cost SB-23, will emit a beam of almost infrared light so the camera can focus in the dark or near dark.

When I get negatives back from the lab, I hold them up to see if they are evenly dense. With the 90, they always are. Except in very difficult circumstances, the matrix metering is dead-on. If you like to spot-meter a scene and decide on the exposure itself, the 90 will spot-meter in any mode. Use the camera and leave the meter at home.

Autofocus will track subjects moving toward or away from you. It actually takes into account the speed of the subject and anticipates where the subject will be when the shutter opens. If you put the AF into tracking mode and rapidly fire several frames, you cannot miss getting a razor-sharp frame. Yes, the 90 can fire two frames a second or four, if you wish. You can also set it to fire only when your subject moves into focus. I once tried this feature by standing near a wall, facing it, with the shutter release pushed. The camera didn't fire. I started slowly backing away from the wall; as soon as the wall was in focus, the camera fired. It did the same when I backed up rapidly.

The 90 is a professional camera. It would overwhelm a beginning photographer. The serious amateur, however, would be perfectly comfortable with the camera and enjoy getting professional results.

Customer Service

I haven't needed any.

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