Nikon D90 with Customized Lens Kit 12.3 Megapixel

Ok, this is a great camera. Let me point out a few things to watch out for.

*****LOUSY LENS KITS**** The Nikon D90 is a fantastic camera, but lots of sellers will try to getcha by bundling a $825 camera body with one or more really mediocre lens. If you're going to spend that kind of money on a camera, don't get seduced by these horrible lens kits.

First, decide if you are planning on using a camera bag everywhere you go or not. This is important. Unless you are planning on taking a camera bag with you everywhere, you do NOT want 4 lenses -- 3 of the 4 will just stay home 95 percent of the time. What you will need in this case is ONE REALLY GREAT LENS.

The most common lenses offered with this camera is an 18-55mm lens either alone or bundled with a 70-300mm lens. Now the 18-55mm a really nice wide angle lens down at 18mm. However, you really get very poor (55mm) telephoto capacity with that lens. If you're looking for a great all purpose lens, 18-55mm is not it.

Next, you'll see the 70-300mm lens. That's a great telephoto zoom and gives you lots of pretty nice range. But keep in mind that 70mm is NOT wide angle. That means you'll struggle to shoot close-ups of anything. No wide-angle shots of buildings, landscapes, mountains, or even large groups of people at the dinner table. A great second lens, but not a great single all-purpose lens.

Any lens kit that mixes up 2 or 3 of the above lenses are still leaving you short of ONE GREAT all-purpose lens.

The best value in an all-purpose lens is the very rarely offered Nikon 18-135mm zoom. 18mm is plenty wide-angle enough for anyone. And 135mm gives you enough zoom lens to shoot the kids soccer game close-up from across the entire field. With 12MP, you can still crop down for a nice close-up and get great high-quality prints. With this lens, you won't need a camera bag for 90% of you who are buying this camera for non-professional work. To get that lens, you'll have to buy the camera body and lens separately. You can also find good value in the 18-105mm VR (vibration reduction) lens, but really, vibration reduction is not necessary for most applications (kids/pets/sunsets), but the 18-135mm is a better value if you can find one. Also look for Nikon's 24-120mm VR lens as a better alternative.

For the big spenders, a better choice is Nikon's $850 18-200mm lens. You'll get the single best all-purpose lens Nikon makes/ You'll pay as much for that lens than the camera body itself.

***BE AWARE*** Many sellers package non-Nikon lenses with this camera. Do yourself a favor and buy a great genuine Nikon Lens.

Next, a lot of sellers advertise 4 - 7+ lenses, but really give you two lenses and then two "over" lenses that give you extra wide-angle or telephoto capacity. These over-lenses are uniformly lousy.

Also, the "bonus" items in these kits, like the tripods and camera cases are cheap, cheap, cheap. Better to buy these components separately. Same goes with the tripod, filters, memory card, etc. Some of the "accessories" like that many sellers advertise (like straps) are included with the camera anyhow. You don't need "lens cleaning cloths" etc. 99 percent of people won't carry around all that stuff anyhow. 99 percent of people don't need a camera bag even, just a nice strap. If there is one accessory to carry around in your pocket, it is a circular polarizing filter. Use on a sunny day to get your blue sky to really pop.

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