Dang...not good

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Archer

·Sep 30, 2025·Omega Qualified Watchmaker

Taking a photo yesterday, and WTF?

Tried other photos and varying degrees of blackness on the left side. Removed the lens, triggered the mirror up, and oh crap...

I checked the shutter count on the last good photo I took with it...

I guess it doesn't owe me anything. New shutters can be bought for around $30, but the replacement is not simple by any means from the videos I've seen. Not quite sure where to go from here, but in the mean time I'll use my little Lumix at the bench, but it's not good for macros.

Maybe I'll try to find a good used D90 body...

 

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vbrad26

·Sep 30, 2025

Oh man a D90! That thing has been around lol. Quite an impressive shutter count for a non-professional (unless you are one and I'm unaware lol)
I replaced mine with the D7000 when it came came out and that was like, 15 years ago!
B&H has those bodies for $200 USD...

 

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Archer

·Sep 30, 2025·Omega Qualified Watchmaker

Yes, like I said it doesn't owe me anything. I'm not a professional photographer, but I use photography in my profession. Taking photos of watches while I service them, and with the volume of watches the photos add up quickly. I actually use 2 cameras, but this is the main one. The Lumix is good for zooming in through the microscope to take photos of wear on parts.

We have a chain here called Henry's and that's where I bought this originally, so I'll take a look on their used section to see if they have a D90 body, or some other similar smaller body with F mount. Thing is I don't really want the file size in RAW to be too large - my hard drive fills up fast enough already.

 

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Speed2Sea

·Sep 30, 2025

I shutter to think how much it would cost to repair your camera.

 

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GuiltyGear

·Sep 30, 2025

I actually started with a D60, which was roughly the same age, but more on the entry level. Got rid of it in a couple of years to upgrade to a D7000 when they came out. They must build decent cameras if yours survived that shutter count for that long. Mine is also almost 15 years old, but no where that shutter count.

The new(ish) mirrorless system is a major upgrade on the D90. Even if you're invested in F-mount lenses, there are F to Z-mount adapters which should work fine. I got a Z6 II a while ago, and the upgrade from the D7000 was crazy. Smaller, even though it's full frame, way faster, and the lens selection is great. A 24-105mm f/4 (~$1k) has all the range and speed for a non-professional.

 

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Deafboy

·Sep 30, 2025·His Holiness Puer Surdus

It's a better situation than retinal detachment...

 

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Archer

·Sep 30, 2025·Omega Qualified Watchmaker

GuiltyGear

I actually started with a D60, which was roughly the same age, but more on the entry level. Got rid of it in a couple of years to upgrade to a D7000 when they came out. They must build decent cameras if yours survived that shutter count for that long. Mine is also almost 15 years old, but no where that shutter count.

The new(ish) mirrorless system is a major upgrade on the D90. Even if you're invested in F-mount lenses, there are F to Z-mount adapters which should work fine. I got a Z6 II a while ago, and the upgrade from the D7000 was crazy. Smaller, even though it's full frame, way faster, and the lens selection is great. A 24-105mm f/4 (~$1k) has all the range and speed for a non-professional.

I started out with a D40 originally, before getting the D90.

I use this at my workbench, so use either the 18-55 kit lens or a 50 mm macro lens for documenting my work. I do have a 55 to 300 for this too, for fun, but not really interested in spending a lot for a work tool if I don;t have to. I see some D7000 bodies for sale that are inexpensive, so will likely go with something like that.

 

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sheepdoll

·Sep 30, 2025

I have as much fun with cameras as I do watches (and pipe organs.)

No D90 body though.

The top shelf boxes are all camera parts. The left side of the middle shelf boxes are watch parts. The right side is electronics parts, Possibly as many as 100 microcontrollers in there.

And yes that is an organ pipe in the corner behind the lathe.

If a new shutter is only 30 bucks, then why not replace it? So wasteful not to fix such things. The key to working on cameras is to get a JIS screwdriver, otherwise the head of the screw will be stripped. iFixit sells these tools, and they are available at ACE hardware and Home Depot.

I met one of the iFixit guys at the Maker Faire over the weekend. Learned that Phillips screwdrivers have curved points. The JIS drivers are 90 degrees. So a Phillips will tear out part of the screw head.

There is nothing that feels as down, as loosing or breaking a favorite tool.

 

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vbrad26

·Sep 30, 2025

GuiltyGear

I actually started with a D60, which was roughly the same age, but more on the entry level. Got rid of it in a couple of years to upgrade to a D7000 when they came out. They must build decent cameras if yours survived that shutter count for that long. Mine is also almost 15 years old, but no where that shutter count.

The new(ish) mirrorless system is a major upgrade on the D90. Even if you're invested in F-mount lenses, there are F to Z-mount adapters which should work fine. I got a Z6 II a while ago, and the upgrade from the D7000 was crazy. Smaller, even though it's full frame, way faster, and the lens selection is great. A 24-105mm f/4 (~$1k) has all the range and speed for a non-professional.

That's pretty much exactly what I did. D60 was my first DSLR. Then bought a buddies full "kit" (lenses and D90) when he was switching things up. Then got the D7000 when it was released. Used it all the time for the next few years, and have now been out of the casual photography game for about 10 years now.

 

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josiahg52

·Sep 30, 2025

I started with a D40, sold that to my brother and got a used D80 and some lenses in 2012. A couple years ago, a friend sold me a D7200 and a few more lenses. I wish I spent more time using any of them. I still have the D80.

 

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OneTwo

·Oct 1, 2025

Fellow Nikon user here. D300 to D700, and recently upgraded to a D850. My Dad also had a D90 way back that got me into Nikons. If any of your lenses are FX I highly recommend the D700. Same 12.3 MP as the D90, and from a quick search, not too much larger of a file size. 11mb for the D90 and 14-15mb for the D700.

Similar interfaces between the two as they both launched around the same time.

Best of luck finding your next camera. And congrats o the shutter count. From what I read, you exceeded the count expectations by over 80%.

 

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Vercingetorix

·Oct 1, 2025·Spam Risk

Upgrade to mirrorless with the adapter. Now’s the time. Only disadvantage is screwdrive lenses won’t autofocus. Being able to magnify the view while doing macro is fantastic.

 

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Archer

·Oct 27, 2025·Omega Qualified Watchmaker

So an update! Not long after I first posted that the old D90 kicked the bucket, I received a PM from a member here generously offering me a D7000 body they no longer needed free of charge. We had a postal strike going on at the time, so there was a bit of a delay, but today two packages arrived:

Camera body and charger. Out with the old and in with the new:

So, to member @GuitlyGear I cannot thank you enough for this generous gift! I appreciate this very much mate!

Just another illustration of how great this place is.

Cheers, Al

 

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vbrad26

·Oct 27, 2025

Nice! Solid upgrade.
And goodguy @GuiltyGear getting some good karma doesn't hurt either!

 

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GuiltyGear

·Oct 27, 2025

You've helped countless people, so mine is just a small token of appreciation. Years from now, hope to see a new thread where you broke the current shutter count record 😀

 

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xpri325

·Oct 27, 2025

several years ago I filmed the shutter action of several SLR cameras at 2000fps, lots of stress on that component.

https://www.smugmug.com/gallery/n-rGjHW/i-95f6pjM/A

 

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josiahg52

·Oct 27, 2025

That is so awesome!

 

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Deafboy

·Oct 28, 2025·His Holiness Puer Surdus

xpri325

several years ago I filmed the shutter action of several SLR cameras at 2000fps, lots of stress on that component.

https://www.smugmug.com/gallery/n-rGjHW/i-95f6pjM/A

So cool! Thanks for sharing. I would have thought the mirror mechanism would have had better damping.