American Photo Editor's Choice 2009: Advanced DSLRs

Pentax K-7

The brand-new K-7 retains the 14.6-megapixel resolution of Pentax's top-of-the-line K20D, but overhauls nearly everything else. Its tough, magnesium-alloy-over-stainless-steel body is smaller, more squared off, and more professional looking, with an excellent contoured grip. Like the K20D it is massively weatherproofed, with 77 seals and improved cold resistance.

The K-7's viewfinder is certainly the biggest in this class, and it's also the only one to offer pro-level 100 percent subject coverage. The three-inch LCD is sharpened by 921,000-dot resolution and has a snazzier menu display, which rotates automatically for vertical composition. The CMOS sensor and 14-bit A/D conversion (up from 12 in the K20D) are all new, as is a four-channel processor that reduces shadow noise and raises shooting speed to a swift 5.2fps. (Burst rate is 40 best-quality JPEGs or 15 RAW/PEF frames.) The K-7 shakes dust off its sensor with quieter piezo-ceramic vibrations, while the camera's sensor-shifting Shake Reduction (which steadies the image with any K-mount lens) now corrects for unintended rotational movement. And get this: You can manually shift the sensor sideways or up and down, to fine-tune composition (and avoid upsetting your tripod) or to make small corrections in perspective! There's even a level gauge on the top-deck status panel.

The K-7's 11-point AF system gets a dedicated assist lamp and now uses color data to improve its accuracy. And the exposure meter gains 61 segments, for an ample total of 77. Also new are the higher capacity (980-shot) battery and weatherproof vertical grip. The K-7 comes packed with postprocessing options, including new digital effects filters. The coolest of these, in our opinion, automatically combines three bracketed exposures into one high-dynamic range JPEG. As you might expect, the new camera shoots video (30fps) at a standard 720p or a unique, not-quite-1080p 1536x1024 (4GB limit per clip), and allows manual aperture control. There's no continuous focus, but you can reset one-shot AF while you're shooting simply by pressing the shutter button. There's even an external microphone jack.

Quick Stats:

• 14.6 MEGAPIXELS/CMOS IMAGE SENSOR

• 1.5X FOV CROP

• 3.0-INCH LCD (921K dots)

• IMAGE STABILIZATION: IN-BODY

• TOP ISO: 6,400

• 5.2FPS

• LIVE VIEW: YES

• VIDEO: 720p HD

• ABOUT $1,200

Nikon D90

It looks a lot like Nikon's long running D80 digital SLR, but this groundbreaking successor to that model adopts most of the new technologies found in Nikon's more expensive D-SLRs. Its 12.3-megapixel CMOS chip is lifted straight from the advanced-level Nikon D300, upping resolution and shifting technology from the D80's 10.2-megapixel CCD.

At low ISO settings, our comparisons showed that the D90 delivers image quality essentially identical to that of the 12.1-megapixel full-frame sensors in Nikon's professional D3 and D700. Though it's understandably noisier than those two models at high ISOs, its output looked excellent to us all the way up to ISO 3200. That, plus a usable top ISO of 6400 and adjustable noise reduction, make the D90 best for lowlight work among D-SLRs with APS-C-sized sensors.

The camera's LCD display, much better than its predecessors', is in fact identical to the super-sharp LCDs on the D300, D700, D3, and new D3X. At three inches (diagonal) and 922,000 dots, it offers double the resolution of the D80's 2.5- inch, 230,000-dot version, along with a very wide (170 degree) viewing angle. The screen provides ultra-detailed playback (with up to 27X zooming) and superb legibility with the D90's menu system and shooting information display.

The D90 is the first Nikon model under $1,000 to offer Live View. It's a dream to use, in part because of the big LCD screen but also because it's quickly activated with a dedicated button, not hidden in the release mode dial. And its 24fps refresh rate is smoother than in Nikon's more expensive models. You may find yourself sticking with the optical viewfinder, though: With 96 percent coverage and 0.94X magnification, it's one of the biggest in its class, and a pleasure to see.

The D90's headline feature is its 720p high-definition movie mode-the first to appear in a D-SLR. Top resolution is 1280x720 at 24fps; sound is mono-only. Our biggest gripe is that autofocus doesn't operate when you're shooting video-too bad given the impressive still-image performance of the D90's 11-point, 3D-tracking AF system. But this important new camera is certainly a step on the way to our hybrid future.

Quick Stats:

• 12.3 MEGAPIXELS/CMOS IMAGE SENSOR

• 1.5X FOV CROP

• 3.0-INCH LCD SCREEN

• IMAGE STABILIZATION: IN-LENS

• TOP ISO: 6,400

• LIVE VIEW: YES

• VIDEO: 720p HD

• 4.5FPS

• ABOUT $1,000