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The D90 Cheat Sheet (edited by directorVFX from various dvxuser posts)

To Reduce D-Movie Noise when Using a Manual Nikon Lens such as AI and AI-S do this:
(Taken from Kholi Post with tip by hepabst. Edited by directorVFX)
1. Without engaging LV mode, set camera to Manual Mode. If you're already in Live View, exit.
2. Turn on AE-L (hold), the AE-L icon will appear in the viewfinder when it’s active.
3. Close your Iris down to an f5.6 ~ 8
4. Aim camera at a brightly lit (60% exposed) wall or surface (Or for a consistent light source use the $5 Mini Moonlight from Ace Hardware)
5. Activate LV mode.
6. Open the Iris to a 2.8 or 1.4 and check for noise by zooming in.
This should give you low noise and 1/30 ~ 1/60th shutter. Mmmmm. Delightful.

To check point camera to the darker shadow areas with the lens wide open and use focus zoom on LCD to make sure there is very little to NO noise. This
appears to give ISO 200 ~ 320.

Mini Moonlight Details: Ace Hardware Item 73060. Requires a manual lens. I used a Nikon 50mm f1.4. I set the f-stop at f8 then put camera in LV
mode. Turn light on and put it about 10 inches from lens. Move light away from lens to dim, closer to brighten as needed depending on the
brightness of your scene. You will see the camera adjust down then I lock exposure. Open up the f-stop and started shooting. That's it.) (hepabst).

For a newer AF Nikon Lens (with manual unlock button like my AF 50 1.4D lens) do this:
(Taken from Kholi Post, Edited by directorVFX)
1. Aperture Priority mode
2. Stop Lens Down all the way. Flip switch on the lens to engage Auto Mode
3. Use Aperture wheel on the front of the camera to set iris to f5.6 or 8 (electronic aperture)
4. Find an area that's one stop brighter than your scene and lock exposure with AE-L
5. Activate LV mode while pointing at the source
6. THEN unlock the lens to engage the manual Iris. It'll throw an error but it's ok for recording. Adjust Iris (f-stop) for proper exposure

To reduce noise you can drop the exposure compensation. -0.7 is a common setting but it can range from -.3 to -1.3 depending on the ambient lighting of the
environment. Use the LV display to find the proper bright area then AE-L (HOLD) (dvfx). The image becomes much cleaner if you crush the blacks. I’ve
gotten the cleanest footage with the most latitude so far by locking exposure to something bright then adjusting the aperture until the blacks just clip. I use the
zoom button to check the black level noise, very handy and you see immediately when it goes away (mattsand).

I let the camera do the walking for me. If I point it at a bright surface or area, the image gets darker. Point it at a dark area, the image gets brighter. I looked
for an even surface of light so it's right in the middle and locked the exposure to my taste (Car3o). The camera tends to overexpose video, probably to keep the
live view as visible as possible, which means higher iso and lifted shadows. Exposing down a bit by exposing for a bright area for example means lower iso
and crushed blacks, thus less noise (mattsand).

There’s no magic to the trick, and if you use any method whatsoever to decrease the iso/gain you will lose low light sensitivity by definition. Not that it
matters though, quite the contrary, a dark scene is supposed to be dark (mattsand). Remember tricking down the shutter/iso is like using slower speed film(less
film grain), in the film world. Opening up the f-stop after locking the exposure is the same as adding more light to a slow speed film (fixed iso/asa) you get a
brighter picture with the low grain/noise (hepabst).

Shooting in Bright Daylight - Add ND filters to allow the aperture to be opened wider for shallower depth of field and to give slower shutter
speeds. Combining a ND8 and ND4 is not uncommon for this on sunny days.

Custom Menu Tweaks Needed: (Taken from Kholi Post, Edited by DirectorVFX)

Go into your Menu / Custom Setting Menu (the "pencil" icon) / Shooting display/ File number Sequence and set it to On. This will keep the camera
from resetting the file numbering back to 0001 and prevent file naming conflicts.

Go into your Menu / Custom Setting Menu (the "pencil" icon) / Timers/AE lock and adjust the Auto meter-off delay to be longer like 5 or 10 min.
This will keep your AE lock engaged for longer so it won't cut off during a shot.

Go into your Menu / Custom Setting Menu (the "pencil" icon) / Controls / Assign AE-L/AF-L button and set it to AE lock (hold) - this allows you to
press the AE-L/AF-L button to engage the lock and it will hold until you press it again so you don't have to keep the button pressed

Other Custom Settings (Car3o): Menu/ISO sensitivity/Iso sensitivity/3200

Iso sensitivity auto control/ON
Maximum sensitivity/400
Minimum shutter speed/ 1/30
Long exp. NR/ ON
Set picture control/ Anything mine is STANDARD
b2 Easy exposure compensation/OFF
High ISO NR/HIGH

Minimize Rolling Shutter: Use a wider lens for handheld shots such as 28mm (Zak Forsman). For lenses 50mm and longer stabilize with tripod!

Lens Tips – Fast prime lenses are sharper and allow shooting in low light. Try to get lenses with the widest aperture possible (ie f1.4, f1.8, or f2.0)