How to adjust the shutter speed on a Nikon D90?

The delay is costing me a chance for better photos.

In any mode where the shutter speed is adjustable you would do this using the control wheels on the grip below the shutter release, or on the rear - top right.

However if you want to reduce delay it's latency that's killing those shots and you need to do something entirely different. If you are missing action shots, first you want to try setting the auto-focus (AF) mode to continuous, see if that helps. If you are still missing shots then it may sound perverse but you may do better in manual focus (MF) mode, set up an aperture that has a reasonable depth of field, and pre-focus to where you are expecting the action to take place - that should give you as close to no delay as you are going to get!

Adjusting the shutter speed is in the manual - if you don't have one, download a copy from Nikon.

If by, 'Delay,' you mean shutter lag, try downloading All your work to your computer, then formatting your card(s) in camera. Live View is for idiots - you have the finest viewfinder system in photographic history for a reason.

Data cards aren't meant as permanent storage, so get into the habit of downloading your work to computer and formatting your card in camera at every opportunity, and ALWAYS start a full shooting day with as many formatted data cards as you can.

The D90 has pretty good specs as far as shutter delay goes. The specs are:

Full autofocus: 0.270sec
Continuous autofocus: 0.074sec
Manual focus: 0.067sec
Live view: 2.3sec

These specs are very close to Nikon's best full frame cameras costing $6, 000.

So that should tell you to use either continuous autofocus or manual focus for the fastest response. And avoid live view for everything but video as it has a lag in excess of 2 seconds. Use the viewfinder.

You can adjust the shutter speed in P, S, and M modes only. So if you are not using those modes, you will have to learn how. The manual is a good start, but often it is not enough. Go yo youtube and search on "bryan peterson shutter speed" and you will get a lot of information as to how shutter speed works.

I'm going to make a guess here. You are getting delays because you are using Live-View. DON'T.

When you use Live-View, you have to press twice, and the camera needs to take extra time to process your command. When you use Live-View, you've degraded a great DSLR back to a point and shoot.

I've used a D90 to capture action at an NBA basketball game with no problems.