diff --git a/scrapy/contrib_exp/newitem/fields.py b/scrapy/contrib_exp/newitem/fields.py
index 5e6da037b..c0f1c5266 100644
--- a/scrapy/contrib_exp/newitem/fields.py
+++ b/scrapy/contrib_exp/newitem/fields.py
@@ -1,10 +1,11 @@
 import datetime
 import decimal
 import re
+import time
 
 
-__all__ = ['MultiValuedField', 'BooleanField', 'DateField', 'DecimalField',
-           'FloatField', 'IntegerField', 'StringField']
+__all__ = ['MultiValuedField', 'BooleanField', 'DateField', 'DateTimeField',
+           'DecimalField', 'FloatField', 'IntegerField', 'StringField']
 
 
 class FieldValueError(Exception):
@@ -79,6 +80,43 @@ class DateField(Field):
             raise FieldValueError("Invalid date: %s" % str(e))
 
 
+class DateTimeField(Field):
+    def to_python(self, value):
+        if value is None:
+            return value
+        if isinstance(value, datetime.datetime):
+            return value
+        if isinstance(value, datetime.date):
+            return datetime.datetime(value.year, value.month, value.day)
+
+        # Attempt to parse a datetime:
+        value = str(value)
+        # split usecs, because they are not recognized by strptime.
+        if '.' in value:
+            try:
+                value, usecs = value.split('.')
+                usecs = int(usecs)
+            except ValueError:
+                raise FieldValueError('Enter a valid date/time in YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM[:ss[.uuuuuu]] format.')
+        else:
+            usecs = 0
+        kwargs = {'microsecond': usecs}
+        try: # Seconds are optional, so try converting seconds first.
+            return datetime.datetime(*time.strptime(value, '%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S')[:6],
+                                     **kwargs)
+
+        except ValueError:
+            try: # Try without seconds.
+                return datetime.datetime(*time.strptime(value, '%Y-%m-%d %H:%M')[:5],
+                                         **kwargs)
+            except ValueError: # Try without hour/minutes/seconds.
+                try:
+                    return datetime.datetime(*time.strptime(value, '%Y-%m-%d')[:3],
+                                             **kwargs)
+                except ValueError:
+                    raise FieldValueError('Enter a valid date/time in YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM[:ss[.uuuuuu]] format.')
+
+
 class DecimalField(Field):
     def to_python(self, value):
         if value is None:
diff --git a/scrapy/tests/test_newitem.py b/scrapy/tests/test_newitem.py
index 34da14c62..203fa332a 100644
--- a/scrapy/tests/test_newitem.py
+++ b/scrapy/tests/test_newitem.py
@@ -56,6 +56,30 @@ class NewItemFieldsTest(unittest.TestCase):
         i.field = '2009-05-21'
         assert i.field == datetime.date(2009, 5, 21)
 
+    def test_datetime_field(self):
+        class TestItem(Item):
+            field = DateTimeField()
+
+        i = TestItem()
+
+        dt_today = datetime.datetime.today()
+        i.field = dt_today
+        assert i.field == dt_today
+
+        d_today = datetime.date.today()
+        i.field = d_today
+        assert i.field == datetime.datetime(d_today.year, d_today.month,
+                                            d_today.day)
+ 
+        i.field = '2009-05-21 11:08:10'
+        assert i.field == datetime.datetime(2009, 5, 21, 11, 8, 10)
+
+        i.field = '2009-05-21 11:08'
+        assert i.field == datetime.datetime(2009, 5, 21, 11, 8)
+
+        i.field = '2009-05-21'
+        assert i.field == datetime.datetime(2009, 5, 21)
+
     def test_decimal_field(self):
         class TestItem(Item):
             field = DecimalField()