Nikon and Canon currently are the best brands in the SLR market. In
this article/blog, I write my impressions about the various Nikon
models; the page is update every times Nikon announces some new cameras.
At the bottom of the page you can see a table with the
main specs of all Nikon cameras. This page is not meant to be a
review, but rather a collection of quick impressions and things that
catch my attention.
October 14, 2009: Nikon D3s
The Nikon D3 has been one of the most important cameras for Nikon,
and it has been considered the king of high ISO. With the D3s, Nikon has
refined and improved one of the best DSLR on the market! It is not "a
revolution", otherwise it would have been a D4, but it has some nice
improvements. First, the sensor is still the awesome 12 megapixels
fullframe sensor of the D3, but there has been some improvements that
make it about 1 stop more sensitive...in other words, the D3s is fully
usable up to the impressive ISO 12800! The higher sensitivities of 25k,
50k and 100k are more for marketing than for real usage, but in some
extreme situations where image quality is not essential they may help (I
can't wait to get my hands on this camera and to try some high ISO
photos! So far the samples I have seen are very encouraging). Even
though some photographers may want more megapixels, I am happy that
Nikon has chosen to keep a SLR focused on high ISO - if you need
sensitivity you can get a D3s, if you need maximum resolution, the D3x
is the camera for you.
Another nice thing of the D3s is the
fullframe sensor - it makes the D3s a true "all around" camera, you can
use it both for landscapes and for action. I wish Nikon had a 20 or 24mm
f/1.4 - coupled with the D3s, it would be a dream for night photos!
Other improvement includes much improved buffer - from 17 to 48 RAWs
- and video mode. The video of D3s is quite limited, only 1280x720p at
24 FPS without all the controls you can find in Canon cameras, so I
would not recommend it if you want a SLR to shoot video - in this
respect the Canons are better, even though I expect to see huge video
improvements in a couple of years from now when the D400 and D4 will be
announced.
July 30, 2009: Nikon D3000 and Nikon
D300s
The Nikon D3000 and the D300s are mild updated of existing cameras.
The D3000 replaces the D60 and the D40, and it is now the entry level
Nikon offering...overall it is identical to the D60, with the exception
of a slightly bigger screen and a more recent AF module. Personally I
have zero interested in "super entry level" cameras and, even if I was a
beginner, I'd never buy the D3000 at its current price ($ 600) while
with $60 more I could get the much better D5000. Anyway, I expect the
D3000 to drop around $400 in few months, and at this price it will be a
nice choice for those who have a limited budget.
The D300s is
more interesting. Of course it is very similar to the D300 - otherwise
it would have been called D400 :-) - but it has three nice updated. The
first is video: the D300s video capabilities are about the same of D90
and D5000 (720p at 24 FPS with very limited manual controls), so nothing
spectacular, but it is still interesting to see that Nikon is
introducing the video feature in more and more of its DSLRs. This is the
first generation of "video DSLRs", but in future I expect much better
video capabilities - at least 1080p at 30FPS with full manual control,
as in the Canon 5D2.
Another good advancement is the introduction
of a double card slot, for CF and SD. This is great, because it means
that if you are upgrading from a D90, D5000, or another consumer SLR,
you don't have to change all your cards (consumer SLRs use SD, while the
D300 had only CF slot). I expect to see this double CF/SD slot even in
the next Nikon pro bodies. A third advancement is the improvement in
continuous shooting, from 6 FPS to 7 FPS (without battery grip, with the
battery grip it is always 8 FPS). Even though it is not a big
difference, it is still a nice step forward, in particular for those, as
me, who don't like the battery grip (it makes the camera bigger and
heavier, not great when you want to travel light...I wish I could take
it away from my 1DsIII ;-) ).
Overall, I think that nowadays -
July 2009 - the Nikon D300s is the best APS-C camera on the market, in
terms of features and image quality. The Canon 50D is better in terms of
price/performance ratio (it comes close to the D300s and it is $600
cheaper), but if budget is not a problem, the D300s is the overall
winner.
April 14, 2009: Nikon D5000
The Nikon D5000 surprised me a bit - it is very similar to the D90,
was there necessity for two models so similar? The D5000 is essentially
a D90 in a slight cheaper body (smaller viewfinder, no AF motor), but it
has the advantage of tilt and swiveling LCD screen. This is a big
improvement - it helps a lot when you have to frame the subject from
weird angles! Olympus already had many SLRs with tilting screen, while
Nikon and Canon are behind in this respect: I am glad that Nikon has
introduced this innovation into its lineup.
Which one would I
buy? If you have a limited budget, go for the D5000 - it is almost a D90
and it is much cheaper. And even if you can afford the D90, I'd suggest
to evaluate the pros and cons of both cameras; in some situations, the
tilting screen of the D5000 may be a big advantage.
August 27, 2008: Nikon D90
The Nikon D90 is one of the most innovative cameras of Nikon: it is
not just a still camera, it is also a video camera! In photographic
terms, it is a very good upgrade from the D80 - it has a 12 megapixel
APS-C sensor (the same of D300) with lower noise than its predecessor,
faster continuous shooting, a much better LCD with Live View, and many
other improvements.
But the big news it video: the D90 is able to
record HD video (1280x720p at 24 FPS) with sound! Even though it still
has some limitations (the maximum length of every clip is 5 minutes,
there is no AF in video mode, and you have limited controls), I think
that video is a very useful feature, and it is a step towards the future
- I think that photo and video will converge, and in 5-6 years all
cameras will be both photo and video cameras.
Previous Nikon cameras
The D700 is essentially a D3 in a smaller body - it shares the same
extra low noise FF sensor that allows to shoot with good image quality
even at sensitivities as 3200 or 6400 ISO, it is almost as fast as the
D3 (it gives 8FPS with the battery grip), and in some aspects it is even
improved: it has anti-dust, it is lighter and smaller, and it has pop-up
flash. Even though at $ 2400 it can not be considered "cheap", it has an
extraordinary price/performance ratio - in my opinion, it is one of the
very best professional SLRs on the market! I highly recommend it to
everyone who want the best, both in terms of features and image quality.
If you don't use often sensitivities of ISO 800 and above and you don't
need FF you can save $900 and get a D300, but personally if I had to
choose a Nikon SLR, I'd go for the D700. The only thing missing into
this fantastic camera is the movie mode, that I expect to see in its
future iterations.
The Nikon D3 has marked one of the biggest
changes in the Nikon story. Before the D3, Nikon was knows for the very
poor high ISO performance of its cameras, and for the lack of FF
cameras. The Nikon D3 was a revolution for Nikon: it has awesome high
ISO - even better than Canon - it has FF sensor, and many other
improvements. The FF sensors makes it a much better "all around" camera
than the 1DIII. It is a fantastic camera, but now I'd no longer
recommend it: you can save $2000 and get the almost identical D700 (that
is actually better in some respects). The 9PFS (D700 is 8FPS), 100%
viewfinder (D700 is 95%), double CF card slot are worth $2000 more? If
your answer is yes, get the D3, otherwise the D700 is the SLR for you
(personally, I'd go for the D700). Note that from 2008, Nikon offers the
possibility of doubling the buffer (from 17 to 34 RAW) for $500.
The Nikon D3x is the Nikon's answer to Canon 1DsIII. Like its Canon
equivalent, the D3x has outstanding image quality with good noise
performance (even though it is not as good as the D3 and D700), and very
high resolution. It shares the same body and the same features of the
D3, except the frame rate (5 FPS vs 9FPS). The only real problem of the
D3x is that its price is out of this world, like the price of the Canon
1DsIII. Some years ago this price was justified because there weren't
other cameras with similar specifications, but nowadays the Canon 5D2
and the Sony A900 offers similar features and image quality at much
lower prices; the 5D2 has even the advantage of movie mode and a more
advanced live view. Unless you have a very high budget, I'd recommend to
buy one of its cheaper alternatives (D700 or 5D2; personally I wouldn't
buy the A900 because it lacks of live view).
Nikon cameras history
This table lists all Nikon digital SLRs. The SLRs
currently in production are shown in yellow. MP = megapixel; FPS =
frames per second; LCD = size and resolution of the LCD screen; WS =
weather sealing; Price = current price (or street price when the camera
was in production).
[work in progress - the updated table will
be online in few days!]
Do you have comments or questions?
If you have comments or questions about this article, feel free to
ask in the Juza Nature
Photography Discussion Forum!
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