I took these today in the shop with a Nikon D700 and 24-70/2.8 lens, mixed tungsten/daylight, camera on Manual, ISO 200, 6400 and 25600, White Balance on Manual, JPEG Normal/Large. These are Straight out of the Camera images, each is about 3MB. All the EXIF Info is intact.
The shutter *IS* louder on the D700 than the D300, but subjectively quieter than the D3. Do something about this, Nikon.
Now that the D300 is out, and the D700 is out, and the D90 is out: What’s next?
I don’t care too much about Nikon’s flagship, the D3. It’s just too big, too conspicuous and too noisy for my style of wedding photography.
I do like the current D300 - and possibly - the D700. But I hate the concept of carrying two cameras with differing formats, DX and FX on the same gig. I want a new camera, a D400, which will be all I need for my job. Nikon, please add these features to it:
* much quieter shutter than the D300, even quieter than the D80. A little damping should go a long way here. This is crucial so I can get more and better shots in quiet settings
* Keep the DX format. I’ve gotten so used to it that I like it. It works. FX is unneccessary.
* Add dual card slots, preferably of the same format. Two 32-Gig CF cards in place would keep me going all day and night.
* Add an easily retractable display hood so it’s visible inbright sunlight
* Add a mechanical ISO-Dial like film cameras for quick ISO changes
* Improve White Balance handling. How about a WB meter similar to the exposure meter showing the current color temperature? A mechanical °K WB-Dial? Nirvana!!! Green-Magenta compensation also has a dedicated button.
* Optionally save JPG images with maximum (14 bit) depth (maybe in a special format, not RAW) so highlights are recoverable in post processing where neccessary.
* Add a couple of programmable buttons to which ANY menu function can be assigned (I’d want to access CLS flash settings with a single button, e.g.)
* Same light strap as the D3, but with no Logo or text on it. Just a plain black strap, please. I hate those which scream “D3″ or “D300″ at you. Ugh!
* Eliminate the top display and move it to where the corresponding buttons are (the back), same as on the D3.
* Add a 1:1 “image sharpness check” key.
* Add even more AF points, especially at the edges.
That’s it.
The end of this list.
Nikon R&D: To work!
Holy mo!
WHERE IS CANON?
It seems the whole R&D crew of Canon has gone to Nikon!
In almost breathtaking speed, Nikon is announcing new cameras to spruce up it’s whole range to push them to the forefront of what is available today.
The object at hand:
After the D700 has essentially many of the features of the D3 needed by low-light shooters and being full frame, the new D90 has essentially many of the features of the relatively new D300 packed up in a light amateur body. The price will be nice. For starters, the 12MP CMOS sensor (the D80 has a noisy-ish CCD sensor) is the same, which pretty much defines the ISO levels, going up same as the D300 up to 3200 plus boost. Pretty darn good.
Comparing to the D300, the D90 has a slower maximum frame rate, only 11 AF points instead of 51 (a deal breaker for me). On the other hand, it has HD-Video Capture (albiet WITHOUT autofocus, so that’s pretty much a dud sold as a feature, haha). Who the heck would roll a video without autofocus???
I love the dedicated Liveview button and wish the D300 and D700 would have it. The shutter is quieter than the D300, nice! The camera is faster on all points than the D80: Maximum frame rate, scrolling when using the display, etc. And also better on all points, effectively rendering the D80 obsolete.
It has a dust shaker which the D80 didn’t have (marketing ploy, these shakers are not good for much. All they do is shake the dust around the insides of the camera, so it will eventually find itself back onto the sensor. You need to REMOVE dust, not shake it around!)
So all in all, a welcome upgrade to the D80. It’s just of matter of time till this technology trickles down to the budget DSLR line of Nikon (D60), but at this rate, Nikon is running out of model numbers…. The D70 is already taken.
Here’s a glowing report with some of the shortcomings of the D90 (NY-Times article)
