Nikon D2H

The Nikon D2H has slowly become my favorite Nikon camera, eclipsing the original D1 and my old standby, the F100 film camera. Much maligned when it was released -- like many of Nikon's digital bodies -- it requires some familiarity to overcome some of its idiosyncracies, but it is by any measure an outstanding photographic tool.

Key features (in order of importance):

• Speed - lightning-fast frame rate (8 fps), quick and accurate autofocus and focus tracking, large buffer for continuous shooting with fast card writeout
• Image quality - brilliant color and low noise when properly exposed; 4MP is more than sufficient for 95% of photographic needs
• Flash system - Nikon's Creative Lighting System, comprised of i-TTL metering and Advanced Wireless Lighting, is probably the best automatic flash control system ever devised, and a huge improvement over the original D-TTL flash system of the D1-series
• Durability - while everything Nikon makes is tough enough for reasonable abuse, Nikon's pro cameras are exceptionally tough with their magensium alloy bodies and rubber armor
• Ergonomics - everything is where it makes sense and can be accessed easily
• Big rear display - It's big, but the resolution leaves something to be desired; it's noteworthy that Nikon upgraded the resolution in the D2Hs which followed it

BUY it here

Chuck recommends:

Magic Lantern Guides: Nikon D200

Nikon D200

With the D200, Nikon has hit another one out of the park. I acquired mine in March of 2006, and am still getting used to the camera. I've been able to produce great images right from the get-go, but mastering the many options available comes more slowly.

The D200 represents, I believe, the maturation of Nikon's Thailand manufacturing facility. I've heard a number of Internet pundits proclaim that 'a factory is a factory,' but this maxim has its limits. It is certainly not the case, as sleazy resellers will claim, that equipment produced outside of Japan is markedly inferior. However, there is an even older maxim in manufacturing that supercedes the ones above: they don't make 'em like they used to. Nikon's Japan manufacturing facilities have been around a long time, and more than likely contain fabrication equipment that simply can't be made in this day and age. What's more, Nikon's Thailand facility was designed precisely to make the manufacturing process faster and cheaper than before, and not merely in terms of labor costs. That being said, as this facility has matured, Nikon has slowly transferred the production of higher-end bodies and lenses from its Japanese facilities to Thailand.

One of the biggest adjustments I have had to make is shooting to the 10MP sensor in the D200. In theory, this allows for some very large prints (11x14 or so at archival quality without interpolation), but in practice I have found one must be very careful to optimize file capture in terms of exposure, focus, and optical quality. I'll admit that the digital era has made it easy to capture a quality, 1st-generation digital image; but as sensor sizes escalate, imperfections in technique stand out.

BUY it here

Chuck recommends:

Magic Lantern Guides: Nikon D80

Magic Lantern DVD Guides: Nikon D80

Nikon D80

The Nikon D80 is a worthy successor to the D70 and packs a lot of features into a $1,000 camera.

It shares many features of the D200, but is clearly a different animal in most other respects. Where the D200 is bulked up and toughened compared to the D100 it replaces, the D80 is trim and compact.

Performance-wise, the D80 differs little from the D200. It has a top shutter speed of only 1/4000 vs 1/8000 for the D200. It has the 420-segment meter from the D50 as opposed to the 1,005-segment meter of the D200. It only has a 3 fps shooting rate vs 5 fps in the D200. And most significantly for some, it uses SD cards rather than the Compact Flash cards that have been standard in all previous Nikon DSLRs save for the D50.

What the D80 lacks, compared to the D200, are the magnesium alloy chassis and other features (although build quality on the D80 is nonetheless superb for a plastic, I mean, polycarbonate camera). Where the D200's on-board processing power has been adapted to providing numerous customization options that can be recalled quickly, the D80 offers in-camera image processing. While it is certainly an interesting option to be able to apply Nikon's outstanding D-Lighting, red-eye removal, cropping, various filter effects, black and white conversion, or image overlay in-camera, I find it far more aggravating to have to go through the custom functions in detail every time I go out to shoot.

The D80 is capable enough, however, to have become my "walkaround" camera that I use on a daily basis. Its large, clean 10MP files are superb for the editorial and advertising photography I do in my job as a communications director. Combined with the Nikon 18-200/f3.5-5.6G ED IF AF-S DX VR lens and an SB-600 Speedlight, I can pretty much carry everything I need in my laptop bag.

BUY it here (D70s)

Chuck recommends:

Nikon D70 & D70i

The Nikon D70 is clearly the best-selling Nikon DSLR to date and, while not the perfect camera, is clearly a triumph of design, manufacturing, and marketing.

Nikon engineers incorporated all the critical lessons they learned from their pioneering efforts in DSLR design with the D1 series. Utilizing proven technologies and state-of-the-art manufacturing combined with low labor costs (the D70 was the first DSLR produced at Nikon's manufacturing facility in Thailand) they were able to pack an incredible number of features into a $1,000 camera body. This combination of features and cost ushered in Nikon's entry to true competitiveness in the consumer market, a position they had tried in vain for decades to achieve.

The D70's top features include:

• 1/500 flash sync -- carries over the electronic shutter from the D1 series, something Nikon has lost in subsequent, "higher-end" cameras. I wish they would bring it back!
• 3 fps continuous shooting -- not all that fast, but decent, and it can keep it up for a very long burst.
• Excellent metering -- allegedly the same 1,005-pixel RGB meter as used in the F5 and D1 series, I beg to differ. Identical lenses/settings with the D70 and the D1 yielded drastically different auto exposures. Not sure what Nikon did here, but clearly there are some differences.

My prior experience with the D1 and D100 cameras led me to place an advance order for the D70 -- something I rarely do (with my own money, at least). I have never regretted this decision, as the D70 has produced more and better images than any camera I have used to date.

After acquiring a D200, I had my D70 converted to a full-time infra-red (IR) camera which I have dubbed the "D70i." This is accomplished by removing the IR-blocking filter (hot mirror) placed over the CCD and replacing it with a standard IR filter. Brave souls do this themselves; I had it done for $250 by the nice folks at Life Pixel. Turnaround was about a week and the camera works like a charm after conversion.

Why a full-time IR camera?

• The biggest advantage is by putting the visible-light blocking filter in front of the CCD rather than screwing it on to the front of the lens, you get to actually see what you are shooting at through the viewfinder
• Closely related is the fact that shutter speeds are much closer to "normal" than with a conventional, threaded lens filter; this is due to the removal of the hot mirror
• The Life Pixel folks will also perform a rough calibration of autofocus for IR, as light at these wavelengths focuses in a slightly different plane than visible light

Please see the D70i section of my portfolio for stunning images created by this camera.