Apr 05 2012

Nikon D800 Review: A Major HD Upgrade, But Is It the Best DSLR For the Money?

Category: In-Camera Techniques, Technology Insights — djordan @ 9:22 am

The Nikon D700 was the last great pre-video DSLR. It was an excellent and very boring camera. Nikon’s newest, a $3,000 body called the D800, introduces two major features: HD video and a 36-megapixel sensor.

That sensor is what’s on everybody’s mind. Studio photographers will love its rich details, and for the hack on the street, it’s the sharpest sensor in this price range. Let’s be clear from the start: This is one of the best cameras you can buy for three grand, period. But it’s been overshadowed by the standard-bearer in this category, the Canon 5D Mark III. At a $500 lower price, could the Nikon D800 be a better buy?

Why It Matters

Nikon D800 Review: A Major HD Upgrade, But Is It the Best DSLR For the Money?
Thirty-six-point-three-million pixels. That number should smack you in the face. Megapixel counts can be misleading, but in this case, pay close attention. The camera’s success hinges on that sensor. See, a sensor like the Nikon D800’s shoots extremely high-resolution photos, which means a ton of detail in the images. When the conditions are right, it can get better results. But cramming more pixels onto an image sensor can hurt its ability to shoot in dark conditions. If this super sensor falls short, the camera will only be interesting to pros working in controlled environments.

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Feb 02 2012

Samsung NX200 Lightning Review: It Has More Megapixels, But…

Category: Uncategorized — djordan @ 1:56 pm

The NX200 could almost be a DSLR camera, with its giant image sensor and fat lenses. And it’s priced like one $900. It’s not, since it doesn’t have a mirror in its heart—but it doesn’t fit in your pocket like most other mirrorless cameras. HMM!

What Is It?

A mirrorless, interchangeable-lens camera with a big 20.3-megapixel, APS-C-sized sensor. Oh, and the camera has a hefty $900 price tag, although it’s cheaper than the 24-megapixel Sony NEX-7.

Who’s it For?

This camera is designed for experienced amateurs who want to step up their game to a compact, road-ready camera with great image quality and well-designed manual functions.

Design

The NX200 has a tough magnesium alloy body with a bulge on the right side where the battery goes. It fits perfectly in the grip of your hand. That said, remember: big sensor, big lenses. The zoom lenses for this camera aren’t collapsible, so the NX200 is not a pocketable camera, even if you have giant pockets.

Using It

Samsung NX200 Lightning Review: It Has More Megapixels, But...People who know their way around cameras will love the design of the NX200, and newbies will find confusing. The camera has snappy shutter performance and superfast drive, but the autofocus is slow.

The Best Part

Samsung’s customizable iFn button is perfectly placed on the lens we tested, which makes it easy to toggle between key camera settings very quickly so you can concentrate on what’s important: taking photos. Some of the other NX system lenses have an iFn button as well.

Tragic Flaw

Even though the camera’s sensor is capable of great things, sometimes you don’t know what you’re getting with this camera. The camera often makes improper exposure calculations in automatic and partially automatic modes. The metering and the autofocus can both be finicky.

This Is Weird…

There’s a programmable custom button on the bottom right of the camera’s body. That’s great. Unfortunately, you can only map a few functions to it.

Test Notes

• Samsung NX200 Lightning Review: It Has More Megapixels, But...The camera’s sensor performs well across the board, even in low-light conditions despite packing 20.1 megapixels onto an APS-C sensor. All of those tiny pixels could have killed the camera in darker conditions, but the photos remained relatively noise-free at ISO 800 and even sometimes at ISO 1600. Check out our samples gallery here.

• It’s a good thing the camera’s settings are so easy to access because you really need to tinker with them to get the kind of shot you want. This is not a beginner camera, and you better have some patience for metering, metering again, and switching between exposure modes to get the shot you want.

• The camera’s shutter release is sensitive and has quick action. Very satisfying. It’s nice that the camera will peel off up to 7 frames per second, but when you’re shooting RAW, the camera chokes up in continuous mode very quickly.

• The NX200 records massive photos in Samsung’s proprietary RAW format (SRW). Inexplicably massive. They’re 50 MB, which seems a little excessive considering we get 20 MB CR2 files from our Canon 60D.

• The HD video quality is good, if you are shooting a relatively static scene. But as when you’re shooting stills, there is a lag in the autofocus, so if your scene changes or your move the camera, you’ve got to wait for the camera to adjust.

• As long as you don’t turn on the GPS (don’t turn on the GPS) the camera gets great battery life. It never died in the field—including during a week of near constant use at CES.

• The AMOLED LCD is absolutely gorgeous.

Should You Buy It?

No—or I should say—not yet. The camera has a spectacular sensor, its button design is almost perfect, and the menus are logical and displayed on a beautiful screen. Unfortunately, the camera has a serious learning curve. I really like to tinker and take my time when shooting photos so I’ve actually grown to love this camera, but it’s not for everyone.

If Samsung irons out these performance issues and gets the file size on the photos down, the next NX system camera could be one of the best shooters in its class. Until then, the Sony NEX-5 and Panasonic GX1 are the best pro compacts under $1000. Pick the NEX-5 if you care about low-light image quality. Pick the GX1 if you want a compact build and a brilliantly usable design.


Samsung NX200
Price: $900 w/ 18-55mm zoom lens
Sensor: 20.3 megapixel, 23.5 x 15.7mm APS CMOS Sensor
Image: Up to 5472 x 3648
Video: Up to 1920 x 1080/30p
Screen: 614,000 dot, 3″ AMOLED LCD
Gizrank: 3.5

[gizmodo]

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Jan 13 2012

Nikon D4 Hands-On: The Photographer’s Newest Deadly Weapon

Category: Technology Insights — djordan @ 11:48 am

If you’re used to shooting with an everyday DSLR, the Nikon D4 is like holding fully-automatic machine gun for the first time.

Pulling the trigger on the D4 is wonderfully satisfying. When you’re shooting in continuous mode, frames peel off super-fast thanks to Nikon’s new EXPEED 3 processor, which gets you up to 11 fps in RAW. The camera has a big buffer for continuous shooting, but I learned that the new processor is so powerful that it will capture up to 50 RAW frames before even going to buffer. I didn’t push that last claim to its conclusion at the Nikon CES booth, but I held down the shutter release for a while without the camera choking up.

Compared to inexpensive DSLRs the Nikon D4 is big and heavy, but it’s actually much more manageable than other professional cameras. It’s light enough to use with one hand for maybe a minute, but make no mistake: This is a lot of camera. Don’t plan on hanging the D4 from your neck all day. It fills up both of my hands when I hold it on the bottom and from the grip on the right side. To really get the most out of the camera’s programable dials and buttons, you’re going to want to hold it this way anyway.

Other notes: The camera sports an impressive autofocus that adjusted instantaneously on the show floor. I watched some of the HD video shot with the camera blown up to the size of a wall and it is gorgeous. Based on what I could see on the LCD, the camera makes good decisions and takes great photos in automatic and priority exposure modes. On the brightly lit show floor I couldn’t try the low-light performance we’ve heard so much about, but I’m looking forward to seeing it in action when production models are available.

We obviously can’t say anything definitive until a full review, but, it’s pretty plain to see that the D4 is going to be a powerful workhorse of a camera. Unfortunately, if you don’t have $6000 lying around you’re never going to own one. [gizmodo]

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