They
keep proliferating, so what's the 411?
An
email I received this week made me realize that, while
I have a lot of specific information about Nikon-based DSLRs
on the
Web site, I've never really summarized my thoughts about the current
crop of bodies in one place. (If you want specifics, go see the
review for the particular model elsewhere on this site.) I won't
vouch for 100% consistency in opinion across the site as firmware
updates and added shooting experience keep making many of my
opinions moving targets; it's also difficult to synchronize everything
now
that
the site
has
sprawled
to the size it is. If you see something that confuses you, drop
me an email and ask for elaboration.
Shooting
JPEG files, here's a quick and dirty summary
of the image quality differences as I see them:
Item |
D1 |
D1h |
D1x |
D100 |
S2 Pro |
Pro 14n |
sharpness |
very good |
very good |
very good |
fair |
excellent |
good+ |
noise |
moderate |
low |
low |
very
low |
low |
moderate |
artifacts |
low |
low |
low |
very low |
moderate |
moderate |
color fidelity |
good |
excellent |
excellent |
excellent |
good |
very good |
color saturation |
fair |
good |
good |
good |
very good |
very good |
resolution |
fair |
fair |
very good |
good |
very good |
very good |
write speed |
very good |
very good |
very good |
very good |
good |
fair |
contrast/tonality |
fair |
fair/good |
fair/good |
fair/good |
good |
good |
detail |
fair |
fair |
very good |
good |
very good |
excellent |
Overall |
fair/good |
fair/good |
good |
fair/good |
very good |
fair/good |
Overall,
if someone told me I had to shoot JPEG images for publication
tomorrow, I'd pick the S2 Pro first and the D1x a close second.
None of the others would be fully acceptable to me in this respect,
as I'd be giving up something significant. For example, with
the D100, sharpness is a real issue shooting JPEG, while with
the Pro
14n the
write speed
can actually be slower than RAW, the buffer size is the same,
and the image quality often produces artifacts that aren't
in carefully
managed
RAW
files.
But
be careful, the S2 Pro can generate dreaded color fringing on
very fine detail, while the D1x can require post processing for
exposure/contrast if you don't use Custom Curves. In short, there
is no "great"
JPEG Nikon DSLR at present. (And lest you consider Canon based
upon that comment, my experience to date with Canon bodies would
lead me to the same sort of statement, only for different reasons.)
I expect the D2h to be better than the existing bodies for JPEGs
when it appears.
For
RAW images, the table changes:
Item |
D1 |
D1h |
D1x |
D100 |
S2
Pro |
Pro
14n |
sharpness |
good |
good |
very
good |
good- |
very
good- |
excellent- |
noise |
moderate |
low |
low |
low |
low |
low- |
artifacts |
low- |
low |
low- |
low |
low- |
low- |
color
fidelity |
fair |
excellent |
excellent |
excellent |
good |
excellent |
color
saturation |
fair |
good |
good |
good |
very
good |
very
good |
resolution |
fair |
fair |
very
good |
very
good |
excellent |
excellent |
write
speed |
fair |
good |
good |
good |
fair |
fair |
contrast/tonality |
fair |
fair/good |
fair/good |
fair/good |
good |
good |
dynamic
range |
6+
EV |
7EV |
7EV |
7EV |
7EV |
8+EV |
detail |
fair |
fair |
very
good |
good |
very
good |
excellent |
Overall |
fair |
good |
very
good |
good |
very
good |
very
good |
RAW
is what you want to shoot if you can. The trouble is that RAW
workflow can end up more elaborate and time consuming. In terms
of trying to produce the best possible image, however, you have
no choice--in my opinion RAW is the only way to go. Here, my
first choice would be the Pro 14n most of the time, with the
D1x and S2 Pro very close seconds. In practice, I tend to choose
the D1x over the S2 Pro, but that's usually for handling and
other
reasons than absolute image quality (the D1x's 1/500 flash sync
speed is sure nice on bright days when I need fill flash, for
example). Unfortunately, there's another issue that intersects
with RAW use, which is the RAW converter you use. I've prepared
a separate article summarizing my thoughts
there; just remember you can't simply pick the best camera without
also considering
your converter and computer platform.
For
Handling issues, things change yet again:
Item |
D1 |
D1h |
D1x |
D100 |
S2
Pro |
Pro
14n |
battery |
fair |
fair |
fair |
excellent |
very
good- |
good- |
robustness |
excellent |
excellent |
excellent |
very
good |
good |
very
good |
size |
big |
big |
big |
moderate |
moderate+ |
moderate+ |
for
verticals |
good |
good |
good |
fair |
fair |
very
good |
for
hand holding |
good |
good |
good |
very
good |
very
good |
very
good |
weatherproofing
|
very
good |
very
good |
very
good |
good |
fair |
good? |
hot
temps |
good |
good |
good |
very
good |
very
good |
fair |
cold
temps |
fair |
fair |
fair |
very
good |
good |
very
good |
sensor
cleaning |
poor |
poor |
poor |
poor+ |
good |
fair |
ease
of settings |
poor |
good |
good |
good+ |
very
good- |
good+ |
Overall |
fair |
good |
good |
very
good |
very
good |
good |
There's
a couple things in that chart you might wonder about. For example,
why is the Pro 14n only rated fair at hot temps? Well, that's
because I find that noise can rear it's ugly head in hot temps
and the camera will sometimes trigger multiple Recalibrating
as it warms up (especially true if you use a Microdrive). The
delay that causes can be a nuisance to some types of photographers,
though other than added noise, it doesn't bother me much. Sensor
cleaning
on the Nikon models is problematic due to the frame that extends
over to the sensor edge--it's a tight space and easy to dislodge
grit off the frame onto the CCD you're cleaning!
Finally,
for a few other important abilities:
Item |
D1 |
D1h |
D1x |
D100 |
S2
Pro |
Pro
14n |
autofocus |
good |
good |
good |
fair |
fair |
fair |
motor
drive |
good |
very
good |
good+ |
fair+ |
fair- |
fair |
flash
abilities |
poor |
fair |
fair |
fair |
good |
fair |
exposure
accuracy |
good |
very
good |
very
good |
good |
varies
with body |
good+ |
viewfinder |
good |
good+ |
good+ |
good |
fair |
good- |
color
LCD |
fair |
good |
good |
good |
good- |
good |
remote
control |
good |
good |
good |
good- |
fair |
good |
PC
hookup |
good |
very
good |
very
good |
good |
good |
very
good |
Tethered
shooting |
very
good |
very
good |
very
good |
fair |
good |
very
good |
Mac users |
very good |
very good |
very good |
good |
good- |
very good |
Some
of these ratings will be controversial, so I'd better explain
them. Autofocus is easy: the D1 series has a better autofocus
system than the N80-derived bodies, period. Motor drive is a
similar situation, but the S2 Pro doesn't seem to make it up
to the claimed frame
rate, in my experience, the D100 does a little better than an
N80, and the Pro 14n seems dead on to the N80 (all D1 series
do better, the D1h particularly so). The S2 Pro's ability to
cancel pre-flash puts it squarely above the
others,
though
note that you can only reliably use the S2's flash in TTL at
ISO 400 or lower. You'll note that I've rated the S2 Pro's exposure
accuracy as "varies with body." I've now had experience
with almost a dozen S2 Pro bodies, and there seems to be no consistency
amongst them. Moreover, my own body came back from being fixed
by Fujifilm and now shoots at almost exactly one stop different
than it did before it started to have problems. Fortunately,
all the bodies tend to be consistent onto themselves, but I really
don't like have to keep my exposure compensation set to -1EV
on my S2 Pro as my "zero point."
Mac
users should be particularly careful about selecting cameras.
Two issues come up: tethered shooting/downloading and quality/performance
of the supplied Macintosh software. In general, Firewire cameras
do better on Macs than USB cameras. Moreover, Nikon's Macintosh
software is actually pretty mature, and Kodak's seems to have
been developed there first and then brought to Windows. Fujifilm's
Macintosh offerings seem poor in comparison. Overall, software
performance tends to suffer on Macs, even for Nikon's offerings.
As
I noted before, if you want more about a particular camera, see
the review for that particular camera. Within the next week or
two I should have made another pass at updating them all.
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