AWESOME CAMERA!!!!!
Written: Jan 30 '04 (Updated Feb 23 '04)
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Pros: See review
Cons: See review
The Bottom Line: Excellent camera due to it's huge amount of features, solid build, superb image quality and reasonable cost.
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| sube5186's Full Review: Nikon D100 Digital Camera |
First, let me say that I am quite renowned for being a fanatical researcher. Before I buy something, I usually do weeks of research....talking to people, reading forums, examining test reviews. So when I decided to buy a digital camera, things were no different. I looked at several prosumer cameras such as the Sony DSC-F828, the Minolta DiMage A1 and the Fuji FinePix S5000Z. While these are not bad cameras, they all have one major shortcoming....small sensors. This results in noisy photos. Being a purist at heart, I just couldn't settle for this. So I decided to make the leap to an SLR. The D100 is one superb camera. As soon as you grasp its muscular textured rubber body, the first thing you'll notice is that it's built like a Sherman tank. It has a metal frame with a composite outer shell. The outer shell reminds me of ABS plastic. You know….that super durable plastic used to make power tools, football helmets and the old “Bell” telephones. It just exudes quality...the fit, the feel, the craftsmanship, all what you'd come to expect from a Nikon . All buttons and controls are logically placed. When you go to use a control, you don't have to hunt with your fingers to feel where it's at. It's right under the proper finger to access that control. That tells me Nikon spent time testing their design in the hands of actual photographers, not machines. This camera has more settings and adjustments than anything I've ever seen! Don't be intimidated. Let me explain. While definitely not for the novice, any serious amateur or pro can master this camera with ease. The multitude of available settings just gives one the ultimate in flexibility. The D100’s battery will have you laughing at that stupid bunny with the drum. It lasts forever! The LCD is bright with excellent resolution and a terrific protective cover. The portion that actually covers the screen is totally clear, unlike some other models. Now lets talk about performance. I can sum it up in one word….. FAST, FAST, FAST! The D100 does everything lightning fast….from start up, to writing files, to auto focus. There’s absolutely no lag what so ever. You will think you’re shooting a film camera. Nikon’s auto focus system is simply the best on the market. It’s fast, accurate and extremely sensitive. It focuses in low light better than your eyes, with no “hunting” like some other brands. As far as image quality goes, the D100 is marvelous. Normally, after you take a photograph you start looking for details in the photo that appear in the actual scene. Upon examining the 100% enlargements of RAW images from the D100, I started easily seeing things that I had to strain to notice in the actual scene! Shoot in RAW if you want to see what the CCD is truly capable of. For their JPEG “in camera” sharpness settings Nikon chose a slightly softer image profile to reduce noise. Not very noticeable (except at 100%) and more than fine for everyday use. That’s not a problem though, because when you see the enormous control you have over your pics in RAW, you won’t ever want to shoot JPEGs again. You can change the exposure, white balance, hue, contrast, sharpness, resolution, eliminate noise and more. To fully appreciate the editing capabilities of RAW you have to understand exactly what it does. The best way I can explain it is like this. A RAW image is often thought of as a digital negative. Normally, in a conventional darkroom you can take a bad negative and somewhat compensate for shooting errors in the printing process. However, there’s a limited margin of error you can correct for and you’re still left with a faulty negative. Making adjustments in RAW is like fixing the negative itself. It’s like being able to re-shoot the scene from your computer. It doesn’t mask mistakes. It fixes them. AMAZING! I thought shooting in RAW would be a hassle. Boy was I wrong. For optimum quality, yet minimum space, I’d recommend shooting in RAW, tweaking individual photos as needed, and then batch converting your RAW images to JPEGs using Nikon’s Capture 4.0.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
Nikon makes a 17-35mm f2.8-4 zoom that lists for $1,400. While I’m sure this is an excellent lens, I question if it’s truly worth the cost. Don’t waste you money. Tamron just introduced their Aspherical Di 17-35mm f2.8-4 zoom. The “Di” series is made specifically for digital SLRs. It lists for $818, but can be had for around $579 online. It’s a phenomenal razor sharp lens and the one that sits proudly on my D100. It’s focal length is equivalent to a 25.5-52.5mm lens on a 35mm. It also comes with a handy “flower” type bayonet mount lens hood. For CompactFlash, I’d recommend the SanDisk Ultra II 1GB. It writes at 60X and reads at 66X. As far as I know, at present that makes it the fastest CF card in the world! With the D100, it’ll hold over 300 pics in JPEG Fine and over 100 in RAW.
PROS:
Solid build, excellent image quality (especially in RAW), tons of features and adjustments, ergonomically superior to the competition, super fast start up, writing and auto focus, long lasting lithium rechargeable battery and reasonable price (as far as digital SLRs go anyway)
Besides all of the great advantages the D100 offers, this camera is just plain old fun to use!
CONS:
No PC input on the camera. Optional accessory required for PC sync. Only trial version of Capture comes with the camera. The full version should be included with a camera in this price range.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 1369
This Camera is a Good Choice if You Want Something... Solid Enough for a Professional
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Epinions.com ID:
sube5186
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Location: Lancaster, PA
Reviews written: 8
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