Rangefinder Magazine
August 2005

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First Exposure by JOHN RETTIE
Nikon D2X106

MANY NIKON USERS would probably agree that they have been patiently waiting for a state-of-the-art digital camera for the better part of a year. They’ve watched while other companies have introduced cameras with 8-, 14- or 16-megapixel image sensors. Okay, some of these cameras, such as the Kodak DCS SLR/n, have used modified Nikon bodies (so they have at least been available to users of Nikon lenses); however, the best Nikon could manage was to continue delivery of the four-year-old D1X with its 5-megapixel CCD.

The Nikon D2X is a great camera, thanks in part to its superb ergonomics.

Of course, all this is history now that the Nikon D2X has finally hit camera store shelves. And, based on a quick first look and feedback from those photographers who have been using the camera, it seems the wait has been worthwhile.

The D2X was announced last fall, so its technical details have been no secret. To recap, it has a brand new 12.4-megapixel CMOS image sensor with the same physical size (known as DX or APC) as those in all other Nikon digital SLR cameras. This means it has a 1.5X multiplier effect, which is not at all bad when used with long lenses. What’s more, Nikon has introduced several DX lenses, which are made for exclusive use on Nikon digital SLR cameras. The lenses are slightly smaller and lighter and have been designed to meet the different light path characteristics required by digital sensors compared to film.

Also, Nikon has taken care of the wide-angle lens dilemma with a 10.5mm fisheye and a 12–24mm zoom (18–36mm equivalency).

The D2X is virtually identical in size to previous D-series cameras but, like the D2H, it has a much larger LCD screen on the back and some changes in dial and button locations. Anyone familiar with the older D1 models will immediately be comfortable with the D2X. Overall, the feel of the camera is excellent with well positioned and generally intuitive operation. The body is solidly made with good environmental seals.

About the only criticism is that your nose still rests against the LCD cover leaving grease marks. I also found myself accidentally firing the vertical grip shutter release, as it is too easy to touch it with one’s palm when holding the camera. Because of this, I left the vertical shutter turned off most of the time.

I was really pleased with the quality of images I obtained on the D2X. The detail is crisp with great transitions from highlights to shadows. Chromatic aberration (CA) has proven to be an ongoing problem with digital cameras. In some quick tests with the 12–24mm DX zoom, I found there was minimal CA in the far corners, so the new DX lens does appear to work much better.

Even in appalling wet conditions the D2X shines. Picture taken by John Rettie using Nikkor 300mm AF-S f/2.8 lens handheld at 1/250, f/8.5, 800 ISO

The larger 2.5-inch, 232,000-pixel LCD monitor is a marked improvement as it reveals small enough pixels that fine detail can be seen in images, especially when zoomed in to a maximum of 27X magnification. Moving between images while chimping is intuitive, and it’s possible to maintain the same magnification while scrolling from one image to another, which is useful for checking details in similar images. An added advantage of the bigger screen is easier-to-read menus that can be viewed comfortably in brightly lit environments. As with its previous digital SLRs, Nikon includes a clear plastic dust/dirt cover for the LCD screen for protection of the screen’s surface.

A common criticism of digital SLRs with small sensors is that the optical viewfinder is not nearly as big or bright as those in a traditional 35mm film camera. Somehow Nikon seems to have improved the viewfinder in the D2X so it seems almost as big and bright. It certainly is much nicer viewing images in the D2X’s viewfinder than in older Nikon digital SLRs.

One of the unique features of the D2X is its dual role capability. It’s normally a 12-megapixel camera that can capture images at 5 fps with a buffer of 17 frames (RAW) or 22 frames (JPEG). This makes it an ideal studio camera and is fast enough for most users. However, if one does not need a wide-angle picture or 12-megapixels, the D2X has a high-speed crop mode where the camera just uses the center 6.8 megapixels to capture images at 8 fps with a buffer of 29 RAW or 35 JPEG images. In this mode it is equivalent to a 2X multiplier on a 35mm lenses.

At first this high-speed crop mode would seem to be a bit of a gimmick; however, I found myself using it quite often. Sometimes when doing test shots where I knew 12-megapixel images would be overkill, it was more economical in terms of file size to use the crop mode. At other times when I wanted to zoom in on a subject, it was like having a built-in crop tool. When one is in the high-speed crop mode, the captured image is highlighted within the regular frame by flashing red edges surrounding the cropped center of the frame. It is sometimes useful to be able to see what is happening outside the capture frame, although to be honest I’d rather have a more distinctive framing because I sometimes forgot that the image seen outside the frame was not being captured.

It also made me realize that Nikon could easily have given one the option of making the frame a vertical picture, albeit with fewer pixels. In the future I’m sure we’ll see square image sensors giving one the option of shooting, square, landscape or portrait images without rotating the camera body. Perhaps someone will go even further, if sensors continue to be really expensive, and make a cross-shaped sensor that offers the three shapes!

All in all I was surprised at how often I used the crop mode. It is a useful option that’s not available on any other camera. The speed of the camera in crop mode is phenomenal; it’s all too easy to fire off several shots just by pushing the shutter button down for more than a millisecond. Fortunately, it’s possible to preset the capture rate from 1–7 fps. The speed of operation in regular mode will prove more than adequate for all but the fastest sports and news photography. I was also impressed that I could review images on the monitor even while images are still being written to the storage card. This feature is really useful. The camera is ready to shoot the instant it is turned on, and shutter lag is almost non-existent.

Unlike some other pro digital cameras, the D2X only has one slot for a CompactFlash storage card. Personally I’ve never found a need for two cards, so I am not sure whether this will be a problem for prospective owners. I did not have time or the inclination to try out the different speeds of cards while using the camera; however, I never ran into buffer overflow while using a Lexar 80X WA 4GB card. I think we have arrived at a stage in digital camera evolution where the internal memory and processing capabilities of a camera are adequate for pro shooting.

Other unusual features include an interval meter for unattended shooting, image overlay in which two images can be blended together and the capability of capturing up to 10 multiple exposures on one frame.

Besides these features, the D2X includes all the usual customization features one has come to expect on a modern digital SLR including auto bracketing up to nine different exposures. There’s still no auto bracketing of ISO, which would be useful in some circumstances such as when shooting wide open and one needs to keep as high a shutter speed as possible. ISO rating has become the third variable that can be adjusted on the fly.

Talking of ISO, the D2X is rated from 100 to 800 ISO. It’s possible to shoot at 1600 or 3200 ISO, but Nikon does not recommend it. Smaller pixels are not as good at high ISOs because there tends to be more noise. As long as you don’t shoot above 800 ISO, you should have no complaints about noise from the D2X.

Nikon has come in for a lot of criticism, warranted or not, over its decision to encrypt some of the data in its RAW NEF files. I rarely shoot RAW, so the problems don’t worry me. It was interesting that during a Nikon-sponsored event for journalists trying out the D2X, we were asked to shoot JPEG files because the organizers did not want to be “bothered” with the extra time involved in processing RAW files. If you do shoot RAW, each 4288x2848-pixel image will be about 21MB in size. It’s possible to capture RAW and JPEG files simultaneously, in which case each picture will consume 27MB of space.

A new rechargeable Li-ion battery powers the D2X. Apart from lasting much longer than previous Ni-Cd or NiMH batteries, it is much more intelligent: There is a menu that tells you how much charge is remaining as a percent, gives the number of shots taken since being charged, and says whether the battery needs recalibrating. During one week I managed to capture 1225 images on the camera with a five percent charge remaining on the battery, according to the meter. This included plenty of chimping, so many photographers will be able to get by with a single battery or certainly no more than one spare battery.

Nikon has further improved wireless connectivity with the D2X in combination with the optional WT-2/2A wireless transmitter, which mounts underneath the camera. It has an external cord to communicate with the camera body that looks a little clumsy. Getting the IEEE 802.11b/g Wi-Fi to talk with a computer is still not as intuitive as it should be. It’s not really Nikon’s fault—it seems we are still in the early development stages of Wi-Fi connectivity. If you have a need to wirelessly transmit images from the camera to a computer, the D2X is as good at this stage as any camera on the market.

Nikon’s new creative lighting system is another wireless feature that appears to function well. The SB-800 Speedlight flash can wirelessly control any number of SB-800 or SB-600 flashes in three groups without the need for any cables. What’s more, the strength of the flash output of the remote units can be controlled remotely form the SB-800 mounted on the camera. About the only drawback of the D2X’s flash system is slow 1/250-second sync speed, although there is a high-speed sync setting on the SB-800.

There continues to be tremendous debate among photographers as to whether one needs a digital camera with a full-size 35mm size image sensor. If one solely judges a camera by the total number of pixels, the D2X is less of a camera than the Canon EOS 1Ds Mark II with its 16-megapixel sensors. On the other hand, if one looks at pixel density, the D2X wins easily with 181 pixels per mm compared to 139 per mm for the Canon. If the Canon had the same pixel density, it would need to have a 28-megapixel sensor. It has always been assumed that a lower number of pixels per mm is better, but Nikon seems to have proven that it’s possible to obtain great images, at least at ISO ratings below 800, with smaller pixels.

Of course consumer digital cameras routinely use sensors that pack in 427 pixels per mm and many of them produce great quality images. Indeed, if a sensor in a consumer camera with 7 megapixels were made the same size as one in the D2X, it would contain 67 megapixels while the Canon 1Ds would have 157 megapixels. This shows the potential number of pixels we could expect in the future.

However, I believe Nikon has demonstrated that larger sensors are not needed for the majority of photographers, just as the majority of photographers do not need a medium-format or 4x5 camera when they were shooting with film, at least since the 1970s. Progress has always dictated that things get smaller and better as technology advances.

An added advantage of Nikon standardizing on a single physical size for its sensors is that any camera including its least expensive D50 can be used as a backup with the same field of view on all lenses. Canon users who use a less expensive body as a back-up to a 1-series camera have to deal with three different crop factors.

Overall, the Nikon D2X is a great camera—even if it doesn’t have a 16-megapixel or larger sensor. I’d go as far as saying it is the best all around digital SLR camera currently on the market in terms of usability and quality. Although I am certain we will only regard it as an evolutionary camera in the future, it has several features, such as the high-speed crop mode, that merely hint at some of the new capabilities we can expect to find in future digital cameras that will truly make use of the intriguing features digital cameras are capable of achieving.

John Rettie is a photojournalist who resides in Santa Barbara, CA. Readers can contact him by e-mail at john@johnrettie.com or by snail-mail c/o Rangefinder.