Thom Hogan and the Nikon D800: review and book

The highly valued Thom Hogan has posted his D800 review. I quote from his verdict:

“The D800 and D800E are demanding cameras. If you’re buying them for image quality (and I’m not sure why you’d be buying them otherwise), the possible output can be spectacular, but getting there takes work. I suspect the Big Croppers will poo-poo that. They’ll think that they can just treat the D800 like a point and shoot and then crop to get the picture they want. They’ll be disappointed, as diffraction and sloppy camera handling can make those 12mp crops look worse than if you had just used a 12mp camera with the right lens in the first place”

Read the full review here. I only wish he finally would use a better software for creating his website.

He also starts sellings his “Complete Guide to the Nikon D800 and D800E“. In the past I’ve already bought some of his books, they are so much better than the Nikon manuals and you will learn a lot by reading them.

Nikon D3200

Nikon announced their new entry level camera D3200 featuring:

  • 24 MP sensor (a trbiute to the megapixel war)
  • 4 fps
  • 11 Autofocus points
  • 920k dot LCD compared to the 230k the D3100 had
  • ISO 100 to 6400 bosstable to 12800
  • Improved video: 1080p30 compared to the 24p the D3100 had
  • Still no built in wireless adapter but an external WU-1a unit

Nikon D800 and D800E begin to rival medium format resolutions

Nikon announced the Nikon D800 full frame DSLR featuring 36 MP and the D800E without an anti-aliasing filter:

  • CMOS FX sensor 36.3 Megapixel
  • 15.3 MP DX-format mode
  • ISO 100 to 6400 (boostable to 25600)
  • 4fps in FX format, 5fps in DX
  • Full-HD video, 1080p with 30fps / 25fps / 24fps, uncompressed HDMI output
  • AF with 51 points with 15 cross-type sensors, rated to -2EV
  • 3.2″ LCD
  • 100% coverage viewfinder
  • Shutter good for at least 200,000 clicks

Some D800 promo videos at Vimeo and Youtube: first video, second video, third. The cam will be available in April 2012. Ephotozine has a hands-on-review.

New Nikon D4 excels in video and low light capabilities

Nikon launched the Nikon D4, the replacement for the popular Nikon D3 profi DSLR. It features

  • 16.2 MP
  • Native ISO 100 to 12,800 , pushable from ISO 50 to ISO 204,800
  • Faster AF wth 51 focus points optimized for lighting as dim as −2 EV
  • Continuous shooting at 10fps with AF and AE tracking for up to 100 shots even in RAW format
  • Full HD D-movie, a dedicated video button, up to 30fps for up to 30 minutes, connector for external microphone
  • New 91k RGB sensor supporting Face Recognition
  • New HDR mode captures two exposures with 3EV difference in exposures, and combines them into a single image
  • Shutter lifetime 400,000 cycles
  • Dual memory card slots for XQD and Compact Flash
  • Improved connectibility: The Nikon D4 connects via Ethernet to your local network or via a new compact wireless transmitter WT-5

Additional information:

Nikon D4

Nikon D7000

Nikon announces the new Nikon D7000 DSLR camera, the perfect upgrade for all D5000 and D90 users and even attractive to a lot of others:

  • 16.2 MP CMOS sensor
  • 3″  921k dot LCD
  • 1080p full HD video with full time autofocus
  • 39-point AF with a new 2,016 pixel RGB 3D Matrix Metering System
  • ISO 100-6400 with up to 25600 HI-2 previously available only in Nikon FX cameras
  • 6 fps for up to 100 images
  • Quiet single frame advance mode
  • 14-bit RAW mode
  • Two SD card slots
  • Camera body with a magnesium-alloy top and rear covers
  • Shutter built for at least 150,000 cycles

Links: Nikon press release, Nikon fact sheet, Nikon D7000 pictures, first preview at Dpreview and an interesting test including D7000 videos.