Photography news and tips for the hobbyist or seasoned pro
Every few years a camera manufacturer announces a new successor to their previous flagship model. Today, Nikon announced the successor to the D3/D3s/D3x line. The highly anticipated D4 flagship model for Nikon comes just a little bit after Canon announced their 1D X model. Coincidence? Or just clever timing on Nikon to steal the 1D X’s thunder? Nikon cameras are usually available 30 days from the announcement so you can probably expect these to be available early February 2012.
How many megapixels?Nikon’s D4 sensor will of course be an FX-format CMOS sensor. The interesting part is it’s going to only be an effective 16.2 megapixels. Why only 16.2? Well because of a few different reasons. For the longest time camera manufacturers have been able to market megapixels as the end all and be all of how “good” a camera is. These days people are aware that megapixels isn’t the only true test of a camera’s worthiness.
If you’ve ever tried to take pictures in dark rooms (ie. evening, indoor, dark reception halls, etc.) then you’ll know that another deciding factor on how “worthy” a camera is has to do with how well it performs in low light. A camera that can create clear and crisp images at higher ISO means that you will less likely need a flash. On camera and pop-up flashes are a no-no as they create ugly, harsh, washed out light on people’s faces. The D4, instead of being a megapixel monster (competing with 20+ megapixel cameras) was designed to work well in low light so you can shoot at 3200 and 6400 ISO and still get usable images. The D4 can shoot at 100 to 12800 ISO (native ISO).
A lot of people have heard of the term HDR which stands for (High Dynamic Range). Well another thing that manufacturers are realizing that is marketable is the camera’s ability to capture dynamic range. What dynamic range in the photography world translates to is the ability to retain detail in the darkest of pixels and the lightest of pixels. If a camera doesn’t have a good dynamic range then imagine taking a picture of a sunset and only being able to see the dark foreground and having the sky all white. What happened to my sunset? Well the camera couldn’t handle the disparity between the light and dark. Back to the D4… the D4 will be able to handle a lot more dynamic range since instead of focusing on jamming more megapixels and more resolution it is focusing in on the pixels being able to better handle the disparity between light and dark.
-FX format CMOS sensor, 16.2 MP
-3.2″ LCD monitor
-Full 1080p HD video
-Magnesium alloy body
-400,000 shutter actuation life cycle
-EXPEED3 image processor
-Weight 2.95lbs with battery (without lens)
-New EN-EL18 battery, (approximately 2600 pictures per charge).
GET IT! I’m doing a group buy so send me an email if you want to pre-order one and be one of the first to get it when it’s released.
