DSLR Reviews

The new Nikon D5600 is a midrange DSLR camera based around a 24.2-megapixel DX-format (APS-C) sensor. The sensor offers the same resolution as the previous D5500. The same goes for the image processor—the Expeed 4 system—that was used in the D5500, which was launched two years ago (January 2015).

Feeling very much in hand like a pro camera, with magnesium alloy top and rear body construction, the Nikon D7000 (list: $1199, body only) has all the bells and whistles of a modern D-SLR, including a high megapixel count CMOS sensor, a new image processor to handle all the data it can capture, including 14-bit NEF, a high ISO 6400 “normal” (expandable two stops), and the currently requisite 1080p HD movie capability. This DX (APS-C) format camera also features dual SD card slots, with spillover or format sort capability, a nice and speedy 6 frames-per-second (fps) shooting capability for up to a 100 frame burst (JPEG), and full-time AF with video and Live View. The monitor is bright and highly readable in just about every lighting condition. Unfortunately, it is fixed and does not articulate, but the penta-prism finder makes one pray that Nikon will never go EVF (electronic viewfinder), yielding 100 percent coverage and being a pleasure to view through, especially after suffering some recent EVF obscuring experiences.

The Nikon D7200 will seem quite familiar to those who have worked with the forerunner D7100: indeed, the image sensor of the new D7200 is basically the same. It offers 24MP resolution, but now has a higher “standard” ISO range up to ISO 25,600 (which was the High or “push” mode” offered by the D7100) that can now be expanded to an ISO 102,400 equivalent, albeit in monochrome mode only. These higher speed settings are possible because the D7200 uses a new image processor dubbed “Expeed 4.”

Nikon had been relatively quiet in introducing DSLRs aimed at enthusiast photographers but that all changed with the new D7500, the company’s latest camera in the D7000 line. As the successor to the D7200, the Nikon D7500 (MSRP: $1,249, body only) joins Nikon’s APS-C (DX format) DSLR camera lineup, which includes the flagship D500, with a 20.9MP CMOS sensor and no low-pass filter. 

The Nikon 36MP D800 has a “full-format” sensor with a resolution normally associated with digital backs, making it a competitor with medium format cameras made by companies such as Hasselblad or Phase One. The camera will be available in two versions: a standard version, which was used for this test, and an additional version dubbed the D800E, which does not have a low-pass filter. The conventional thinking on use of a low-pass filter is that it avoids color moiré, although inclusion of the filter can create a certain amount of softening of image details. To avoid this soft look many medium format cameras or digital backs do not use it. In those cameras with the filter the effect is reduced via digital filtering in their Raw converter software. (We will do another resolution test on the D800E when it becomes available.)

One outing with the new Nikon D810 pro digital SLR convinced me that this camera is not only thoughtfully designed, a good fit, and easy to work with right out of the box, but that it’s also a solid performer that’s beautifully crafted. It has looks, smarts, and savvy, without being pretentious. And unlike enthusiast and entry-level cameras, it’s not filled with a bunch of useless toys no one really needs, wants, or uses (well, except for maybe a few of the post/retouching effects that seem to be wasted on this camera).

One key task when reviewing a new camera is to answer the important question “Who’s it for?” This challenge is a bit more difficult than usual with Nikon’s new Nikon D850 DSLR, because this powerful camera is one that defies classification.