Which Nikon Camera?

There's so many new type of Nikon DSLR camera lately...and sometime it's confusing for those whe planned to buy a new camera.

The price tag also seems to elevated somehow, considering the minor enhancement from the previous model.

Nikon marketing seems to follow Canon style these days...so many model came out at least twice a year? Well, in this digital age camera body do have some impact on the picture result...but is it really that significant?

If you planned to buy a DSLR, be careful don't be fooled by marketing campaign of OEM which try to get as much as money they can by adding some fancy feature to elevate the price.

Here's some consideration before buying:

How many mega pixels is required? CCD or CMOS?

10 - 12 megapixels is enough!

except if you planned to print your photo in billboard size. --> you better buy medium format or D3x for this

everytime new camera is launched, vendor always try to fool consumer by adding megapixels...

I've used my D200 for 2 years (only 10.2 Mp) and it still provide very good picture everytime. Whether you need to print in big size or not...it is enough. Do you get better picture by adding more megapixels?

i think picture composition and exposure lesson will do much better in improving our photo result than adding megapixels!

"But how if i need to crop the picture to get closer look?"....hey man, if you planned to get closer shot, do me a favor please: buy tele lens, and you will got high quality picture instead of cropped image which is piece of sh**:)

Sensor does have limitation, the more pixel cranked in the small sensor size, the more noise will came out and less color gathering ability is expected and at certain level it will be visible.

Each photosensor in every pixels has a light gathering optics that determine how the picture result would be.

Of course the sensor technology have evolved to minimize the loss, but the limit does exist.

Currently many camera have used CMOS instead of CCD, is it true that CMOS is better than CCD? What is CMOS and CCD?

CCD is charge-coupled device and CMOS is complimentary metal-oxide semiconductor.

In a CCD device, the charge is actually transported across the chip and read at one corner of the array. An analog-to-digital converter turns each pixel's value into a digital value. In most CMOS devices, there are several transistors at each pixel that amplify and move the charge using more traditional wires. The CMOS approach is more flexible because each pixel can be read individually. Both is capable in providing high quality image!

Picture of CCD sensor

CCD production requires higher cost than CMOS, beside that CCD require higher power consumption than CMOS.

That's why camera manufacturer prefer CMOS than CCD.

why nikon opted for CCD at their first DSLR?

Nikon is not a sensor manufacturer, they worked with Sony which has long history in making CCD sensor, that's why the use Sony's CCD technology at the very beginning which is more cost effective in terms of research and design.

For image quality...it depends on the color separation mechanism (there's bayern filter which is the most commonly used, foveon X3 by sigma, JFET for Nikon D2H etc.) and image processing algorithm, not CCD/ CMOS, so please forget about CCD vs CMOS hoax.

Better LCD and Live View feature

Beside the megapixel boost, this also one of the camera manufacturer selling point for their new product.

Does better LCD helps you create better picture? For me: NO

Does Live View helps you create better picture? YES and NO...depend how you will use it.

Please remember that photography is not yesterdays technology, it already started centuries ago...and at that time there's no live view...but the picture result is still outstanding.

As long as you can use your view finder well...you'll get a good picture.

Autofocus point

Here's another vendors selling point...Autofocus

Do you shoot lot of action photo or moving subject?

If not then please skip this feature. If yes...this feature is important for you!

I shoot mostly landscape and human interest

So even 9 autofocus point is more than enough for me, i always use my center autofocus point whenever i shoot...simply because i don't have time to play with the button trying to move the autofocus point. I'm afraid that the moment will be gone away.

Especially when you're a landscape photographer...autofocus is simply useless, because you will play a lot with hyperfocal distance (more about this: please read http://www.dofmaster.com/hyperfocal.html)

So what is important in buying a camera body????

Here's what important for me:

• Quick Access: when you shoot fleeting moment or fast changing environment, you'll need a quickly adjustable camera parameter (exposure, white balance, iso, mirror lock up etc.). You will miss the moment if you keep busy with your menu, trying to access those parameter. Nikon semi-pro DSLR usually have buttons for every parameter right in the camera body, while for the entry level you'll have to struggle with the menu everytime you need to adjust the parameter. That's what differ semi-pro and entry level camera


• Comfort: when you travelling whole day and you have to keep your camera ready, you'll know what i meant...comfortable can be from size, weight, ergonomics etc. you can not travelling around whole day carrying medium format camera (it will break your neck) or trying to stabilize your tiny camera in your hand. When you have the camera that is suitable for you, you will feel comfortable to bring it all day long.


• Clear and Bright viewfinder: when you often shoot macro, you'll know the difference...you can even manually focus your old lenses with ease if you have clear and bright view finder which increase amount of your successful picture (in-focus). 100% viewfinder coverage (no cropping) and high magnification is all you need, but it seems very rarely found any camera with this capability...even my D200:(


• Backward compatibility: All nikon semipro (D200, D300, D300s etc) and pro (D2, D2x, D3, D3x) has full compatibility with their old manual lenses. Metering work flawlessly using those camera which is what i dream of when i move from D70s to D200. This is great feature which you cannot find in entry level DSLR (D70, D80, D90, D3000 etc.)


• Focus adjustment: this feature give ability to fine tune your lenses focusing accuracy, this is a great feature which enable you to get clear and tack sharp picture every time using your autofocus lenses. Sadly...my D200 haven't got this feature yet, but D300 has it.


• Dynamic Range: Every camera have their own ability in handling dynamic range, higher dynamic range will result in less contrasty picture (which is prominent in pro DSLR). This sometime make amateur photographer scratch their head. Yes...higher dynamic range will make your picture less contrasty, but it preserve more detail than your entry level DSLR which create punchy and full of contrast picture right out of the camera. With high dynamic range, you'll need to do further post processing to adjust the picture as you like. And believe me...the result will be more optimal than pre-set picture of entry DSLR. If you don't like post processing...buy entry level DSLR!

Other thing that sometimes people forget is Lenses and Tripod...

Your pro level DSLR body will end up wasted if you're using crap lenses!, the picture result will not be optimum.

Good lenses require special coating, special material (ED glasses, Aspherical element etc.) this element is expensive! Lower grade lenses doesn't have all this...that's why the picture result is harsh in gradation, dull in color and less sharp.

So we must remember to buy good lenses if we want great and optimal picture result!

For tripod...please read my previous article about tripod...but one thing you must remember, especially when you're a landscape photographer: Your picture will only be as good as your tripod:)