Nikon digi-SLR

Nikon digital single reflex cameras

Introduction

Since a German technician developed a ´miniature´ camera for the 35mm cine-film in the first half of the last century, many camera manufacturers followed with an similar design. The first Nikon rangefinder camera was more or less a copy of that German invention. The first Nikon single lens reflex camera, the Nikon F, is in fact a rangefinder camera fitted with a mirror house and eye level view finder. And the first digital reflex camera is almost a copy of one of the last film SLR´s Nikon made. If you would open the Nikon D1 you´ll find the film compartment intact. Many manufacturers have shown that the shape of a modern digi-reflex camera doesn´t need to follow the classic film SLR design. Nikon Corporation - however - is one of the conservative camera makers´ herd. It is not necessary to use a mirror house, or to place the sensor in line with the lens axis, or to build a camera as heavy as a brick and as big as a shoe box. Digital technology makes it possible to create an image taker (´camera´ isn´t a proper name anymore) with a better grip, giving space to our nose and eyes so we can press the IT at our cheek for better stability, or - like mounted on modern movie cameras - fitted with a moveable viewing tube. As you will see in this chapter Nikon digital SLR´s do have the same shape as their film cousins. All made for right-handed people only, but luckily with the F-mount enabling to use nearly all Nikkor lenses.

Before Nikon introduced a professional digital single lens reflex (SLR) camera other manufacturers produced digital cameras on basis of a Nikon film SLR. Cameras have been made by Kodak, Fuji and others on basis of the Nikon F3, F4, F5, F-801, F-90, Pronea, etc. Some in cooperation with Nikon, some not. More info about the Kodak and Fuji SLR's can be found here.

The very first digital SLR prototype (with a 1.6/6 mm. lens), produced by Nikon Corporation, was shown at the 1986 Photokina Exhibition in Germany, followed by a serious ´Still-video´-camera, the Nikon QV 1000C in 1990. This very expensive - and nowadays rare - camera has a 2/3 inch CCD with maximum resolution of a mere 380,000 pixels and a separate lens mount. At the time of its introduction the camera had the world's highest ISO-setting of 1600 ! It was able to register images at the ESCC-standard in Single mode, Continuous mode ( 4 fps) and CH (20 fps) at 1/1000 sec. when the mirror was locked up. Shutter speed range is 1/8 - 1/2000 sec. Additionally a photo-transmitter (QV-1010T) was supplied. See here for more info about the QV-Nikkors.

Attention!!

All Nikon digital SLR´s use either CF or SD memory cards. Not all brands will work, so look into the manual of the camera. Format the card - before use - in your camera. The D1-series internal software runs in FAT16-modus; they therefore can´t be used with CF-cards with a maximum memory capacity of more than 2 Gb. All other cameras run in FAT32-modus and will take the ´larger´ cards. IBM-mini drives wont fit all cameras as the card port may be too narrow.

Nikon Corporation has made very nice digital reflex cameras - as you will see below - and developed its own Nikon Electronic File (NEF), which is an image capture software for the storage of images in RAW mode. Whether you´ll pay 400 or 4,000 Euro or more for a camera Nikon Corporation compels the buyer to pay for extra software (Nikon Capture) in order to be able to manage those RAW-NEF images! Without that software you can´t edit NEF-images. A strange policy, although since early 2008 in many countries a new camera will come with the appropriate software!

And: All Nikon digital SLR cameras have a built-in auto focus sensor that will work as long as the lens in use (or a lens-teleconverter-combination) has a maximum aperture of f/5.6 or larger (= lower f-number). When using slower (= higher f-number) lenses auto focus may fail.