Nikon D1 Digital Camera - continued
an in-depth review by Photographer Mike Berceanu

All images and text in this report, copyright (c) 1999 Mike Berceanu
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5 cm 120,000 dot low-temperature polysilicon TFT LCD screen shows images bright and clear at the press of a button.

The D1 is completely compatible with all AF Nikkor lens, and has limited compatibility with most other recent Nikkor lenses for Nikon 35mm SLR cameras. This makes the camera very attractive to photographers who already have a considerable investment in Nikon equipment.

To calculate the angle coverage compared to the 35mm format, multiply the lens focal length by a factor of 1.5. Nikon has recently introduced a couple of lenses that are particularly suited to this camera. The 17-35 mm AF-S Nikkor f/2.8 zoom lens provides a very useful range equivalent to about 25-52 mm in a 35 mm film camera, covering many everyday lens needs. The new PC Micro-Nikkor 85 mm f/2.8D is a bit more exotic, being equipped with a tilt/shift mechanism that allows photographers the flexibility to manipulate image perspective, distortion and focus. So why would you need this? Fitted on the D1, a photographer can work digitally on subjects such as food, product and catalogue photography that was traditionally done on large format view cameras. These are the seeds of revolution in the way studio photography will be carried out.

For those who use a flash on camera, there is also a new Speedlight SB-28DX, dedicated to the D1 and offering versatile flash sync modes - Front-Curtain Sync (normal sync), Red-Eye Reduction, Red-Eye Reduction with Slow Sync, Slow Sync and Rear-Curtain Sync.

CompactFlash (CF) Card (Type I/II) can be rapidly inserted and extracted to transfer images to a computer via a card reader.

exposure modes

The D1 has three auto exposure modes, - Programmed, Shutter-Priority and Aperture-Priority, which together with manual options offer precise, comprehensive exposure control. Exposures can also be determined in a particular area and then fixed with the Auto-Exposure lock button, and the picture reframed. Automatic bracketing functions make it easy to get a perfect exposure in tricky lighting situations too.

Auto Focus comes in a couple of flavours. Single servo Auto-Focus is best for stationary subjects. When the shutter release button is pressed half way, the camera focuses and focus remains locked while the shutter button is held in position. For subjects that move, Continuous servo Auto-Focus, as the name suggests, continues to focus and will track a moving object. Auto Focus can also be set to focus only on one of five different areas in the viewfinder. Furthermore, using what is called Dynamic AF, the camera focus on a subject in the selected focus area and then shifts focus to track the subject as it moves.
Of course focus can be done manually too.

For white balance we found the Auto setting to be very reliable. Since white balance varies with the colour temperature of the lighting, there are also settings for Incandescent (3000K), Fluorescent (approximately 4200K), Direct Sunlight (5200K), Flash (5400K), Overcast (6000K), Shade (7000K) and PRE which allows you to pre-set the white balance using a white object as a reference point.

Images can be viewed on a TV screen and recorded on a VCR by connecting here. A/C power plug below. To the top of the camera is the 10-pin remote terminal for electronic cable release and above that, the external flash connector. Focus mode selector and lens release button closest to the lens.

To enable shooting at 90 degrees there is a second lockable shutter release at bottom right of the camera with a second Main Command wheel and Auto Focus button conveniently placed for the right hand thumb.

The high capacity interchangeable NiMH Battery Pack (EN-4) must be removed to charge with the dedicated Quick Charger MH-16, or the Nikon F100's MH-16 charger. Where there is access to mains power, an optional A/C Adapter EH-4 (100-240V AC) can be used.

The pentaprism viewfinder has a bright frame coverage of approximately 96% with diopter adjustment of -3 to +1 diopter for those who require it. A built-in eyepiece shutter can be used to completely block light entering through the eyepiece.

images on screen

To review images, the D1 offers a high quality 5 cm 120,000-dot low-temperature polysilicon TFT LCD screen which can also show histogram information. Screen brightness is adjustable. Playback functions include 1 frame, Thumbnail (9 images at once), Slide Show, and Histogram.

Top control panel displays shooting information including choice of exposure method. The metering mode selector can be seen on the pentaprism.

Metering with this camera is very slick. Sophisticated 3D Digital Matrix Image Control combines information from 3D Colour Matrix Metering, TTL White Balance and Tone Compensation, measured by a dedicated 1,005 pixel CCD. Scene contrast, scene brightness and distance to the subject are all taken into consideration.

Centre-Weighted Metering has 75% of the meters sensitivity concentrated on a nominal 8 mm diameter circle. Spot Metering centres on a 4 mm diameter circle which is approximately 2% of the entire frame. The circle size for these metering options can be further changed to 6, 10, 13 mm using the cameras custom commands. There are a total of 32 custom command functions, too numerous to mention, covering just about any contingency you can think of.

The D1 can also be connected to a television to view images on the screen, or to a video cassette recorder to record them on video tape. An EG-D1 video cable which comes with the camera connects to a socket at the front of the camera just above the A/C input connector.

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