A digital SLR which I would
position between the F5 and F100. It has the same autofocusing system as the
F5 and a similar metering system modified to the digital domain, ie it has matrix
colour based metering. However the bodies construction is more similar to the
F100’s than the durable F5 and the prism is not removable. The on/off
selector is also not lockable. Having said that these don’t really effect
the performance of the camera which is outstanding. The benefit of any Digital
SLR over the run of the mill integral digital cameras is in the quality of the
lenses more than the quality of the body or image sensor.
Images from the D1h are crisp and colour accurate, with good blacks and great
contrast. As the ergonomics of the camera are similar to the F5 it is quick
and easy to use for anyone that has come from a Nikon F100/F5 stable. Add to
this that it takes all the lenses that the F100 and F5 user may have and there’s
a great package.
Like most other current Digital SLR bodies the D1h has a magnification ration
of 1.5 for the resulting image using a particular lens when compared to the
F100/F5. This means that a 300mm lens becomes a 450mm without a change in lens
performance f2.8 stays at f2.8 unlike with a teleconverter. The downside of
this is when working with wideangle lenses where by a 20mm lens becomes a 30mm.
Being digital it is relatively easy to take a series of photographs and stick
them together to give a wider view, see techniques, but these method looses
some of the artistic impression of a wide angle lens.
Nikon are addressing this wide angle issue with the release of a super wide
angle DX lens which will give an equivalent coverage to an 18 to 30 mm lens.
The lens would only be acceptable on digital cameras as it relies on the fact
that a digital camera only uses the central portion of the lens so they can
let quality fall off at the edges that would normally be visible in a 35m film
camera.
One benefit of a digital SLR that doesn’t immediately spring to mind that
is quite obvious though is the ability to switch ASA ratings from shot to shot.
In reality this allows us to have the right speed ‘film’ in the
camera for any situation and weather condition.