dSLR Dad

Hi everyone. I just wanted to let that the Nikon D300 Review Page has been updated.  You can check it out here.

Also, with all of the new camera announcements that have come out this week, check back often to the dSLR Gear page to see what’s new for 2008.

Leaving everyone to wonder why it just wasn’t called the D40x Mark II

We are hitting the final stretch before PMA 20008. Today, Nikon USA issued their flood of Press Releases. The headliner for all of you dSLR Dads is the new D60. This is an update (although, a somewhat minor update) to the very popular Nikon D40X. Key features and “upgrades” include:

• Same 10.2 megapixel CCD sensor.
• Advanced 3-D Color Matrix Metering II with EXPEED image processor.
• New dual dust reduction countermeasures.
• Eye Sensor that turns the 2.5-inch (that’s right, still 2.5 inches) color LCD monitor on and off automatically. This is the same functionality as Canon Digital Rebel XSI and XTi.
• Stop-Motion Movie mode that enables users to create stop-animation movie clips from a series of as many as 100 consecutive JPEG picture files.
• Customizable LCD monitor user interface with in-camera editing tools.
• Supports Eye-Fi memory card functionality, enabling the convenient wireless transfer of images from the D60 to a computer, when using Eye-Fi Wireless SD Memory Cards.
• Kit will be packaged with the 3x zoom 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G AF-S DX VR Nikkor Lens
• Available in February 2008.  Order now at B&H Photo. (more…)

Bjørn Rørslett,Professional Nature Photographer, PhD. Member of NN (Norwegian Nature Photographers) and BioFoto (Association of Nature Photographers in Norway) has just posted his review of the Nikon D3 (order one at Amazon and B&H Photo).

Every one waited for Nikon to move up to the next level of digital sensor size, the “full-sized” FX or 35mm-like solution. Years went by and seemingly nothing happened. We admired Nikon’s clever ergonomic solutions and at least some of us ogled the high-ISO performance of the competition with a little envy. Then, Nikon struck back with a camera advertised to “defy the limitations” no less.

The D3 is not only a 35mm-frame camera, it is so much more and with high-ISO performance unheard and undreamt of as well. With a blazing firing rate up to 9 fps(FX)/11 fps(DX), this is a sports and action shooter’s dream camera come true. But what can it achieve for other fields of photography? In this review, I shall try to elaborate these aspects of this new Nikon DSLR. Consider this more akind to a personal travelogue written as I made myself familar with the D3 rather than a compilation of features….. (more…)

It was out for a while, but Nikon’s new D300 with the Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 G ED-IF AF-S VR DX Zoom Lens is now back in stock at Amazon as a kit. A note of caution to you potential D300 dSLR Dads: the price seems to fluctuate wildly on this one (no matter where you shop). In fact, it has stayed at the expected street price of $1800 only briefly during the past month. Before you buy, make sure that the kit price is cheaper than buying the lens. (more…)

The Nikon D300 dSLR has been out in the wild for some time (shipping now at Amazon). For all you dSLR Dad’s out there who are looking for one more bit of information to justify that purchase, here you go: (more…)

I love this site. If you have never visited PhotoZone, head over there now. They have posted their review of the new Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8G ED AF-S Nikkor Zoom Lens (available at Amazon and B&H Photo). Nikon announced this lens earlier this fall along with the D3 and D300.

The Nikkor AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8G ED exceeds the already very good performance of its predecessor. The center quality is nothing short of outstanding matching or beating the resolution of a 10mp APS-C sensor. (more…)

Popular Photography Magazine has released their review of the new Nikon D300 dSLR (available at Amazon). Let’s just say that they liked it:

…But what (Nikon has) on the inside pushed the D300 to new performance records in the Pop Photo Lab:

• It’s the first DSLR to earn an Excellent image quality rating from ISO 200 all the way up to ISO 3200.
• It sports the fastest (and most sophisticated) AF we’ve tested so far. (more…)

Photoshop guru Scott Kelby has posted his review of the Nikon D300.

I’ve spent the past two weeks, many hours, had two meetings with Nikon Professional Services staff, and taken thousands of photos with my new Nikon D300 and I’m ready to spill the beans and let you know what’s hot (and what’s not) about Nikon’s new arrival. (more…)

John Harrington has posted an article in which he compares both of his new purchases: A Nikon D3 (Amazon, B&H Photo) vs. the Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III (Amazon, B&H Photo).

What follows is a muti-part review of both cameras. Since I own both systems, and am not endorsed by either, and in fact, have been critical of both, I think I can take an unbiased look at each camera. My most critical concern was noise, and I don’t shoot sports, so, for example, fast focus-tracking is not a top priority for me. I’d dropped $20k on a Canon system, having been a die-hard Nikon photographer, having found the noise in my D2x files at iso640 and above offensive. Couple that with Nikon’s failure to address or even acknowledge that elephant in the room was just down-right inconsiderate. (more…)

Doug Brown, Contributor and event photographer, has posted his field report of the Sony Alpha A700 dSLR (now shipping).

The A700 is a beautifully crafted photographic instrument. In my time with it I grew quite comfortable with the camera and found it’s output to be very dependable.
It’s tough, ergonomically well designed, intuitive to use (more…)