Upcoming Nikon Releases

     There have been announcements made that there will be Nikon press release events held in Japan on both February 1, and February 7.
     For those of you who haven't been following the photographic media, this means that the new line of updated coolpix cameras will be announced on the 1st. This is said to include a water-, shock-, and childproof version specifically designed for children. I don't know much about the coolpix line, honestly. It's simply not something I look into too often.
     

     The more interesting stuff after the break. :)

     For those of you who are a bit more involved in the photographic world, this also means that we've got quite a huge release on our hands for the 7th. This will likely be the release of the Nikon D800; Nikon's newest FX camera. The specs of this camera are rumored to be as follows:

• 36 MP sensor (7360x4912)
• 100% viewfinder coverage
• Improved AF with face recognition – the D800 will still have 51 points AF point
• CF+SD memory card slots
• USB 3.0
• ISO range: 100 – 6400, ISO LO @ 50 and ISO HI-2 @ 25600
• The screen will be larger than 3 inches (probably 3.2 in.)
• The D800 will not have built-in GPS
• Expeed 3 processor
• There will be two different D800 versions/models, one with the antialiasing filter removed
• 4 fps continuous shooting, about 6 fps in DX mode with optional battery pack
• Video modes: 1080p/30/25/24 and 720p/60/30/25/24
• Headphone jack, can input from an external device such as a PCM sound recorder
• 86k pixels RGB sensor
• 200,000 shutter cycles
• Uncompressed HDMI video out (just like the Nikon D4)
• See those cropped Nikon D800 samples at high ISO
• The Nikon D800 commercial was shot in Chicago and involves high speed motorcycle chase
  Read more on NikonRumors.com

      I would venture to say that it will have just about all of the fantastic video features of the D4, including remote control, smooth aperture feature, etc. I'm most interested in seeing the difference in the removal of the AA filter. There's a lot of rumble around saying that, with 36MP, there are sufficient pixels to effectively remove the need for an aliasing filter, for both moire and aliasing purposes. I, for one, simply can't imagine that Nikon would produce a DSLR to the caliber of the D800 (filling the shoes of the recently discontinued, and still widely revered D700) that would not function as it is supposed to. So, if they removed the AA filter to grab every bit of detail possible, while still getting rid of moire patterns and aliasing, I believe that they will do it.

      This is also important because of the video function. Video is becoming an ever-present aspect in the world of photography, and it's absolutely essential that neither moire or aliasing are seen in the videos. Mark Miller was actually in the D800 promo video. He drove a motorcycle of sorts through the streets of Chicago, late at night. The promo video was shot with a D800 in these conditions. 

      To me, this was done to prove two things. It was not only done to prove that the video functions are amazing, and capable of shooting well in the most extreme of conditions, but also that the noise levels seen with the camera are not to be trifled with. If the camera can shoot with sufficient light to render a great video in these conditions, it can surely do just about anything you ask of it; and that's exactly what they're wanting you to think after seeing the video. 

      Now, the D4 has a function that will effectively allow you to crop the video 2.7x from the 16MP sensor, effectively making a video that is 1920x1080 pixels; true, 1:1 HD 1080p video straight from the sensor. This means you can use lenses like your 16/17-35, 24/1.4, or even 14-24 (longer end, of course) on this crop mode, and effectively have a decent normal-length FOV, but get the wonderful depth of field of the ultra-wide lenses. This is marvelous for video.

     With the D800 having 36MP, hopefully the camera will not only have the 2.7x crop, but will also have the 1:1 crop feature. This will not only be phenomenal for wildlife videographers, but also for the uses mentioned above.

     Either way, the D800 is definitely going to be a marvelous (H)DSLR for the right photographer and videographer alike. More posts to come as more information is released. In the meantime, feel free to message/email me any information you may have.

Thanks for stopping by,
Mark