NIKON D2X

The 'Nikon D2X' is a 12.4-megapixel professional digital single-lens reflex camera that Nikon Corporation announced on September 16, 2004. The D2X was the top model in Nikon's line until June 2006 when it was supplanted by the D2Xs.

Contents

Technology

Audience

Competition

Nikon D2Xs

References

Technology

Its image sensor uses CMOS technology supplied by Sony instead of either a charge-coupled device or the Nikon proprietary LBCAST sensor which had both dominated Nikon's digital SLR lineup until the D2X. The camera supports sYCC color space.
The D2X surpasses the D2H and its successor the D2Hs by providing 5 frames/s at 12 megapixels, and 8 frames/s at 6.8 megapixels with its unique high speed crop mode.
The D2X retains a DX format sensor which is 66% of the size of a 35mm frame. In high speed crop mode the camera sacrifices pixels in favour of speed and crops the image to 50% of a 35 mm frame to enable continuous shooting at 8 frames per second (vs. 5 frame/s at full resolution).
The D2X incorporates some other innovations such as refinements of the metering and autofocus systems. At the same time the camera is able to make use of virtually all of Nikon's F-Mount lenses including most legacy lenses.
The D2X is very well suited to wedding and portrait work. It is one of very few cameras with a built-in "3rd-eye" which records the color of ambient light, giving the D2X an additional tool to accurately compute the white-balance for each image, instead of relying on calculations based only on subjects within the picture frame.
The D2X has the highest concentration of pixels (pixel pitch) of any Nikon DSLR made to date. While its resolving capabilities are impressive, the very small resulting pixel sites put the camera at a disadvantage when working in low light by introducing slight noise in underexposed areas. Fortunately, the D2X has excellent noise reduction software built into the camera, so its images reflect the very high quality one would expect from an expensive digital SLR.
The CMOS sensor built into the D2X has the ability to resolve about nine times more than the human eye. At 90 line pairs/millimeter (90 lp/mm) the sensor can resolve extremely fine detail. This makes the camera perform exceptionally well when used as a landscape or scenic imager, since it can better resolve smaller detail in distant objects.
The D2X is a professional-level camera, made to last for many years. It has a rated shutter life of 200,000+ images, which is generally double or triple less costly cameras.
12-Megapixel cameras, like the Nikon D2x, are easily capable of making a 16x20 inch (40.6 x 50.8 cm) print with only minor enlargement, or a double-page magazine spread at 300 dpi. Images of this size used to be reserved for the best of 35mm transparencies or even medium format film cameras.

Audience

The D2X is aimed at professional users. It is a replacement for a previous professional model, the D1X and complements Nikon's D2Hs camera with which it shares a body. It was, to many, a very important model for Nikon given the 3½ years which had elapsed between the D1X and D2X, during which time competitive pressure mounted on the D1X.

Competition

The principal competitive camera for the D2X are the full-frame Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II & Canon EOS-1D Mark II N. There is also some competitive overlap between the full-frame Canon EOS 5D and the D2X, although they are not direct competitors.
An unresolved debate rages about the respective technical compromises of the DX format sensor and so called "full frame" sensors (100% of a 35 mm film frame) offered in competition with the D2X's DX format. Each format offers advantages and disadvantages which become more or less important in different usage settings (e.g studio vs sport, indoor vs outdoor, wide angle vs telephoto). Nikon, convinced that the design characteristics of the DX format are best choice for its customers and target markets, has committed itself publicly to the DX format sensor and offers several lenses specifically optimised for DX sensors.
Nikon's D2X was awarded best product accolades for 2005-6 by the European Imaging and Sound Association. Named European Professional Camera of the Year, the D2X's 'extraordinary performance' was praised by the judges.^[1]

Nikon D2Xs

'Nikon D2Xs' is a digital single-lens reflex camera announced June 1, 2006, replacing the professional Nikon D2X.
Its improvements over the original D2X include^[2]

★ Automatic viewfinder masking in High-Speed Crop mode

★ Increased buffer capacity to 60 frames in continuous shooting

★ additional ISO steps between 800 and 1600

★ improved metering for High Speed Crop

★ more Autofocus options

★ an AF system that can now detect focus at lower contrast and in lower light, higher capacity

★ battery rated to 3,800 exposures per charge

★ improved Auto-ISO features

★ image verification

★ ability to save and load camera settings from a memory card

★ 2.5 inch (64 mm) 230,000 pixel LCD with 170 degree viewing angle (same as D200)

★ menu look ported from the D200

★ Black and White mode

★ additional color mode selections

★ locking USB connector

★ support for multiple custom curves

★ a lockable recent settings menu

★ improved GPS data recording

★ AF and VR mode recording in shooting data

★ in-camera cropping

References

1. EISA Awards 2005/2006
2. Comparison of D2X and D2Xs, nikon imaging


★ D2X, Nikon USA

★ D2Xs, Nikon USA

★ reviews and sample list, Paul Vachier, NoEnd Press

★ Nikon D2X Review, June 2005, Phil Askey, DPreview

★ Nikon Professional Camera Blog, Latest News on Nikon Cameras