Nikon D2X

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You have new messages (last change).
Nikon D2X
noframe
Type Digital single-lens reflex camera
Sensor 23.7 mm × 15.7 mm CMOS, DX format
Maximum resolution 4,288 × 2,848 (12.2 megapixels)
Lens type Nikon F mount
Shutter Electromagnetically controlled vertical-travel focal-plane shutter
Shutter speed range 30 to 1/8000 second and bulb
Exposure Metering TTL full-aperture exposure metering system
Exposure Modes Program Auto [P], Shutter-Priority Auto [S], Aperture-Priority Auto [A], Manual [M]
Metering modes 3D Color Matrix Metering II, Center-Weighted, Spot
Focus areas 11 area TTL (High Speed Cropped: 9 focus areas)
Focus modes Single Area AF, Dynamic AF with Focus Tracking and Lock-on, Closest Subject Priority, Group Dynamic AF
Continuous Shooting 5fps up to 17/22 (RAW/JPEG Fine), 8fps up to 29/35 (RAW/JPEG Fine) in HS crop
Viewfinder Optical-type fixed eye-level pentaprism
ASA/ISO range ISO equivalency 100 to 800 in 1/3, 1/2 or 1.0 EV steps
Flash n/a
Flash bracketing n/a
Focus bracketing Eleven sets of focus brackets (area)
Custom WB Auto, Presets (5), Manual, and Color tempature in Kelvin
WB bracketing 2 to 9 frames, 10,20,30 MIRED steps
Rear LCD monitor 2.5-inch (63.5 mm), 230,000-d
Storage CompactFlash (Type I or Type II)
Battery Lithium Ion EN-EL4a
Weight 1070 g (2.4lb) without batteries, 1252 g (2.8lb) with batteries
Optional Battery Packs AC adapter EH-6

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

Contents

[edit] 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 6.9 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 the best wedding and portrait camera in its class, spotting a "3rd-eye" which records the actual ambient lighting, enabling the D2X to accurately compute the white-balance for each image, instead of relying on guesstimation like all other digital SLR's (with the exception of the original 1Ds).

[edit] Audience

It is aimed at professional users or very advanced amateurs. 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 3 1/2 years which had elapsed between the D1X and D2X, during which time competitive pressure mounted on the D1X.

[edit] Competition

The principal competitive camera for the D2X are the full-frame Canon EOS 1Ds Mark II & 1D Mark II N. There is also some competitive overlap between the full-frame Canon 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 Awards. Named European Professional Camera of the Year, the D2X's 'extraordinary performance' was praised by the judges.[1]

[edit] 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

[edit] References

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


Nikon Digital single-lens reflex cameras Timeline
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
range Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
professional D1, 1999-06-15 D1X, 2001-02-05 D2X, 2004-09-16 D2Xs
high-speed D1H, 2001-02-05 D2H, 2003-07-22 D2Hs, 2005-02-16
prosumer D100, 2002-02-21 D200, 2005-11-01
consumer D70, 2004-01-28 D70s, 2005-04-20 D80
entry-level D50, 2005-04-20 D40
This box: view • talk • edit
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../n/i/k/Nikon_D2X_005b.html"
In other languages