Nikon has announced three hot new products today, and if you have been paying any attention to the rumors, you’ll already know what they are. The biggest news is the new D300s, a video-capable update to Nikon’s top-of-the-range crop-frame DSLR, the D300. We also get a new entry level DSLR, the D3000, and a replacement for Nikon’s pro 70-200 zoom, called the AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm F/2.8G ED VR II.
D300s
So, what’s new? A glance at the camera doesn’t give much away. On the outside you see a camera much the same as the two-year-old D300, and from the front it is pretty much indistinguishable apert from the “s”. Round back, though, things have changed. The rear now looks just like the D700, with the memory-card hatch button gone, replaced by an info button. There is also a grille which covers the speaker for video playback and the welcome addition of a separate center button in the main control d-pad, plus a dedicated “live view” button.
The screen has also been improved, and is now the same 920,000 pixel model as found in the D700. Finally, there is a microphone socket hidden under the flap.
On the inside, the biggest change is video, coming in from the same 12.3 megapixel sensor as the old model. It’ll shoot in motion jpeg format, like the other Nikon video-capable DSLRs, but also now in AVI, and it’ll do it at 24 fps and up to 720p. Also new is the ability to auto-focus while shooting video, using the slow but accurate contrast-detection method.
This video means you’ll burn through storage, and the D300s has an extra memory crd slot for you, adding an SD card to the existing CF. You can choose to mirror your images across the cards, use them consecutively or write, say, jpegs to one and RAW to the other, or still shots to one and video the other. Speaking of still shots, the D300s will now hit 7fps without an external grip (up from 6fps), and there is a new “quiet shutter” mode, which lets you rattle of shots without flipping the mirror back down between each of them.
In short D300s takes an already great camera, adds video and tweaks a few features. $1800, body only.
Product page [Nikon]
D3000
The second new camera is way down at the other end of the performance scale, although it manages to pack a lot in for such a cheap DSLR, and surprisingly doesn’t have video. Priced at $600 with the 18-55mm VR kit lens, it costs the same as the D60, and you have to wonder why anyone would still buy the D60, especially as they share the same 10.2 megapixel sensor.
The differences: 11 point autofocus instead of just three, which also brings “3D tracking”, Nikon’s name for spookily following a moving subject and staying locked on, a 3-inch screen (the D60 has 2.5 inches) and a new “guide mode”, which walks the user through the settings step-by-step.
This last looks great, especially in a camera clearly aimed at the first-time DSLR owner. You or I might spend hours, and a few battery charge cycles, digging through menus to discover what goodies lie inside. The normal user, though, is unlikely to stray from the “green rectangle” mode, so anything that stretches them and encourages experimentation is a good thing.
Product page [Nikon]
AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm ƒ2.8G ED VR II
Quite a mouthful, huh? The new pro-zoom replaces the well respected but flawed 70-200 ƒ2.8 lens. And before you ask: yes, the vignetting has been fixed. The lens also gets a “nano crystal coat” to reduce reflections, and has seven (count ‘em) ED elements to do the same thing. It also has upgraded vibration reduction (the VR II part) which gives up to four stops extra room before you start to get the wobbles. This combined with the fast ƒ2.8 maximum aperture throughout the range means super low-light shooting. $2400
Product page [Nikon]
AF-S DX Nikkor 18-200mm ƒ3.5/5.6G ED VR II
Finally, we have a new DX sized lens, the AF-S DX Nikkor 18-200mm ƒ3.5/5.6G ED VR II, a superzoom with the new VR II anti-shake inside. $850.
Product page [Nikon]
According to the French magazine Chasseur d’Images, a dead-tree publication dedicated to photography, Nikon is readying a camera with a buit-in LED projector, which will throw images of up to 8 x 12 inches onto the wall of a darkened room.
