Nikon D2X

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Nikon D2X

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.

1 Technology
2 Audience
3 Competition
4 Nikon D2Xs
5 References

[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.

[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

Image:Nikon D2Xs.jpg

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

^ EISA Awards 2005/2006
^ 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 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