DSLR News

My contention has always been that a real live camera affords superior image quality over any smartphone. But you know that already, especially when it comes to optical options, low-light capability, high ISO, video capability, and, perhaps most importantly, the experience of being able to see what you are shooting (through the optical finder of a DSLR) in bright light.

Aimed squarely at the first-time D-SLR user, and especially at those family and social photographers who have been frustrated by their digicam's bothersome shutter lag, the Nikon D40 is a compact camera that still holds enough features to satisfy budding photographers. At a mere 1 lb, 1 oz and 5x2.5x3.7" in size, the camera will feel small to those who have worked with...

The Nikon D500 is the “little sister” of the company’s flagship D5 professional DSLR system. The prosumer/enthusiast-focused Nikon D500 is the long-awaited successor to both the D300, which was shipped in 2007, and the upgraded D300S from 2009. The new camera offers an APS-C-sized sensor with a little more than 20MP in resolution. (The D300/D300S had a 12.3MP chip.)

The first question I’d ask of any camera is this: Is this camera a good fit for me—for my hand, for my style of shooting, for what I want to shoot?

Feeling very much in hand like a pro camera, with magnesium alloy top and rear body construction, the Nikon D7000 (list: $1199, body only) has all the bells and whistles of a modern D-SLR, including a high megapixel count CMOS sensor, a new image processor to handle all the data it can capture, including 14-bit NEF, a high ISO 6400 “normal” (expandable two stops), and the currently requisite 1080p HD movie capability. This DX (APS-C) format camera also features dual SD card slots, with spillover or format sort capability, a nice and speedy 6 frames-per-second (fps) shooting capability for up to a 100 frame burst (JPEG), and full-time AF with video and Live View. The monitor is bright and highly readable in just about every lighting condition. Unfortunately, it is fixed and does not articulate, but the penta-prism finder makes one pray that Nikon will never go EVF (electronic viewfinder), yielding 100 percent coverage and being a pleasure to view through, especially after suffering some recent EVF obscuring experiences.

Here we go again. That’s what Nikon owners might be saying to themselves now that another possible problem with a new DSLR from the company has surfaced. Several owners of the new Nikon D750 have reported that a dark shadowy band will appear in images with lens flare. The effect slices off the top of the flare, creating a distracting split between light and shadow across the top of the frame.