Submitted by Chris on Mon, 01/23/2012 - 12:43
The Nikon D4 camera has finally been announced and will be shipping on the 16th February 2012 but will wedding photographers be ordering one and what does it mean for my clients ?
The D4 has been rumored for some time and its low light shooting capability is certainly been causing some hype for a while. So the day come when Nikon finally showcased it, the million dollar question was will it live up to the hype?
The short answer from previews shown is that it will definitely be a huge leap from its older brother the D3 and there are something in the region of 47 improvements over the D3s. The D3s is the latest carnation of the D series Nikon cameras at is an amazing tool for wedding and sports photographers. Primarily because of its awsome low light shooting ability.
Here are the specs published so far for the Nikon D4
16.2 megapixel FX-format (full-frame) CMOS sensor with fast channel readout and up to 11 fps consecutive shooting in FX-format.
ISO 100–12800: extendable up to 204,800 (equivalent) and down to 50 (equivalent). High signal-to-noise ratio and wide dynamic range.
Multi-area format D-Movie: records Full HD (1080p) movies in FX- and DX-format, as well as in native Full HD (1920x1080) crop. Offers uncompressed full-resolution HDMI output to external devices.
Newly developed, highly durable Kevlar/carbon fiber-composite shutter unit:standard life cycle rating of 400,000 releases, with a maximum shutter speed of 1/8000 to 30s and flash synchronization at up to 1/250 sec.
Multi-CAM3500FX 51-point AF system: individually selectable or configurable in 9-point, 21-point and 51-point coverage settings. Sensitive down to -2 EV (ISO 100, 20°C/68°F).
EXPEED 3 image processing engine with 14-bit A/D conversion and 16-bit image processing for superb tonal gradation.
8 cm (3.2-in.), 922k-dot LCD monitor with auto brightness control. Anti-reflective with wide color reproduction.
3D Color Matrix Metering III: 91k pixel AE AF sensor with full-time face recognition.
100% viewfinder coverage and three Crop Modes: 5:4, 1.2x and DX-format. With viewfinder masking.
Movie frame rates: offers 30p, 25p and 24p and a max recording time of approx. 20 minutes.
High-fidelity audio control: features a stereo microphone input and an audio out for external headphones, which lets you fine tune audio in isolation both before and during recording. A line input setting for PCM linear recorders is also provided.
Storage media: two card slots. One for high-speed CF (UDMA 7) cards and one for high-speed, high-capacity XQD card slots.
Wireless LAN and Ethernet support via optional Wireless Transmitter WT-4 or the newly designed compact Wireless Transmitter WT-5.
So will I be ordering one ? In short, absolutely!! I am a firm believer that wedding photographers or photographers in general that earn their income from photography owe it to their clients to supply the very best images humanly possible. This is certainly the case for my wedding photography.
I am not for one minute suggesting that a Nikon D4 will take amazing wedding photos by itself but its technology will certainly make creating images that we did not think possible a reality I think.
The 16th February cannot come quick enough for me and I will update the blog with my first impressions shortly after this date.