Nearly 20 years old: Nikon D1

B-9

B-9

Devin Bro
Local time
4:49 AM
Joined
Jul 9, 2009
Messages
2,420
Location
Michigan
View My Gallery
The Nikon D1 was my first DSLR back in 2006-7 and it was already old news. I loved that camera so much! I took it everywhere I reasonably could.

I went on to own the D1h, D80, D100, D300s, D2h, D700, and D3 before getting out of the dslr scene for the mirrorless craze and a stint with a few Leica M8's.

Recently my wife and I stumbled across my old Apple iBook which was loaded full of D1 images. Even on that old little screen (or maybe its becuase of the old screen) the photos look so unfamiliar and fresh with a very filmic feel to the noise. Ill chalk that up to the 90's CCD sensor.

Long story short.

I was up until 3am last night researching how to power these ancients beasts! The batteries had always been unreliable at best even when new and they are rated for something like 1125mah which is silly by today's standards....

Yes I bought a D1 in 2018 going on 2019!

But shhh I haven't told the wife yet! 50$ she might not notice!

Call me crazy or post your D1 photos here!
 
The D1x was my first DSLR and I followed that with the D2H. Both were fine cameras. The only problem with the D1x was, of course, the battery system. I eventually moved on to M4/3 for several years but just recently got the bug to get back into Nikons and I now shoot a Df and a D90 as my backup.

However, I miss those old DSLR's. Good luck on your new journey. I am sure you will have a blast....😎
 
Likewise, started with a D1x in 2006. I was in school and working at a camera shop, so I got a great deal, but still could have bought a lightly used D70s for the price. I based my decision on them basically having the same sensor, and my owning a good deal of AI-s lenses, which if I remember, didn't meter on the D70. That, the abysmal finder, and just lack of interest in the interface. I had (still have) a F100 and loved that they worked essentially the same.

Batteries back then weren't particularly hard to find—Batteries Plus stocked them in-store in my local outlet for $40.

It and a Bessa got me through studying photojournalism just fine. My school had a few D200s and D300s for loaners when I needed low-light, but I never got along with them so well.

I look back at some of my photos, thankfully recovered from a dead external drive (the dreaded WD 'click,' fixed by hitting it really hard out of anger) and some of them were fantastic. At my parents' there's a few huge poster prints from it. The camera's still over there, waiting for the day when I decide to do an IR conversion I've said I wanted to do.

Later went with a D3 when I was working as a photog, and it was a world of difference, but too much camera to just carry around, so I went with the X100 after a job switch.

Recently I had a D2x land in my lap from a well-heeled relative doing some spring cleaning. Haven't shot with it much, and still trying to remember the old controls and settings, but might be an excuse to call up my brother and borrow his macro gear. The one thing I miss with SLRs!

mTab2Nb.jpg


An old favorite of mine, taken from the WSDOT Bainbridge ferry.
 
I was covering motorsports when the Nikon D1 was first introduced. I was so jealous of the guys who had that camera because the rest of us (was shooting a Nikon D4s at the time) had to process our film and scan it before we could send in the digital files, and those D1 guys could just pop out the card, pop it into a laptop, and off went the images.

Best,
-Tim
 
I still remember when my father-in law who is also a newspaper photographer showed me the d1, I was still shooting film at my newspaper and it was amazing! Never owned one when they were new I went Canon route with a 1d and d60, but have since bought a few on the big auction site for less than £20.
They do have a film like look and also the weirdest white balance, they seem to work best on flash white balance?
8fbpicMarthaseatD3 by f4saregreat!, on Flickr
 
I bought a new D1 back in the day. Wonky colors and low megapixel, low iso, but coming from film, who cared? I used IBM Microdrives, amazing 1Gb of storage!

Shot the first formula one US Grand Prix at Indy with it. Will have to look up some of those pics...
 
Fraser said:
I still remember when my father-in law who is also a newspaper photographer showed me the d1, I was still shooting film at my newspaper and it was amazing! Never owned one when they were new I went Canon route with a 1d and d60, but have since bought a few on the big auction site for less than £20.
They do have a film like look and also the weirdest white balance, they seem to work best on flash white balance?
8fbpicMarthaseatD3 by f4saregreat!, on Flickr
Click to expand...


The rendering in this photo is exceedingly nice. I have today just fired up my old Panasonic L1. Not quite as old as the D1 but it is another camera with exceedingly pleasant rendering. it is a shame those old sensors struggle so much with dynamic range or I would use them more. Another one I have been tempted considering buying is one of the fairly early Fuji DSLRs (the one based on the D200 is not a bad compromise) as they have equally nice rendering of images especially skin tones- with less of the dynamic range compromises necessitated by the CCD technology then in use.
 
First digital was the Coolpix 950, first DSLR was the D1H. Bought it from Cameta new on closeout ($1200ish) as the D2 series had been out for awhile already. Awesome camera but the batteries were annoying. My LR catalog has more shots from the D1H than any other camera.

This is one of the last shots I took with the D1H (replaced by D700) and it is one of my favorites.

7046616799_3e5e75c344_b.jpg


Shawn
 
Never had any of the early pro Nikon DSLR, but I had a Canon 1D and at times lusted over the D2H(s?). Those early low-MP big sensors certainly have charm.
 
I think the title for this thread should be changed to -


Barely 20 Years Old: Nikon D1


Digital seems such a small sliver of photographic history for the uproar it has caused.
 
Nikon D1 is a wonderful camera. Not that she's a perfect camera from birth.
And for that matter, only a true loving photographer can overcome the
excess magenta's fissures produced by its CCD sensor, and the poor capacity
of its nickel-metal battery. The story of the Nikon D1 is in its unique coloration,
which can often be reminiscent of an old slides. About twenty years ago, I was
captured by the Nikon D1, which served me in faithfulness under all of the
most difficult conditions of the territory, and never disappointed me. Nikon
produced the first commercial and easy-to-use DSLR camera (Kodak based on
Nikon and Canon, was cumbersome to use, and absolutely much more expensive),
and no one would take its respectable part of this space. The D1 Nikon, which
was driving me, is still In working mode and ready for action, but this old lady,
will no longer come out of her last resting place in my display cabinet.


536705_435450213151551_211812385_n.jpg


**
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

K
R-D1 LCD Broken / Intermittent - any active repairers globally (or UK)?
Replies
1
Views
677
Out to Lunch
O
B-9
What’s your favorite DSLR (Gen 1 - 12mp or less)
2 3 4
Replies
77
Views
5K
B-9
B-9
dee
OUCH -modest Pentax K-S1 trashes the old .
Replies
12
Views
2K
dee
dee
farlymac
When the back-up dies
2
Replies
31
Views
3K
farlymac
farlymac
jonmanjiro
Nikon F6 is already 10 years old !!!
2 3
Replies
51
Views
6K
Skiff
S
Back
Top Bottom