Nearly 20 years old: Nikon D1

[x-ray]

I bought a D1 through NPS and got it before they hit the consumer marker. As mentioned above e it had some strange skin color issues with nagenta especially in men's skin. I think it was probably related to excessive IR sensitivity. Batteries were huge and you got about 300 shots on one. The buffer was tiny and you often had to wait for it to clear before resuming shooting. Image noise was insane above 400 iso and 400 was just barely usable. And yes it was an amazing 2.75 megapixels and cost just under $5000.

No one knew what color management was in those days and monitors we're calibrated using the built in calibration module in Photoshop. It was terrible. Fortunately the Spyder calibration system came shortly.

Nikon shipped the first batch to pros that ordered through NPS. The one I had wSca very low SN. In that day the camera had to be shipped back to Nikon for firmware updates and to calibrate lense front and back focus. Because the cameras we're the first run units they hadn't tested them as thoroughly as they. Should have.

There was a bug in the firmware. Randomly and at any time the camera would revert back to factory defaults without warning and to make things worse it reset the menu to Japanese language. Nikon issued an update for it and every camera had to back to Nikon.

There were several other firmware updates along the way. One update fixed one problem but created another. All of us had to return our cameras to Nikon immediately on receipt from getting back for the previous update.

Raw converters we're pretty primitive. I tried quite a few and wound up using Bibble. The first issue took a couple minutes to convert one file but it gave better files than the other converters. Tif and Jpg files were pretty bad out of the camera. Since I've taken some of my old raw files into Photoshop raw and have produced some amazing images. The right converter really tamed the magenta and the cameras ccd did make some rich and sharp images.

The crazy thing was my clients went nuts over it.

I then bought a D1x which was light years ahead of the D1 then a Canon 1D and 1Ds and later 1Ds2. The ccd 1D made very pretty files. Even by todays standards the 1D was superb. The 1Ds and 1Ds2 were great too as we're Canons lenses.

I eventually went back to Nikon because of the D800 and wound up with a D800 and Df and still use them. The Df is my all time favorite.

 

[x-ray]

I was thinking about the cost of those early DSLRs. A press photog friend brought some Nikon /Kodak AP cameras to my studio. He asked if I'd run them through the passes in the studio. We spent an entire day shooting with Nikon's dedicated speedlight, my Speedotron studio strobes, tungsten lights, fluorescent and daylight. Actually I don't remember getting a single usable image the cameras we're $14,000 each.

The next camera I tried was a Kodak that was $17,000 for the body. There were no full frame cameras in that day and calculate for inflation to see how expensive just a body was.

I remember one other Kodak model a friend had and it was somewhere around $30,000. It was marginal too. Certainly not worth that kind of money.

Now add batteries and memory cards. When I bought my D1 the best thing in memory cards was the IBM microdrive. It was actually a tiny hard drive with a spinning disc inside. They were very slow and had a relatively short life. I got about a year out of them before the disc failed. The big ones were initially 500megs and cost $500 each. You needed at least two or three. Later 1 gig models came out and they were $500 eadh as well.

I remember Kodak trying to sell the $30000 models when the D1 came out. The D1 was half the size and 1/6 the cost. In the end Kodak included a loaded Mac with each sale. It didn't help sell them.

 

[Contarama]

My first DSLR was a D5000. That sensor was an amazing sensor.

Then I got a S5 Pro. Crazy amazing.

The other day I was studying 5D2 and decided to look at some 5D1 images. That sensor is amazing.

Now I have a Df. That sensor produces images that are so malleable it is beyond amazing.

There is something about all of those earlier lower mp sensors that is a good kind of different I cant quite put my finger on it though.

I would love to have them all and an additional set of leotaxed Nikkors for the Canon. What is really crazy is how cheap they are nowadays. Glass though...it's going up

 

[jonal928]

In fact, the NEF files of the Nikon D1 were exported directly to the
Nikon Capture software, which enabled the resolution to be increased
to about 10 megapixels in TIFF format directly to the Photoshop software,
and from there to display and / or print.
Go and try to find a normal working environment in 2018, which allows
you to use the same software, that in its latest version was called Nikon
Capture 4.2. Promise everyone, you will not find.

In black and white she did not excel either, or maybe the opposite is true...

**

 

[Keith]

My first DSLR was a D5000. That sensor was an amazing sensor.

Then I got a S5 Pro. Crazy amazing.

The other day I was studying 5D2 and decided to look at some 5D1 images. That sensor is amazing.

Now I have a Df. That sensor produces images that are so malleable it is beyond amazing.

There is something about all of those earlier lower mp sensors that is a good kind of different I cant quite put my finger on it though.

I would love to have them all and an additional set of leotaxed Nikkors for the Canon. What is really crazy is how cheap they are nowadays. Glass though...it's going up

I think the same when I look at the files from my RD1. I like them better than the output from my M240.

 

[jonal928]

I think the same when I look at the files from my RD1. I like them better than the output from my M240.

Exactly the same about the visual output of the Leica M8 sensor,
and the Nikon D200; whose sensor has been matched by me for
IR photography. Both of which are cameras that I use from time
to time, with results of great visual value.

 

[1jz]

Nearly 20 years old and still no small prime dx lens set. Would buy a d40 otherwise.

 

[B-9]

A little update,

D1 is here, its works, and I’ve just finished hacking the battery apart.

Now she runs off two 18650 cells with about 3000mah a fair increase over the old pack.

Having a little trouble with my CF cards, It takes about 40sec to write a NEF.

Currently looking for a old micro drive.

 

[jonal928]

A little update,

Having a little trouble with my CF cards, It takes about 40sec to write a NEF.

Currently looking for a old micro drive.

very strange. Under normal usage conditions,
you do not need to experience delays during
the time that the NEF file is fed into the CF card.
I guess you're using a modern, fast card. Try to
get a 1GB CF card; format it together with the
camera, and see if the write speed for the card
has improved.
One last thing, give up thinking about purchasing
a micro drive.

 

[jonal928]

Rain

Nikon D1 & Nikkor 24/2.8

**

 

[Contarama]

Rain

Nikon D1 & Nikkor 24/2.8
**

Super nice.

 

[mynikonf2]

Started my adventure into the digital photo world with the D1h. Still have it and will have to take it out for a spin...

Also, after the D1h I bought 2 D200's, which I still use to this day. I gave one of them to my son-in-law. I have thought about a D700 or perhaps a D500 but I hesitate because of my love of film.

 

[Keith]

People often talk about how easy it is to get into photography with the price of premium film cameras from the analog era being so cheap and plentiful. I think we have approached/reached the same situation with digital now with cameras like the D1, D700, Canon 5D etc also being plentiful and relatively inexpensive. It's a good time to be a photographer. 🙂

 

[B-9]

I’m using a CF(I) 1GB card made by Dan-Elec

As well as a 2gb CF(II) Sandisk Ultra II

I also have a Canon 512mb CF(I)

RAW write times are approximately 12sec with the 1gb card and about 3 times that with the Sandisk.

It just does not seem familiar, that I would have waited that long between exposures since it disables to shutter release in single shot while writing.

Quick work around is just shooting in continuous then letting the buffer catch up. I get the stated 10 RAW before the buffer locks out for about a minute.

I’ll be looking around my bins for any other CF cards, but I do not plan to buy any more. I’ll suffer through for as little as I will be using this camera.

 

[Filter Factor]

It just does not seem familiar, that I would have waited that long between exposures since it disables to shutter release in single shot while writing.

Quick work around is just shooting in continuous then letting the buffer catch up. I get the stated 10 RAW before the buffer locks out for about a minute.

Hello,

If I recall correctly, the D1 bypasses the buffer and writes directly to the memory card while in Single shot drive mode; hence the delay, whereas shooting in Continuous mode it writes to the buffer. The solution (as you've found) is to shoot in Continuous mode even if only single photos are desired.

Cheers, Robert

 

[Fraser]

Hello,

If I recall correctly, the D1 bypasses the buffer and writes directly to the memory card while in Single shot drive mode; hence the delay, whereas shooting in Continuous mode it writes to the buffer. The solution (as you've found) is to shoot in Continuous mode even if only single photos are desired.

Cheers, Robert

that seems to ring a bell!
I wouldn't bother looking for a microdrive as even when they were new they were not too reliable and they use much more power.
18fbpicnikond1card_01 by f4saregreat!, on Flickr
Original Nikon CF card a mighty 32mb and another rare and useless accessory LCD cover, when new from memory if you wanted a clear LCD cover you had to buy a third party one, pretty sure hoodman made one and (i may be wrong) wasn't until d1h and d1x that you got a clear one.