Range-rover
Veteran
Hi all,
I'm thinking of getting a Nikon D2X camera, are they still decent,
I know focus is fast but the picture quality I was wondering about?
Range
I'm thinking of getting a Nikon D2X camera, are they still decent,
I know focus is fast but the picture quality I was wondering about?
Range
Robert Lai
Well-known
Back when I was comparing Nikon lenses, I had some files sent to me from a man who had just purchased a D2X. They seem very clean and crisp. However, you do have to keep in mind that it has a cropped sensor.
Back then (2005?), it was an over $5K camera to purchase.
Back then (2005?), it was an over $5K camera to purchase.
David_Manning
Well-known
I thought my D2X was great, in the day. It would be outclassed as an image-making device today by other offerings, except in build quality (it's a professional Nikon body).
I remember paying $5,000 for the body alone. Also, I remember ISO 800 was really sketchy, with lots of noise in the dark areas and shadows...and not pixel-peeping noise...it was showing up in prints. I replaced mine by a D300 and was amazed at the difference in performance...focus, noise, metering, etc.
Is there a reason you wouldn't opt for a more current camera body?
I remember paying $5,000 for the body alone. Also, I remember ISO 800 was really sketchy, with lots of noise in the dark areas and shadows...and not pixel-peeping noise...it was showing up in prints. I replaced mine by a D300 and was amazed at the difference in performance...focus, noise, metering, etc.
Is there a reason you wouldn't opt for a more current camera body?
Photo_Smith
Well-known
It can deliver great results:
The image quality is fine sub 640 ISO after that it is quite noisy IMHO; the noise over 800 has a strange look...
D2x at 1600 100% noise crop
The image quality is fine sub 640 ISO after that it is quite noisy IMHO; the noise over 800 has a strange look...
D2x at 1600 100% noise crop
yossarian123
Sam I Am
Agree with the above comments. Well exposed shots in the ISO sweet spot (base up to 400) are great. I had problems with 640 on up, noise starts to creep in and it's not the good kind of noise either.
Bille
Well-known
Medium resolution, bad dynamic range, bad noise artifacts. The body is way oversized for the sensor. Any newer entry level Nikon will give you far better image quality to work with.
ironhorse
Joe DuPont
I think that you would be much happier with the quality of the D300 for the same price or less. That being said, I still use my D2h for sports because of the speed and handling with good results.
Flat Twin
Film Shooter
I had one. It was a great camera in every way but I have to agree whole heatedly about the ISO comments above.
Simon
Simon
willie_901
Veteran
The D2X is very robust. If the price is right... why not?
The only disadvantages are the size, shutter noise and above mentioned signal-to-nose ratio. For outdoor (weather sealed) or studio work (tripod and add your own light) it could be an inexpensive option.
The only disadvantages are the size, shutter noise and above mentioned signal-to-nose ratio. For outdoor (weather sealed) or studio work (tripod and add your own light) it could be an inexpensive option.
gavinlg
Veteran
Nice built camera, but it was behind the IQ curve even when it was brand new (which was lead by canon with the 1ds and 5d)
Keith
The best camera is one that still works!
A friend who works semi professionally had one since new and was thinking of updating to whatever. I lent him my D700 for a weekend and the D2X became history the week after. His major criticism was the high ISO performance as mentioned above and I think he had some issues with the auto focus missing the mark occasionally. It's a well built pro body but it's been left a long way behind technically when you look at what's out there now.
Range-rover
Veteran
Thanks guy's, I'll hold off for something newer.
range
range
Ade-oh
Well-known
I do wonder if the 'pro-body' DSLRs might be on the way out. Most of the pro news shooters I know use the 'semi-pro' bodies like the Canon 5DSIII and Nikon D700 these days. A camera like the Nikon D2X will last a long time physically, but will be technologically obsolescent fairly quickly. The 'lesser' bodies produce images which are just as good, if not better, than their pro-counterparts but are considerably cheaper to replace when something better comes along, and with the pace of digital technology innovation, you can be sure that will be quite soon.
jonal928
Well-known
Grate machine but try to stay under 800 ISO and that’s all.
**
**
Range-rover
Veteran
That sounds like a plan, Those pictures look real good.
Range
Range
Phil_F_NM
Camera hacker
It is a superb image maker.
People decry the high ISO performance but these days, good use of up to date RAW converters as well as noise cancellation algorithms can help a lot.
A quick, tight vertical crop on a horizontal image taken with a 20-35 f/2.8 (@20mm &f/2.8) at 3200ISO
That's not color banding in the lower third of the image, those are stripes on the steps leading into the club. It's got noise but I also didn't have time to set up the shot either. With some more work, I can get the NEF file a bit cleaner.
It seems like it's in vogue now to go out at night and want to take photos handheld at f/8. Well, maybe it is, but for decades 400ISO was the real high benchmark. If you needed faster, you had to shoot something like Fuji press or push your black and white. The world is not getting darker. Lenses may be getting slower but that's a whole other matter.
I shoot at Hi-1 on my D2x all the time but usually use 800ISO and hold still, even at night. I think a lot of folks are using high ISO as a crutch to take up the error of bad shooting technique. That may cause a flame war but little more than a decade ago 1000ISO was bleeding edge for color film. Somehow photographers got by using 400ISO film and creating perfectly fine images.
As for the D2x itself, it is more camera than most people need. AF is fast and accurate. The body is amazingly tough. Controls are perfectly responsive and very intuitive. Everything on the camera can be programmed to the user's specifications. The viewfinder is 100% and is among the best of the digital viewfinders out there.
A friend of mine is a photo editor in Philly and I saw her last week during a visit. She grabbed my camera and said it was great and she wanted to trade me because of camera feel and user interface. She shoots with a D800.
The resolution of the D2x is not low. It's extraordinarily high. Low overall in some points of view but the D3 is still in Nikon's stable and it has the same overall resolution but greater pixel pitch. If you post to the web, you don't need more than 2MP. If you work in newsprint, magazine or tabloid format printing, nothing greater than 6MP is necessary. If you do art gallery large prints that are to be looked at close up then you need large format slow film.
You will not have the same lens compatibility with a Nikon DSLR that has more than one digit in the name as you would get with a D2x/D2h or later pro body. The D2/D3/D4 are the first Nikons since the F4 to offer as much metering capability with legacy lenses as that 25 year old film body.
Depending upon what kind of shooting you want to do, the D2x may be your cup of tea. If you want very detailed files from the finest pixel pitch sensor that Nikon has made to date (IIRC) and don't mind the fact that the body is 2 generations old, then the D2x could be for you.
I love mine and in fact I'm going to back it up with a D2h
for the faster speed, smaller file size, incredible image quality, enhanced IR sensitivity and battery compatibility with my D2x.
If you do get one, you'll love it. To each his own though.
Phil Forrest
People decry the high ISO performance but these days, good use of up to date RAW converters as well as noise cancellation algorithms can help a lot.
A quick, tight vertical crop on a horizontal image taken with a 20-35 f/2.8 (@20mm &f/2.8) at 3200ISO
That's not color banding in the lower third of the image, those are stripes on the steps leading into the club. It's got noise but I also didn't have time to set up the shot either. With some more work, I can get the NEF file a bit cleaner.
It seems like it's in vogue now to go out at night and want to take photos handheld at f/8. Well, maybe it is, but for decades 400ISO was the real high benchmark. If you needed faster, you had to shoot something like Fuji press or push your black and white. The world is not getting darker. Lenses may be getting slower but that's a whole other matter.
I shoot at Hi-1 on my D2x all the time but usually use 800ISO and hold still, even at night. I think a lot of folks are using high ISO as a crutch to take up the error of bad shooting technique. That may cause a flame war but little more than a decade ago 1000ISO was bleeding edge for color film. Somehow photographers got by using 400ISO film and creating perfectly fine images.
As for the D2x itself, it is more camera than most people need. AF is fast and accurate. The body is amazingly tough. Controls are perfectly responsive and very intuitive. Everything on the camera can be programmed to the user's specifications. The viewfinder is 100% and is among the best of the digital viewfinders out there.
A friend of mine is a photo editor in Philly and I saw her last week during a visit. She grabbed my camera and said it was great and she wanted to trade me because of camera feel and user interface. She shoots with a D800.
The resolution of the D2x is not low. It's extraordinarily high. Low overall in some points of view but the D3 is still in Nikon's stable and it has the same overall resolution but greater pixel pitch. If you post to the web, you don't need more than 2MP. If you work in newsprint, magazine or tabloid format printing, nothing greater than 6MP is necessary. If you do art gallery large prints that are to be looked at close up then you need large format slow film.
You will not have the same lens compatibility with a Nikon DSLR that has more than one digit in the name as you would get with a D2x/D2h or later pro body. The D2/D3/D4 are the first Nikons since the F4 to offer as much metering capability with legacy lenses as that 25 year old film body.
Depending upon what kind of shooting you want to do, the D2x may be your cup of tea. If you want very detailed files from the finest pixel pitch sensor that Nikon has made to date (IIRC) and don't mind the fact that the body is 2 generations old, then the D2x could be for you.
I love mine and in fact I'm going to back it up with a D2h
for the faster speed, smaller file size, incredible image quality, enhanced IR sensitivity and battery compatibility with my D2x. If you do get one, you'll love it. To each his own though.
Phil Forrest
Range-rover
Veteran
Thanks Phil, that's a nice right up on that camera. I don't go higher than ISO 400
anyway sometimes I go to ISO 800 but that's very rare, but it's true what did we
do years ago when we wanted a high ISO we pushed it and that was grainy. I think
digital with there High ISO has really spoiled us.
Range
anyway sometimes I go to ISO 800 but that's very rare, but it's true what did we
do years ago when we wanted a high ISO we pushed it and that was grainy. I think
digital with there High ISO has really spoiled us.
Range
Phil_F_NM
Camera hacker
No problemo.
If you want some RAW files to work with, I can get you a few, either FTP or I could mail you a CD even. (I got a CD from a fellow RFF member last year when I was looking at a Kodak DCS Pro SLR and wanted to work with the RAW files to see how they were. Nikon caught up with that Kodak only when they released the D3x, in my opinion but the dynamic range of the sensor can still make a D700 look a bit disappointing considering the latter camera is 3 years newer.)
You'd even be really surprised at how good the D2h is and that has a 4.1MP sensor. The cool thing is that it will survive 6 months of combat and only need a cleaning and the rubber grips re-glued afterwards. (The D2h is the camera I took to Iraq in 2004.) The D2x is just a bit slower shooter but it's moving 3x as much data. Just because there is new stuff out doesn't mean that we have to buy it when the old stuff works perfectly fine for what it was designed for (and beyond.)
Phil Forrest
If you want some RAW files to work with, I can get you a few, either FTP or I could mail you a CD even. (I got a CD from a fellow RFF member last year when I was looking at a Kodak DCS Pro SLR and wanted to work with the RAW files to see how they were. Nikon caught up with that Kodak only when they released the D3x, in my opinion but the dynamic range of the sensor can still make a D700 look a bit disappointing considering the latter camera is 3 years newer.)
You'd even be really surprised at how good the D2h is and that has a 4.1MP sensor.
The cool thing is that it will survive 6 months of combat and only need a cleaning and the rubber grips re-glued afterwards. (The D2h is the camera I took to Iraq in 2004.) The D2x is just a bit slower shooter but it's moving 3x as much data. Just because there is new stuff out doesn't mean that we have to buy it when the old stuff works perfectly fine for what it was designed for (and beyond.)Phil Forrest
Range-rover
Veteran
That's why I went back to Nikon and got a D200, I always like that camera it's a
nice size, and not feature laden as the new ones, and I love the colors it gives me.
Yesterday I went down to the Chinese Lunar New Year Parade in New York and took
shots with it and always pleased with the results. I also too my S3 as well and it's
fun because I get looks with that camera and one gentleman came over to me and
asked me what model it was and we were talking about camera's for a few minutes
which was nice, Oh he had a M9 with him.
nice size, and not feature laden as the new ones, and I love the colors it gives me.
Yesterday I went down to the Chinese Lunar New Year Parade in New York and took
shots with it and always pleased with the results. I also too my S3 as well and it's
fun because I get looks with that camera and one gentleman came over to me and
asked me what model it was and we were talking about camera's for a few minutes
which was nice, Oh he had a M9 with him.
