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First
Canon PIXMA Pro9000 Printer
ACDSee Pro2
Second
Canon PIXMA MP970 Printer
ACDSee Pro2
Third
Canon PIXMA MP610 Printer
ACDSee Pro2
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EZ Print Link Readers have requested free-formatted versions of our reviews (without the graphical accouterments of our page design), to make printing easier. We are accommodating this request with special copies of each review, formatted to allow the text flow to be dictated by the browser window. Click here for a print-optimized page. Manufacturer Overview Nikon is one of the names that literally needs no introduction in the world of photography. Long a leader in the film world, they offer cameras for both the serious amateur and working professional. Their professional line contains cameras like the legendary F3, continuously produced for over 20 years now, and new "legends in the making" like the F5 and F100, renowned for their toughness and advanced features. In the digital world, Nikon has developed a commanding presence in the "prosumer" market with their Coolpix series. They broke new ground for usability and features with their Coolpix 900 a couple of years back, building on that success with the 2 megapixel 950, and now the 3 megapixel 990. The "Nikon Total Imaging System" also includes the hugely successful LS-2000 and LS-30 Coolscan film scanners, which we've reviewed previously. About a year ago (in early 1999), Nikon announced their first all-digital professional SLR, the D1. At the time, the specifications and projected price point (2.7 megapixels and a list price of $5850 for the body) rocked the pro camera world, and left many wondering whether Nikon could actually do it. Well, it's now a year later, and Nikon's production is finally starting to catch up with demand. (At least to the point that they were willing to spring loose an evaluation unit for our testing.) Did Nikon hit the mark? We think the answer is a resounding "yes": The D1 looks, works, and feels like a Nikon SLR in every respect, and the image quality matches its performance in other areas. But we're getting ahead of ourselves: Read on for all our findings about this remarkable camera. The all-Nikon, all-digital studio! Nikon announced two other products at the same time as the D1, which combine with it to bring new capabilities to studio photographers. The first is an exceptional tilt/shift macro lens, the PC (for perspective correction) Micro Nikkor 85mm 1:2.8 D. This amazing lens provides greater tilt and shift capabilities than any other lens currently on the market for the 35mm format. The result is to convey to the D1 (and other Nikon SLRs) many of the perspective and depth-of-field controls traditionally associated with large-format view cameras. The second announcement was a special version of their SB-28 speedlight, the SB-28DX. This new unit was designed specifically to work with the D1 in TTL (through the lens) metering mode. The SB-28DX is also impressive because it offers the capability to combine multiple speedlights into a single system, all controlled by the camera through its TTL flash metering. The net result is a remarkably capable digital photography system for studio work, all available from a single manufacturer. The small size of the SB-28DX units makes them ideal for location work as well. For product photography, the tilt/shift capabilities of the new PC Micro Nikkor mean you can finally gain control over the perspective distortions typical in tabletop photography setups. (Caused by the need to tilt the camera down on the subject, causing converging parallels.) Likewise, the tilt capability can drastically increase or decrease the effective depth of field, making it a cinch to get all of the product into focus. We saw these related developments as so significant that we imposed upon Nikon to lend us not only the D1, but one of the first units of the PC Micro Nikkor released for review anywhere, as well as a pair of SB-28DX speedlights, and the miscellaneous cabling and adapters necessary to tie them together into an integrated system with the D1. The results were very impressive, and are detailed in separate "All-Nikon All-Digital Studio" report. (Sorry, that report's not quite ready yet, but coming soon!) Highlights
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