Nikon D1x Review

For the opportunity Nikon D1x body camera review Many thanks to Boris (Central Committee of Vlksm).

Nikon D1x Is a very old, flagship professional camera. You can see on my plate what place it occupies among all the central control rooms Nikon. The performance of the camera is one of the lowest among the entire Nikon CZK line, you can see for yourself in Nikon performance section.

Nikon D1x was released back in 2001 along with another flagship camera Nikon D1H. Please note that externally the Nikon D1 cameras, D1h, D1x are completely identical (except for the inscription of the name of the camera) and are built on the basis of the same body, therefore, it will be difficult to feel the difference in control and ergonomics.

D1x uses very unusual CCD sensor on 5.33 million effective pixels. This allows you to get a photo of 3008 in 1960, which is equal to 5.9MP. The matrix feature is that its real physical parameters are 4028 by 1324 pixels (5.33MP, with approximately proportions 1 to 4, not 2 to 3) The number of pixels placed horizontally remains the same as the Nikon D1, D1h (1324 pixels), but the number of pixels in width has doubled on the matrix, up to 4028 pixels. At the same time, the physical dimensions of the matrices of Nikon D1, D1h, D1x are the same. This is very unusual matrix structurein order for the camera to produce a normal image with an aspect ratio of 2: 3, you need to use a special interpolation algorithm that 'decompresses' the image. Considering that the matrix already has a Bayer subpixel structure, Nikon took some risk of degrading the image detail with such a sensor structure. In fact, this type of sensor doesn't 'feel' at all when shooting. For those who find 5.33MP small, I recommend my article Battle of Megapixels... Nikon D1x is the only camera with such a sensor. It's a pity that the technology was not upgraded, it would be interesting to shoot a matrix with such a pixel structure at 18MP.

Attention: cameras with new firmware can save image sizes 4011 by 2613 pixelswhich is equal 10.5MP. This mode is available in both JPEG and RAW. The unusual structure of the pattern of Bayer RGB sub-sensors allows drawing 10.5MP from the matrix to 5.33MP of real pixels.

Camera supports ISO 125-800, expandable to 3200 in Hi-2 mode. It's funny that the D1x has not yet reached ISO 100. A feature of the D1x camera is its very short minimum excerptwhich is 1 \ 16.000s. Thus, the camera can dose light in a smaller amount than even modern cameras at ISO 100 and 1 \ 8000c. With so short shutter speed you can wonderfully 'freeze' any movement. Minimum excerpt flash synchronization, too, is unusual, and amounts to 1 \ 500s. The camera does not support fast synchronization with the flash, but I met information that with the new firmware, the camera can work in FP mode and shutter speeds up to 1 / 8800s using a Nikon SB-28DX flash or similar. Yes, D1x does not have a built-in flash and can only work with external flashes.

Nikon D1x has built-in focus motor and can work with AF optics (with lenses without a focus motor). This will help save money using old lenses. For test shots in this review, I used just the old film lens Nikon 85mm F / 1.8D AF Nikkor.

At the camera excellent ergonomics: two control wheels and multi selector, two monochrome displays. The camera does not require a booster, but immediately performed in a combo version of landscape and portrait orientation. Additional menu buttons are hidden behind a metal curtain, which is closed with a magnet. Unfortunately, under the blind there is a white balance control button and a programmable button. By the way, I set up a programmable button to select image quality.

The camera display is very small, with very small viewing angles. It’s very difficult to view the shot material on it. Basically, the display can serve as a guide to the camera menu, and you can also view the histogram of the captured image. Camera menu is not available in Russian.

The battery of the camera of the old type Ni-MH withstands up to 200 operations. This is a strong flaw in the camera. I have 3 batteries in the kit, which, from old age, can squeeze out 400 frames combined.

Nikon D1x has everything 5 focus points, for which Multi-CAM1300 is responsible. For some tasks, 5 focus points are very few. Measurement exposure carried out on the basis of 1,005-pixel sensor.

Total Burst Speed 3 frames per second. The same maximum speed is available in cameras by type Nikon D70, D70s, D60, D3000, D80. This is not enough. Frame buffer can accommodate 12 RAW files with any level of compression. Or, 19 JPEG files any quality. This is neither much nor little, for example, baby Nikon D3100 has 13 RAW files in its buffer. The buffer and shooting speed directly affect the efficiency of the camera. Nikon D1x can continuously shoot for 4 seconds in RAW format. RAW format always 12 bit and has a compression level setting: compressed \ not compressed RAW.

Attention: there is a firmware update for Nikon D1x which allows

• increase frame buffer up to 14 RAW files and up to 21 JPEG File
• You can set the compression level of RAW
• Software can convert 12 bit RAW in pictures with 16-bit color depth
• You can save pictures with 10.5MP
• New firmware costs over 200 cu

Attention: D1x supports CF cards up to 2GB only. D1x couldn't process my card CF 4GB and especially 32GB. In RAW format, the camera can hold a total of 256 images. One RAW file weighs approximately 8MB.

Features of automatic white balance

Automatic white balance in the cells Nikon D1h, D1x can shift a lot into cold tones. From this Nikon received the label 'Nikon blue'. If you switch BB in another mode, for example, in 'cloudy' or 'shade', then everything falls into place. I showed an example of 'blue' in the photo below - WB Shadow rendered colors almost correctly as they are in real life.

Personal experience:

A true professional camera. Nikon D1x is a huge leap forward in camera engineering from 2.6mp in Nikon D1, D1h up to 5.33 on the Nikon D1x. I watched Nikon D1x instead of mine Nikon D200but in D1x I really get confused by a very bad battery, lack of support for large memory cards, lack of flash (not as flash as its command mode), very small display on which it will be difficult to show something to the client. And Nikon D1x is not able to work in matrix metering. exposure with manual optics, and focus points are not enough. And as for a professional flagship camera, the viewfinder is quite small and does not cover 100% of the field of view. In short, by today's standards, the Nikon D1x is not suitable for professional use. I liked the color reproduction in the pictures with Nikon D1x.

Gossip

• Rumor has it that gum stretches on all Nikon cameras from old age. Nikon D1x does not apply to such cameras, its gum is still in place.
• Rumor has it that from age Nikon D1x loses its ability to work on shutter speed in 1 \ 16000s. This is not so, my copy in the manual camera control mode shows a different histogram for the same picture taken at 1 \ 8000s and 1 \ 16000s.
• Rumor has it that different Nikon cameras have different focusing motors. Using Nikon D1x, I was convinced of this. The focusing motor is very strong, turns the 'screwdriver' very quickly, in comparison with other cameras it stands out for its aggressiveness and strength.
• The Nikon D1x is rumored to be blue - yes it is. An example of not quite correct BB shown above.
• There are rumors that updated firmware allows you to take pictures with 16 bit color depth, it’s not, the camera continues to shoot with 12-bit RAW, and the updated Nikon Capture software can take 16-bit pictures from snapshots.
• Rumor has it that updated firmware allows you to shoot 9 frames per second in JPEG or TIFF and 6 frames per second in RAW (NEF)... I did not check this, but my opinion is that the camera processor physically could not squeeze 9 fps, it can barely cope with this Nikon D3.

Sample photos on Nikon D1x

All sample photos in this D1x review are unprocessed, only the size is reduced and the data from EXIF... Regarding the noise of the matrix - here original shot at ISO 3200.

Prices for modern Nikon cameras in popular stores can look at this link.
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Conclusions

Nikon D1x - a very unusual old camera that can still please with excellent image quality. Can be used for photo experiments. It is very morally outdated at the present time.

Material prepared Arkady Shapoval. Training/Consultations | Youtube | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Telegram