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Nikon has announced the D780, a full-frame DSLR that is a successor to its D750, a new bridge camera and two fast-aperture zooms Nikonkick off 2020 in style
EDITOR’S LETTER WILL CHEUNG
Welcome to a new decade and a belated happy 2020 to you. I’m sure is going to be an exciting one. As you can see on this page, it’s started off nicely for Nikon already. The D780 will undoubtedly be popular with PN readers keen tomove to full-frame, but with an eye on the summer it is the pro-level 120-300mm f/2.8 that really catches the eye. It’s a summer Olympic Games year and it is almost a tradition that Canon and Nikon launch their pro flagship products to coincide with the biggest sporting event on the planet, which as it happens takes place in Tokyo: so home territory for the camera makers. Of course, the big two is now the big three with Sony such a powerful and growing force in the world of imaging, including in press and sports photography. All three brands have announced their flagship pro cameras although it’s only the Canon EOS-1D X and Sony A9 II for which we have any detail. We know the Nikon D6 is coming some time soon – possibly in February at Japan’s CP+ camera exhibition – but we don’t have any confirmed specifics on it at the moment. Youmay be wondering why the Olympic Games are so important to the camera brands, but being seen to be out there in front of a global audience is clearly a very serious business – even thoughmost of that audience don’t care about what cameras are being yielded by those pro photographers clad in media bibs who are occasionally caught fleetingly on camera. One memorable exception was when Usain Bolt won the 200m at the London 2012 Olympic Games and in celebration he ‘borrowed’ a Nikon D4 fromone of the trackside pros – Swedish photographer JimmyWixtröm– and took a few pictures. That was totally priceless – and free! – publicity for the brand. As a postscript, that camera was eventually sold for charity, fetching $7300; but it should have gone for more. Ultimately, as always, it is the end product that really counts, so no doubt we will be treated to a feast of unforgettable images from this summer’s Games. But let’s not wish the year away so early into January; there’s much to look forward to in the coming months. The Photography Show at the NEC inMarch is big onmy horizon right now and PN will be there, so if youmake it please come along to the stand and say hello. See you again next month.
plus there is an SR glass element which affects the short wavelength section of the light spectrum to reduce fringing and colour bleed. To reduce flare from strong backlight and sidelight, Nano Crystal Coat eliminates incidental light froma diagonal direction while ARNEO coat deals with incidental light froma vertical direction. The lens’s VR systemoffers a 4EV benefit, accepts 112mm filters, has an integrated tripod foot and weighs in at 3.25kg. For the Zmount there’s 70-200mm f/2.8 Z VR S lens. This weather-proof lens boasts a 21 element in 18 group construction that includes six ED elements and one
to produce 4K/UHD footage at 30p/25p/24p with no crop factor. Other key features include a tilting 2359k dot LCD touch screen, in-camera time lapse, twomegapixel stills at 120fps or eight megapixel stills at 30fps, fast image transfer using SnapBridge for Raw and JPEG image sharing with smart devices, and two SD card slots. Sales of the D780 are scheduled to begin early spring and the body price is £2199 or £2619 with the AF-S 24-120mm f/4G EDVR standard zoom. Nikon’s DSLR F andmirrorless Zmount lens systems have had a boost, too. With its top-end specification and £9499 price tag the AF-S 120-300mm f/2.8E FL ED SR VR features a 25 elements in 19 groups optical construction with elements made fromextra- low dispersion and aspheric glass
NIKON’S NEWD780 is a full- frame DSLR aimed at enthusiast photographers and content creators and is a successor to the very popular D750. The new camera is a cross between a DSLR and amirrorless camera, with some features inherited from the brand’s Z 6. For Live View shooting the D780 has the same 273-point hybrid AF system found in the Z 6 so you get eye detection AF in still shooting and low-light performance down to -4EV or -6EV in Low Light mode. Viewfinder AF is achieved by a 51-point phase detect AF which works down to -3EV. For action shooting the D780 can shoot at 7fps in viewfinder shooting and 12fps in silent mode in Live View shooting. The D780 has a 24.5-megapixel resolution using a backside illuminated CMOS sensor working with Nikon’s EXPEED 6 processsing engine, and has the same 180k pixel RGB sensor and Advanced Scene Recognition system found in the D850. There’s a native ISO range of 100-51,200, expandable to 50 at the low end and to 204,800 at the other extreme. For movie shooters, the D780 uses its 6K image sensor
The 70-200mm f/2.8 Z lens will be available later this spring at a guide price of £2399. The last of Nikon’s quartet of new products is a superzoom bridge camera, the Coolpix P950. This camera has an 83x optical zoom range giving a 35mm format equivalent focal length range of 24-2000mm. The P950 is due to go on sale in early spring at £799. nikon.co.uk
SR element tominimise chromatic aberration.
Buyers’ guide: 2020 Vision page 30 It’s time to look at the best website, insurance and business providers for the upcoming year Buyers’ guide: filters page 33 Camera filters can improve your image – we name the best systems
mirrorless gets the full PN test treatment Big test: Hasselblad X1D II page 42 We check out a good-value medium-format mirrorless camera fromone of the industry’s most
News page 3 2020 kicks off with a bang, with exciting launches fromNikon, Tamron andmany more brands Club news page 12 A round-up of exhibitions, talks and achievements Awards 2019 page 16 Vote for your favourite kit of last year
Profile: Robert Pugh page 23 We chat to Robert Pugh, a Rotolight ambassador, about how getting into wedding photography has changed his life Make the switch page 27 Bob King is the latest reader to take the FujifilmMake the Switch challenge. So, what does he think of the X-T3?
iconic brands First tests
page 44
to consider Big test: NikonZ 50
In-depth reviews of the latest imaging kit to hit the dealers’ shelves, including a Tamron lens and the newCanonmirrorless
Followus:
page 36
@photonewsPN @photonewsPN
Nikon’s first APS-C format
@photonewsPN
Issue 73 | Photography News 3
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