NEW NIKON DSLR

New Nikon DSLR. Those three little words open hearts, wallets, and arguments all over the world. And no less so here in Perth - we have just had a great little demonstration of this new Nikon D810 by Michael of Nikon Australia here at the shop. He came mid-afternoon yesterday and gathered a coterie of Nikon users around him as he explained the new features of the camera.

You'll want to read about them, so google on over to the main Nikon Australia website and read the official list of specs. Then on to D P Review for their independent take on it. Then dial down to the return comments from people who you don't know in places you never heard of. Prepare yourself for some exciting pseudonyms and atavars. The thumbnail portraits will stay with you long after you close the site.

Everyone will have an opinion. You can adopt one of them if you wish or conceive one for yourself. Of course, if you are of the scientific bent you will come on down to the shop with a CF memory card and try out the D810 here at the shop. Then you will take the card home and look at the images at 100% on you own computer system. If you cannot see any difference between the images and the ones from your current Nikon camera you can feel smug. If you find that they are a revelation of resolution and wonderfulness, you can start to plot how to get the money for he new body.

Rest assured, if you are a true photographer, you will be able to find that money. Plus the justification to quiet the family when you bring it home. We all do this, and not just with the Nikon brand.

My own first investigations tell me that it is extremely well built - you can shake it like crazy and nothing falls off. It is the same weight and colour as a new bride's first cake.
It is very fast to autofocus and shoot. The detail is amazing but the computer ( I use a Fisher -Price My Little Pooter Mk II ) is slow to load all that data.

The frightening thing is putting a small capacity card into the slot and dialling up full resolution RAW setting . I found an old 2 Gb San disk CF and it only allows 25 shots!
Good thing we sell big capacity cards! 36 megapixels is a lot of pixels.

I applaud Nikon for not putting some form of crazy-new battery in it. If you have been using EN EL15's you are set to continue. Apparently there are a lot of options when you add a battery grip on the bottom - refer to Nikon Australia for details. As you add different batteries the thing gets faster, too.

Have we intrigued you? Well come down and play with it before the rush of desperates takes it away again. We've been able to supply the pre-orders and there are a few here to sell. Once the pros see their mates with them, they will trample on in.