Gadgetory

the d4 nikons update to its d3s pro body kicks it up a notch in all respects it's got a higher resolution sensor faster continuous shooting performance better and more flexible video quality and a host of attractive new features without question the D force photo quality is excellent with a great noise profile its JPEGs look clean as high as ISO 1600 and they're decent at 3200 there though you start to see some detail degradation they do remain usable at iso 6400 depending upon the content and although better by the numbers than the D 3 s's JPEGs at iso 12800 and above I wouldn't suggest using the JPEGs beyond iso 6400 the color rendering looks great as well bright saturated colors that are heavy in the red channel can end up with clipped highlights in the JPEGs but if you shoot raw it retains all the detail and generally the camera does preserve enough highlight and shadow detail and roz for good recovery in really high contrast images and it doesn't introduce a lot of noise in the shadows when you try to bring them up or too much contouring in the highlights when you try to bring them down I'm not as thrilled with the video quality it's very good but for six thousand dollars I expect wow the Nikon d4 is one of the fastest cameras I've ever had the pleasure of shooting with that's not quite perfect the autofocus system is mostly excellent it locks quickly and usually accurately in both single and burst shooting and fixed subjects as well as while you're panning but despite gaining a stop of autofocus sensitivity and low-light centerpoint AF at f28 remains more frustrating than I expect for a camera in its price range and with its specs and the sluggish live view autofocus still makes me sad like other vertically gripped pro bodies the d4 is big and heavy with the same rug and sealed construction of its predecessor the control design and layout deviates slightly from the d3s mostly to incorporate the addition of the necessary video controls the record button occupies one of my least favorite locations for it we prefer operating it with my thumb and while I like the live view movie control design I find it too far down into the middle of the back of the camera plus Nikon doesn't deliver as consistent a horizontal and vertical experience as some cameras do you've got the two programmable buttons between the lens and the grip while shooting horizontally but not while shooting vertically and instead you have a tiny button by the shutter that feels just slightly in the wrong place for using in conjunction with one of the command dials because of the new location of the auto focus area control it's hard to operate while shooting vertically and some of the seemingly duplicate controls operate differently in the different orientations for instance the horizontal sub selector can be programmed as an auto exposure lock but the vertical one can because it's not a sub selector it just looks like the same control when in fact it's a duplicate multi selector your these deal killers no but it's an expensive camera any of the right to be cranky about small design issues on the other hand they're too subtle design tweaks that I really like when you touch the shutter button or any of the other controls for that matter all the buttons and display back lights illuminate and the new battery design separates the battery cover latch from the battery itself the new Ethernet connection allows for surprisingly full-featured tethered shooting via a browser rather than having to use Nikon's proprietary software as well as for features it's easier to say it's not missing much than I can think of than it is to enumerate what it does have one missing thing support for timecode in video like the 1dx has features it has that the 1dx lacks as far as I can tell our time lapse mode and tiff output as usual wireless connectivity flash and GPS remain add-ons unless you really need the speed boost or improved video I don't think it's a must-have replacement for the d3s and the d800 delivers equally good low ISO photo quality and better video quality for a lot less money even when you equip it with a battery grip but the deal before is seriously faster an overall it's a very well-executed update to nikon's professional camera line that's worth the admittedly hefty investment if you need its talents I'm Lori drunen and this is the Nikon d4