When the 5D Mark III and 1D X first came out, I bought them both. At the time I was doing quite a bit of commercial shoots where I needed a proper sports camera and a proper event camera that was lighter weight. Both cameras served me well, but honestly my biggest test with both camera bodies wasn't the paid work - that was easy because it was always a controlled situation with the light I needed. What was really hard were the shots I did for personal pleasure where I had the pressures of the family not wanting to wait for me to take pictures, horrible light - often indoors with lamps or outdoors in the rainy Northwest.
Over the years that I had these cameras, I favored the 1DX for the superior image quality over the 5D Mark III and it's better high ISO performance. I also loved the better control I had over the settings, despite missing creature comforts like the HDR mode found on the 5D Mark III and not the 1DX. In fact, the extra megapixels offered on the 5D Mark III would become a negative as its image was always softer and noisier than the 1D X.
I've sold both of my beloved cameras and have decided that I'm going to limit myself to one DSLR this time around, so the basis of this review is NOT about burst mode performance as the 1DX Mark II has no equal. It's more about every day use and which one would I want in my hands if I were shooting any situation where I wanted the highest probability of getting the shot with an image that will print beautifully at 24x36 - the largest size I often print.
This article isn't about camera price or features, as I was really most interested to see if the extra megapixels resulted in a better image or if the lower resolution would give me a more usable image file.
October 23, 2016 Correction - I made a mistake
In the original article that follows here, it turns out that I made a mistake by not being scientific enough in my comparison. I was hand held and thought I was close enough to make accurate determinations but I was wrong.
To prove to myself the differences between the two I ended up shooting with both cameras again in the exact same position using the same 70-200mm lens at 200mm using camera settings of 1/200 sec at f/4 and ISO 8000 (to show noise) and creating tungsten white balanced 16-bit ProPhoto RGB PSD files from the CR2 files of both that I loaded into Photoshop.
I normalized both files to be the same size as a 1DX Mark II image size (5472x3648 px) which would show the benefits of the greater resolution of the extra megapixels in the 5D Mark IV. With the files normalized and aligned, I created this animated GIF to compare the two images as precisely as possible:
Animated comparison of a 100% crop from a normalized 5472x3648 pixels image
The net result is that I still have a preference for the 1DX Mark II, BUT you can see that my original conclusion below about the lens distortion was inaccurate. This animation more closely represents what you might expect to get if you printed images from both cameras at the same size on the same printer. This type of comparison favors the 5D Mark IV simply for the finer details achieved by the higher resolution image.
It All Started With A Spider
5D Mark IV (Left) 1D X Mark II (Right)
1/200 sec at f/5.6
100% zoom to actual pixels
I was out in my back yard when I spotted a spider, so when I ran in to grab the nearest review camera, I decided that I better get outside again and shoot with the same camera.
These shots were taken about 26 minutes apart - both freehand using the same 24-70mm f/4L IS lens. You can view the original 5DM4 image on the left HERE and the 1DX2 image on the right HERE. Both were shot in manual mode with Auto ISO and a single AF point using the macro range of the 24-70mm f/4L IS lens.
The color difference is due to the auto white balance and auto picture style settings which can easily be normalized in RAW, but my favorite here was easily the 1D X Mark II image for the sharpness of the spider, despite the superior bokeh of the 5D Mark IV. This observation would begin a theme where naturally a higher megapixel camera is going to have less depth of field which results in superior bokeh - unless you normalize the files to the same size (or print them out).
5D Mark IV (Left) 1D X Mark II (Right)
1/200 sec at f/9, ISO 25,600
100% zoom to actual pixels
As I closed down the aperture the ISO naturally climbed resulting in an image where the 1D X Mark II was clearly the better image in my opinion. Click here to view the in-camera JPEG from the 5DM4 and click here (shown right above) to view the same from the 1DX Mark II.
Doing this of course begs the question, would the 1DX2 advantage carry over in a studio where the lighting was excellent?
5D Mark IV (Left) 1D X Mark II (Right)
1/200 sec at f/7.1, ISO 100, 200mm
In the studio, I once again shared the same 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens between the camera bodies with the model under identical light sitting in the same spot the entire time. While I did shoot freehand, as you can see from the image the models head and hair were my guide for her placement within the frame. In this case I used auto picture style and white balance just to see how both would perform in an informal test.
These images are 100% unedited - straight out of the camera in-camera JPEG files. You can view the 5DM4 JPEG or RAW and 1DX2 JPEG or RAW. All images are copyright Ron Martinsen - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. You may view them while this browser session is open and this is your active page, but afterwards you must delete them. You may not save, edit, print, etc... these images without written on paper signed consent.
The net result was that the 5D Mark IV made the model look a little more heavy than the 1DX Mark II with the image quality being very good for both.
The heavier look wasn't real but rather an illusion created due to the model and lens not being an EXACT distance from each other and comparing two files that weren't the exact same size. If printed, or the files normalized to the same size, this issue would not exist.
I then zoomed in on the eyes and without normalization I favored the 1DX Mark II but in print or with normalization it'd probably be a draw:
As I looked at the lips, again without normalization or printing I felt that the 1DX2 had more detail but that both were equally good results.
Finally, here's a nose comparison:
Conclusion
The net takeaway is that both cameras did a great job, but for the way I work and the file sizes I need, I preferred the 1D X Mark II.
The bigger story to tell is that out of thirty six 5D Mark IV images with the spot focus point on the models eye, I only had 6 that were in crisp focus under studio lighting conditions. With the 1D X Mark II I had 18 out of 24 in crisp focus. The model, camera shake, etc... could be blamed for some of the softer shots, but this experience left me thinking that if I was going to get a once in a lifetime shot to briefly photograph my favorite celebrity, I'd want the 1DX Mark II in my hands!
While I'd rather the price of the 5D Mark IV, my next camera has to be the 1D X Mark II. My gear has always paid for itself, so the ability to get the shot and have more freedom with depth of field and better high ISO performance makes the 1DX Mark II my money making camera of choice.
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I was big fan of the Nikon D7100 and D7200, so when I heard Nikon was doing a APS-C sized sensor (23.5 x 15.7 mm) camera, I wondered where this would fit into the line up. After learning about its 10fps burst mode, it immediately became clear that this was to be a direct compete to the Canon 7D Mark II (review). In fact, I spent a little time comparing the specs of all three side by side to get my head around all of the differences. In a nutshell the D500 gives you:
Ever since I heard Nikon released the 24-70 f/2.8 VR, I've been anxious to try it - but it has alluded me due to high demand - until now. While this is a very expensive lens, the idea of having my favorite travel range of 24-70 with both f/2.8 and VR was a dream come true.
Another item high on my todo list from Nikon was the SB-5000 speedlight which features both radio control support, as well as a tiny fan to allow for up to 100 consecutive shots without overheating. Given the problems the SB-900 & SB-910 had with overheating, this was a big improvement and the radio control puts it on par with the Canon 600EX-RT flashes that I shoot with.
Unfortunately for this review, I didn't have the WR-R10 so I wasn't able to test the off-camera radio control support.
Hands On Impressions
One of the main features of this camera is its burst mode performance, but a fast burst mode is meaningless if the buffer fills up and you cant' take photos. It's hard to quantify burst mode and buffer flush times in text, so I decided to do a quick video where I do a quick high level overview of the body and show off its burst mode in action:
Ultimately I liked the body performance which mimics the great Nikon design with lots of physical hard buttons that are user reprogrammable. It's burst mode was great, and buffer flush times were reasonable - although not as blazing fast as the D5 (review) - of course. That said, I didn't test XQD, but even with a SanDisk 16GB Extreme Pro UHS-I SDHC U1 Memory Card (Class 10) it was very fast.Simply put, buffer flush times aren't going to be an issue with this camera based on my extensive experience testing other camera bodies.
During my testing, I found the performance to be closer to the D5 than I expected but not as good in the tests that I ran. This is to be expected since I wasn't using a sports lens for this test, so your mileage may vary depending on the lens used.
Like the D5, the best performance was in AF-C single point mode for moving subjects and of course AF-S single point for stationary subjects. Just like the D5, when you try to use the dynamic area modes it seems to get lost sporadically during the burst mode before locking onto the subject again.
Overall, I found myself getting less in focus shots than I did with the D7100 and D7200 I tested, but again that could be due to the lens used. Bargain hunters should keep this in mind when deciding which lens to buy (my recommendations), as I would expect the best in-focus shots performance to come with the newest and best Nikon sports lenses.
A Word About Nikon Metering
If you read the marketing material for Nikon's metering system it sounds wonderful - in fact, it sounds revolutionary. However, in practice the metering experience I've had on the D5 and the D500 is the worse metering I've ever seen on a digital SLR since 2007.
This statement will infuriate the fan boys and cause me no end of hate mail, but I've got to say it because it's been such a nuisance in real world testing. I've experimented with all of the modes (see the manual here) and here are my observations:
Matrix - This is the mode you want to use (and the default) because it's supposed to take into consideration the entire scene and balance the exposure for the scene using the most advanced algorithms developed by Nikon. Sadly, it is very inconsistent alternates between dark and light exposures even when the camera and subject doesn't move. In real world use it can drive you made, so you'll start trying other modes.
Center-weighted - this is a classic simple mode that is supposed to meter based on what in the center of the frame and in some cases it can be the best choice, yet for the D5 & D500 it isn't quite as reliable and is prone to errors just like Matrix
Spot - Many of my Nikon friends both in the pro and prosumer ranks have sworn that Spot metering is the way to go on Nikon because it will meter off your focus point. In theory this sounds brilliant, but in practice even this can screw up if your spot is on an dark eye vs the cheek of a subject. The cheek will give you the metering you want and the wrong focus, but eye will over expose with perfect focus. It's very frustrating!
Highlight-weighted - This looks like spot, but what I does is assign the greatest metering weight to the highlights which ends up being the wrong choice for pretty much every circumstance unless your subject is a Geisha with hot highlights of light on her face. Nikon suggests it for use with stage actors, but I haven't used it for that so I can't comment if it works well but for everything else I tried it with it would make the highlights great at the expense of what you cared about.
The more you time spend fighting it, the more you learn how to work around it (hint: spot metering is you friend and often with -1EV of exposure compensation), but why does it have to be so difficult? For all of the Canon, Fujifilm, Sony, Panasonic, and Olympus cameras I've tested the default metering modes just work so it's something you never really need to fool with. In fact, out of 400,000+ shots I've taken with Canon cameras, I've only switched from Evaluate metering mode to Spot mode < 10 times, and while I've demonstrated what it's Partial and Center-Weighted metering do, I've never really needed to use them.
I think this will be a frustrating point to new DSLR owners who buy this camera, and ironically it was never this bad with other models before the D5 & D500. Yes, those benefited from spot metering and weren't as good as I'd like, but they were loads better than the D5/D500 metering.
Hopefully Nikon will address this in a firmware update at some point, but in the meantime don't say you haven't been warned! It's also another reason to make sure you shoot RAW.
Auto Fine Tune Frustrations
If you don't know what Auto Fine Tune is, you can see a good video in my D5 first look article, but what this does is "automatically" calibrate your lens with your camera to avoid any focus errors (aka back focus / front focus). On most cameras this has to be done manually using something like a Datacolor SpyderLensCal Autofocus Calibration Aid, or software like the like Reikan FoCal. Both of these work, but it's not as easy - in theory - as the camera doing it for you.
There lies the rub, I've found that it doesn't work well and often makes things worse more than it helps. I'm not alone with the frustrations and inconsistency in the results as you can read on DPReview here.
I'm glad they have it and I hope they perfect it, but for now I strongly advise people to avoid this buggy feature and do it the good old fashion ways mentioned earlier in this section.
I like the 24-70mm range on any camera platform as a versatile every day / travel lens, but surprisingly it's been a common practice to offer a f/2.8 without any sort of vibration reduction/image stabilization, but it has shown up on f/4 variants. As a result, it's been a long-time ask of fans of many platforms to have their cake and eat it too by getting a lens that is both a 24-70mm f/2.8 AND VR. Of course, the predecessor 24-70mm f/2.8 was an outstanding lens, so getting VR at the expense of image quality simply wouldn't do.
During my testing, I've been very happy with the sharpness but even more impressed with the minimum focus distance. As any parent will tell you, when you photography kids - especially little ones that are on the move - they are going to come after you as soon as they see the camera. As a result, you have precious little time to try to get a shot before you end up with a finger on your lens. Typically this results in a series of blurry out of focus shots, but the nice thing about this combo was that the excellent minimum focus distance meant that I could still acquire focus even as a child would cross into my personal bubble. The burst mode and great focus of the D500 allowed me to get the shots I wanted and surprise shots that were closer than I expected to get.
f/22 @ 24mm for 1/100 sec at ISO 400 Shooting in the sun used to always create lens flare like this, but it's less common with premium lenses these days. I was disappointed that this lens didn't do better.
The only major concerns that I had with this lens was that it doesn't have the warm contrast punch that I typically enjoy of lenses in this price range, and it was subject to a lot more flare issues than I would have expected. Lenses like my Canon 11-24mm have a coating that basically eliminates flare, so I would expect a lens of this price point to leverage a similar technology for excellent flare protection. Of course if you don't shoot into direct harsh light like the sun this won't be an issue, so it's not a serious problem.
I give this lens high marks for parents and travel photographers who want a single lens that's good for unpredictable situations in life under all lighting conditions. The VR can save you from camera shake blurriness, and the physical size of the lens isn't too obnoxious to carry around.
I liked it and and can easily recommend it for parents, event and travel photographers.
SB-5000 Thoughts
f/2.8 @ 60mm for 1/250 sec at ISO 45600 I was a bit surprised that the camera with SB-5000 flash chose such a high ISO when in Auto ISO mode and Matrix metering
While I didn't get to do as much testing as I would have liked with this flash, I was impressed with how well it coordinated with the camera to give me the right amount of flash when I needed it. It also had a good harmony with the auto ISO which means that backgrounds weren't pitch black when in matrix metering mode. However, you may want to cap the maximum auto ISO when using it as sometimes I think it went too far - as in the case above where it chose ISO 45,600. While technically right, it wasn't what I expected after using other flashes for so many years so this is something to keep in mind.
The SB-900 and SB-910 suffered from overheating issues when used heavily, so this flash addresses that by having a built-in fan that fires up briefly after you take a shot (and yes, you can disable it). I didn't' find the noise to be a problem in real world use, and I appreciated how fast this flash was ready to go for another shot (much faster than any flash I can recall using).
When used properly it can give you results that give you the amount of light you need without having the overly bright look that you see in the shot above (pointed directly due to this being taken in pitch black darkness during July 4th fireworks).
If I were a Nikon shooter, this is the only flash I would want to have on my camera. I'd gladly take it over the SB-910 any day. The radio wireless support makes it an even better choice for anyone that needs a proper flash.
Overall Thoughts
Everything I've seen seems to indicate this is the camera that most were hoping it would be - it's basically a D7200 on burst mode steroids with improved AF performance and higher ISO support. The camera body is a delight to use, and I definitely prefer it over the Canon 7D Mark II. While the usability of both the Canon and Nikon are very good, I'd take the Nikon over the Canon for better high ISO performance and overall image quality.
Real World Shots
For my reviews I always like to take casual shots of every day life using both RAW+JPEG with default camera settings (excluding exposure and other where noted below). These shots have been unedited and are 100% exactly s they came out of the camera.
All images are copy protected and may not be used for any other purpose beyond this review, and must not be printed, edited, uploaded, displayed or otherwise used without signed written consent on a notarized document.
Click here for a full gallery of images, and see my comments on a subset of those images below...
f/4 @ 70mm for 1/2000 sec at ISO 280 This was the 149th of 156 shots in a running series and my son was all of the place for the last part of this sprint. I was pleased at how great the focus was with him being at the edge both from the camera and lens performance. The minimum focus distance also made the last few shots sharper than I usually get with sports cameras.
f/2.8 @ 56mm for 1/640 sec at ISO 100 The colors are a bit exaggerated here because I forgot the camera in Vivid picture control mode but the image quality was solid. This was a bit of a dynamic range torture test that passed with flying colors - especially with the data in the raw file
f/22 @ 62mm for 1/125 sec at ISO 250 Excellent dynamic range for a cropped sensor means that if you can position yourself right you can get great in the sun shots - just be mindful of the position of the inevitable flare spots
f/5.6 @ 62mm for 1/1600 sec at ISO 100 On a full frame with this lens this spider would have been a speck so this shot wouldn't have been possible, so this was definitely a case where I was happy to be shooting APS-C!
f/11 @ 34mm for 1/60 sec at ISO 100 I needed a flash here but didn't have it, but I was impressed with the dynamic range that I got despite that reality. This was one frame of a bracketed shot, so I definitely can save the shot via HDR processing later in Aurora.
f/3.5 @ 70mm for 1/250 sec at ISO 720 While you can't tell from this shot, my son was walking and looking the other direction when I yelled "hey Kai". With one frame in single-shot mode it managed to nail the focus quickly and the cropped sensor meant that I could put the focus point exactly where I wanted it (his eye instead of just below it on full frame sensors)
f/8 @ 24mm for 1 sec at ISO 800 Long exposure shooters will appreciate the switch to close the viewfinder to avoid light leaks during events like firework shows where you are surrounded by people with cell phone flashes going off during your long exposures
f/5.6 @ 24mm for 1/160 sec at ISO 2200 The dynamic range is good even as the ISO's climb yielding much better results than I expected for tough conditions like this shot
f/2.8 @ 38mm for 1/250 sec at ISO 1600 The bokeh of the 24-70 is quite pleasing and I was plenty satisfied with the sharpness even when it was wide open at f/2.8. Edge performance was impressive too!
f/3.5 @ 70mm for 1/500 sec at ISO 900 In camera processing is very pleasant even with the Standard Picture Control and Auto1 White Balance. It's rare to see an image this pleasing out of a Nikon, but thanks to three Auto white balance choices, you can get great in-camera results instead of the historically cold neutral tones
f/22 @ 62mm for 1/60 sec at ISO 51200 Read those settings - both the lens and camera impressed me here with an image that would have not been this good even at 1600 ISO just 7 years ago! Yes, the high ISO performance is great and the VR made this handheld shot super sharp!
f/5.6 @ 62mm for 1/100 sec at ISO 2800 The great minimum focus distance of the 24-70mm will make it a great choice for amateur macro photographers who want the one lens that does it all during their vacation
Conclusion
It's been a while since I shot an APS-C sensor, but this camera reminded me why there is still a place for them in the crowded camera body market these days. I loved being able to put my focus points all the way to the edges of the frame without having to point and recompose like I must do on full-frame cameras. I loved the extra reach especially when at the minimum focus distance zoomed at 70mm. This makes the tilting LCD on the back during live view even more important and useful - as is the pinch to zoom!
This camera is everything everyone has been saying it is. It's got very good AF performance with even a simple travel lens like the 24-70, and its got the burst mode and buffer flush performance to make it a great choice for sports photographers. I also loved how well it worked with the SB-5000 so that you only needed to be mindful of your flash head position and not have to fight the flash as I've had to do with earlier Nikon body and flash combos.
While I thought the metering sucked because series of shots would be ruined with overly dark and overly bright exposures in the middle of a series, this same problem exists on the D5 so I can't help but think Nikon will get to the bottom of this issue for both camera bodies and issue firmware updates to fix it - let's hope! The good news is that when the meter gets the exposure right, it does a spectacular job so take advantage of the great AF performance and fast buffer speed to take a few extra shots and it won't be an issue in real world use.
This is a very good camera that is sure to please the Nikon faithful who are looking for a new body to replace their D7200 or D750 shooters who are longing for better burst mode performance that is closer to the D700 with a battery grip - even if it is at the expense of a cropped sensor.
While I don't care to use DSLR's for video, the 4k video support is sure to please aspiring videographers too.
In the end, it's easy to give this camera a high recommendation but if you don't need the FPS, 4k video and the extra reach, the D750 and D610 are still excellent cameras that are worth considering.
Where to order
Click here to learn more or order on the B&H web site. Click here to learn more about the Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8E ED VR Lens, and click here to learn more about the SB-5000.
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In the first part of my review, I expressed how impressed I was with this camera. Despite being crippled by a mediocre kit lens for this review, I’ve been very pleased with image quality and dynamic range for the shots I’ve taken with it.
In this final installment of my review, I’ll focus more on some of the technical aspects of this camera and discuss how I feel it compares to some of the other cameras I’ve tested.
Knowing that this camera has great dynamic range, I decided to put it to the torture test using a model with dark eyes and a black background just to see how many tones it could capture. As you can clearly see from above, the D750 knocked this one out of the park.
I can clearly distinguish the pupil from the iris in the eye as well as all the shades in the models hair. Even the black background shows a buttery smooth series of tones.
While this is certainly no Otus 85mm lens, I was plenty satisfied with the detail captured on the skin (sorry Julia!) and the eyelashes.
In short, this camera nailed the mugs shot test, so one could only hope the DMV will start using these – or maybe not!
Overall my testing revealed that image quality and tonal range are fantastic in the ISO 100-12,800 range. When you go into the high modes of 25,600 and 51,200 the dynamic range begins to suffer, but even with in-camera noise reduction results in a usable image.
f/5.6 @ 50 mm, 13s, ISO 100, No Flash This is the sweet spot of the lens that I tested, so click for the original to see the best image I could get with the kit lens
Unlike a lot of Nikon’s I’ve tested which tend to have either overly bright or dark metering, I found this camera to have a nice happy medium. With that said, I did get some unexplainable shifts in brightness and color when using auto white balance and matrix metering during my bookshelf testing. This is really my only complaint with this camera, and hopefully this is something that will sort itself out with a future firmware update.
I own and love the Canon 5D Mark III, and without question it’s definitely one of the best Canon’s ever made. However, it is not without flaws. Do I think the Nikon has leapfrogged the 5D Mark III? YES! The overall dynamic range offered by this camera creates a wide spectrum of natural tones that is more true to life straight out of the camera than what I get out of my 5DM3. While I still prefer many features and characteristics of the Canon, for now this is the new defacto standard for parents, event and travel photographers who really want the best image quality possible.
While personally I don’t give a hoot about video from a DSLR, I still think the movie industry support around Canon probably gives it an advantage. However, I can’t imagine any D750 user being disappointed with the video performance with a sensor that is this good.
What should a 5D Mark III owner do? My advice is to save your money. Inevitably Canon will have a response and for now you have a great camera that’s not worth taking a big loss on – especially if you’ve got a good investment in lenses. Think of it a bit like you are driving the 2013 version of your dream car and your neighbor gets the 2014 model which has some nice new bells and whistles. While it sucks not to have the best product possible, you probably wouldn’t sell your car just to upgrade. I think the same philosophy applies here, so enjoy what you have and spend your money elsewhere – God knows there’s a lot of other ways to spend your money on photography gear and software, so don’t waste your money trying to keep up with the latest camera.
I wasn’t a big fan of the kit lens, so I’d advise to go body only and get something else. I definitely liked the Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5G ED VR Lens that I tested with the D600 – it was surprisingly good (and cheap). The AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8G ED is the lens to have if you can afford it, so if you are just starting out I’d consider either of those as better choices over the 24-120mm.
Conclusion
If you have an investment in Nikon lenses and are wondering if it is time to upgrade your camera body, I’d say it depends. While I personally wouldn’t take a loss on a perfectly good D600/D610, I’d certainly upgrade any other Nikon besides the D800/D810 and D4/D4s up to this one – if you’ve already bought all of the high quality lenses you are ever going to buy. Great lenses make the most of any camera body, so I always recommend spending extra funds on glass before camera bodies.
With that disclaimer out of the way, owners who do upgrade are going to be delighted. Those frustrated by some of the limitations of the D600/D610 might also find it a worthwhile upgrade, despite that being an excellent camera in its own right. I can definitely say that as a fan boy of the D600/D610, I found myself very excited to see that my minor quibbles about those cameras had been addressed leaving me with a camera that I’d probably buy if I didn’t have an investment in Canon lenses.
For those who believe DXOMark sensor scores are the word of God (and I don’t), they ranked the D750 as #6 under the D800E, D800, D600 & D610. While I’m sure in their own scientific way this makes sense to them, I can say that to my eyes in real world scenarios I find the D750 to be a overall better performer at higher ISO’s than the D800’s and about the same as the D600/D610. As a result, I continue to say these sensor scores are non-sense in the real world so take them with a grain of salt. The D750 is a fantastic camera that will definitely not disappoint, so without reservation I highly recommend it.
Where to order
Click here to learn more or order the D750 on the B&H web site.
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The Nikon D750 has been a highly anticipated and long rumored camera. The D700 was a huge hit and when the D600 came out the rumors immediately began that the D700 replacement would soon follow. With the D4, D800, D7100, D610, D4s, & D810 announcements you could almost sense the frustration from the Nikon faithful that while the announced camera was cool, that’s NOT the one they were hoping to see announced.
The D700 was effectively a D3 in a cost effective package, so it’s no wonder that people were hoping for the same with the D750. However, the camera I’ve been using really feels to me like the D610 on steroids. Personally I feel this camera takes everything that is great about the D610 and addresses most of the weaknesses to result in a camera that I personally would really like to own!
This is an awesome camera body that features the creature comforts normally reserved for consumer cameras and frustratingly omitted from pro cameras like an articulating LCD. While you won’t be using it to do selfies, you will be able to get better live view or video shots with the camera above your had and down low, so there’s definitely value in that!
Unless I missed something, it was disappointing to see that there are no shooting banks. This allows you to switch between a set of custom configurations for the camera quickly and is typically found on models like the D4s and D810. This would indicate that this camera is targeted more to the consumer than the pro. The articulating LCD and scene & effects modes on the mode dial certainly confirm this too. However, I do not think this is a bad thing because what I love about my 5D Mark III is that it has consumer features (like HDR that will keep the originals) not found on my 1D X (and insufficient on cheaper models because it doesn’t keep the original files). As a result this is a camera that I think the pro enthusiast will love, but they could hand it to their spouse or event photography assistant and still have a camera that is approachable and usable by mere mortals.
I’m used to pro bodies like the 1D X and D4s that are machine guns, so the D750 feels slow to me. However, it’s good for its class and price point. I also noticed that with a fast memory card it will go on for a long time at a reduced speed without filling the buffer even when shooting RAW+JPEG fine. I think this will please wedding and event photographers who can’t afford to have a buffer to fill prematurely. I still wouldn’t classify this as a pro sports camera, but it should do fine for soccer parents who want a fighting shot at capturing sports without investing in a D4s.
Real World Pictures
If you are new to my blog, what follows are in-camera JPEG’s with no modifications taken through the course of a normal day. The camera is mostly set to camera defaults but I do chose my AF single point and adjust the white balance as I see fit. Most shots are aperture priority but a few are manual mode as well. All but one shot in the gallery were also taken handheld all using the 24-120mm kit lens.
You may view the photos for your pleasure, but please delete them and/or remove them from your cache when done. You may not edit, print, or otherwise use these photos. All rights are reserved. The full gallery can be found at http://photos.ronmartblog.com/nikon/d750.
f/5.6 @ 120 mm, 1/125, ISO 320, No Flash, Shade White Balance Reds and oranges are tough but I thought this sensor did a great job of showing a broad spectrum of reds and oranges. This is a fun camera to have for the fall!
f/7.1 @ 120 mm, 1/200, ISO 800, No Flash Here the limitations of the kit lens become obvious because I think with a better lens the detail of this shot would be awesome. Even still, I was quite satisfied with what I saw overall.
f/11 @ 50 mm, 1/640, ISO 280, No Flash Shooting into the sun is the ultimate torture test but this camera did an excellent job of capturing a wide tone of colors and retaining a respectable amount of shadow detail. NICE!
f/7.1 @ 110 mm, 1/250, ISO 800, No Flash Here’s another one that few cameras can capture this well. The alternating tones of the trees are captured very faithfully with the vivid richness coming from the shade white balance.
f/4.5 @ 105 mm, 1/30, ISO 100, No Flash Ok, I didn’t really need to include this one (or the f/7.1 version in the gallery) but I was just having too much fun with this camera
f/4 @ 120 mm, 1/200, ISO 720, No Flash At parks you’ve gotta photograph at least a duck or goose right? :) The goose $hit was captured with such accuracy – ha, ha
f/4 @ 85 mm, 1/100, ISO 12800, No Flash Here’s one place that the color sucked, but that can be blamed on ISO 12800, so keep that in mind if you shoot high ISO’s. The phone cover here is really bright red in real life. There was an abundance of natural daylight here so a better lens sure would have helped too.
f/4 @ 58 mm, 1/125, ISO 6400, No Flash, AWB While it’s impossible to have identical conditions, it’s interesting to note that my shot like this with the D600 was way better at ISO 5000 @ f/5.6. I should manually dropped down a stop and adjusted the white balance but I was getting over confident about what this camera might do on its own. This is faithful to real life but it could have been better.
f/4 @ 120 mm, 1/125, ISO 7200, No Flash, Poorly Handheld - sorry This statue has a strong light beam on it so many cameras require spot metering to avoid exposing properly for one part of the scene while botching the other. The default metering mode did a beautiful job with the AF point on the face. This is almost what the human eye sees the scene as in real life – sweet!
f/5.6 @ 35 mm, 1/125, ISO 12800, No Flash If I had to pick the one thing that really impresses me is how well the metering handles complex scenes like this. With the great meter and awesome dynamic range, a shot like this goes from requiring HDR in the past to just point and shoot now (single exposure – no HDR).
f/4 @ 24 mm, 1/50, ISO 7200, No Flash I included this one because this is a case where the dark ceiling means that you usually only get detail where the lights are. However, notice how much detail you can see in the ceiling. I think this is the best I’ve seen from a camera for this common test shot that I do.
f/4 @ 46 mm, 1/50, ISO 6400, No Flash While I screwed up and had the AWB still on, what’s impressive is how much detail and tonal range from the statue and the wall behind are picking up. This is definitely a good sensor boys and girls!
I’ll have more photos to come, but suffice it to say that I’m sufficiently impressed with my early testing. The full gallery can be found at http://photos.ronmartblog.com/nikon/d750.
Conclusion
I’ll render my full conclusion when I’m done testing, but you can tell from my comments above that I love this camera. In fact, I was going to review other products first, but this one got such a wow out of me that I had to get my first part on the web early.
I’ll have more to come, but basically my current opinion is that if you are considering a Nikon and you can’t afford a D4s (who can right?) then this is the one you want. Sure the D610 is a great compromise if your budget is tight, and the D810 is the megapixel king but who cares though right? This is the best all-around, use it for anything, general purpose camera has right now. It’s definitely a great answer to the Canon 5D Mark III, so if your in the Nikon camp and have been lusting for a 5D Mark III then know that this is the camera you really should buy. If you are in the Canon camp, I still say don’t switch camps if you have invested in more than one L lens, but if you haven’t then I think from an image quality standpoint this might be the camera to own.
In short, is this camera worth the money and/or is it worth upgrading to? Heck yeah!
If you make a purchase using links found in this article, I may make a commission. It doesn’t cost you a penny more, but it does help to support future articles like this.
My apologies for the lack of articles since my semi-retirement in April from blogging, but please know that I’m still working behind the scenes to bring you fresh content. In fact, I’ve got the hot new Zeiss Otus 85mm in my hands and I’ve got the Nikon D750, Canon 7D Mark II, Fujifilm x30, Fujifilm x100t, and more all in the queue for review. While my quantity may be low, I do hope to focus more on the products you care about the most. If I’m missing something, please let me know.
Printing Series Updates Coming
I’ve also got some exciting stuff coming for the printing series too with some new paper and printer reviews that are in the works.
I also can’t wait to tell you my thoughts about the new NEC MultiSync EA244UHD 23.8" 4K IPS LED Monitor which I’ve been using for several months (but I’m waiting for the final production unit before releasing my review).
Yes, I’m still at it and alive and kicking, but I’ve given up my 10PM – 4:00 AM+ shift that I had for 5 years to bring you my past articles, so I’m loving a little slower than I used to be. Your continued support in checking the blog and using my links is still greatly appreciated!
Portfolio Reviews 50% Off & Training Discounts
From now until November 3rd, I’m offering 50% off my normal rate for portfolio reviews (see here). I’m also going to do some 1:1 training specials. Contact me if you are interested and let me know which you are interested in.
My discount coupon code page which has saved my readers millions over the years has been updated with the latest offers, so if you haven’t checked it out lately then please do! If you have any problems with any of the codes please don’t hesitate to contact me.
Other articles you may enjoy
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Disclosure
If you make a purchase using links found in this article, I may make a commission. It doesn’t cost you a penny more, but it does help to support future articles like this.
