Nikon D1 Review
Nikon's D1 has been around for over a year now, first officially announced on 15th June 1999, though we'd seen plenty of "behind glass" prototypes before then. I first got my hands on an early product D1 back in September last year.
The D1 was Nikons answer to Kodak's domination of the professional SLR's market. It marked an important step in history, the first digital SLR designed and built solely by one of the big manufacturers ("home grown"). It also marked a huge change in expectations over price for this kind of equipment, at the time it was releasd it was at least half (if not a third) the price of it's nearest Nikon based competitor the Kodak DCS 620. Better stll it soprted a 2.7 megapixel sensor compared to the DCS x20's 2.0 megapixel allowing the camera to shoot for larger prints and higher quality output.
I'd better explain why it's taken this long to come out with a review, I did have a loan D1 at the beginning of this year, however my move from Singapore back to the UK interrupted the work on this review. I'm publishing this review to help complete the range of digital SLR reviews (also Canon EOS-D30, Fujifilm S1 Pro, Kodak DCS 520, 620 & 620x).
2.74 megapixel CCD
The D1 features a 2.74 megapixel 23.7 mm x 16.7 mm CCD which outputs 2.62 million pixels (2000 x 1312). This sensor is slightly larger than than that used in Canon's new D30, although still smaller than APS or 35mm film. This means that, like other digital SLR's the D1 features a focal length multiplier of 1.5x, thus a 28 mm lens on a D1 has an equiv. focal length of 42 mm
| Sensor / Camera | Effective pixels (millions) |
Effective ** resolution | Imager size (mm) | Pixel (unit)
size (�m) |
| Sony 1/1.8" CCD * |
3.12 | 2,048 x 1,536 | 5.52 x 4.14 | 3.45 |
| Nikon D1 CCD | 2.62 | 2,000 x 1,312 | 23.6 x 15.5 | 11.8 |
| Canon EOS-D30 CMOS | 3.11 | 2,160 x 1,440 | 22.7 x 15.1 | 10.5 |
| APS negative (C type) | n/a | n/a | 30.2 x 16.7 | n/a |
| 35mm negative | n/a | n/a | 35.0 x 23.3 | n/a |
* As used in Nikon Coolpix 990, Sony DSC-S70, Olympus C-3030Z etc.
** Effective meaning pixels used to produce final image
If you're new to digital photography you may wish to read the Digital Photography Glossary before diving into this article (it may help you understand some of the terms used).
Conclusion / Recommendation / Ratings are based on the opinion of the reviewer, you should read the ENTIRE review before coming to your own conclusions.
We recommend to make the most of this review you should be able to see the difference (at least) between X, Y, and Z and ideally A, B, and C.
This article is Copyright 1998 - 2015 and may NOT in part or in whole be reproduced in any electronic or printed medium without prior permission from the author.
NIKON D1X 5.47 Megapixel SLR Digital Camera (Discontinued by Manufacturer) | $129.59 |
Nikon D100 DSLR Camera (Discontinued by Manufacturer) | $119.80 |
Nikon D2X DSLR 12.4 MP Camera | $1,995.00 |
Nikon D2Xs Digital SLR Camera | $4,995.00 |
Nikon D2H Pro Digital SLR Camera (Body Only) | $495.00 |
Nikon D4S 16.2 MP CMOS FX Digital SLR with Full 1080p HD Video (Body Only) | $5,996.95 |
Nikon D3 FX DSLR Camera (Body Only) (OLD MODEL) | $4,999.00 |
35mm Af S Dx F 18 Nikon Mount | $195.49 |
Nikon D1H 2.7 MP Digital SLR Camera - Black (Body Only) | $175.00 |
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