Nikon’s flagship SLR looks set to be the camera of choice for pros at the Olympic games this summer as long as they don’t want to shoot 4K videos longer than 3 minutes. Find out our first impressions in our hands-on Nikon D5 review.
Jump To: Nikon D5 hands-on review
As Nikon had already announced that a new flagship SLR called the D5 was in development I expected to see it at CES. After all, if its target market of photojournalists and professional sports photographers are going to use it this summer at the Olympic games, they’ll want some time to familiarise themselves with it.
My faith in Nikon was not disappointed and the details of the D5 were revealed in a packed conference room at the annual trade show.
And while the camera’s sensor, a full-frame CMOS device with 20.8 million effective pixels, wasn’t really a surprise, the top sensitivity setting of ISO 3,280,000 (yes, that is three-million, two hundred and eighty thousand) raised a few eyebrows amongst the assembled photographic press.
Although this top figure draws the headlines it’s really a knock-on effect of the desire to improve image quality at more commonly used sensitivity settings.
Jump To: Nikon D500 hands-on review
According to Dirk Jasper, Product Manager for Nikon Europe, professional sport and news photographers are most often concerned with the quality of images shot at ISO 6400 to 12,800, and Nikon was keen to keep them happy. In addition, the D5’s standard sensitivity range is ISO 100-102,400, two stops higher than the D4S’s.
Professional sport photographers also need a sophisticated autofocus (AF) system and to this end the D5 has a 153-point system with 99 cross-type sensors. In addition, the central AF point is sensitive down to -4EV while the surrounding points are sensitive to -3EV.
Of the 153 points, a total of 55 are individually selectable, though you can reduce this to 15 if you prefer. The other points are support points. The system maybe set to operate in single-point, 25-, 72- or 153-point dynamic-are AF, 3D tracking, group-area AF or auto-area AF mode, giving plenty of scope to set the camera up to suit the subject, conditions and photographer.
Jump To: Nikon D5 price, specs, release date confirmed
A new ASIC (computer) unit is dedicated to the AF system to ensure that it performs consistently and predictably with improved tracking performance.
As in the D500 announced at the same time, the D5’s sensor is paired with Nikon’s EXPEED 5 processing engine. This enables a maximum continuos shooting speed of 12 frames per second (fps) or 14fps if the mirror is locked-up.
High frame rates are nothing without a decent burst depth and the D5 can continue shooting at 12fps for up to 200 14-bit raw files. To achieve this burst the images need to be written to an XQD card.
On that note, there will be two versions of D5, one that takes XQD cards and one that takes CompactFlash (CF) cards. There are two card ports whichever version you buy, but the burst depth is roughly halved when CF cards are used.
The ability to record 4K (3840×2160 pixel) video is pretty much taken as read these days with every new camera that’s announced, but one disappointment with the D5 is that it’s only capable of recording 3 mins of footage to an installed card. This may acceptable to anyone wanting to shoot snappy, dynamic clips, but there a lots of people who want to shoot for longer.
As yet it’s not been made clear why the D5 is restricted, but I suspect that it’s to avoid overheating – this is an issue for the Sony 7R II and 7S II, but they can manage to record clips much longer than 3 minutes before it becomes an issue.
In better news, the D5 can record 4K footage without pixel binning for higher image quality and there’s an HDMI output for external recording.
In addition to the imaging sensor the D5 has a 180,000-pixel RGB sensor to inform the metering, white balance, scene recognition and AF systems.
SEE MORE: 10 camera settings you need to learn to master your Nikon (and 10 you can manage without)
Hands-on Nikon D5 review: Build and handling
Nikon has kept the control layout of the D5 the same as the D4S, making it easy for existing users to upgrade or swap between the two cameras.
However, the two chunky front grips and the rear thumbrests have been resculpted to make them more ergonomic and comfortable to use over long periods of time. I found them very comfortable for the couple of hours or so that I used a preproduction sample.
Like the D4S, the D5 has an extensive collection of seals to keep out dust and moisture. I used a pre-production sample in persistent rain and drizzle and it gave it no problems. Plus, the textured coatings continued to provide a good grip even though they were damp.
Shooting at 12fps requires the D5’s mirror to move up and down at a fair lick and there’s a noticeable tapping on your face or forehead when you hold the camera to your eye.
Although the D5’s 3.2-inch 2,359,000-dot screen is touch-sensitive it can’t be used for setting AF point in live view mode, nor navigating the menu or selecting settings. It’s only used for scrolling through and zooming into images. It’s a shame, because it responds very quickly to a tap. The screen also provides a very clear view with details looks nice and sharp.
The viewfinder is bright and a pleasure to use unless you want to be able to see the impact of exposure and white balance setting changes. The benefit of an optical viewfinder, however, is that it’s easy to follow the movement of a subject and the blackout time is very brief indeed with the D5.
SEE MORE: Canon vs Nikon: 8 photographers who switched camera systems (and why they did it)
Hands-on Nikon D5 review: Performance
Unfortunately I wasn’t allowed to keep any of the images that I shot with the pre-production D5 and therefore I haven’t been able to check them on a computer monitor. Consequently my comments here are the result of checking a selection of shots on the camera’s screen.
My initial impressions of the D5’s focusing system are that it’s very good. It was able to focus on a fast moving subject in dull, flat light and keep it sharp as focus distance changed. It was also capable of getting subjects sharp in near darkness.
The D5 has a native sensitivity range that goes two stops higher than the D4S (ISO 100-25,600), and while I haven’t been able to compare shots directly, I’m confident that the D5 produces better images with less noise at ISO 102,400.
What’s more, those taken at ISO 409,600 (Hi2) appear to be a significant improvement upon what the D4S is capable of in very low light. However, the D5’s uppermost setting (ISO 3,280,000 or Hi5) results lots of noise and a strong magenta cast.
In fact I found the subject was hardy recognisable. It’s important to remind ourselves, however, that Nikon itself is not satisfied with the image quality yet and there may be a significant improvement by the time the camera comes to market.
In other respects the D5 gave a very good account of itself during my shoot. It delivered well exposed images with good colour and white balance. Naturally we will test all of these aspects fully when we get a full-production sample.
SEE MORE: Nikon cameras: the complete range explained
Hands-on Nikon D5 review: Early verdict
The D4S has a pixel count of 16 million, which means that the D5 makes a 25% increase. The fact that Nikon has managed to do this while also seeming to bring a two-stop improvement in noise control is impressive.
It could make a huge difference to professional sports photographers and photojournalists, giving them the ability to shoot with greater depth of field in low light, use faster shutter speeds to freeze more movement or ‘just’ produce higher quality images.
While professional photographers are likely to be sparing with the number of images that they shoot at 12fps, there will be times when the 200 shot burst depth comes in handy.
For instance, it takes 16.5 seconds to rattle of 200 images at 12fps, which means there’s scope to shoot the entire 100m final at the Olympics in one burst and have shots in the tank to get the winner’s celebration.
After a relatively short shoot with the D5 it’s not possible to tell if its autofocus system is better than the D4S’s, but it’s clear that it is very good. Similarly, the D5’s image quality also appears to be very high at least with the standard sensitivity range.
The fact that it’s only possible to shoot 4K footage internally for 3 minutes is disappointing, but it also raises the question of whether Nikon will introduce a second camera to meet this shortfall.
READ MORE
Canon vs Nikon: the DSLR comparison you’ve been waiting for!
Canon EOS 6D vs Nikon D750
Which Nikon DSLR should you buy? Download our free buyer’s guide!
Nikon D7200 vs Canon EOS 70D: enthusiast DSLRs go head to head
The post Nikon D5 hands-on review appeared first on Digital Camera World.