New Gear Announced by Nikon

Nikon just announced 2 new bodies, the D300s and D3000, as well as two new lenses a AF-S Nikkor 70-200MM F/2.8G ED VR II and a new AF-S DX Nikkor18-200MM f/3.5-5.6G ED VR II. They each have a few very interesting features.

The D3000 introduces a new guided shooting mode designed to walk users though creative choices with out exposing the scary photographic stuff. It’s novel to be sure, however I’m not sure how much better for new users it will be over regular auto or something like Canon’s creative auto–which I think this is Nikon’s answer to, though it appears much further reaching in terms of what it controls.

Second up the D300s, it appears to be a minor upgrade to the D300, adding video and a slightly higher frame rate. The curious thing is that Nikon choose to include only 720p @ 24 fps. In fact all the movie modes on the D300s are 24 FPS. The other curious thing is the inclusion of a Secure Digital slot in addition to the existing compact flash card slot. I don’t know if this is evidence of wider acceptance of SD cards in the mid- to high-end camera market or a wider move to marginalize Compact Flash to top-tier bodies only. Either way I don’t care for SD cards due to their size and would rather see them stay in Point and Shoots and compact DSLRs where their small size is necessary to keep the overall package size down. Then again I’m still bitter than Canon choose to go CF/SD and not dual CF in the EOS 1 digital bodies.

Otherwise the D300s looks a lot like the D300. I expect the sensor will make some incremental improvements in noise and color and there is a 1 FPS boost in frame rate without the battery grip.

Finely the new 70-200 f/2.8, one feature that cought my eye is the new AF selector. Nikon has introduced an auto-focus priority mode (A/M) that will prevent the lens for focusing when the focus ring is turned. I’m interisted to see how Nikon went about doing this, whether the A/M mode disconnects a physical focus ring from the AF system or if the AF system has gone completely to focus-by-wire. Also noticeably absent is the AF lock buttons its predecessor had.

Like usual DPrevew has the goods:

• Nikon introduces D300S with HD video recording
• Nikon D300s brief hands-on
• Nikon unveils D3000 entry-level DSLR
• Nikon D3000 brief hands-on
• Nikon releases AF-S 70-200mm F/2.8G ED VR II
• Nikon annnounces AF-S DX 18-200mm VR II lens