Nikon D1

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Nikon D1
Nikon D1 8373.jpg
Overview
Maker Nikon Corporation
Type Digital single-lens reflex camera
Released15 June 1999
Lens
Lens Interchangeable, Nikon F-mount
Sensor/medium
Sensor CCD, 23.7 × 15.6 mm DX format, 1.5× FOV crop, 11.8 µm pixel(quadra filter),5.9 µm pixel size.
Maximum resolution 2,000 × 1,312 (2.7 megapixel)
Film speed 200–1600 in 1 EV steps
Recording medium CompactFlash (Type I or Type II, 2GB maximum)
Focusing
Focus modesSingle-servo AF (S), continuous-servo AF (C), manual (M)
Focus areas5 areas with Multi-CAM 1300 Autofocus system
Exposure/metering
Exposure modesProgrammed Auto [P] with flexible program; Shutter-Priority Auto [S]; Aperture Priority Auto [A]; Manual [M]
Exposure metering 3D Color Matrix Metering Through-the-lens (TTL) Full-Aperture exposure metering with 1,005-pixel CCD
Metering modes 256-segment Matrix Metering, Center-weighted (75% weighted 8 mm circle), and Spot (2%)
Flash
Flash 3D Multi-Sensor Balanced Fill-Flash, 5-segment TTL Multi Sensor
Shutter
Shutter Charge-coupled electronic and mechanical shutter
Shutter speed range30 to 1/16,000 s and Bulb, 1/500 s X-sync
Continuous shooting 4.5 frame/s, up to 21 frames
Viewfinder
Viewfinder Optical
Image processing
White balance Auto, Six presets, Manual preset, Fine tunable
General
LCD screen2 in (51 mm), 120,000-dot TFT LCD
BatteryNikon EN-4 Ni-MH battery pack (7.2V DC)
Weight Approx. 1.1 kg (without battery or lens)
Made in Flag of Japan.svg  Japan

The Nikon D1 is a digital single-lens reflex camera (DSLR) made by Nikon Corporation introduced on June 15, 1999. [1] It featured a 2.7-megapixel image sensor, 4.5-frames-per-second continuous shooting, and accepted the full range of Nikon F-mount lenses. The camera body strongly resembled the F5 and had the same general layout of controls, allowing users of Nikon film SLR cameras to quickly become proficient in using the camera. Autofocus speed on the D1 series bodies is extremely fast, even with "screw-driven" AF lenses.

Contents

Although Nikon and other manufacturers had produced digital SLR cameras for several years prior, the D1 was the first professional digital SLR that displaced Kodak's then-undisputed reign over the professional market. [2]

Unusual for a DSLR, the D1 uses the NTSC color space instead of the conventional sRGB or Adobe RGB color spaces. The resulting color on the D1 can be a bit unorthodox, but methods of correcting and/or compensating for the color problem are readily available. [3] [4] [5]

D1H and D1X

Nikon D1x. Uniquely for the D1 range, the D1x had a grey stripe on the handgrip (not pictured) Nikon D1x 3656.jpg
Nikon D1x. Uniquely for the D1 range, the D1x had a grey stripe on the handgrip (not pictured)

The D1 was replaced by the D1H and D1X on February 5, 2001. [6] The D1X offered higher resolution with a 2,000 x 1,312 - 5.3 effective megapixels sensor (3,008 x 1,960 interpolated image output, and continuous shooting of 3 frames per second for up to 21 consecutive shots. The D1H was oriented towards fast-action photography, keeping the same 2.7 megapixels image sensor as the D1, but pushing the frame rate to 5 frame/s for up to 40 consecutive shots. Both the D1H and D1X use the sRGB/AdobeRGB color spaces, which is an improvement over the original D1.

Development and sensor design

Development began on the D1 in 1996, when digital imaging was in its infancy in the consumer market. At that time the major market leader for DSLR cameras was Kodak, who produced their own image sensors and assembled digital cameras under the brand Kodak DCS. The DCS cameras were based upon 35 mm SLR cameras, replacing the film back with one incorporating a CCD sensor. This in turn was connected to a power supply and image processing and storage unit that was either carried separately or attached to the base of the camera body. While these cameras offered the convenience of digital imaging to normal photographers, their appeal was limited by huge price-tags and issues with sensor size, resolution, and performance in comparison to film.

Nikon therefore stood to gain a significant market advantage if they could manage to offer a digital camera that had been designed from the ground up. The goal was ambitious; Nikon sought to produce professional-grade cameras using large high-resolution sensors for only a few thousand dollars at a time when the Kodak DCS 460, based on a Nikon F90X and provided with a 6 megapixel 27.6 × 18.4 mm CCD sensor, was retailing for over US$30,000. Price was just one of the hurdles encountered; engineers also had to consider how to design and mass-produce a high-resolution and high-sensitivity sensor that could be powered by batteries and sustain a continuous frame-rate suitable for journalistic use.

Initially no major sensor manufacturer was prepared to produce the sensor for Nikon, believing that the predicted sales volumes were completely unrealistic. Eventually though a source was located and prototype designs entered production. Several years of refinement followed - working to reduce power use and improve read speeds - until a design was perfected.

The final design that was used in the D1 was for a 23.7 × 15.6 mm CCD producing images with a final resolution of 2000 × 1312 pixels (approximately 2.7 megapixels), and this was the figure used for marketing the camera. The sensor was praised for its high base sensitivity of ISO 200, its excellent signal-to-noise ratio especially at base sensitivity, and its capacity for continuous shooting at five frames per second.

At the time, Bjørn Rørslett famously stated that the camera spelled "The End of The Beginning (of the digital era) - The Beginning of The End (of the film era)". The development of the D1 is generally accepted as one of the major milestones in the development of the digital camera, and Kodak's initial market dominance was genuinely threatened for the first time.

In a later "behind the scenes" interview published on the Nikon website [7] it was revealed by the General Manager of Nikon's Imaging Development Management Department that the sensor developed for and used in the D1, and subsequently the D1H, actually used 10.8 million photosites rather than the 2.7 million that had previously been suggested. This allowed multiple photosites to be grouped together into units that formed the final pixels in the image, contributing to the sensor's high sensitivity and excellent signal-to-noise ratio.

Related Research Articles

The Foveon X3 sensor is a digital camera image sensor designed by Foveon, Inc., and manufactured by Dongbu Electronics. It uses an array of photosites that consist of three vertically stacked photodiodes. Each of the three stacked photodiodes has a different spectral sensitivity, allowing it to respond differently to different wavelengths. The signals from the three photodiodes are then processed as additive color data that are transformed to a standard RGB color space.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bayer filter</span> Color filter array

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Digital single-lens reflex camera</span> Digital cameras combining the parts of a single-lens reflex camera and a digital camera back

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The Kodak Professional DCS Pro SLR/n is a 13.5 megapixel full-frame 35mm digital SLR produced as a collaboration between Nikon Corporation and Eastman Kodak. It was an improved version of the Kodak Professional DCS Pro 14n series, and was based on a modified Nikon N80 film SLR and thus compatible with almost all Nikon F mount lenses. The camera was announced in early 2004 and became available to purchase mid-year. A monochrome variant named Kodak Professional DCS Pro SLR/n m of the camera existed as well.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nikon D2H</span> Digital single-lens reflex camera

The Nikon D2H is a professional-grade digital single-lens reflex camera introduced by Nikon Corporation on July 22, 2003. It uses Nikon's own JFET-LBCAST sensor with a 4.1-megapixel resolution, and is optimised for sports and action shooting that require a high frame rate. In 2005, the D2H was replaced by the D2Hs, which added new features derived from the 12-megapixel D2X digital SLR. The D2Hs was discontinued after the introduction of the D300 and D3 models.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kodak DCS Pro 14n</span>

The Kodak Professional DCS Pro 14n is a professional Nikon F80 based F-mount digital SLR produced by Eastman Kodak. It was announced at the photographic trade show photokina in Germany during September 2002; production examples became available in May 2003.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Full-frame DSLR</span> Image sensor format

A full-frame DSLR is a digital single-lens reflex camera (DSLR) with a 35 mm image sensor format. Historically, 35 mm was one of the standard film formats, alongside larger ones, such as medium format and large format. The full-frame DSLR is in contrast to full-frame mirrorless interchangeable-lens cameras, and DSLR and mirrorless cameras with smaller sensors, much smaller than a full 35 mm frame. Many digital cameras, both compact and SLR models, use a smaller-than-35 mm frame as it is easier and cheaper to manufacture imaging sensors at a smaller size. Historically, the earliest digital SLR models, such as the Nikon NASA F4 or Kodak DCS 100, also used a smaller sensor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kodak DCS 100</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nikon F5</span> Camera model by Nikon

The Nikon F5 is a high-end 35 mm film-based single-lens reflex camera body manufactured by Nikon from 1996 through 2004. It was the fifth in Nikon's professional film camera line, which began in 1959 with the Nikon F. It followed the Nikon F4 of 1988, which introduced in-body autofocus to Nikon's professional line. The F5 was in turn succeeded by the Nikon F6, as well as Nikon's parallel range of professional digital SLRs, beginning with the Nikon D1.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Digital photography</span> Photography with a digital camera

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canon EOS-1D</span> DSLR camera

The Canon EOS-1D is a professional digital single-lens reflex camera launched in November 2001 as part of Canon's flagship EOS-1 series. It was the first digital camera in the EOS-1 line, succeeding Canon's final flagship film camera, the 1V. It was also the first professional-level digital camera developed and released entirely by Canon, the previous D2000 being a collaborative effort with Kodak. It has a 1.3x crop factor with a CCD image sensor sourced from Panasonic. The camera shares its body design with the Canon EOS-1V 35mm camera. It was complemented by the slower, higher-resolution 1Ds in 2002 and succeeded by the 1D Mark II in April 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CYGM filter</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nikon D3</span> Digital single lens reflex camera

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canon EOS D2000</span>

The Canon EOS D2000 is a 2-megapixel digital single-lens reflex camera developed by Kodak on a Canon EOS-1N body. It was released in March 1998. It features a CCD sensor and can shoot at 3.5 frames per second. Many enthusiasts regard the D2000 as Canon's first truly usable Digital SLR. It was released in tandem with the Canon EOS D6000, a 6-megapixel model.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kodak DCS</span>

The Kodak Digital Camera System is a series of digital single-lens reflex cameras and digital camera backs that were released by Kodak in the 1990s and 2000s, and discontinued in 2005. They are all based on existing 35mm film SLRs from Nikon, Canon and Sigma. The range includes the original Kodak DCS, the first commercially available digital SLR.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canon EOS 500D</span> Digital single-lens reflex camera

The Canon EOS 500D is a 15-megapixel entry-level digital single-lens reflex camera, announced by Canon on 25 March 2009. It was released in May 2009. It is known as the EOS Kiss X3 in Japan, and as the EOS Rebel T1i in North America. It continues the Rebel line of mid-range DSLR cameras, is placed by Canon as the next model up from the EOS 450D, and has been superseded by the EOS 550D (T2i).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nikon E series</span> Series of digital SLR camera models

The Nikon E series, co-developed with Fujifilm, are autofocus 1.3 megapixel professional grade quasi-full frame (35mm) Nikon F-mount digital single lens reflex cameras (DSLR) manufactured by Nikon since 1995.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nikon D3000</span> Digital camera model

The Nikon D3000 is a 10.2-megapixel DX format DSLR Nikon F-mount camera announced by Nikon on 30 July 2009. It replaces the D40 as Nikon's entry level DSLR. It features a 3.0-inch 230,000-dot resolution LCD monitor, CCD sensor with ISO 100–1600 and 3D tracking Multi-CAM1000 11-point AF system which makes it quite similar to the Nikon D200 in these main parts. Initially priced with $599 MSRP, actual prices are much lower.

References

  1. "The Nikon D1" (Press release). Nikon Corporation. 1999-06-15. Archived from the original on 2006-11-12. Retrieved 2006-08-30.
  2. Askey, Phil (2000-11-27). "Nikon D1 Review: 1. Intro". Digital Photography Review. Retrieved 2009-10-25.
  3. Hogan, Thom. "The Nikon D1, D1h, and D1x Review". Archived from the original on 2011-07-20. Retrieved 2009-10-25.
  4. Kwee, Ivo. "Nikon D1 digital workflow" . Retrieved 2009-10-25.[ permanent dead link ]
  5. Askey, Phil (2000-11-27). "Nikon D1 Review: 16. Image Quality". Digital Photography Review. Retrieved 2009-10-25.
  6. "Digital SLR Cameras D1X and D1H" (Press release). Nikon corporation. 2001-02-05. Archived from the original on 2006-11-12.
  7. "Imaging Products - Behind the scenes - Nikon Digital Image Processing Technologies and the D200". Nikon. Archived from the original on 8 April 2008.

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