Product Review - The Nikon D2H

NFL Football; Lightpainting with long exposures using the Nikon D2H will be easy. This lightpainting is a good example of a 1 minute, 45 second exposure using the noise reduction mode, ISO 200, a Nikon 70-200VR lens f22 and small penlight to illuminate the background, laces and NFL logo. NO NOISE at all. Perfectly clean image. This kind of freedom to have exposures of more than 1 minute will help me take my Lightpainting to another level. In fact,... I may get radical and try 2 or 3 minutes or more !

  Monday Night Football, Denver Vs New England; Chris Cole,Denver, beats Tyrone Poole for a mid field catch. Nikon D2H Camera, ISO800, 1/1000sec at f2.8 , Cloudy White Balance. The fast ( no lag ) shutter release combined with the 8 frames/second is a tremendous advantage when trying to capture this kind of action. This style of shooting reminds me of the Nikon F5 film camera, FAST, FASTER, FASTEST !

Monday Night Football, Denver Vs New England; Tom Brady has his eye on victory. Nikon D2H Camera, ISO400, 1/500sec at f2.8 Nikon 400mm f2.8 lens. I used cloudy White Balance ( WB ) during the post game ABC interview to get this close up. ( ABC Monday Night Football used softbox lighting for this interview.)

  NFL Sunday, Denver Vs Chicago; Remember that all images in this article and over 20 others have been enlarged and printed 24 X 16 in order to see color, edges, and sharpness so as to accurately make my comments. This Denver cheerleader is a perfect subject for studying fine detail and image quality in the D2H file. The Nikon D2H has an 11.7 mg file size when opened into Photoshop. Although a smaller file than its teammate the D1X, I wanted to know if its image quality would measure up. Yes,.....YES INDEED ! The detail is amazing. Clean edges and sharp, well defined details are what I need in the images I distribute to magazines, books and advertisers in the sports marketplace. From the weave in this cheerleaders stocking cap to her eyelashes, the quality of the Nikon D2H file is excellent and rivals the Nikon D1X as is evident in the 24 X 16 print. The D2H handles the color and skin tones perfectly as Auto WB was used. Nikon D2H Camera, ISO200, Nikon 400mm 2.8 lens with Nikon TC-14E 1.4X Teleconverter, Auto WB, Aperture Priority,

NFL Sunday, Denver Vs Chicago; This time of year, players tend to run in and out of sunlight and deep shadows for the 1st quarter or more. So.....I decided to put Aperture Priority and AUTO WB to the test. A+ for sure! Not only did these modes handle the changing light conditions instantly and accurately but I also used the Dynamic Area AF mode. This mode allows me to focus on QB Jake Plummer's face/helmet as he stands over the center and the focus is held on him even if other players get between the camera and my subject for a moment. When the line of sight opened again the camera was still on Jake for this frame. Nikon D2H Camera, ISO500, Nikon 400mm f2.8 lens with Nikon TC-20E 2X Teleconverter, Auto WB, Aperture Priority. (Note: this image was taken with a 2X converter. It follow focused easily and had good sharpness and quality.)

  NFL Sunday, Denver Vs Chicago; Here again the Nikon TC-20E 2X Teleconverter was used along with my Nikon 400mm f2.8 lens and the Nikon D2H, Auto WB. Aperture Priority, ISO640. With the higher ISO of 640 some noise is visible in the deep shadow areas, but it is minimal and easily taken care of with NIK Define or Band Aide( these are 3rd party filters for Photoshop and are commonly used in the industry).

NFL Sunday, Denver Vs Chicago; Completely under the stadium lights now and the Auto WB and Aperture Priority modes are still perfect. So lets take a CLOSE look at the quality of this 11.7mg image/file. Chicago quarterback Kordell Stewart has come into the game for an injured Chris Chandler. Image #7 is the full frame image captured as a compressed RAW/NEF file while Image #8 is a 1/3 cropped section of that image. I enlarged the 1/3 cropped image to a 24in X 16in print using Genuine Fractals, and it looks terrific. Some noise is visible in the shadows as ISO800 was used but easily illuminated with Band Aide or NIK Define. Who would have thought an 11.7mg file could do this? ( I guess Nikon thought it would). Clean edges and detail right down to the NFL logo and the mesh jersey. An editor likes to have the ability to crop, and I think this example of 1/3 of an image enlarged beyond a 2 page spread is proof the D2H can handle it with quality, detail and clean edges. Nikon D2H,ISO800, 400mm f2.8 lens, Auto WB, Aperture Priority.

  NFL Sunday, Denver Vs Chicago; Well,...I did not need to go to ISO1600 as the Aperture Priority setting at ISO800 gave me a 1/1000sec at f2.8 exposure..........but, sometimes I like to use a Nikon TC-14E 1.4X Teleconverter even under the lights. With the D2H's high ISO noise level well within reason I felt this would work just fine. And it did! Rod Smith catches a pass and runs for extra yardage in the 4th quarter. Nikon D2H Camera, ISO1600, 400mm f2.8 lens with Nikon TC-14E 2X Teleconverter, AutoWB, Aperture Priority EV-0.3. A high ISO of 1600 has always been troublesome for the photographer. With 1600 speed film or push processing too much grain was produced, and ISO1600 digital sensitivity used to create too much noise. The D2H is a significant improvement and I will certainly use ISO1600 with confidence.