Wednesday, November 27, 2013

REVIEW: Nikon D610 - Part I of II (Real World Shots)

Nikon D610 DSLR Camera (Body Only)
Nikon D610 DSLR Camera

I titled my D600 review “Nikon D600–My Favorite Nikon Ever?!!!” because at that point in time (October 2012) I was still getting over my disappointment of the D800. The D600 still went on to be my DSLR of the year (alongside the Canon 6D), but for the Nikon platform in 2012 I felt it was “the” camera to own when all factors (price, image quality, size, etc…) were considered. In short, it was my preferred “everyday” camera for the Nikon platform. In fact, I liked it so much that I almost bought one (but my investment in Canon gear stopped me).

Fast forward over a year later and a LOT has changed, but surprisingly not much changes on the D610. You basically get a marginally faster burst mode and a quiet shutter burst mode (great for event photographers). Despite this disappointing list of improvements, I enjoyed its predecessor so I decided to have an extended evaluation period with this camera over a variety of conditions as I had done with its predecessor.

Real World Sample Images

The following sample images were all taken with the D610 and the Nikon AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8G ED lens and no flash. The images are not processed in any way (no crop, rotate, sharpen, nothing). These are the in-camera jpeg’s that have simply been renamed and uploaded. You can click the photos to download the original files and you can visit the gallery to get more samples not featured in this article.

For comparison, please read my D600 article or visit the Nikon D600 Sample Gallery.


Beautiful model under studio lights sample is in camera with no crop or edits
f/10 @ 70 mm, 1/125, ISO 100


The dinner rose test – impressive for ISO 5600 (when viewed at realistic sizes)
f/2.8 @ 70 mm, 1/60, ISO 5600


Overall I thought the D610 did good with this tough mixed color scene
f/4 @ 70 mm, 1/60, ISO 900, No Flash


Smoke, red, movement, lights, – this shot has a lot to look at to see how the D610 handles complex situations
f/4 @ 70 mm, 1/60, ISO 3200, No Flash


Handheld at night – solid as expected
f/5.6 @ 70 mm, 1/125, ISO 5000

 


f/11 @ 35 mm, 0.6s, ISO 100 (Tripod)


Incredible dynamic range
f/5.6 @ 70 mm, 1/60, ISO 2000


f/5.6 @ 26 mm, 1/125, ISO 12800 or 25600 - Nikon hides the h mode ISO's from Lightroom


f/9 @ 50 mm, 1/60 ISO 12800


f/7.1 @ 24 mm, 1/30, ISO 1100


Auto white balance (2) torture test
f/2.8 @ 42 mm, 1/60, ISO 3200


The burst mode improvement didn’t seem to help much with my busy toddler
f/2.8 @ 56 mm, 1/250, ISO 2000


The performance of the tonal range of the blacks here was impressive
f/10 @ 70 mm, 1/125, ISO 100

Conclusion

Click here to see my conclusion in part II.

Where to order

Click here to learn more or order from B&H. Sign up for my deals newsletter to keep up on sales announcements for this camera and much more.

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