Nikon D600

Prior to the release of the Nikon D600 ($2,099.95 direct, body only), full-frame cameras were marketed squarely at pro shooters. Well-heeled enthusiasts might put hard-earned dollars towards a D800, Canon EOS 5D Mark III , or even a Nikon D4, but those cameras are packed with features that advanced amateurs might never use. The 24-megapixel D600 eliminates some of the pro features, including the flash sync socket and CompactFlash memory support, in favor of a smaller body, but it lacks some of the bells and whistles that are packed into Canon's similar offering, the EOS 6D. The pro-level Nikon D4 ?is still our Editors' Choice for full-frame SLRs, but don't discount the D600 if you don't need the D4's full feature set?or its hefty form factor.

Design and Features
The D600 measures 4.4 by 5.6 by 3.2 inches (HWD) and weighs 1.7 pounds without a lens. It's a bit smaller around the edges when compared with the 2-pound D800 , which measures 4.8 by 4.7 by 3.2 inches, a bit taller and wider, but just as deep. The control layout is similar to that of its larger sibling, although a bit more compact and with fewer buttons. The top-mounted Mode Dial is a first for an FX Nikon camera?other models require you to hit a Mode button and to adjust the shooting mode via a control dial. It replaces a series of four buttons that controlled Image Quality, White Balance, Bracketing, and ISO on the D800. From my perspective this is a welcome change?bracketing is now controlled via a button on the front of the camera, directly below the flash release, and the other three functions have been moved to the rear, to the left of the LCD.

Where the compacted control suffers is to the right of the LCD. The directional pad, used to select the active focus point, is significantly smaller than on the D800, making it a bit less comfortable to operate. There's no dedicated AF button, so you'll have to choose between using the AE-L/AF-L control for Exposure Lock or activating the autofocus, another departure for longtime Nikon FX shooters. If you're moving up from a D7000 or other APS-C camera, you'll likely feel right at home with the D600, but owners of pro FX bodies who are considering the D600 as a second camera for events may struggle a bit when moving back and forth between bodies.

The viewfinder is the same 100 percent pentaprism that's found in the D4 and D800, but it does have a different eyepiece. Its eyepoint (the measurement of how far away your eye can be from the finder and still see it in its entirety) is 20.6 millimeters, a full 1.1 millimeter longer than the D4 and D800. This makes it easy for eyeglass wearers to see the entirety of the frame, but does make the viewfinder appear just a bit smaller than an identical one with a shorter eyepoint.

The 3.2-inch 921k-dot rear LCD is sharp and bright. It doesn't quite measure up to the million-dot display found on the Canon EOS 5D Mark III, but is sufficient for framing shots in Live View, as well as confirming critical focus in playback mode. Nikon includes a removable hard plastic cover to protect the LCD, so you won't have to worry about scratches. The display is fixed; right now, the Sony Alpha 99 is the only full-frame D-SLR with an articulating rear display.

If you're looking for GPS or Wi-Fi, keep looking. The D600 builds in neither, although the $60 WU-1b adapter plugs into the side of the camera to add Wi-Fi, and the $312 GP-1A can add GPS coordinates to your photos. The Canon EOS 6D, which sells for the same price as the D600, integrates Wi-Fi and GPS.

One advantage that Nikon users have over Canon shooters is lens compatibility?you can mount APS-C DX lenses on the D600 via a mode that crops the image in-camera, but Canon shooters can't move APS-C EF-S lenses to a full-frame system, the mounts are incompatible.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/RhTsFwWeoyY/0,2817,2410291,00.asp

Olympics 2012 noaa Olympic Schedule 2012 NBC Olympics NBC Olympics schedule Alexa Vega 2012 Olympics