March 2012

The Nikon D800 set the all time record score of 95 on its DxOMark tests, eclipsing the previous "king for 3 days," the Nikon D4. In short, purchasers of either camera are likely to be delighted with the images they get. Of course there is more to a camera than just the image quality, but if you'd like to read up on all the scores of the D800 and the D4 you can head over to the DxOMark feature story. You can back-order the Nikon D800 for $2999 from B&H, or the Nikon D4 for $5999.

Compact, mirrorless alternatives to DSLRs are without a doubt the hottest innovation around in the serious photography market. In their early iterations they were a convenient "crutch" for those who wanted reasonable images without the hassle of a larger DSLR, but recent improvements have made them serious candidates for many photographers who never thought they'd be without their DSLR. I've spent the last month shooting with two of the latest and greatest, the 16MP Sony NEX-5N and 16MP Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX1 and have plenty to report…

Nikon USA has decided to stop supplying camera parts to any repair shops which are not Nikon Authorized Repair Stations (NARS). As explained by customer service Director David Dentry on dpreview, this move is designed to improve service quality and timeliness for Nikon-toting photographers. Predictably this has caused a bit of a dust-up, but it is hard to say whether detractors are making a mountain out of a molehill. In my case, I wouldn’t normally have thought much about it – NPS is an overnight package away – but since Nikon will not repair Infrared-converted or otherwise modified cameras, I did have to find an alternative….