Nikon D600 Full Frame DSLR Preview

Yesterday in London’s deepest darkest Soho, down in the basement (not a dungeon) of the Soho Hotel. Nikon finally announced after months of rumour and speculation the launch of their new baby, the D600.

In typical marketing hyperbole they headlined it a ‘Game-Changer’. It begs the questions, what game were they playing? And what game have they changed to? It’s still a camera right?

Hiro Sebata, (‘people call me Hero’) the Nikon product manager was very excited, in fact I’ve never seen a Japanese person so animated since I last watched Endurance. Shoot Big – Travel Light was his mantra. The D600 is a new entry level full frame camera which is incredibly light and compact.



This camera is aimed at people who want full frame but don’t want a work out, carrying a big beast around. It’s also pitched a price point (£1955.99) as we marketers say, that is aimed at consumers rather than professionals.

For the technical, the camera has a newly designed 24.3 megapixel FX format sensor and an Expeed 3 processing engine the same as the D4. At 24.3 megapixel this matches or exceeds any other full frame camera on the market, excluding of course the 36.3 megapixel Nikon D800.

Features include a 39 point AF system, an ISO of 100-6400 extendable to 50-25600. The viewfinder gives 100% coverage; its weather proofed, and has full HD video in uncompressed footage via HDMI.



There were about sixty of us (56 men and 4 women. Why?) crammed into a windowless room with five cameras to look at between us, so only an impression could be gained, as we jostled to get our hands on one. They say the image performance is up there with the D4 and D800, no doubt Josh will be able to tell us when he does a full test.

Picking up the camera the first thing that strikes you is the size and weight, at 760 gms (body ex battery) it’s comfortably lighter than say a Canon 5D MK II at 850 gms. It fits very nicely in the hand, cameras really don’t need to be bigger than this. For the technical again, it has lots of knobs and button’s, so no surprises there.

Value For Money

The Nikon D600 priced at £1955 makes it the cheapest new full frame Digital SLR, up against the 36.3 megapixel Nikon D800 at around £2399, the 24.3 megapixel Sony Alpha a99 at around £2500, and the 22.3 megapixel Canon EOS 5D Mark III for around £2600.



Until very recently when I decided it would be nice to do some time lapse photography, I had never heard the lovely word intervalometer, yesterday I heard it again. The D600 has an inbuilt one, no need to buy one (£130 for a Canon).

So, I think the market is telling us that full frame is the way forward, and what the market wants the market gets. This camera is a great addition to the full frame line up. I would have predicted a stampede to buy this camera, but at £1955.99 I suspect it will be more like an orderly queue.

The camera will be available on the 18th September at an RRP of £1955.99.

Nikon D600 Specifications

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