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Nikon D600
Nikon is aiming this 24.3-megapixel fullframe DSLR at prosumers, but is it good enough to appeal to pros?
The biggest camera news to come out of the photokina imaging show in Germany a few months ago wasn't that full-frame digital SLRs were back, but that they were back with such a vengeance. For years, camera companies had said fullframe image sensors, i.e. imaging chips approximately the size of a piece of 35mm film, would be limited to premium professional cameras simply because their manufacturing costs were too high for anything else.
And, in fact, there were no new fullframe DSLRs of any kind launched for two years until the 16.2-megapixel Nikon D4 went on sale last March. (While the Canon EOS-1D X-reviewed in last month's issue of PDN-was announced before the D4, it didn't start shipping until June 2012.)
So it was with some surprise that Nikon, Canon and Sony all unveiled full-frame DSLRs in September aimed, not at the professional market so much, but at the prosumer and photo enthusiast crowd. Sony went one further when it announced the Cyber-shot RX1, a 24.3-megapixel full-frame point-andshoot- style camera.
What was also surprising about Nikon's first full-frame DSLR for prosumers, the 24.3-megapixel Nikon D600, was how quickly it started shipping. The camera was announced on September 13 and went on sale just a week later.
In contrast, the 20.2-megapixel Canon EOS 6D, which is also aimed at photo enthusiasts, wasn't slated to go on sale until December 2012. The 24.3-megapixel Sony a99 DSLR and Cyber-shot RX1, meanwhile, were scheduled to arrive in stores in October and November 2012, respectively. (At the time of this writing, we could not confirm whether Sony had stuck to those projected ship dates.)
The early ship date for the D600 meant it was the first of the new wave of prosumer full-framers we received for testing. So is this smaller, less expensive DSLR with a big sensor right for pros on a budget either as a lead camera or as a backup rig? Read on to find out what we thought about this firstout- of-the-gate full-frame offering from Nikon.
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