Nikon D100

The Nikon D100 was a ´bull´s eye´. The Nikon D1 was too expensive for many amateur (and some professional) photographers; so luckily Nikon introduced in 2002 this very nice and affordable digital reflex camera. Its body design is based on the Nikon F80 and F100. The Nikon D100 has a Sony CCD of 23.7 x 15.6 mm., with 6.1 effective Megapixels. ISO range is from 200 up to 1600 with a possibility to push it to 3200 (Hi-1) or 6400 (Hi-2). The CAM900 auto focus module is used in the Nikon F65 and F100 SLR´s as well and proved to be an excellent and relatively quick focus assistant. The camera has an electronic shutter running from 30 - 1/4000 sec. Flash sync. is 1/180 sec. which is a bit disappointing. The CCD produces 12-bit RGB colors and offers a ´large´ image of 3008 x 2000 pixels, which allows an A3-print. The camera has a built-in flash on top of the camera and a AF-assistance light (blinks when selftimer is used). An advantage of this camera - in comparison with its bigger brother Nikon D1 - is its power consumption. With the EN-EL3 Li-on battery more than 1600 shots are possible.

Nikon F80 + Nikon D100, almost twins

As an accessory an extra power unit - MB-D100 - can be ordered. It takes one or two EN-EL3 lithium-ion or 6 AA batteries (LR6) , it has an extra release button and 2 wheels for shutter speed and aperture setting plus a tiny voice memo recorder!

The D100 has proved to be an excellent camera delivering very nice pictures. The camera was a very good seller, which means that there are many on offer nowadays. For those having a small budget this camera is a nice start. For more technical details see the matrix.