Nikon D3000 Preview
by Mike Tomkins and Shawn Barnett
Nikon's D40 digital SLR was a consistently good performer for the company since its launch in November 2006, frequently found at or near the top of monthly sales charts, according to the company. It was also one of our favorites, with a simple interface and excellent low-light performance. Now two and a half years old, the D40 is the second oldest model in the lineup, so it isn't surprising to see Nikon announce its replacement. The Nikon D3000 refreshes the D40 design with a new body and a combination of features previously seen in the D40x, D60, and D5000 models, plus a few that are entirely new.
The Nikon D3000 ships from late August 2009, priced at $599.95.
Look and feel. The Nikon D3000's body has been redesigned, but its dimensions and weight are nearly identical. The width and depth are unchanged at 5.0 and 2.5 inches respectively, while the height has increased by just a tenth of an inch to 3.8 inches. The new body will be immediately familiar to D40 owners, as the D3000 keeps all of the controls in the same locations, although the exact shape of a few buttons has changed somewhat. The mode dial also has a new diamond-patterned knurling on its outer edges that should be easier to grip.
The rise on the grip side of the Nikon D3000 has been relaxed a bit, making a slightly shorter grip. Note also that the D3000 is now shipping with the 18-55mm VR lens, an upgrade from the D40's non-image-stabilized lens. Like most recent Nikon digital SLRs, the D3000's cut is considerate of the left hand, with a slight rounding of the edge, seen in the lower right of the picture above. This makes it just a little more comfortable to rest the D3000 in your left palm as your fingers reach out to adjust the zoom and focus rings.
Now with 13 modes on the Mode dial thanks to the addition of the GUIDE setting, the Nikon D3000's controls are otherwise unchanged from the D40.
Though positions have changed a bit, the controls of the Nikon D3000 are identical to the D40. Given the recent reshuffling of controls on most of the higher-end digital SLR lineup, it's good to see Nikon stick with a winning design. Most competing SLRs at this size, namely the Rebel XS and XSi, have quite a few icons and buttons back here, which probably serve to confuse more novice photographers than they help.
The new Guide mode mentioned above also gets a nod here, with the screenshot of the new Guide Menu, which is designed to simplify basic camera functions for the beginner.
The Nikon D3000 boasts a new 3.0-inch diagonal TFT LCD display which is significantly larger than the 2.5-inch displays of the D40, D40x, and D60. In fact, it's even a little larger than the 2.7-inch display of the Nikon D5000, although the D3000's LCD is fixed in place and so not quite as versatile as the D5000's tilt/swivel vari-angle display. All five cameras feature an identical display resolution of 230,000 dots. Nikon is noting that the D3000's on-screen interface offers a 20% increase in font size as compared to previous cameras.
Sensor and processor. On the inside, the most significant change since the D40 is that the Nikon D3000 now sports an EXPEED image processor that works in concert with a higher-resolution DX-format image sensor. The sensor size -- roughly equivalent to that of a frame of APS-C film -- is unchanged, but where the D40 had an effective sensor resolution of 6.1 megapixels, the D3000 now offers 10.2 megapixels. That's the same resolution as offered by the more expensive D60 and its now-retired sibling the D40x. As with both of those cameras, the total sensor resolution is 10.75 megapixels, and the maximum image dimensions possible from the Nikon D3000 are 3,872 x 2,592 pixels. Two lower-resolution modes of 2,896 x 1,944 and 1,936 x 1,296 pixels are also available.
The combination of a new image sensor and image processor has also brought an increase in both speed and sensitivity for the D3000. Nikon's entry-level DSLR is now able to shoot images at three frames per second, and offers ISO sensitivities from 100 to 1,600 equivalents in 1 EV steps, with the ability to increase this to ISO 3,200 equivalent using the Hi-1 setting. In both areas, this again matches the D40x and D60, although we should note that we don't currently have information on the number of frames which can be captured in a burst. Also new to the D3000 is the ability to shoot not only as JPEG or .NEF Raw image files, but also to simultaneously record each image in both formats. The Nikon D3000 records images on SD/SDHC cards.
Autofocusing is also significantly improved since the D40, with the Nikon D3000 sharing the same Multi-CAM 1000 phase-detection autofocus sensor module that is also used in the D5000 and D90. The Multi-CAM 1000 module offers 11 focusing points, of which the center point is a cross-type sensor. By way of comparison, the Nikon D40's Multi-CAM 530 module offered only three points, with a cross-type center point. The Nikon D5000 also adds Nikon's Scene Recognition System, 3D Tracking capability, and an auto-area AF mode while retaining the D40's single-point and dynamic area AF modes. The Multi-CAM 1000 system integrates the AF sensor data with information from the 420-pixel RGB metering sensor (shown at right), allowing the system to better track objects moving through the scene. The Multi-CAM 1000 sensor's detection range of -1 to +19 EV at ISO 100 / 68°F is unchanged from that of the Multi-CAM 530 module.
Dust control. Another important change in the Nikon D3000 as compared to the D40 is that it includes the company's three-pronged strategy for controlling dust on the image sensor. Nikon's Dust Reduction System uses vibration to shake dust off the low-pass filter, whereupon the mirror chamber design causes an air flow with each shutter release that carries dust to a capture receptacle. The final part of the approach requires the optional Nikon Capture NX 2 software, and involves creation of a reference photo that is used to identify the location of stubborn dust specks. These can then be replaced by automatically interpolating data from areas of the image adjacent to the dust.
Shutter. Yet another change carried over from the D40x design relates to the D3000's x-sync speed of 1/200 second, down from the D40's 1/500 flash sync speed. The reason for this difference is that the D40 had a relatively slow mechanical shutter, but "gated" the CCD for its shortest shutter speeds. This meant that the CCD itself was actually exposed to incoming light for a longer period of time (perhaps 1/100 - 1/200 second), but the camera manipulated the chip's control voltages to only allow light collection for a much shorter period of time. This made it easy to produce very brief exposures without the expense of a really high-speed mechanical shutter, and as a consequence also permitted very high x-sync speeds.
There's no such thing as a free lunch though, and the downside was that large light overloads could cause streaking or smearing in the D40's images. The good news is that the D3000 won't suffer from these problems, unlike the D40 -- but the x-sync speed is slower as a result. See our discussion of "Shutter Control vs CCD Gating" in our D80 review for more detail on this topic.
The new shutter mechanism included in the Nikon D3000 is rated at 100,000 cycles, just like the D5000 and D90, a first for a camera at this price range.
Guide mode. The original D40 was one of the earliest cameras to address the needs of consumers stepping up to an SLR for the first time, by offering a robust help system that functioned as a portable user guide of sorts, always available to refer to as needed. While many more experienced photographers likely never touch them, features like these can prove invaluable to the newcomers. The Nikon D3000 takes the concept from the D40, and really builds on it by presenting a new Guide Mode position on the Mode dial. When placed in this mode, the Nikon D3000 will greet users with a friendly graphical interpretation of the menu system, with icons labeled Shoot, View/Delete, and Set up. When in the Shoot menu, the photographer is asked a number of questions, and the Nikon D3000 then offers guidance on what to set -- and importantly, why each suggestion is being made.
As with the D40, the Nikon D3000 offers a Retouch menu that let users tweak images to their tastes after capture. The Nikon D3000's Retouch menu offers several new functions, including some inherited from the D60, D90, and D5000. The Soft-filter effect smooths faces and other details in an image, while Color outline creates a monochrome image, eliminating all color and converting transition areas into a kind of pencil sketch appearance. The Miniature effect simulates an exaggeratedly narrow depth of field, allowing the user to select a horizontal position in the image which should look sharp, and then progressively increasing image blurring above and below this position. The Nikon D3000 also includes the ability to process Raw files in-camera, and retains Retouch functions such as trimming and color balance that were found in the D40.
One function from the D40 has evolved rather a long way in the last couple of years. Where the D40 offers a D-Lighting function which can act provide a fill flash-like effect after image capture through the Retouch menu, the Nikon D3000 supplements this with the company's Active D-Lighting function. Active D-Lighting debuted on the D3 and D300, and is applied to images at the time of capture. The Nikon D3000 allows Active D-Lighting to be enabled or disabled, but offers no manual control over the strength of the effect.
Analysis. Though we're sad to see the excellent Nikon D40 fade into history, Nikon has introduced what appears to be a good quality successor with the D3000. Indeed, the D3000 seems to be an amalgam of most of what was great about the D40 and D60 sprinkled with most of what's useful for consumers from the Nikon D5000 and D90. All four are easily described as excellent digital SLRs, so we expect to be able to say the same about the Nikon D3000. Watch for sample images and a user report to go up soon.
www.imaging-resource.com/.../D3000/D3000A.HTM
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