Sharp shooter
Yet another entry-level DSLR camera arrives this week with the introduction of Nikon D3000. But look beyond some of the more idiosyncratic features aimed at novices, says David Kilpatrick, and you'll find its versatility also makes it extremely pro-worthy
Camera makers are going to increasingly imaginative lengths to make entry-level DSLRs appealing to novice photographers. These are the kind of consumer who would previously never have even considered buying an interchangeable-lens camera, but DSLRs are now a mainstream product, and makers are doing their damnedest to sell their benefits, but at the same time take out the apparent complexity.
Nikon's latest entry-level model, the D3000, adds a new position to its mode dial, Guide. It still has the 'Green Auto', PASM, six scene modes and a no-flash setting, but Guide has been added as a special variation. Instead of taking control of the camera and removing the need for user decisions, it presents them with a step-by-step series of instructions and choices on the rear LCD screen. With graphic aids, including small sample photos (already seen on the Nikon D60, and spreading to other makes), the guide mode uses very short and simple instructions or descriptions.
Entering the Easy mode, for example, brings up a menu that includes some obvious choices, such as Distant Subjects and Close-Ups, but also some rather more unusual options, including 'Sleeping Faces'. OK, so you're are asking who on earth thought of that as a camera mode? Enter it, and you are told: 'The camera is now in Child Mode. The flash does not fire in this mode', with the choice to Start Shooting or view more options. Advanced Operation mode offers only three choices - Soften Backgrounds, Freeze Motion (People) and Freeze Motion (Vehicles). Timers and Remote Control offers a very clear guide to what single frame, continuous, self-timer and wireless remote modes do. So the Guide mode can be thought of as an in-camera mini handbook linked to settings. It has no relevance to professional users, but it's an interesting development that's helping drive down prices as maker's vie for a wider market, and it makes the D3000 ideal for family or friends who have no experience with camera settings.
Critical sharpness
Where the D3000 does prove useful, for its small size and economical 10.2 million pixel files, it will not be found lacking in final image quality. In kit form, it's supplied with the 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 Nikkor DX SWM VR Aspherical zoom, which I've already tested on the D5000 and found it to be extremely sharp. The D3000 is slightly less demanding, but with an entirely different approach to sharpness and noise.
The low-pass filter must be one of the weakest around, similar to the original Sony Alpha 100, which was the first to use this particular CCD sensor. The images are strikingly detailed, with a pixel-level resolution unaffected by in-camera noise reduction. The D5000's 12.1 million pixel images look smoother but softer, and they are already amongst the most detailed digital images from any DSLR.
Because Nikon had not released an update to Capture NX2 in time for my test of the D3000, the only raw conversion possible was limited to in-camera (adjustable with many settings including D-Lighting) or through View NX. Since the in-camera process only handles one file at a time, I had to use View NX for bulk raw conversion to the highest quality JPEG. This is a little better than the camera's Fine JPEG.
I took the D3000 to Butterfly World at Gilmerton in Edinburgh, where the 28cm close focus and sharpness of the 18-55mm kit lens could be explored using the pop-up flash and ISO3200 (Hi 1 setting) tested in near-darkness of the nocturnal vivarium. The Nikon 70-300mm VR tele zoom was tested on shipping and shore buildings around nearby Leith, including some long shots of Roman Abramovich's former luxury yacht, Le Grand Bleu, leaving harbour.
Even at ISO200 (the optimum native speed, with 100 the lowest setting) there is some noise present in the images, but fine detail is rendered superbly. Noise increases at 400 and 800, become visible mainly in dark tones and blurred areas, but invisible in well lit and finely detailed ones. At ISO1600, noise is strong but is purely luminance-based and film-like in quality. Fine detail counteracts the noise pattern, which again is really most visible in the shadows. ISO3200 is very acceptable, with a few hot pixels of coloured noise in a tonally robust image with crisp luminance noise.
So, while the D3000 only has minimal noise at ISO100, the appearance of noise at all settings is 'photographic' and natural. Sharpness is not compromised and the finest detail, such as lettering on labels, remained clear even when relying on full aperture and VR to stabilise a hand-held quarter second at ISO3200. The D3000 therefore has the best implementation of this vintage 2006 designed sensor to date. Resolution figures will confirm, I am sure, that it outshines rivals with higher pixel counts.
Lost and found
The D3000 has no depth-of-field preview and no exposure bracketing, just manual plus/minus compensation. This covers a huge five stops range either way, and can be set in Guide mode on the rear screen without using the quick compensation button located behind the shutter release. It also lacks HDMI output even for stills (many competing models offer an HDMI socket now) and has no GPS interface - for these, the D5000 is needed.
But it has got some class- leading features for an entry level camera. The Multi-Cam 1000 AF module, with 11 focus points and intelligent 3D tracking, compares with a typical three, five, seven or at the most nine in comparably priced DSLRs. It is very accurate and sensitive down to -1EV, and must be the most advanced AF unit in a sub-£400 body. The only problem I found was that when using a selectable focus point to use just the central focus sensor, the joypad was so sensitive the point kept wandering around. The same applies to the D5000.
The focusing screen has a switchable grid, and proves reliable for manual focusing where most are not. This even held good for macro shots. Magnification is 0.8x with 18mm eyepoint (both slightly better than the D5000 at 0.78x and 17.9mm), and -1.7 to +0.5 dioptre adjustment, showing a 95% view (90.25% by area).
The pop-up flash lacks the ability to control wireless remotes, but it has slow speed and rear curtain sync, including a combined option for these, and full manual control in one-stop steps from full power (GN13) to 1/32nd. This creates a single pulse, unlike auto iTTL operation, and can be used to trigger studio flash slaves.
Flash sync is up to 1/200s, and the fill-in 'synchro sun' potential of the manual settings plus 1/200s and ISO100 is attractive. For auto fill-in, flash compensation can be set in 1/3rd stop increments from -3 to +1 EV. Wireless with the Nikon Creative Lighting System is offered only if using the SB-900, SB-800 or SU-800 as a commander.
The D3000 has spot metering as well as 420-pixel RGB colour matrix metering, provision for wireless remote release with two seconds delay or none, 3fps continuous shooting (which also extends battery life up to 2000 frames) and a self-timer with two, five, 10 or 20 second delay. It does not have AF support for autofocus Nikkor lenses prior to AF-S or AF-I models, but the electronic rangefinder function works for all Nikkors back to 1959 if they are f/5.6 or faster. The lens restrictions are the same as found on the D5000, D60 and similar bodies.
Image sensor cleaning (vibrating coating cover glass) is retained along with the ability to shoot Dust Off reference frames. Active D-Lighting for JPEGs can be set when shooting, or post-processed. The rear screen offers multi-image and RGB histogram display options. The histogram was useful as the screen tended to exaggerate over- or under-exposure a bit. Many images I felt would be out of range were better than they had looked on-camera.
Small and light
As can be seen, the D3000 goes well beyond the entry-level profile the new Guide feature would suggest. It has a one-hour fast charge compact LithIon battery, or can use an AC adaptor. Storage is on SD or SDHC card.
The weight, at 485g (body without battery), is a little more substantial than the lightest in this class - Sony's A230, which weighs just 450g. The size, at 126x97x64mm, is 15mm slimmer front to back than the D5000 due to having no live view or articulated screen, and 7mm less tall, although its three inch rear LCD betters the 2.7 inches of the D5000. I found it reasonably comfortable to hold and operate, the single rear control wheel proving no great disadvantage after getting used to it with the D5000, an represents almost identical positioning of all shared buttons and controls.
The D3000 is competing with the Pentax Km, Canon EOS 1000D and Sony Alpha 230. The Canon has a mere 2.5 inch LCD, the Sony and Pentax 2.7 inch. Sony has a new user interface with graphic representations of the effect of shutter and aperture settings, which does the same job as the Guide mode, but is perhaps more educational, resembling a photo textbook diagram. The CCD based models from Pentax, Nikon and Sony all offer a better 'look' to the image than the CMOS Canon, and of these three Nikon has the best track record for tackling high ISO noise without destroying detail.
I would feel able to rely on the D3000 to focus perfectly in any conditions. There is a small focus assist white light that helps in near-darkness. The basic kit VR Nikkor is an exceptional lens and the 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 VR is a match for any lens in this range. I will report on the new 10-24mm Nikkor DX when reviewing the semi-professional HD video capable D300s (which appears in our 16 September issue), and if it's up to the same standard, it would complete a perfect lightweight compact travel kit.
No doubt Capture NX2 and Adobe Camera Raw will be updated soon to allow more controlled processing of D3000 files, but even with the simple straight conversion from ViewNX the results were fine.
