Digital Camera News and Reviews

Nikkor AF-S 50mm f/1.4 G

The German testing website Photozone.de has tested the Nikkor AF-S 50mm f/1.4 G lens from Nikon. This new prime lens from Nikon have built in Silent Wave Motor that make them able to auto focus on the D60/D40x/D40 DSLR bodies.

Photozone ends up giving the Nikon lens a “Highly Recommended” rating due to the fact that lens is able to produce pictures of high quality, good build quality and ok auto focus speed. The only downsides are some soft corners and a bit busy bokeh at the widest apertures
Read the full review of the Nikkor AF-S 50mm f/1.4 G lens here.
Buy the Nikon Nikkor AF-S 50mm f/1.4 G lens from BH Photo.

Nikon D3 DSLR

Nikon has updated the firmware for their Nikon D3 Full Frame DSLR to version 2.01. The new firmware includes a lot of different fixes including focus issues, black dots in some rare cases and issues with connection to some lenses.

You can download the firmware version 2.01 for the Nikon D3 DSLR camera here.

Information from Nikon:
About this firmware update
This service provides software for upgrading D3 firmware to v2.01. When performing this firmware upgrade, be sure to upgrade both A and B firmware. Be aware that operation of your D3 is not guaranteed if either A or B firmware is upgraded while the other firmware is not upgraded.

The following improvements have been made in version 2.01

– Geodetic information is now displayed in ViewNX Ver. 1.2.0 or later and Capture NX 2 Ver. 2.1.0 or later for images captured with the GPS Unit GP-1 mounted on the camera.
– Autofocus-response performance in focus mode C (Continuous-servo AF mode) with relatively dark subjects has been increased.
– When the AF-ON button is pressed, the monitor turns off and a focus point can now be selected using the multi selector.

– Photo information displayed in full-frame playback has been modified as follows:
HI-, LO- has been changed to Hi, Lo
WARM TONE has been changed to WARM FILTER
COLOR CUSTOM has been changed to COLOR BALANCE

– Manamah, displayed in the Time zone options for the World time item in the setup menu, has been changed to Manama.
– An issue that, in extremely rare cases, resulted in noticeable black dots in images captured with Long exp. NR in the shooting menu set to On has been resolved.
– When the Speedlight SB-800 was mounted on the camera with flash mode set to Distance-priority manual (GN) mode, and then the exposure meters were reactivated or the camera was turned on, the distance information displayed on the SB-800 changed. This issue has been resolved.
– An issue that, in some rare cases, caused images captured with the following lenses to be under-exposed, has been resolved.
AF-S VR Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED
AF VR Zoom-Nikkor 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6D ED (5.0x)

Nikon D700

Nikon has updated the firmware for their D700 DSLR camera. The new 1.01 version of the firmware fixes some auto focus issues, issues with Speedlight SB-800 and more.

Firmware version 1.01 for the Nikon D700 can be downloaded here.

Information from Nikon:
The following improvements have been made in version 1.01

– When Custom Setting a4 Focus tracking with lock-on was set to Off in Continuous-servo AF, the lens drive moved gradually without achieving focus. This issue has been resolved.
– When the Speedlight SB-800 was mounted on the camera with flash mode set to Distance-priority manual (GN) mode, and then the exposure meters were reactivated or the camera was turned on, the distance information displayed on the SB-800 changed. This issue has been resolved.
– When the Multi-Power Battery Pack MB-D10 was mounted on the camera and an EN-EL3e battery inserted in the camera but no batteries inserted in the MB-D10, and SB-900 flash mode set to TTL auto flash mode, the flash mode changed to A mode when the exposure meters turned off or were reactivated, or the camera was turned off or on. This issue has been resolved. (This issue has also been resolved with SB-900 firmware Ver. 5.02.)
– An issue that, in extremely rare cases, resulted in noticeable black dots in images captured with Long exp. NR in the shooting menu set to On has been resolved.
– Manamah, displayed in the Time zone options for the World time item in the setup menu, has been changed to Manama.

Nikkor AF-S DX 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR

Photozone.de has reviewed the new Nikon Nikkor AF-S DX 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR lens that follow as kit lens with the Nikon D90 DSLR camera. The lens has a very interesting zoom range and a nice price at about .

Photozone ends up giving the Nikon lens an ok verdict due to the fact that lens is able to produce pretty good pictures, but there is some distortion, chromatic aberration and the build quality could be better.
Overall this Nikkor lens should be worth looking at for Nikon photographers on a budget.
Read the full review of the Nikkor AF-S DX 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR lens here.