D1x-Mistake?

Would I be making a mistake if I buy a D1x body as a back-up? Is there a

better choice. I can buy a mint copy for around $500. Is that too much if so

where can I get one for less money. How many actuations is too many for this

camera?

 

George

It depends on which camera you are using the D1x to back up. To being with, the D1x is not iTTL compatible. It is heavy and its technology is very old (7 years). There should be better choices although perhaps not at $500. E.g., I would rather get a used D200 for around $900 or so.

One issue that comes up when people ask about buying an older DSLR is that the battery life was not good "back then". If I correctly remember what people have said here on photo.net, 2 or 3 batteries were needed for a weekend outing, for example.

Battery life on the D1 series was atrocious. The batteries were a pain in the neck to deal

with, the charger was a pain in the neck to deal with.

 

I bet a D70 will give just as good or better image quality.

I agree with the earlier comments, I just sold my D1x infact. It is probably better to get D70 for 350ish as a backup.

 

The battery is the main problem for me, carrying two cameras and then finding out that D1x's battery is depleted less than half a day is no fun.

I would suggest you don't as most have been through the mill as a lot were used by former

newspaper photographers. Depending on what you're uses are, a D50 can be had for cheap

and I can seldom see the difference between it and my D200 in print. I keep my 12-24mm

on my D50 and my 70-200mm on my D200.

 

M.

I agree battery life on this camera leaves a lot to be desired. However, if you need the ruggedness of pro build quality and such things as mirror lock up it's a great alternative to consider at that pricepoint. Comparing apples to apples among 5mp cameras, it's image quality is great. I've relegated mine to a full time IR and still get good use out of it.

I bought one a few hours ago, for the equivalent of $8oo, here in Hong Kong. It was in mint condition, and was supposedly NOS from Japan. Two weeks ago I bought a mint D1H, for a good price. I have the complete series now and will be using mine for IR too.

 

If you want a D1X, then buy it. It is beyond rationalising at this point in time. After picking up the camera I took a stroll through Kowloon Park where I met a 15 year old kid who was shooting with a D80 and the 70-200mm 2.8 VR lens!! He was photographing flowers, God bless him.

In some aspects the D1x is still a good addition to your system if you do f.e. water sport: the camera is very nicely sealed. Last year I shot a sailing competition (racing) with a friend from a dingy in an intensive rain shower and it really rained like hell. The D1x was literally flooded but I was so fascinated by the sailing action and the hammering rain - I really wanted to get these shots. So the camera worked flawless although the water was everywhere! My friends Canon 300D was going crazy. It changed menues and settings because water went through the buttons (after some hours the camera was ok again). I am not bashing Canon here: this was an intro. level Canon DSLR. The Canon Pro cameras would behave much better here. So the pro build can be very important sometimes.

 

But I fully agree with the battery problem. AF however is on par with the F5 and very responsive. If you need good AF its still a good option if reasonable priced (under 500$ in good condition (under 30000 shots) I would say).

 

Just my 2 cents (D2h might even be a better option - prices are falling for that camera also).

 

If the camera is ONLY a fallback system maybe get a used D200?

 

Kind regards,

S�ren

I used these cameras up until late last year when I finally sold them. Image quality is excellent with these cameras and my only gripe was not enough FPS (3) For some reason the battery life using third party batteries 2200mAh was better if refreshed 3x when new. I was getting around 700 shots using them so that was no longer an issue.

For shooting jpg this camera was very good.

I'm using D2h's now and getting great results for a 4mp file.

I still shot mostly in jpg and find you have to be right on in exposure using this camera or you get noise issues.

If you can get by with a small file size the D2h might be the better choice and is only around 300. more.

 

http://slopoki1.smugmug.com/

I got one last year which was used in a studio photographing art work. less that 300 actuations for $600.00. You could see at the bottom the tripod impression otherwise just bellybutton lint and flawless.

 

Make sure you get the AC adapter with it.

 

BatteryBarn batteries are great and it is also easy to make a off camera battery pack. Using an old Nikon battery plus the normal charger to charge with I have one about the size of a deck of cards that's 5,000mAh but I use it primarily to power a Nissen 4000GW flash though when I need more light in the field. I don't have any problems working it with any flash or strobe system.

 

D70 RAW files are compressed while in comparison D1X RAWS have tons of information. Lightroom opens them up 10.3 mp automatically and you can do the same in ACR.

 

The images are sublime and easy to work with or if you do your job there is very little PPing necessary. I don't bother shooting jpg so can't comment on that.

 

They are probably the best for IR work if you are into that.

 

Shutters like all pro bodies are good for 300k and cheap to replace.

 

The dissing you hear on the net are from those that either don't know or have never seen the camera. Those that do generally, like me, love them.

 

In short if you don't want the D1X turn me on to it if it is nice I wouldn't mind having another.