Jump to content

Help: D1H or D2H Recommendations


chris c

Recommended Posts

My brother in law is making the splash into digital SLR's. The

question has come up and I would welcome opinions.

 

He can get a Nikon USA New D1H from Cameta Camera for $1250 or go up

to the D2H for $2900.

 

Is the D2H that much better? He is going to shot landscapes, kids

sports etc and will be using pro glass. This is not something that he

can pay off by selling his work.

 

He asked me my opinion and frankly I don't have one as I shoot Leica

now. But would be interested in educated feedback about the merits of

the D2H over the D1H and if the cost is justifiable...

 

Thanks..Chris

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Landscapes? With a 2 or 4mp camera? He'd have better luck using a compact camera.

 

The fact of the matter is, landscapes generally need wide-angle lenses and ALWAYS need tons of resolution. A 4mp camera will not cut it.

 

He'd be better off investing in a Canon 1Ds, 1D2, 1Ds2 or most economically a 20D. All of those cameras have at least 8mp, which is twice the D2h and 3-4 times the D1h.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If your brother in law has Nikon pro glass then there's no sense in telling him to buy a

Canon body.

 

I would recommend the D2H over the D1H because the D2H has MUCH MUCH better

battery life and it has roughly twice the megapixels. Although if he does a lot of hiking for

landscape work, consider the D70 or the D100, which are much smaller and lighter AND

are 6 megapixel cameras. The drawbacks of those cameras are crappier viewfinders and

slower fps.

 

I don't agree that 4 megapixels isn't good enough for landscape work. If you shoot in RAW

and make sure your exposures are dead on, then you should be able to make great prints.

 

BTW I own a D100 and a D2H.

 

Good luck

Link to comment
Share on other sites

At the moment he does not own any glass so the Canon is an option. What appears to be driving this though is the availability of the D1H @ $1200.

 

As for wht not go with the D70? He likes the big body style of the D1/D2.

 

Is any of the options worth paying extra for? Or the question may be best asked:

 

Is spending $1200 on a D1H a wise move? I hesitate to use the word investment....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I agree with Ellis. If he's not happy with the D70 or the D100, the D1X at least affords some better resolution. For landscapes resolution really is important in many cases since a lot of people look for the detail in the scene. Some don't think even the 1Ds or Kodak 14.5 mp cameras are enough; but they'll certainly do a lot of landscape photography more justice than a 4mp SLR, as good as the D2h is. I think you can get by with the 5-6mp range like the D1X and the D70/D100 although resolution is important IMO for landscape photography. It sucks printing a picture to find no detail in the trees where there should be.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Go here:

 

http://www.lonestardigital.com/D1.htm

 

It's a review of the D1, to the D1H then the D1X cameras by one guy who bought them all. It shows the good and the bad. He has pictures from them too.

 

Try www.nikonlinks.com for lots of reviews on the cameras you're looking at. As someone said, the D2H bosts twice the mega-pixels, and probably is more advanced at many things.

 

If you want to be able to use older MF lenses, this may be your only digital choices.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Weren't the D1H and D2H designed for sports photographers who desired high shooting rates with little need for enlargements beyond magazine page size? It seems like he is considering the wrong tool for his needs, regardless of how great the price may seem. I guess I also made the wrong assumption that the D1H was no longer available after the D2H came out. Personally, I'd be a little leary of buying "old" digital technology, since an argument can be made that the "new" technology is old as soon as it's released in this rapidly changing arena.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Given the choise between the D2h or the D1h I would go with the D2h.

 

I use both and can tell you that the D2h is worlds apart from the D1h.

 

I can cover an entire event in one battery on the D2h ( 1500 images) where the D1h requires 3-4 batteries depending upon lens and the amount I preview images.

 

The D2h buffer is ideal for sports, I have never had an occasion where I was waiting for the camera to catch up when I shoot raw images. The D1h is good but nowhere near the D2h.

 

I use the d2h with my 80-200 2.8 and the D1h with the 300 2.8. This seems to allow me the best control for each camera.

 

The image output of the D1h is suitable for my magazine and web work without question. The D2h will give even beter images.

 

The D2h gives me the kind of response I need for the type of shooting that I do ( rock concerts, BMX, MotorSports) The ocassional landscapes I shoot I do get decent images that I enlarge to 11x16 without issues

 

If the budget is for a D2h and he was more serious about landscapes then get the D1h and a D70 or a d100. If he was more serious about sports than get the D2h.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

<i><blockquote> Weren't the D1H and D2H designed for sports photographers who

desired high shooting rates with little need for enlargements beyond magazine page

size? </blockquote> </i><p>

 

Exactly. This is a choice between tweedledum and tweedledumber. <p>

 

Chris, have your brother in law do some research for himself. These two choices are

idiotic.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The question really revolves around buying the D1H for $1200.00. It is apparent that the answer to that question is NO.

 

As for what to buy I am sure he will make that decision based primarily on his financial where with all. If it where me I would go tend towards the Canon D1 Mark II

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'd think the D2H would be great for shooting kid's sports, but a D70 would be better for landscapes.

 

Avoid any camera with the Multi-CAM 900 AF module for sports. They are terrible. The cameras with this module include the D100, D70, Fuji S1, S2 and S3.

 

A solution for both applications would be the D2X which is expected to be on sale in January 2005. Can he afford it and/or wait this long?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sounds like he is being driven by the availability of cheap D1H. Forget the D1H or any other camera. What vision does your brother in law aspire to capture with his photography? What is the one in a million shot that he has in his mind that he wants to take? What image has he seen that he wishes he had taken? Now, what equipment would be best for taking that shot? - Sports camera?, Photojournal camera?, medium format film? etc.etc.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...