Nikon D600 24.3 MP CMOS FX-Format Digital SLR Camera (OLD MODEL)

Despite all the negative remarks about this camera (not professional, oil and dust a on the light sensor, Nikon has dropped the ball), I bought this camera anyway. Why? 1. I have known many "professional" photographers over the last 45 years and many of them showed me photographs that were incredible AND, they were taken with simple point and shoot cameras. Thus, demonstrating it isn't always the camera, but what you can do with it that makes the difference. This camera is sharp, clear, and takes great photographs. As I progress through the learning curve of operating this camera to it's maximum ability, I have seen a big difference in my photos. I am enjoying the challenges this camera poses, and doing my best to get the full potential from myself. 2. I don't care about the oil and dust issues. Things get dirty. I have to wash my car, too. But, cleaning a light sensor is a lot easier and faster than washing the car. So, I bought a sensor cleaning kit. I haven't noticed any problems with the camera, yet. But, I'm ready to take care of business if the sensor shows signs of needing a good cleaning. I find the capability of this camera to be right up there with the best of all 35mm DSLRs. The focus is super fast, I have fast memory cards in place so, the images are stored at lightening speed, and vibrant color are outstanding. As I hinted at earlier, there is a bit of a learning curve that goes with owning one. Don't let this deter you from considering this camera. Buy a good book that is dedicated to this camera and you will be good to go in no time. And, of course, practice with actual photo taking. If you are in no hurry the slope of the learning curve just flattens out. Who would I recommend this camera to? Everyone!! Everyone who has a real interest in using DSLR, that is. Owning and using this camera has been a lot of fun. I always thought I took pretty good photographs (don't we all?) but, this camera has reminded me that I can be much better than I though I was. In oder to get the most from this camera I have to get the most from myself. I love the challenge. March 13, 2013 I wanted to add a few bits of information that I didn't include before. I have a limited budget so, I had to research exactly which lenses I would need the most for now. I finally decided to purchase two zoom lenses. 1. Wide angle zoom: AF-S Nikkor 16-35mm 1:4G ED VR I really love this lens. It has been called the sharpest lens, and in my opinion it is really sharp. Noted to have several types of distortion but, this distortion can be controlled with good handling and software processing. 2. Tele zoom: AF-S Nikkor 28-300mm 1:3.5 - 5.6 ED VR This lenses was highly recommended and I felt this would fit my budget. The lens is sharp, little to no distortion, and has been a very reliable lens. It is heavy but manageable. I can hand hold it alright but, I'm not as rock steady as I was years ago. On a tripod, this lens yields very clear images. The light sensor kit I bought (in case I need it) is made by Eclipse. I purchased a kit that contained a few #3 brushes, a couple o pads, and a small bottle of liquid sensor cleaner. The kit comes in a handy nylon, zippered bag which is easily carried in my backpack. As for the D600, I am going out photographing birds and flowers at this time, and I really like the results I'm getting. The detail of the flowers is incredible. The birds are harder to get but, the camera has come through with its great response. The 24mp sensor makes the difference when photographing the birds. I can't always get close enough to fill the view finder, but I can crop these photos and still have clear and crisp image. ***UPDATE 3/31/2013 I did notice something on my image sensor the other day. So, I took the camera outside and took pictures of a clear sky under the same conditions recommended to search for oil splotches and dust. And, I found them showing up. No problem. I had already purchased the Eclipse cleaning system and, spent 10 minutes cleaning the sensor in the recommended fashion. After testing I found my cleaning had removed the splotches and dust. Thus, I am still happy with my D600 purchase, it still takes incredible pictures, and I have no fear of oil or dust while I travel. Cleaning is simple and quick. I know Nikon should have resolved this issue long ago. However, they didn't! But, I don't really care. I believe we all should learn to do basic things to take care of minor problems like this ourselves. I won't lose a moment of picture taking, nor will I have to search for someone to clean my camera for me. And, I'm glad I made this purchase.

Three notes; comparison with D800E, with D3200, and with mirrorless half frame such as Fujifilm: 1. So how does the D600 compare with D800E? Two months ago I was able to try out a D800E and saved many shots at various ISO. When I received my D600 this week I was able to compare directly, closely duplicating the previous scenes, with the same lens (105mm VR). High ISO noise reduction was OFF for all shots. Results: At ISO 6400, the D800 image is distinctly less noisey, and also punchier, with better color contrast and clarity. Comparing at ISO 100 and then again on a third scene at ISO 800 there is very little difference between 800/600 except of course in pixel density. At ISO 1600, the noise is comparable but D800 is beginning to give noticeably nicer contrast. Also the D600 produces an odd texture on greens. So, D800 is a higher performance sensor at very high ISO - as one should certainly expect for the price. Under more typical conditions, there is little difference. As for resolution, I think most photographers know by now the difference between 24MP and 36MP is not going to be realized in handheld photography anyway. For the ultimate in low noise and image contrast at high ISO, D800 is slightly but definitely superior to D600. But it should be; for the difference in price you can buy a nice lawn tractor. Comparing the D600 with itself at various ISO, if one looks closely there is a bit of noise beginning above ISO 400. Please note that all my comparisons were JPEG's; I don't yet have software for raw D600 files. The D600 appears to be based on the D7000 half frame, so all the focus sensor points are clustered towards the center, but I did not find this to be a problem. On the convenience side, the D600 has almost all the options of D800, including Autofocus Fine Tune, while being noticeably lighter and smaller. Both D600 and D800 have the MyMenu feature; Instead of plowing through the endless complex of menus to make any change, I can set up my own custom menu with up to 20 items selected from all the standard menus and leaving off things I use rarely, if ever. Note: D600 should be used with VR lenses or you have no hope to get 24MP out of it at ordinary shutter speeds. 2. Five stars for the D600 as a sweet spot in the Nikon line for those of us with a drawer full of FX lenses. However, the photo market has changed significantly in the four years since the D700 came out and the rational photographer should consider the alternatives. A few years ago full frame digital, if you could afford it, was head and shoulders above anything else. This is no longer quite so true. I was able to try out a D3200 recently, Nikon's newest entry level half-frame DSLR. This was a quick test, but enough to see this is the real bargain - at 1/4 the price of D600, 1/6 the price of D800E, amazingly good DX sensor, photos at lower ISO quite striking, and about half the weight. Entry level DSLR is a very competitive market and Nikon tries harder to offer value there than for the lower sales volume full frame. Even advanced photographers shouldn't turn up their noses at D3200; unless you're firmly committed to full frame or need the dedicated buttonss, D3200 is a steal. Yes, D800E is state of the art and D600 is close - but neither of these could be said to be five times better than D3200. 3. The second big development in recent years is the advent of mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras. I still strongly prefer a DSLR vewfinder to any other kind - have tried electronic viewfinders but just do not like them. Also, the familiarity of the Nikon interface is a big plus for me. Nevertheless, I am aware that lots of advanced photographers are moving to much smaller and lighter half-frame mirrorless cameras like the Sony NEX and Fujifilm X series. As the art of making sensors continues to develop, the quality gap between full-frame digital and half-frame digital is becoming smaller. Particularly for the Fujifilm X series, which I have tried, the sensor is truly impressive. One recent online review even reports that the high ISO images from Fujifilm half-frame are slightly better than full-frame D600! If true, quite remarkable. The D600 takes lovely photos. Today I went to a farmers' market in a neighoring town and shot baskets of fresh radishes, beets, squash; the images on my computer screen glowed with smooth bright color.I have not stopped shooting since it was delivered. But at the same time I can see it being perhaps my very last DSLR. The D600 with 24-85 kit lens weighs 3 lb 2 oz, even more when I mount one of my two other FX VR lenses, 16-35 and 105 macro. Things are changing in photography, and we are close to the point where one can get beautiful images without needing such a big heavy camera. Until then, D600 is highly recommended.

There are already quite a few reviews on this camera, but I'll go ahead and add my own spin on it. First of all, the technical image quality that you can get from this camera is amazing, period. But that goes without saying--it's a FX Nikon, of course it's amazing. That being said, I personally bought this camera and returned it, and went for the Canon 6D. A good part of this decision is due to the fact that I am more invested in the Canon system, but I do own both. If there were no other significant drawbacks to the D600, I would have kept it, as it is a superior camera spec-wise; usability wise however, is a different story. I'll start with the bad, in order of how much it bugs me (a lot to a little): 1) The user interface is clunky. It doesn't make sense, unlike the D7000/7100. Buttons buttons positioned on the left side of the screen are neither related, nor do they follow any sort of discernible pattern. It requires memory, which is fine if this is the only camera you shoot, ever. But not even amateurs like myself shoot more than one camera. I cannot be pressed to be farting around with a control scheme that doesn't make sense. Other than the button layout, the ISO control is wonky, the AF control is wonky, and the two stacked mode dials is...well, I'm not a fan. 2) NO APERTURE CONTROL IN LIVE VIEW?!?!?!? Not much of a problem for stills, but I do shoot with LV on tripod for landscapes often, so this really bugs me. Typically I have a lot of time when shooting landscapes, so it's not too big a deal, but cmon Nikon.... If you plan to use this camera for video, FORGET IT--pay $1000 for the D800... Why Nikon hasn't moved their system towards a hybrid mechanical/electronic aperture control is beyond me--it's 2013! Your mechanical AF control is what made you lose market share to Canon in the first place...learn from your mistakes! 3) ISO Performance could be better. This is very important to me, as I shoot a lot of indoors and try my best to avoid flash if I can (flash is very difficult to use correctly, and therefore takes me too long to compose shots; also it's very distracting and annoying to my subjects). If you're coming from a crop sensor, yes, the ISO performance is amazing, but compared to other FX camera bodies (D700, 5D3, 6D, A99), it falls short. For the 'armchair' photographers, yes, dxo says this body has 'the best' ISO performance (and I love DXO--very useful website), but sorry, that's just blatantly wrong--go look at ANY site online with comparison pics. The D600 does have 24 MP, this I'm sure this is part of it (smaller pixel pitch), but on JPEG w/NR on ("best" ISO performance), I can't bring myself to shoot at ISO 6400--on my 6D, I can and do shoot at ISO 12,800 under the same conditions without batting an eyebrow. Put the D600 on RAW, and it's all downhill from there. 4) AF Performance could be better. It's NOT BAD, don't get me wrong, but it's not good either. I would have expected better with 39x9 AF system, but with all the points are crammed in the center, making it absolutely no different than the 6D, which has an 11x1 AF system. The bonus with the 6D is that the center point is -3EV sensitive. I would have expected to feel a discernible difference between the AF systems of the two cameras, but I cannot (though, it should be said, that AF nowdays is equally contingent on the lens, where Canon tends to be superior). In a nutshell, it's good, but it really doesn't feel any better than 'the crummy 6D'. 5) Grip is tiny. I don't mind at all, as I have small-medium hands, but I can see this bugging people with larger hands. The 6D is a smaller body overall, but has a bigger grip....what? 6) Green screen problem. Why has this not been fixed yet? Since it doesn't actually affect the picture (at least as far as I can noticeably tell, green is quite forgiving, so it's arguable), it's not a big deal for me, but it's just one of those things that bugs you. That said, it's very funny to crack jokes about...so it's a plus in a way... 7) Oil sensor problem. I DIDN'T EXPERIENCE THIS, but if I did, it would bug me...a little. It's very easy to clean yourself in less than a minute (if you're seriously sending your body to Nikon just to have them clean your sensor....smh), but again, an issue that the end-user really shouldn't have to deal with. The good: 1) Amazing image quality. I've been really smashing this camera in the above, but seriously, for 98% of your shots, it's an amazing, state-of-the-art imaging MACHINE. The D600 does not disappoint in the image quality department. 2) Better than the D800 IMO, and it's $1000 cheaper! Better ISO performance, quicker operation, faster FPS (also important to me), smaller and lighter, and it uses the exact same image processor. Only difference is the megapixel count (24 versus 36), but anyone who knows anything about photography (and perhaps a little about science and engineering), knows that increased sensor resolution is pointless if the lens confusion cannot resolve at that resolution. Only a small handful of primes can resolve at 20 megapixels on FF, and that's stopped down optimally, using perfect technique (which rarely ever happens--admit it <:p). 36 megapixels? You're just losing ISO performance with a smaller pixel pitch, and resolving detail that doesn't exist. The day consumer-level lenses begin to resolve at 30 megapixels at reasonable apertures, I'll consider again whether or not 36 megapixels is worth it. But this will require some significant, cutting edge research breakthrough in the field of optics (or someone decides to start manufacturing lenses out of diamonds). Maybe it'll happen, but until then, 36 megapixels is silly. 3) Good FPS (5.5)--awesome for a cheap-ish FX body! 4) 2 SD card slots. Awesome! I know there's this remaining legacy with CF cards, but SD technology has more or less caught up at this point. I think it's quite weird to have a CF slot and SD slot...and even worse when there's only one (*cough*--6D). Redundancy is important, you don't want to be that guy that loses all his/her pictures with no backup. 5) Built in flash. Okay, so it's not THAT useful, but there are times when you need it, particularly in flash biasing (fill flash). An external flash is superior of course, but I don't carry one if I can avoid it, and even if I have it, I usually can't be pressed to take it out for just a single shot where a fill flash is helpful. Also, it can be used to trigger an external flash if you don't have a trigger on you, which is also useful. I really miss this in the Canon FF system. Just my two cents, you may not agree with everything, and that is respectable of course! Take it for what it is, make yourself a better photog, and happy shooting!

This camera replaced my F5/FM2n... yes, I've been a film holdout for all this time. I've had some digital point-and-shoot cameras, but stuck by my film for "real" photos for a few reasons: 1. Until full frame DSLRs hit 12MP, I was getting more resolution out of my 35mm film (Ektar 100 / Portra 400 / Velvia 50) easily. I was also getting way better dynamic range out of my film until the most recent generation of full frame DSLR sensors, which now finally comes close to the dynamic range of film. 2. I am an occasional shooter and not a pro - so the cost per film shot, which works out to around $0.25/frame for me with development and scanning/printing, was totally reasonable compared to what it would have cost until now to take the same number of photos on a digital camera at the same level of quality I was getting. Heretofore, I would have had to buy at least a D3/D3s/D800/D700, and those are expensive to have sitting around not being used professionally or even on a weekly basis. 3. I have only "FX" lenses, and about 70% of it is AI-S. None of it is AF-S (what's autofocus is AF-D), so I had to have a screw-drive AF motor and I had to have a non-CPU lens memory bank. D600 has both, and it's full frame, so I don't have any of this funky crop factor crap. 4. Depth of field. I've got mostly very high-quality lenses, all primes and mostly f<2. I like the control of DoF they offer me. DoF at sensors smaller than APS-C is a poor joke, and I've seen APS-C look ok, but just didn't see the point in limiting my lenses. 5. Viewfinder. If you haven't ever looked through a 100% "FX" viewfinder, you might not understand how awful most DSLR viewfinders look to people using film or a proper "FX" DSLR like the D4/D3/D3s/D700/D800. I might not take a lot of photos, but I'd rather not spend my time staring down a short railroad tunnel squinting at the lights on the other end, especially if I'm going to be focusing manually. Ok, so ultimately, I bought the D600. Now down to the actual product review. Things that took some getting used to: - I don't have a full set of AF / AE-lock buttons like I used to on the F5. D800 and D4 still have these, but D600 has one "catch all" button. Thankfully, this button can be reprogrammed entirely to perform any of the three old functions, or it can be reprogrammed to an unrelated function, too, so it's quite flexible. I am using it as "AF-on" right now, and I have the "Fn" key bound to "AE-lock", which compensates for the loss of the dedicated buttons on the back. - Auto ISO. I'm not sure how I am going to deal with this, but I find Auto-ISO both useful for time savings, and annoying conceptually. It tends to adjust ISO a little too readily for my taste, but perhaps this feeling will fade when I adapt to the whole "ISO is more or less unimportant nowadays" thing. - Autofocus-Continuous/Single button simplified to AF/MF. This is a little annoying because it makes the functionality of autofocus ambiguous. I believe the default functionality is fairly similar to AF-Continuous on my F5, but I more typically use autofocus in AF-Single mode, which doesn't track subjects. My subjects don't move much. **Update: Thanks for the tip, James, I see that this was just me not exploring enough, or, put another way, I should RTFM. The switch has indeed been revised so it's a two position switch, modified by a button in the middle of the selector. All functionality remains, and all is well** - Viewfinder has an odd eyepiece. It's a great viewfinder to use, but that eyepiece is a little small and odd (ergonomically) to hold up to the face. This coming from someone used to the veritable porthole-window on the F5 should perhaps be taken with a grain of salt. I'm also an eyeglass wearer, but my correction is so minimal that I don't mind just taking off my glasses to use the D600. Didn't have to do that with the F5, but not a big deal. - It's not all that small. Yes, it weighs about a pound less than my last camera, and that's a welcome change, but it's thicker and just as wide. Actually, this is the thickest darn camera I've owned, and I don't understand why. The F5 is a tank and probably about as happy pounding nails as any hammer in my house, but the fact remains that it feels, and measures, slim compared to the D600 (or most full frame DSLRs I've seen). The comparison to film cameras gets even more odd looking when you place the FM2n next to the D600... FM2n looks like a rangefinder, practically. So maybe this has to do with the sensor or the screen or whatever, but I know that it's not the optics, since flange distance and all that jazz is identical. Nevertheless, I'm happy it's light, which is is... very light. - > 0 < indicator for manual focus is a little squirrely compared to the F5. I suspect this is because the emphasis is so much more on autofocus now, and the distance between AF sensors has gotten so much smaller. Anyway, it's good enough, just not as good as it used to be when cameras were made with manual focus in mind as a large percentage of lenses. - No viewfinder screens from Nikon, at least yet. I used a grid screen with microprism collar and rangefinder center before this on the F5, which was nice as a MF aid. Also not a huge deal, just ergonomic. - "Scene Modes" ?? Why is this useful? At least I can ignore it. Things I like: - I can shoot with impunity. Almost have to, now that I've got a $2000 debit from my account to justify to myself. - Picture quality is really, really good. Certainly better than my photos deserve. - I get matrix metering with my AI-S lenses. Maybe this is common now and I didn't realize it, but of the autoexposure film cameras Nikon made, only three that I know of had matrix for AI-S -- F6, F4 and FA. I'm fine with center weighted, but matrix is definitely more convenient for normal lighting. - ISO 6400 looks a lot like ISO 1600, which looks mostly like ISO 800, which isn't so bad compared to ISO 400, which looks like ISO 200??? ISO is irrelevant on this sensor. Well, maybe not irrelevant, but it sure is impressive to be shooting above 800 and have such minimal noise. - It's fast. Don't notice shutter lag, and the buffer hasn't given out on multi-shot sprees yet, though I do have a lot of the "auto" stuff off, which speeds things up (like the auto anti-vignette, auto d-light, etc). - Mirror lockup. No, it doesn't have the little lever anymore, but I like the way they implemented mirror lockup. If you buy the IR remote, first click can lock mirror, second click triggers shutter. This is great for astrophotos. - Key rebinding. Nikon allows you to rebind many of the buttons on the body to your preferred function. You could do this on the F5, but only to a very limited degree. D600 allows for comprehensive customization of the button functions, and this more than makes up for any shortcomings in the number of buttons included. - LCD. Seeing what you just shot is great! I'm used to getting preview only on my crappy cameras, where critical focus is hardly a concern and sharpness is more or less limited by the crap lens attached. Plus, the screen on the D600 is quite nice. Very good resolution and brightness. - Lens compatibility. Everything works, and my lenses are old. Non-CPU lens memory stores focal length and aperture for you, so you can shoot with full metering on AI-S lenses. - Menu layout. Yes, there are a lot of settings. It's almost overwhelming compared to what I'm used to. But they're well laid out, and I have no issues with the depth of the menus. Plus, way easier to set "Turn on viewfinder gridlines" than try to remember that Option 15 should be "2". And if you find yourself using something all the time from the menu, bind it to a physical button and you're done. All in all, I am glad I didn't get a D800E. I almost did, but just felt it was still too expensive. I'm also glad I never got bilked into the APS-C "DX" game. The D600 is a perfect camera for someone who isn't a professional, but who expects their gear to work like good film gear worked, and I figure I'm especially pleased because I've been living in the photography stone age, so this thing is practically magic. I have not even tried the video features, so cannot comment there. Highly recommended camera. -------------- Update a few days on -------------- Still very pleased with the D600. I have now shot using most of my lenses, and I'm over 550 frames. It takes great photos in all light levels. As an update to the auto-ISO matter, I maintain that auto-ISO is somewhat difficult to understand, at least in Aperture Priority and Manual modes. When I adjust aperture, for example, it often changes the ISO instead of changing the shutter speed to compensate. Shutter speed stays pretty fixed, and it's like I'm effectively balancing exposure with aperture and ISO instead of balancing between aperture and shutter, with ISO moving only once that balance becomes impractical due to light and shake constraints. I have not switched the mode back to manual ISO, but if I don't start figuring out its logic, I'm going to. Another "Caveman Lawyer" moment - I found out this evening that I can bind a function to the "DoF" key. Here I was thinking DoF preview key would be mechanical, like on all my other cameras, but no- it's rebindable too! Good thing, since I almost never have need for DoF preview, especially now that I can simply take a photo and preview it on the beautiful LCD. I bound Spot Meter to this key, and the functionality is great. To summarize, then, I have been able to rebind functions for: - "DoF Preview" key (rebound to Spot Meter) - "Fn" key (rebound to AE-L) - "AE-L/AF-L" key (rebound to AF-On) I tried a long burst earlier today, and filled the buffer for the first time. Was able to take 13 shots at full speed and full resolution / quality before it slowed down. That's a lot of pictures at full speed, and there's a neat "rXX" value that pops up in the viewfinder, indicating how fast the buffer is processing the shots you've taken (and how many shots you have in reserve that can be taken). When you exhaust the buffer, the value will read "r00", and when it's ready to take another, say, two shots, it'll read "r02". Time between shots after buffer was exhausted was around 1 second. Maybe people who know better will complain about this, but again: I'm from the stone age... it's true my F5 could go through a roll at about 8fps, but I'd rather go through 13 shots at 5.5fps and have it cost me nothing at all than be forever afraid that I'd invoke crazy-motor-drive-mode on the F5 and waste a roll in under 5 seconds. The buffer is definitely sufficient for my needs. Having carried it now for a few hours at a time, I can definitely say I stick to my assessment regarding burden: it is not a small camera, but it is very light. Oh, and battery life is excellent for something that has an LCD screen. Finally, regarding quiet mode, represented by "Q" on the drive mode dial: this is the same as the "Cs" mode on the F5, and I'm sure other cameras have it as well. Just like the F5, it isn't really quiet at all. In fact, the sound pressure peak of the noise is nearly the same as the peak of the standard shutter noise. Granted the peak is shorter, and the total impulse of sound longer, but that's just the thing -- on both the F5 and the D600, "Quiet Mode" should really be called "what-the-hell-was-that-odd-unhealthy-camera-like-noise" mode. Just use the regular shutter and stop taking pictures if you need to be that quiet. Or get a Leica. -------------- After a week -------------- No regrets. I took this out over the weekend to the dark wilderness and did some astrophotography. The battery life is fantastic, the mirror lockup mode using the remote is likewise wonderful, and the camera's noise levels in -complete darkness- are unbelievably low. It's like shooting a film camera, really, except not paying for film. Heck, about the only thing I can think of that might be disadvantageous for this camera vs., say, an FM2n for astrophotos is the battery consumption for very long shots. But with digital, to hell with long shots anyway. Take fifty 30-second exposures and stack them; then you hardly even need a mount. After the night (mostly awake playing with the camera under the stars), I woke up and did some hiking. Spent that whole day using only MF lenses. Everything up to my 135mm is just fine with the stock viewfinder screen. Unfortunately, I do miss the microprism collar and rangefinder center for the 200mm and 300mm lengths. It's just darn hard to focus manually without those aids at such a power, and I can attest to it not being as hard on the F5 (with swapped viewfinder screen). Then again, I can stop down enough that focus isn't as critical with this sensor and still have good shutter speeds, so who cares? I will probably get a third party / accessory viewfinder screen if that ever becomes available. If not, I can deal. This weekend also marks the first time I used my "heavy" lenses for an extended period. No, I wasn't in -10F or anything, but the polymer faceplate didn't have any trouble supporting heavy telephoto primes. This camera is sturdy. Perhaps the F5 can stand up to abuse, but I plan on using my cameras, not abusing them, and the D600 is plenty good enough for any real use I might have. I will make sure to report back on how it performs next time I am in low temps. Video! I finally used this mode. It works great and quality is very high. No bad noises in the mic, no "jelly" motion or shearing. I only shot with a 28mm AI-S lens, but all was quite well. Ergonomics- I can do everything now without taking my eye off the viewfinder. This camera will be very familiar to anybody who has used a Nikon since the F5. Buttons are where they should be, and the stuff that's been invented since that era isn't much of an additional burden to learn, since it's all quite well thought out. What has been left out of this camera that remains on the professional line can easily be compensated for with the aforementioned key rebinding. A few gripes: - What could it have cost to give me an eyepiece shutter? I got some kind of plastic thing that that I'm never going to carry with me. Nikon, integrate this feature. Not a big deal, but silly. - The stock strap is gaudy and stiff. Thankfully, the camera is light enough that I just swapped the strap out with paracord (550 cord) and it's plenty comfy. I've always swapped my straps on light cameras for paracord, but never could get away with that on the F5, since it was so heavy and the cord would press uncomfortably into my shoulder (even making marks after a long day). - I wish there were a way to lock up the mirror for multiple frames. I feel bad cycling the mirror each time I take a series of astrophotos. No need for the mirror to work 50 times just because the shutter needs to cycle 50 times. Maybe I just don't know how to do this yet? - Playback mode could be smarter. When you ask the camera to store JPG+RAW, you have to browse through both JPG+RAW in playback mode. I can see this being useful to someone, but you should be able to optionally limit playback to one or the other. Where this really gets annoying is deletion. When I shoot JPG+RAW, review, and decide I don't want to keep a shot, I must delete the JPG and then delete the RAW. They aren't always even sequential, which means I have to figure out what I haven't deleted yet, or be left with a patchwork of orphaned RAW/JPG files that I don't want! Just offer the option to hide one or the other in playback mode, and I'll be happy. And make deletion actions applicable to both the RAW and the JPG of the same photo. - The Auto ISO thing never worked out. I turned it off, and I'm perfectly happy switching between ISOs when necessary myself. Ergonomics are so good on this camera that I've got that movement memorized now.

Yes. That's a tall claim but with the introduction of Nikon D600 and Canon 6D, it won't take long before APS-C DSLR fall out of favor. It'll be prudent to remember that there was no APS-C format during film days. APS-C was created because manufacturing a 35mm digital sensor was prohibitively costly. It was a compromise to reach a certain price level. As D600/6D have shown, affordable full frame is a reality now. APS-C compromise is no longer required. Yes you'd lose extra reach that APS-C provides with existing zoom lenses, but you get extra dynamic range, ISO performance and lower noise with a full frame. Point and shoot cameras are a dying breed already. They are being replaced by smartphones. Similarly, APS-C DSLR will give way to APS-C and micro-four thirds mirrorless cameras as they reach (already have) the technical performance of a APSC-C DSLR. People who want it light and still have a high quality camera will gravitate towards these. And people who need maximum quality will reach out to full frames. Coming to D600, it's an awesome camera. Anyone who's coming from D7000 will feel right at home. People who make a living off photography may still go for D800, but for an amateur or a casual photographer who wants a full frame quality should be more than happy with D600. But people who've never handled a DSLR before should know that it's still a BIG camera with enough heft to it. If size and weight is a concern to you, Olympus OM-D E-M5 16MP Live MOS Interchangeable Lens Camera with 3.0-Inch Tilting OLED Touchscreen [Body Only] Silver is an excellent light weight camera. Images straight out of the camera are clean and great. To maximize D600's excellend sensor, you'd be better served with high quality lenses. My pick would be Nikon 50mm f/1.8G AF-S NIKKOR FX Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras and Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8G ED AF-S Nikkor Wide Angle Zoom Lens . The 24-70 is great for all day shooting and 50mm comes in handy at night. Additionally, buy OP/TECH USA 1501012 Pro Strap for cameras and binoculars- neoprene (Black) which will make the camera feel much lighter than it actually is. On the downside, the focus points are concentrated towards the center. It's a pity for such a high-end camera. Also, it's high time Nikon/Canon include in-body stabilization in their camera bodies. This will free the lenses from having a VR of it's own making them cheaper, lighter and hopefully optically more superior. Nikon 24-70 2.8, as great as it is, doesn't have a VR and could benefit from a camera with built-in VR. Olympus has implemented in-body stabilization in OM-D E-5 really well. I whole-heartedly recommend D600 for anyone looking for a full-frame, but after spending a small fortune on this camera, I advise not to skimp on good lenses.

I currently own Nikon D7000. I purchased this D600 to use as my primary camera for studio shots, weddings, and senior portraits. For the last year, I've been purchasing FX lens and using it with my D7k DX camera. I knew I would I eventually purchase an FX or full frame camera and I was just planning ahead. I normally don't purchase electronic items when they first come out. I typically wait at least six months for the kinks and issues to be worked out. When Nikon made the announcement for this full frame D600 and they were delivered to retailers in a short amount of time...I had a gut feeling. I was reading the specs, reviews and comments and knew I had to get this camera. I've had this camera for over a month and a half now and taken over 3600 pictures. I've tested this camera in low light and in bright sunshine. I'm quite impressed with this camera. Improvements over my D7k: - huge viewfinder - larger and deeper grip - larger LCD with auto brightness light - lock button on top of the main dial - full frame with more megapixels. Noticeable differences: more menu items/selections, review zoom-in and zoom-out buttons reversed, and a bit heavier and slightly bigger camera. Overall conclusion: This is a great camera that can use my FX lens as well as my DX lens Sharp pictures with vibrant colors and beautiful IQ. Quick focus. My camera settings: - Picture control - Standard - Exposure compensation - 0.0 - JPG - Large and Fine - JPEG compression - Optimal Quality - White Balance - Auto - Auto Normal - M1 I hardly touch the exposure compensation button. My camera seems to nail it about 95% of the time. The other 5% of the time, I'm pushing the camera in difficult situations. I ended up purchasing the 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5G lens as I don't have an FX wide-zoom lens in my stash. I do plan on purchasing the 24-70mm f/2.8G in the near future. I have used my 85mm f/1.8G lens with beautiful results. This camera and lens is a great combination for portraits and for general photography. I have used my 18-200mm DX lens with this camera without any issues. Once the DX lens is mounted on the camera, the viewfinder shows a black outline. The only minor issue with using the DX lens is the limitation of 10 megapixels. After using an FX lens on an FX camera, it's really hard to go back to a DX lens and lower megapixels. I do have some minor dust spots and two oil spots. They are located mostly on the left side. It doesn't really bother me too much as my D7000 had oil spots. I do plan on sending my camera in for maintenance after I do a few photo shoots. I'm going to have a hard time being separated from this camera. :) I believe my money was well spent on this camera. It's now my primary camera while my D7k is used as a backup. I will be back to post additional findings.

I have had my D600 for a couple days now and already love everything about it! Please keep in mind that my rating of this camera is strictly from the perspective of an advanced enthusiast and not a professional photographer. I won't go into all of the technical aspects of the D600 since that has been well covered in other reviews. With that being said, I will give you my real world short answer as to why you will love the D600. A quick backgrounder, I have been shooting with my beloved D90 for about 3 years and felt that it was time to upgrade to newer technology. Before the D600 rumors started I was thinking about upgrading to the D7000. However, I decided to wait since I have always wanted to own a full frame camera. For D7000 owners out there this camera may feel similar but for me it is a night and day difference from my D90. The D600 is noticeably larger than the D90 and fits so nicely in my hands and feels very solid. The menu and button layout are consistent to the D90 so I had no problems figuring it out. Is it worth $1000 more than the D7000? YES!!! The D600 packs a juicy Full Frame Sensor, repeat a Full Frame Sensor (same as the one in the flagship D4 and D800). And the viewfinder is huge; with 100% coverage. I have my D600 paired with a Nikkor AF-S 50mm F1.8 G lens and the results are as expected; AWESOME. I rarely shoot video so I won't comment on that aspect of the camera. Overall the D600 is a great full frame camera wrapped up in the perfect size body with a terrific price tag. 10/24/12 Update: It's been a few weeks now and about three hundred images later and I must say that this was the best choice for me. With my previous body (D90) I couldn't really crank up the ISO settings past 1000 without introducing a ton of noise and loss of resolution. However, with the D600 I do not hesitate to capture images all the way up to ISO 6400! This has allowed me to achieve sharp images, handheld, in the crummiest lighting situations without using an external flash. I also finally shot some video and it's light years beyond the D90!

Added Sept. 21, 2013: I have had to clean the sensor about 4 times with blower and once with liquid and swabs in the almost year that I have owned this body. I now have 18,404 shutter releases. The body is one of the early models as I bought it days after first available. I am very satisfied with my D600. I have increased my star rating to 5. Added Nov. 19, 2012: I now have 2120 clicks on the shutter and no more dust at this point. The dust appeared at about 1800. It was only one spot of "dust" but it was big and took multiple shots of air to remove as it seemed to be stuck on. I am not experiencing a pattern of dust as others have, just the big one. MY SN is 300xxxx. Another note which may help some. I am using SanDisk 32GB 45MB/s SD cards. I used an older, slower card in a pinch and it was way too slow, especially when shutter was on continuous. I recommend 45MB/s or faster SD cards. I am shooting in RAW on 1st card and large JPEG on 2nd. Original post: Once upon a time I was a part time, medium format, film, photographer. Having put more effort into my full time career, pro photography went by the wayside. I still kept in the loop with Nikon FE2's for slide presentations, etc. Then the digital age came to town. Eventually, I purchased a D50 to take my daughter's grad photos. They really turned out well, but the D50 seemed somewhat limited, especially when working with my older prime lenses. I looked at the D7000 and was about to turn the crank when the D600 was announced. So, I bought one and am having a great time resurrecting my interest in photography. I am also able to copy my old 35mm slides with the PB-6 and PS-6. Being an FX, lenses such as 55 and 105 primes work well with the PB-6. There just was not a suitable DX lens to do the same with the D50 or D7000. My old primes work great in M and A mode. Metering works, which is lacking on the D50 for AIS lenses. The ISO range up to 6400 seems to yield very good results also. RAW file size really taxes PC disk space for storage, but it is manageable. I can't imagine this issue with the D800. The only negatives so far include dust on the sensor and battery life. Never had either problem on the D50. No oil on mine, but had to clean noticeable dust off once so far. The battery life is real short compared to the D50. Would recommend a second battery for long shoots or wilderness wandering.