Amateur Photographer - UK (2020-03-21)

42 21 March 2020I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI subscribe 0330 333 1113

Testbench SECOND-HAND FULL-FRAME

£764

Under £500

RELEASEDtowardstheendof 2014,the

NikonD750is a solidlybuiltandhighly

customisablefull-frameDSLRaimedat

theenthusiastandsemi-promarket.At

thetimeof itslauncha newD750body

would’vesetyouback£1,800,a figure

thathassincefallentoaround£1,180.

However,it’salsopossibletopickupa

second-handD750bodyforbetween

£500and£800,dependingonits

conditionandshuttercount.Atthetime

of writing,second-handcameraspecialist

MPB.comoffereda greatselectionof

usedD750bodiesonitswebsite,

rangingfrom£514fora ‘wellused’

examplewitha shuttercountof

65-140k,to£764fora modelin

‘excellent’conditionwitha shuttercount

below23,000actuations.

Sowhatdoyougetforyourmoney?

Well,theD750is builtarounda 24.3MP

full-frameCMOSsensoranda Nikon

Expeed4 imageprocessor.Whilethis

chipisn’taspowerfulastheExpeed 6

usedin theD750’ssuccessor– the

recentlyannouncedD780– it’s

nonethelessa highlycapableprocessor

thatfacilitatesa maximumcontinuous

shootingspeedof 6.5fpsalongsidea

nativesensitivityrangeof ISO100-

12,800plusexpandedsettingsuptothe

equivalent of ISO 51,200. Movie capture,

meanwhile,extendstoa maximumof
1080pFullHDat 60fpswithexternal
microphoneandheadphoneinputs
providedforenhancedaudiocaptureand
real-timemonitoring.
AutofocusthroughtheD750’soptical
viewfinderis takencareof viaNikon’s
Multi-CAM 3500 II phase-detection
module.Thisprovides 51 individualAF
pointsin thecentreof theviewfinder.
Whilecoveragedoesn’textendtothe
boundariesof theframe,performanceis
nonethelessspeedyandaccuratewith
the3Dtrackingmodeexceptionallygood
at capturingmovingsubjects.Switchingto
liveview,theD750employson-sensor
contrast-detectAFwithcoverageacross
theentireframe.Performanceis again
relativelyspeedy,althoughnotquiteas
fastasmanymirrorlesscameras– or
indeedthoseCanonDSLRsequipped
withDualPixelAFtechnology.Elsewhere,
theD750alsocomesequippedwith
built-inWi-Ficonnectivityforusewith
Nikon’sfreeWMUappforiOSand
Android,twinSDXC(UHS-1)cardslots,a
3in/1.2m-dottiltingrearLCDdisplayand
a largeandbrightpentaprismviewfinder
thatprovides100%coverage.
Whileit mightbefiveyearsold,image
qualityfromtheD750remainsnothing
ALL short of excellent. Indeed, while more

PR
CES

WERE

TAKEN

FROM

MPB

COM

ATTHE

TME

OFWR

TNG

Nikon D750

● £764 excellent condition, 22k shutter count (MPB.com)

ATA GLANCE

Sensor

12.8MPCMOSfull-frame

SensitivityISO100-1600

(ISO50-3200extended)

Continuousshooting

3fps(17framerawbuffer depth)

VideoNotavailable

Reardisplay

2.5in,230k-dotfixedLCDscreen

ViewfinderPentaprism,

96%coverageat0.71x

Releasedin 2005,

Canon’soriginal5Dis

creditedwithbeingthe

firstaffordablefull-frame

DSLRtohitthemarket.

Whilea brandnew

5Dbodycost

around£2,500at

thetimeof its

launch,thesedays

it’spossibleto

source a second-

handexamplein good

conditionforaround

£250.Givenitsageit

shouldcomeasnogreat

surprisetofindthatmany

of the5D’scorespecs–

suchasitsnine-pointAF

moduleand2.5in/233k-

dotLCDdisplay– look

fairlyout-of-dateby

modernDSLRstandards.

Thatsaid,the5D’s

12.8MPsensoris still

capableof greatimage

quality in the right hands.

Alsoconsider

DSLR CAMERAS

ATA GLANCE

Sensor12.1MPfull-frameCMOS

SensitivityISO200-6400

(ISO100-25,600extended)

Continuousshooting5fps

(8fpswithMB-D10batterypack)

VideoNotavailable

Reardisplay3in/921k-dotLCD

ViewfinderPentaprism,

95%coverageat0.72x

Releasedin 2008,the

D700wasessentially

Nikon’sanswertothe

phenomenallypopular

Canon5D.Builtaround

thesame12.1MP

full-frameCMOSsensor

usedin thethen-flagship

NikonD3,the

D700further

benefits froma

51- p o i n tA F

system,a pop-up

flashthatcanbe

usedasa

commanderunit

with Nikon’s

off-cameraCreative

LightingSystem,and

weather-sealed

magnesiumalloy

construction.Twothings

tonotearethattheD700

doesn’tprovideanyvideo

recordingfunctionality,

andonlycomeswitha

singleCF-typecardslot,

whichmeansit cannot

takeregularSDXC

cards.Otherthanthat,

theD700remains

anexceptionally

capable camera.

CanonEOS5D

●£254goodcondition,shutter count

unavailable (MPB.com)

NikonD700

●£385excellentcondition,86k shutter count

(graysofwestminster.com)