Amateur Photographer - UK (2020-04-04)

subscribe 0330 333 1113I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI 4 April 2020 47

FEATURES 9/10

BUILD& HANDLING 9/10

METERING 10/10

AUTOFOCUS 9/10

AWB& COLOUR 10/10

DYNAMICRANGE 10/10

IMAGEQUALITY 9/10

VIEWFINDER/LCD 9/10

Noise

Resolution

CAMERA TEST Testbench

Thecropsshownbelowaretaken
fromthearea outlined above in red

TheD780deliversanextremelyimpressivenoiseperformancethatwill

satisfythosewhofindthemselvesaskinga lotofthesensorin demanding

shootingenvironments.Imagesarenoise-freebetweenISO100-400,with

impressivelycleanresultsrecordeduptoISO1600.Noisecanbeobserved

in imagesatISO 3200 andISO6400,butwitha touchofnoisereduction

appliedtofilesduringpostprocessing,bothsettingsareveryusable.If

you’repreparedtoapplyslightlymorenoisereduction,acceptableresults

canalsobeachievedatISO12,800andISO25,600.Pushhigherandyou’ll

observeincreased noise has a muchmoresevereeffect on fine detail.

RAW ISO 100 RAW ISO 800 RAW ISO 6400

RAW ISO 25,600 RAW ISO 102,400 RAW ISO 204,800

TheD780’ssensorputsin a comparableperformance
totheNikonZ 6, withits24.5MPsensorresolvinga
levelofdetailthatwe’dexpecttoseefroma chipthat
hasanopticallow-passfiltertoreducetheeffectsof
moiré. At ISO 100, the sensor resolves 3200l/ph,which

dropsto3000l/phatISO800.Thesensormanagesto

resolve2800l/phatISO6400,with2700l/phbeing

recordedatISO12,800and2600l/phatISO25,600.

Pushinghighersees2400l/phbeingresolvedatISO

51,200.TheextendedISOsettings shouldbeavoided.

TheD780playsa similarroletotheNikonZ 6 in thewayit’souttoattractseriousamateurs,
enthusiasts,semi-prosandprofessionalswhodon’trequirethesamehigh-resolutionoutputas
Nikon’sD850andZ 7 modelsthatbothboasta 45.7MPsensor.TestingconfirmstheD780’s
sensorbehavesidenticallytotheNikonZ 6 andwithvirtuallyuntraceablenoiseuptoISO1600,
while users will fi nd they can push high into the ISO range when challenged in low light.

Lab results

AndrewSydenham’slabtestsrevealjusthowthe camera performs

Ourcamerasandlensesaretestedusingtheindustry-

standardImageEngineeringIQ-Analysersoftware.

Visit http://www.image-engineering.de for more details

NIKON’SD700-serieshasbeena staple

partof thefull-frameDSLRmarketformore

thana decade.TheD780mayhavearrived

a bitlateforthosewho’vealreadymovedto

Nikon’sexcellentZ-series,orotherfull-frame

mirrorlesssystems,butthisdoesn’ttake

anythingawayfromwhatis a sensational

camerathat’sbuilttoa professionalstandard

andis a sheerdelighttouse.It willprovide

top-levelservicetophotographerswho

aren’tfullyenamouredbythethoughtof

switchingtomirrorless,especiallythosewho

wanttocontinueusingtheirF-mountlenses

andstillswearbyusinganopticalviewfinder.

MergingtwoAFsystemsintoonecamera

toimprovetheliveviewperformancehas

beensuperblyexecuted.Sayingthat,it does

taketimetofamiliariseyourselfwiththepros

andconsof both.Sportsandaction

photographersgetreliableAFtrackingvia

theviewfinder,supportedbywiderAF

coveragein liveviewandsuperresponsive

eye-detectionAF.Introducing4Kvideo,

advancedmoviefunctionality,touchscreen

control,in-cameracharging,a largerbuffer,

betterconnectivityandrefiningthebutton

layouthasultimatelyturnedNikon’sversatile

all-rounderintoanevenbetterone.

Theabsenceof a pop-upflash,joystick

andabilitytoadda batterygripwillfrustrate

a few,butallthingsconsidered,there’sa lot

moretolikethanthereis tofindfaultwith.

Peoplewhodemanddualcardslotsandlong

batterylifewillfindthey’rebetterservedby

theD780thantheZ 6.WiththeZ 6 costing

£1,599(bodyonly)andbeingsmaller,lighter

andofferingIBIS,it doesmaketheD780

feelratherexpensivebycomparison.

Nikonhasmadeit clearthatitsoutlookis

allaboutgivingcustomerschoiceoverwhich

routethey’dliketotake.Forthosewho

aren’tyetreadytoconverttomirrorless,the

D780keepstheflagflyinghighforDSLRs

and a mighty fi ne example it is too.

Verdict

Hereweshowdetailsfromour
resolutioncharttestpattern
(above).Multiplythenumber
beneaththelinesby 200 togive
theresolutionin linesper
picture height (l/ph).

RAW

ISO 204,800

RAW

ISO 25,600

RAW

ISO 3200

RAW

ISO 100

GOLD