It is now becoming a more and more reliable-to-end-up-true rumor : Nikon would prepare the launch of an affordable Full Frame DSLR, the D600. It would be cheaper than the Nikon D800 (which is a high definition baby D4), maybe half the price of the D800, could be as low as $1,500, Nikon Rumors wrote. A lot of amateur photographers would die for a D800, but it is unfortunately quite often too expensive for them. No later than this week-end, I was at a nude photography festival in South of France, in Arles, and met a couple of Nikonians who saw my D800 in my hands and really were looking a bit jealous… we had a quick chat and they told me how they desired this DSLR Nikon sent me for testing along with a D800E… (D800 vs D800E review coming soon).
- Anyway, back to the Nikon D600. To build a range and save on the camera, Nikon would give he D600 the following technical specs :
- Probably a 24MP CMOS sensor, that would be the one which was used in the D3x, probably with improvements.
- 5 fps : that would be better than the 4 fps of the 36MP D800
- GPS sensor (I so badly wish the D800 had a GPS sensor !… that seems unfair, I had to buy the Nikon GP-1 external GPS sensor that I have to mount on the camera when I want to use it). BUt latest information seem to question whether there will be a GPS sensor or not on the D600.
- Double SD cards slot
- 39-point autofocus module, that could be the D7000 one, a nice and efficient AF, but designed for an APS-C camera. On a Full Frame Digital SLR like the D600, it would cover a small portion of the field.
- Built-in Time Lapse recording
- Full HD movie recording at 30p and 720p at 60p
- HDR mode
- Autofocus with Face Detection, on of the most appreciated features of the new Nikon digital SLRs like the D800 and D4
- Probably a weather-sealed camera
Nikonrumors has raised the probability rating of the Nikon D600 rumor to 80%. The camera would be announced or launched (unclear) this summer, before September 2012 Photokina.
