Pixiq

Simon Stafford provides a preview of the recently announced Nikon D3100 D-SLR (All pictures courtesy of the Nikon Corporation).

August 19, 2010: The staff at the public relations department of Nikon UK Ltd had already had a busy morning issuing press releases via the web by the time I arrived at the London press launch for the latest addition to the Nikon Corporation’s D-SLR range, the Nikon D3100.

The D3100 was the headline story among a number of new product announcements. It is a camera designed to build on the huge success of its predecessor the D3000, which was the largest selling D-SLR in Europe during the first half of 2010 according to information compiled by the market research company GFK.

Despite its long list of features and highly competitive pricing, feedback from owners of the D3000 had apparently made it clear to Nikon that there was a demand for a camera with even broader specification. The list of ‘wants’ included a higher resolution sensor, Live View with an autofocus capability, a video function, and greater ISO sensitivity, all wrapped up in a more compact body. I am pleased to report that the D3100 not only meets these requests but also exceeds them!

The D3100 is a direct replacement for the D3000, which is no longer in production, although with residual stocks the earlier model still available it will continue to be listed by the Nikon Corporation until it has sold out. In many respects the D3100 represents a natural evolutionary step to the D40, D60, and D3000 lineage, as Nikon’s entry-level model that is aimed squarely at newcomers to D-SLR photography. The emphasis of its design criteria was aimed very much toward automated settings to do all of the heavy lifting for the user, so they do not have to concern themselves with complicated camera functionality. That is not to say that the D3100 does not offer a high level of user control to satisfy even the most demanding enthusiast photographer, as it can be operated using fully manual settings as well.

The key feature of the D3100 is its new 14MP CMOS sensor, which is described in the press release material as “Nikon designed.” To date there has been no official explanation of exactly what “Nikon designed” means, but it is becoming increasingly clear from information I have received from a number of sources that Nikon has decided to withdraw from its previous association with Sony as far as sensor fabrication is concerned, and is now seeking to developing and manufacture their own sensors. No doubt there will continue to be co-operation with third parties in respect of core sensor technologies, but in the future we can expect all Nikon DSLR cameras to use sensors that are designed, developed, and manufactured exclusively by Nikon. 

At 14MP on its DX format sensor the D3100 now has the highest pixel count (4,608 x 3,072) of any Nikon DX D-SLR, although the highly anticipated replacement for the D90 will more than likely overhaul this position and move to be the leader of the DX-pixel pack. One curious aspect of the new sensor concerns the physical dimensions, which at 23.1 x15.4 mm represent a small but potentially significant difference to the previous Nikon DX-format cameras, such as the D3000, D5000, and D90 all of which have a sensor that is 23.6 x 15.8mm, since it reduces the field of view even more from the full-frame of the FX-format D700 and D3-series models to give a crop that is 1.55x smaller.

The D3100 gains both Live View and video capabilities with the latter raising the bar compared with previous iterations of video functionality in Nikon D-SLR cameras. The camera has options for full HD 1080p resolution at 24 frames per second (fps), as well as HD 720p at frame rates of 24 / 25/ 30 fps. The adoption of the H.264 compression should not only provide better suppression of noise, particularly in the lower tones but also facilitate post-processing due to its broader support in applications such as Apple’s Final Cut Express and Final Cut Pro. Video files recorded in the D-Movie mode are saved in a .MOV file container. The D3100 also has a “frame grab” capability enabling a single video frame to be saved as a JPEG file.

When shooting in Live View and the D-Movie (video) mode the user can exercise control over the depth of field by using Aperture-priority (A) exposure mode and selecting the aperture value prior to entering Live View, as the camera will make no attempt to adjust the aperture subsequently. In terms of exposure control it is possible to apply adjustment via the exposure compensation feature, as well as lock the exposure level by using the AE-L/AF-L button (the camera does support a lock/hold control, so it is not necessary to keep this button depressed while shooting video). The full range of the Nikon Picture Controls can be applied to video recording but must be set prior to entering Live View; however, there is no control over the white balance setting, which becomes completely automated as soon as Live View is activated. The camera has a built-in microphone capable of recording a 16-bit/ 24Khz monaural audio file during video shooting but there is no option to connect an external microphone, although the camera does have an HDMI output terminal.

Also new to the D3100 is Expeed 2, an enhanced version of Nikon’s in-camera image processing regime. There can be no doubt that Expeed 2 has been introduced to support the video functionality of the camera including its HD (1920 x 1080 pixel) resolution and use of the H.264/MPEG-4 codec but it is also claimed to deliver improvements to stills picture recording in respect of better noise reduction, smoother tonal graduation and greater color fidelity. As you might expect the speed of image processing has also been boosted with Expeed 2, which is suggested to the 1.5x faster than the original Expeed of the D90.

To cater for the needs of the compact camera user who upgrades to the D3100, Nikon have added a new feature to Live View known as Scene Auto Selector. It is intended to make taking pictures by composing and shooting using the camera’s LCD monitor screen as intuitive and familiar as possible, as Scene Auto Selector will choose the best mode for the scene / subject to be recorded.

Although the basics of the AF system from the D3000 have been retained in the D3100 with the CAM1000 AF module and an 11-point array, the autofocus system has been updated with the new Full-time servo AF (AF-F) mode, which performs continuous autofocus in both Live View and D-Movie mode without the need to press the shutter release button. Live View will also recognise as many as 35 faces at a time and even if people in the frame move, the camera will continue to track and focus on them.
  

Like its predecessor the D3100 has a Guide Mode to assist the less experienced user in selecting camera settings and thereby develop their photography skills by understanding how they achieved their results. The Guide Mode has been improved with the addition of sample images that depict what can be expected from each setting, so for example there are images that show how a large and small lens aperture value will influence the depth of field. At times I often felt that the Guide Mode of the D3000 was more of a hindrance than a help, due to its convoluted structure and strange terminology. At first glance the new version appears to have undergone some significant refinement but only use in the field will confirm this.

The D3100 also has a new lithium-ion rechargeable battery, the EN-EL 14 (7.4V, 1030mAh, 7.7Wh) and dedicated Nikon MH-24 mains AC (110V - 250V) charger (the same combination is also used for the recently announced Nikon Coolpix P7000 camera). 

Additional features include the following:

• High ISO (100-3200) sensitivity: Extendable up to 12800

• New release mode selector switch

• Automatic chromatic aberration correction for JPEG files

• 7.5 cm (3-inch) monitor

• Active D-Lighting

• Nikon’s Dual Integrated Dust Reduction System with Image Sensor Cleaning and Airflow Control systems to help keep the sensor clean

• Support for the Nikon GP-1 GPS unit

• An external wired remote terminal for the MC-DC2 remote shutter release (although IR wireless remote release has been omitted)

Overall, the D3100 is a highly specified camera that on paper at least seems capable of producing a far better results compared to the D3000; however, its success will come down to factors such as ease of handling, image quality, autofocus performance, and the attributes of its video output, all of which need to be tested under real-world conditions once the camera becomes available, which is expected towards the end of September 2010.