Nikon D100 Major Features

This list, supplied by Nikon Europe

* 6.1 effective megapixels rendering 3,008 x 2,000-pixel images
* Compact and lightweight (weighs approx. 700g/24.7 oz.)
* Low-noise CCD sensor
* 3D Digital Matrix Image Control for precise exposure control, adaptive aut
o white balance and optimal color accuracy
* High-performance built-in Speedlight with D-TTL flash control
* Three color modes offered for different workflow environments
* Five-Area Autofocus with Dynamic AF operation
* High-speed image processing provided by new one-chip system LSI
* Top shutter speed of 1/4,000 sec. and flash sync speed up to 1/180 sec.
* Plug-and-play USB 1.1 interface for quick computer connection
* On-Demand Grid Lines can be displayable in viewfinder
* Custom Settings can be selectable in the LCD monitor
* Compatible with CompactFlash cards Type I and Type II including 512 MB / 1
GB IBM MicroDrive
* Nikon View 5.1 software (supplied) enables easy transfer and viewing of im
ages on your computer also includes rudimentary RAW file manipulation and conver
sion
* Optional Nikon Capture 3 software for excellent image management and remot
e operation
* Optional Multi Function Battery Pack MB-D100 accepts six 1.5V LR6 (AA-size
alkaline) batteries or one or two Li-Ion batteries for extended shooting capabi
lity. Features voice memo recording/playback function, vertical shutter release
button, Command and Sub Command Dials, AF start button and a 10-pin remote termi
nal
Whose sensor is it anyway?
About a week before Nikon revealed the D100, Sony announced an APS sized six meg
apixel sensor. Putting two and two together (and considering the specs are ident
ical) it's been fairly easy to ascertain that Nikon is using Sony's six megapixe
l sensor in the D100. In the picture on the right (from Sony's press release) yo
u can see the size of the six megapixel CCD compared to a standard consumer digi
tal camera 1/1.8" CCD.
In that announcement Sony revealed the specifications of this particular CCD:
Optical Format 1.8" / diagonal 28.4 mm (APS sized)
Aspect Ratio 3:2
Colour filters Primary GRGB (Bayer Mosaic)
Transfer method Interline frame readout (requires mechanical shutter)
Total number of pixels 3110 x 2030 (6.31 million)
Number of effective pixels 3032 x 2016 (6.11 million)
Active pixels 3000 x 2000 (6 million square pixels)
Active imager area 23.4 x 15.6 mm
Unit cell size 7.8µm x 7.8µm
Optical black Horizontal: Front 20 pixels, Rear 50 pixels
Vertical: Front 4 pixels, Rear 2 pixels
Saturation signal 900 mV
Smear -80 dB
Frame rate 3.06 fps (single channel mode)
5.09 fps (dual channel mode)
Review notes
This review started life as a preview article posted in February 2002 and update
d again in May. The final review was prepared in July 2002 when a full productio
n D100 became available. Note that many of the product shots are those taken of
the pre-production camera, however a full production unit was used to reconfirm
operation and for all performance testing and image quality samples.

If you're new to digital photography you may wish to read the Digital Photograph
y Glossary before diving into this article (it may help you understand some of t
he terms used).
Conclusion / Recommendation / Ratings are based on the opinion of the author.
Images which can be viewed at a larger size have a small magnifying glass icon i
n the bottom right corner of the image, clicking on the image will display a lar
ger (normally 960 x 720 or smaller if cropped) image in a new window.
To navigate the review simply use the next / previous page buttons, to jump to a
particular section either pick the section from the drop down or select it from
the navigation bar at the top.
DPReview calibrate their monitors using Color Vision OptiCal at the (fairly well
accepted) PC normal gamma 2.2, this means that on our monitors we can make out
the difference between all of the (computer generated) grayscale blocks below. W
e recommend to make the most of this review you should be able to see the differ
ence (at least) between X,Y and Z and ideally A,B and C.

Command Dials
The D100 has two dials, both of which are mounted horizontally in the body. The
dial at the rear of the camera ('under your thumb') is called the main command d
ial. The dial at the front of the camera is called the sub command dial. It's im
portant to remember which is which when reading the next few pages of this revie
w.

Main command dial (rear) Sub command dial (front)

Top of camera controls (left)

Top of the camera on the left side of the viewfinder are situated the mode / set
tings and drive dials. The mode dial is free to move, the drive dial is 'locked'
, this means you must hold down the small locking pin to move this dial.
To change focus area mode, image size / quality, white balance or ISO sensitivit
y you turn the dial to the required position and then use the main or sub comman
d dials to change the setting.
I have to say that the mode / settings dial is probably the D100's least well th
ought-out pieces of design. It completely defeats the concept of the D100 being
a 'shooting priority camera'. To change focus area mode, image size / quality, w
hite balance or ISO sensitivity via this dial you are switching the camera out o
f its exposure mode (and thus out of shooting mode).
Obviously you can instead use the LCD menu and simply not use this dial to chang
e such settings. Considering this shortcoming I suggest it should be possible to
select a default exposure mode (P, S, A or M) via the camera menu for use when
the dial is turned to any of the four settings positions.
Mode / Settings Dial: Settings
Dial
position
ISO ISO Sensitivity
ISO 200
ISO 250
ISO 320
ISO 400
ISO 500
ISO 640
ISO 800
ISO 1000
ISO 1250
ISO 1600
HI-1 (approx. ISO 3200)
HI-2 (approx. ISO 6400) No action
WB White Balance
Auto
Incandescent
Fluorescent
Sunlight
Flash
Cloudy
Shade
Preset
White Balance Fine Tune / Preset
For all modes but Preset rolling the sub command dial allows you to fine tune th
e white balance selection by +/-3 levels.
For Preset white balance rolling the sub command dial allows you to shoot a grey
/ white card to preset the white balance.
QUAL Image Quality
RAW
TIFF
FINE
NORMAL
BASIC Image Size (not in RAW mode)
Large
Medium
Small
AF Area Mode
Single area AF
Dynamic area AF No action
Mode / Settings Dial: Exposure Mode
Icon
 Mode
P
Programmed Auto (Flexible)
The Program AE on the D100 is flexible, that means that you can select one of a
variety of equal exposures by rolling the main command dial (rear of camera) lef
t or right. Example:
1/50 F5.6 (roll left a click) P*
1/60 F5 (roll left a click) P*
1/80 F4.5 (metered) P
1/100 F4 (roll right a click) P*
1/125 F3.5 (roll right a click) P*
The D100 remembers the selected offset from default metering, the only way to re
set this is to quickly turn the camera off and on again.
S
Shutter Priority Auto
In this mode you select the shutter speed and the camera will calculate the corr
ect aperture for the exposure (based on the reading of the current metering mode
). Shutter speed is displayed on the viewfinder status bar and on the top LCD, r
oll the main command dial (rear) to select different shutter speeds. A half-pres
s of the shutter release causes the cameras exposure system to calculate the ape
rture, if it's outside of the cameras exposure range (for instance trying to tak
e a shot at 1/500s in darkness) the aperture will show 'Lo' or 'Hi'.
30 seconds - 1/4,000 sec (in 1/3 or 1/2 EV steps)
A
Aperture Priority Auto
In this mode you select the aperture and the camera will calculate the correct s
hutter speed for the exposure (based on the reading of the current metering mode
). Aperture is displayed on the viewfinder status bar and on the top LCD, roll t
he sub-command (front) dial to select different apertures. A half-press of the s
hutter release causes the cameras exposure system to calculate the shutter speed
, if it's outside of the cameras exposure range the shutter speed will show 'Lo'
or 'Hi'.
Range depends on lens max. and min. apertures (in 1/3 or 1/2 EV steps)
M Full Manual Exposure
In this mode you select the aperture and the shutter speed from any combination
of the above (plus BULB for shutter speed, apertures limited by the lens used).
Main command dial selects shutter speed, sub-command dial selects aperture. The
meter on the viewfinder status bar and top LCD will immediately reflect the expo
sure level compared to the calculated ideal exposure, if it's outside of +/- 2EV
the indicator bar will add an arrow '<' or '>' on the end of the meter.
Drive Mode Dial
Symbol
Mode
Single frame shooting
One frame is taken when shutter release is pressed. You can take another shot al
most as quickly as you can re-press the shutter release. The remaining indicator
 on the viewfinder status bar shows current buffer space.

Continuous shooting
Press and hold the shutter release and the camera will shoot frames at approxima
tely 3 frames per second (depending on shutter speed). The exact number of frame
s you will be able to take before the camera's buffer fills depends on the image
type selected as well as things such as ISO sensitivity, image detail etc. Gene
rally you can take around 5 frames in JPEG FINE and 3 in RAW mode.
Self-timer shooting
Camera takes a single frame after a predefined delay, this delay can be set to 2
, 5, 10 or 20 seconds via a custom function 8.
Top of camera controls (right)

Top of the camera on the right side are the two sub and main command dials (fron
t and back), the power switch, shutter release, flash mode, exposure compensatio
n and LCD illumination button.
Power switch
Symbol
Mode
OFF
Camera Off
Powers camera off. The 'loose your buffered images if you power off' problem whi
ch dogged the D1, D1H and D1x has been resolved with the D100. The D100 will sta
y 'on' until any buffered images have been flushed (written) to the Compact Flas
h card.
ON Camera On
Switches camera on, this is virtually instant, there's no perceptible delay betw
een turning the dial to the On position and being able to shoot. Quite noticeabl
y quicker than Canon's EOS-D60.
Buttons
Button
Flash sync mode
Front-curtain sync (normal flash)
Red-eye reduction
Red-eye reduction with slow sync
Slow sync
Rear-curtain sync
No action
Exposure Compensation
+/-5EV in 1/3EV or 1/2EV steps No action
Illuminate
This button illuminates the top LCD panel with a green backlight for as long as
the "Auto Meter-Off" time (custom function 7). You can also program the backligh
t to come on with any button press (custom function 16).
Rear of Camera Controls
The controls on the rear of the D100 can be split into two distinctive groups. T
op (photographic) settings: Bracket mode, Flash compensation, Metering mode, AE-
Lock & AF-Lock, Main command dial. Play / menu control (digital) buttons: Displa
y, Menu, Thumbnail, Protect, Enter, Erase. In addition to these controls is the
4-way controller which performs functions in both shooting and playback / menu m
odes.
Photographic settings buttons
Button
BKT Auto Bracketing Enable
On
Off
Auto Bracketing: Shots / EV
Choose any combination of:
2 or 3 shots of
0.3, 0.7, 1.0, 1.3, 1.7, 2.0 steps
Flash Output Compensation
-3.0 to +1.0 EV in 0.3 or 0.5 EV steps No action
Metering Mode
Metering
Description

3D Matrix Metering with 10-segment SPD

Selects 3D matrix metering which uses a 10 segment sensor to calculate the best
exposure for the frame.
Center Weighted Metering
The camera uses the entire frame for light measurement but assigns a greater wei
ght to an area in the center of the frame (indicated in the viewfinder by the ci
rcle).

Spot metering
The camera measures light only in a circle 4 mm in diameter. This is tied to the
currently selected AF area point unless dynamic AF or a non-CPU lens is used wh
en it defaults to the center of the frame.
Other controls
Button
Description
AE-L
AF-L
Auto Exposure and Auto Focus Lock
Pressing this button locks the current exposure and focus, they remain locked fo
r as long as you hold the button even if you press or release the shutter releas
e button.
4-way controller
In shooting mode where AF point selection is enabled the 4-way controller is use
d to choose AF points. In playback mode this control reverts to image navigation
/ menu movement. The 4-way controller can be locked by turning the small lever
below the dial to the 'L' position. This only locks its AF point selection featu
re, not menu navigation or image browsing.
Play / menu control buttons
Button
Description

Monitor
Displays the last image taken (or the last image on the storage card) in this mo
de you can browse through images and view various items of exposure information
(detailed later in this review). In modes P, S, A or M the D100 is a shooting pr
iority camera, a half-press of the shutter release will turn the monitor off and
ready it for the next shot.
MENU Camera menu
Display or cancel the camera menu (detailed later in this review).
Thumbnail view / Magnify
In normal playback browsing mode hold this button and roll the main command dial
to select between 2x2 or 3x3 thumbnail views. In 'magnify mode' (you have press
ed ENTER) hold this button and roll the main command dial to magnify, roll the s
ub command dial (front) to switch between normal magnify and loupe magnify mode
(example later in this review).
Protect
Protects or un-protects the current image. This places a read-only flag on the i
mage file and stops it from being accidentally deleted or deleted using a 'delet
e all images' option. It does NOT protect the image from a card format.
ENTER Magnify mode / Confirm
With an image displayed in the LCD screen pressing the ENTER button switches to
magnify mode, in this mode the thumbnail button is used to magnify the image, th
e 4-way controller scrolls around the magnified image. When using the camera men
u the ENTER button is used to confirm settings.
Delete
When an image is displayed pressing delete will display a "Delete, No / Yes" pro
mpt, unlike the D1, D1H or D1x (which simply use a double-press of the delete bu
tton) you must select the 'Yes' option and press ENTER to delete the image.
Front of camera controls

On the front of the camera are two controls, first on the right side (from the b
ack) of the lens is the depth of field preview button, pressing this button stop
s the lens down to the selected (or metered) aperture allowing the photographer
to preview the depth of field of the final shot (obviously the viewfinder view b
ecomes dimmer when the lens is stopped down). On the left side of the lens mount
is the focus mode selector (modes defined below).
Focus modes
Mode
Description
M
Manual Focus
Focusing is carried out using the focus ring on the lens, the focus indicator on
the viewfinder status bar will indicate 'o' when the manually focused subject d
istance matches that calculated by the camera's AF system.
S Single servo AF (focus priority)
If the subject is stationary, the camera focuses when the shutter release button
is pressed halfway. Focus remains locked while the shutter release button is he
ld in this position (focus lock). The shutter can only be released when the in-f
ocus indicator is displayed.
C
Continuous servo AF (release priority)
The camera adjusts focus continuously while the shutter release button is presse
d halfway, automatically tracking moving subjects (focus tracking). The shutter
can be released at any time, whether or not the camera is in focus (release prio
rity). Focus is not locked when the in-focus indicator is displayed.
CCD Cleaning
The procedure for cleaning the CCD is summarized in the D100 manual. It requires
the optional EH-5AC AC adapter and a blower. There is a dedicated menu option f
or locking up the mirror to expose the CCD (Low Pass Filter). Nikon do not recom
mend the use of wipes but do note that aerosol blowers can be used as long as th
ey are not fired directly onto the CCD.

Status Panel
The D100's status panel (found on the top right of the camera body) provides inf
ormation about both the photographic (exposure, focus, drive etc.) and digital (
image size, white balance etc.) side of the camera. This is a notable improvemen
t over the D1, D1H and D1x which have two separate status panel's. This new stat
us panel provides a one glance summary of the camera's overall setup as well as
a readout of the current exposure.
The D100's status panel is backlit, this can be activated by pressing the small
backlight button beside the LCD or it can be programmed to come on with any butt
on press (via a custom function). One interesting 'left over' from 35 mm cameras
, the D100 is the first D-SLR I've used which leaves the frames remaining counte
r on the status panel even when the camera is switched off.

Viewfinder
The D100's viewfinder has a rubber eyepiece cup (which can be removed for access
ory attachment). The view itself is clear, bright and sharp with a good focusing
screen. To my eye the actual view itself appears to be very slightly smaller th
an the D60 (although there's not much in it). Note that the D100 does have a sli
ding dioptre lever tucked away on the right hand side.
Viewfinder view
Through the viewfinder you'll see the center-weighted metering circle and five i
ndicated AF area markers. Note that the active focus area darkens when selected.
The on-demand grid lines can be turned on via custom function 19, these are use
ful for ensuring alignment when taking landscape or architectural shots.
Along the bottom of the viewfinder view you will see the status bar. This provid
es you with an overview of camera (photographic) settings as well as exposure se
ttings. The multifunction display gives you a readout of available frames before
the half-press and remaining buffer space (e.g. r06) with the shutter half-pres
sed.

Option Values / Actions Notes

0 Bank Select Bank A
Bank B
Two banks of custom functions can be memorized
1 Image Review Off
On When set to Off the camera will not display a review-after-shot in recor
d
2 No CF Card? On
Off When set to On the user will not be able to shoot without a CF card
3 ISO Auto Off
On Automatically adjust ISO (200-1600), disables HI-1 and HI-2 sensitivitie
s
4 Long Exposure NR Off
On Enables long exposure 'dark frame subtraction' noise reduction
5 File Number Sequence Off
On
Reset
6 Monitor Off Delay 10 sec
20 sec
1 min
5 min
10 min
7 Auto Meter-Off Delay 4 sec
6 sec
8 sec
16 sec
30 min The amount of time the exposure meter keeps (and displays) the e
xposure after a shutter release half-press. Also controls illumination lamp.
8 Self-Timer 2 sec
5 sec
10 sec
20 sec
9 EV Step 1/3 step
1/2 step EV steps used for shutter / aperture and exp. compen. selection
10 Easy Exp. Compen. Off: [+/-] & Command dial
On : Command dial only
11 Bracket Set AE & Flash
AE Only
Flash Only
WB Bracketing
12 Bracketing Order Meter > Under > Over
Under > Meter > Over
13 Assign Command Dial Off: Main=S, Sub=A
On: Main=A, Sub=S S stands for Shutter speed, A stands for Aperture
14 Assign AE-L/AF-L butt. AE/AF Lock
AE Lock only
AF Lock only
AE Lock hold
AF-ON Control the function of the AE-L/AF-L button
15 AE Lock Button AE-L/AF-L Button
+ Shutter button Require the shutter to be pressed as well as the AE-L/AF
-L button held
16 Illumination Off: Lamp On Switch
On: Any Button
17 Focus Area Select Off: No Wrap
On: Wrap When selecting AF points past the left or right extreme, wrap ar
ound
18 Focus Area Illumination Auto
Off
On
19 Grid Display Off
On Enables the 'on demand' gridlines on the viewfinder focusing screen
20 Dynamic AF, Single-Servo Off: Select AF Area
On: Closest Subject
21 Dynamic AF, Cont.-Servo Off: Select AF Area
On: Closest Subject
22 AF Assist Illuminator On
Off
23 Flash Mode D-TTL Auto Flash
Manual Flash
24 Anti-mirror-shock-mode Off
On When set to On the mirror opens half a second before the shutter
R Menu Reset Off
On