Physical size and toughness, good weather and dust seals. Great grips and easy intuitive controls. Fantastic picture quality, long battery life with very accurate power gauge. Wide compatibility with older Nikon kit. Huge range of Nikon and Nikon fit accessories, great used market for lenses etc. Fast operation lightning fast start up, focus and shot, very fast shot recycle time and blistering burst mode. Pro series line, built for hard use and a prolonged working life, much more so then other comsumer DSLRs. Used prices falling due to newer range of Pro cameras

For some the size and weight could be a problem, its an older model now and its not quite as good as the other news range of Pro camera like the S3 range. 12.34 Megapixel sensor with problems pushind to its maximum ISO 3200,

I am an advanced amateur, serious amateur or similar photographer. I have been covering local gigs and music festivals for the last 3 years, for fun and a lot of prints have been used by the local press for their festivals website and I have done some freelance work for the paper. Over the last 4 years I have moved from bridge cameras (Fuji S9600) to a Fuji S2 pro, briefly a Nikon D40 and now the Nikon D2x. First impressions are it is big. Big and heavy but it feels as solid as a brick and sits perfectly in my hands (I do have quite large hands) The S2 pro was a great camera partially because of the range of conrols available without having to use the menu. The D2x is better, there are fast control buttons everywhere, and looking at it they seem to be without reason, until you hold it then they are all in place, under a finger or thumb, the twin command dials are just right, everything falls into place and my biggest problem is unlearning where all teh Fuji buttons are. The camera is a delight to shoot, the grips are really good and deep enough to get a really good hold and keep the camera still and steady. The fact that the camera has a built in portrait grip and shutter just makes life easier (especially now I am only shooting portrait rotated one way, makes post processing a lot easier). So apart from that what does it shoot like, well its speed of operation can only be bettered by the newest range of Pro cameras. 5 - 8 frames per second depending on shooting mode and a big buffer make it hard to stop shooting. I have gone from 6-800 pics in a full day to 6-800 shots in 1 night! The camera produces pin sharp shots with excellent colour and depth at up to 640ISO over that a bit on noise starts to creep in. As a Pro in the Nikon range the build quality is amazaing, I don't think it will ever wear out and the Pro ranges have a better compatability with older Nikon kit. This camera is being used at gigs to photograph live bands under stage lighting conditions it is excellent, fast operation with very quick and accurate auto-focus with a high speed burst mode that out classes a lot of new cameras on the market. This is a really wide usage camera with its speed of operation and fast burst mode the camera is ideal for sports photography, and for the same reason wildlife photography. The quality of the images are easily good enough for weddings and anything else you could need it for. The seals on this machine make it nearly waterproof, it will certainly stand up to use in heavy rain and keep out dust or sand with ease.

Customer Service

Not had to bother the Nikon customer service, but I purchased it as a used ex-rental camera from Calumet photography UK. They have been great.

Similar Products Used:

Nikon D40 - Sold on because the small size and menu intensive settings didn't suit.
Fuji S2 pro - Now relegated to back up, great camera but reallly showing its age with problems focussing in low light and slow shot rate.

Incredible build quality and overall integrity of design.
Fast and accurate AF

None apparent

A lightly used example found on Ebay with only 3300 actuations and in near mint condition. Beautifully crafted with build quality on par with the very best. Accepts just about any Nikkor lens you may have in your bag from the distant past. It really is too much camera even for the demanding amateur and is best suited to professionals who need a top quality workhorse for daily use. Image quality is great and I have not yet experienced the noise problems encountered by other users - but then I seldom shoot faster than ISO400. Great battery life and ergonomically must be one of the best ever Nikons to hold and use - though with pro quality glass on the front it does weigh a ton. I am not sure what the Canon troll was getting excited about as the Nikon checks just about every box for the professional photographer and have heard very little negative feedback from my photojournalist friends who are all queing
up for the D3X!

Customer Service

Excellent

Similar Products Used:

Nikon D2X, Nikon D90

Megapixals, Megapixals, Megapixals. Solid construction, ability to shoot in multiple modes, great auto focus.

Noise at low ISO, I've seen noise at ISO 400 it starts to become a killer at about 800. Beyond this it's all good.

Overall, this is a great camera. Who should buy this camera? Professional that needs to have a lot of Megapixals at your disposal, that needs a solidly built camera. Who shouldn't buy this camera? Anyone that isn't going to make money from it, it has a whole lot of power, and is way overboard for someone wanting to go and shoot Juniors Pee-wee baseball game.

Similar Products Used:

D50, D300, D200

Great for a more advanced photographer and or for someone who loves technology and photography together.




FAVORITE LENS????

OH BOY, the flawless 85mm 1.4 !!!!!!!!!!!

Nothing is WEAK about this rugged, brilliant contraption, if anything... it stimulates your mind and gives you a great upper-arm workout!!

Okay, The D2Xs is the most ROCKINIST (like that description ?) camera ever. It is so advanced, sharp as hell, a kadrillion ways to shoot, settings are endless, high speed crop, battery life lasts forever, up to 8 frames a second, attention getter for sure.
My first love 13 years ago was the Mamiya 645 and she'll always be...
Nikon 35mm, cool,,, then the Nikon Coolpix 5700 ( first digital camera ) beautiful and brainless, a tiny Sony Cybershot (great for the pocket), finally I jumped in and sold some stocks ( lil scared ) and got my hands on this bad dog!!!!
THIS CAMERA IS THE MOTHERLODE OF ANY CAMERA I have ever rented or currentky own. From Los Angeles, I am currently in Las Vegas... a city who's growin' so dang fast that I needed a camera that is FASTER then this town. The D2Xs is a dream, I have NO IDEA what the negative review was all about?? 5 stars all the WAY!
In the beginning... I was working non-stop as a professional Make-up Artist for 15 yrs., loved working with directors, producers and photographers internationally. I GOT FED UP (being an artist, painter, make-up artist, illustrator, prop and art director, NTM a Cancer a.k.a. perfectionist, etc.) and decided I wanted to be my own BOSS. Basically, I had different/ grander visions, then the people I worked for.
I shoot Album covers, Product shots, Commercial/ Advertisement, Production stills, Food, Billboards, ETC,ETC, and Headshots/Portraitature for Celebrities , Artists, and Friends.


I am SO blessed to own this camera.

Customer Service

I love Samy's Camera in Los Angeles, really miss living around the block from them.





**

Only the build quality.

Image quality in terms of noise.

I have owned MANY MANY Digital Cameras.
Canon EOS 400d, 30d, 5d, 1d makr 2, and 1d mark 2N. Also Nikon D70, D70S, D2X and D2XS.
I would have to say that this new D2XS is the "WORST" camera ive ever owned in terms of quality for the price, and in terms of absolute image resolution and quality!.

Let me tell you that ANY CANON even as low as the 400d, as at aleast 1 stop better resolution and noise control than the D2XS.
Even at ISO: 100 on the D2XS you can still see noise.
Im critical about noise and do alot of testing when i get a new camera. Because for the price these cameras are (and for a photo hobbyist like myself) i DEMAND a top notch camera for the price, and lets be honest its the top of the range in the NIKON camp. So why wouldnt you expect that right ?

I was so disappointed that i took it back to the shop even prepared to loose $1800, and traded it in for the new Canon EOS 1D mark III.

Canon are leading the way in Digital Technology and Nikon have been way behind and are still way behind it seems.

The Canon Digital Cameras only start to show noise from like 400ISO and up which i think is REMARKABLE !!

Plus the new 1D mark III, is going to be the first digital SLR to have the 14 but A/D coversion for Image Procession and basically what that mean is instead of the normal 12bit all camera's have which produces 4,000+ tones per pixel, this new camera is 14bit and will produce a whopping 16,000+ tones per pixel !!

You may think this is all crap and big deal, well you buy both the cameras (Nikon D2xs and even just a 1d Mark 2N -- not even the new mark 3) throw a 50mm f1.8 lens on them and put them to 400 ISO and you will see just what i mean.

Customer Service

nikons customer service in australia is garbage !!
Canon bend over backwards for you, sen dyou out books, do free sensor cleans for the 1d camera's via CPS.

Similar Products Used:

see review above