Nikon D2Hs Preview, February 2005, Phil Askey

The Nikon D2Hs was announced on 16th February 2005, it offers a range of improvements over the 18 month old D2H. The improvements appear to be split into two areas; firstly the camera's buffer has been increased and (possibly) also its method of buffering; the D2Hs can shoot continuously at eight frames per second for up to 50 JPEG frames (a 25% increase) or 40 NEF (RAW) frames (a 60% increase). The larger increase in RAW burst capability hints towards an improved buffering method and is twice the RAW buffer capability of Canon's EOS 1D Mark II. The second range of improvements appear to have been inheritited from the development of the D2X, these are things like support for sYCC color space, 3D Matrix Metering II and the higher resolution 2.5" LCD monitor. A summary of the changes and improvements compared to the D2H can be seen in the table below.

Improvements and changes compared to the D2H

Metering	3D Matrix Metering II	3D Matrix Metering
Autofocus	Faster subject acquisition and tracking algorithms	n/a
Continous shooting	• JPEG: 50 frames • NEF: 40 frames	• JPEG: 40 frames • NEF: 25 frames
ASIC Image processing	12 Bit	8 Bit
AWB improvements	• Low colour temperature lighting • Mixed ambient • Speedlight lighting	n/a
Colour space support	sYCC	n/a
EXIF compliance	• EXIF 2.21 • DCF 2.0 • DPOF	• EXIF 2.2
GPS	Yes	No
Wireless Remote Control	Yes	No
Wireless compatibility	• 802.11b/g (WT-2) • FTP • PTP/IP	• 802.11b (WT-1) • FTP
LCD monitor	• 2.5" TFT • 232,000 pixel • Flicker free	• 2.5" TFT • 211,000 pixel
Help Menu	Yes	No
Playback maginfication	15x	8x
RGB Histogram	Yes	No
Refined Histogram level representation	Yes	n/a
Menu languages	• JP • EN • FR • DE • ES • IT • NL • SV • Chinese • Korean (10)	• JP • EN • FR • DE • ES (5)
Recent Settings List (D2X)	Yes	No
World Time function	Yes	No
Modified vertical shooting buttons/ CF card door opening	Yes	No
Included Software	PictureProject 1.5	Nikon View
Nikon Capture Software version compatibility	4.2.1	4.0 to 4.2.1

(Many thanks for Nikon Europe BV for producing this table.)

JFET LBCAST sensor

Although there are several specification changes the D2Hs still features Nikon's unique JFET (Junction Field Effect Transistor) LBCAST (Lateral Buried Charge Accumulator and Sensing Transistor array) sensor which is similar to CMOS technology but achieves higher speed data transfer allowing the camera's impressive eight frames per second shooting rate.

Nikon states that this enables:

• Instant Startup
• Higher Speed
• Higher Resolution
• Lower Power Consumption
• Low Noise (Minimal Dark Noise)

WT-2 Wireless Transmitter

Another improvement which came at the time of the D2X announcement (September last year) is the WT-2 Wireless Transmitter. Compared to the original WT-1 it provides support for 802.11b and 802.11g wireless networks and PTP/IP remote capture control using Nikon Capture 4.2.

As you can see from the image above the WT-2 attaches to the bottom of the camera via a tripod screw, there are power connectors on the base of the camera, the WT-2 uses the camera's battery for power. Digital connection is made by a short cable to the camera's USB 2.0 port. In this image a standard 'button' aerial is screwed into the aerial socket but you can also use an extended range aerial which can be clipped to a backpack or jacket.

The D2Hs has wireless support built into its firmware, there is a setup page which allows you to define the connection used for upload as well as the image format (for example you can capture RAW+JPEG but just transmit the JPEG).

Preview Notes

This preview is based on standard press material supplied by Nikon, it is designed to provide as much detail as we can about the D2Hs at this point in time. Unfortunately Nikon couldn't make a camera available to us for a more detailed preview, thus no photos of our own or screen captures. As soon as we are able to produce a full preview or review of the camera we will replace this article.

If you're new to digital photography you may wish to read the Digital Photography Glossary before diving into this article (it may help you understand some of the terms used).

Conclusion / Recommendation / Ratings are based on the opinion of the reviewer, you should read the ENTIRE review before coming to your own conclusions. Images which can be viewed at a larger size have a small magnifying glass icon in the bottom right corner of the image, clicking on the image will display a larger (typically VGA) 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. We recommend to make the most of this review you should be able to see the difference (at least) between X,Y and Z and ideally A,B and C.

This article is Copyright 2005 Phil Askey and the review in part or in whole may NOT be reproduced in any electronic or printed medium without prior permission from the author. For information on reproducing any part of this review (or any images) please contact: Phil Askey