The Nikon D780 makes a strong case for the best full-frame DSLR you can buy. It’s the follow-up to 2014’s D750, a camera that was—and remains—extremely popular. While many of the specs haven’t changed dramatically on paper, is there enough in Nikon’s latest DSLR to warrant an upgrade? For most people, yes, but some photographers will be just fine sticking with the D750.
Key differences
D750
- 24 MP sensor
- 1080p video
- Live View contrast detection AF
- 6.5 fps continuous shooting
- Battery life of 1230 shots
- A movable LCD with 1.2 million dots
D780
- New BSI 24MP sensor
- 4K video
- Phase detection AF in live view
- 7 fps continuous shooting (12 in live view)
- Battery life of 2260 shots
- A movable LCD with 2.36 million dots
- It does not have a built-in flash
Sensor and processor
Nikon D780 Daven Mathies/Digital Trends
In terms of resolution, both the D750 and D780 offer 24 megapixels. However, the D780 uses a new BSI (back-illuminated) sensor with a double gain structure, which allows you to expand the ISO to 204,800 — 2 stops above the D750. The native ISO range is also improved, from 100 to 51,200, compared to the D750’s 100 to 12,800. Since we’re dealing with two full-frame sensors, neither system will disappoint when shooting in low light, but the D780 certainly has an edge over its predecessor.
The D780 also features an Exceed 6 processor, an upgrade over the Exceed 4 in the D750. In addition to producing images with less noise, it helps the D780 achieve a faster continuous shooting speed and perform autofocus for face and eye detection in Live View.
That’s not to say the D750 was bad at all. Its image quality holds up well today and won’t be noticeably different in most situations. Its viewfinder performance also remains competitive, though the D780 definitely jumps ahead for live view.
Autofocus
For viewfinder shooting, both cameras use the same Advanced Multi-CAM 3500FX II 51-point autofocus sensor. However, the D780 borrows an updated focusing algorithm from the flagship D5, which Nikon says means faster and more reliable autofocus. We’re dealing with good margins here (the D750 was already pretty good), but we noticed that the D780 offered excellent tracking performance in our testing — to what extent it outperformed the D750 is hard to say without a side-by-side comparison.
But in live view, the D780 really outdoes itself. Its new sensor is built with 273 on-chip phase-detection AF points, allowing for much faster performance than the D750’s contrast-detect live autofocus. Combined with the processing power of the Exceed 6, photographers can now enjoy features like face and eye tracking in Live View. The live view performance is so good, we found it almost always beats shooting through the viewfinder, except when it comes to quickly tracking an object.
Shooting performance
Even in 2014, the D750’s shutter performance didn’t surprise us. For a camera of its class – and then price – the maximum shutter speed of 1/4000 was a bit disappointing. Fortunately, Nikon has sped up the D780 by giving it the shutter mechanism from the professional D850, with a top speed of 1/8000 second. It’s great for working in bright light or shooting fast subjects, something sports and wildlife photographers will love.
But it didn’t just get faster. The D780 can also hold the shutter open more, up to an impressive 15 minutes, without switching to bulb mode. The D750 is limited to 30 seconds. This makes the D780 much more appealing to long exposure enthusiasts, such as landscape shooters and astrophotographers.
When it comes to continuous shooting speed, there isn’t much that separates the two cameras. The D750 tops out at 6.5 frames per second, just half a frame less than the D780’s 7 fps. That’s pretty mediocre in today’s market and certainly nothing to get excited about, but it’s still enough for most occasions. Need more speed? The D780 can achieve 12 fps in live view using a silent electronic shutter and 12-bit RAW.
Video
Back in 2014, we wrote that the D750 had “excellent 1080p video recording.” It’s still true, but in a world where 4K has become the standard, it sounds a bit dated.
This happened at a time when Nikon was rarely part of the conversation when it came to the best video cameras. God, how times have changed. The D780 inherits more or less the same video mode as the mirrorless Nikon Z 6, and that’s a good thing. Records 8-bit 4k video (3840 x 2160) at 24 or 30 fps internally or 10-bit to an external HDMI recorder. When shooting outdoors, you also have the option of using Nikon’s N-Log flat color profile to preserve greater dynamic range, great for those who don’t mind spending some time color correcting their footage in post. The D780 also shoots 1080p at 120 fps for 5X slow motion playback at 24p.
The D750 has a recording limit of 20 minutes, while the D780 records up to 30 minutes. Both cameras have a built-in stereo microphone and the ability to connect an external microphone for better sound quality as well as a monitoring headset.
To shape
The design and functionality of the cameras are not too different. The D780 looks a little less like a brick, but it’s still a DSLR. The top dials remain the same, although a new ISO button has been added for quicker access without taking your eye off the viewfinder.
Nikon D750 Image used with permission of the copyright holder
At first glance, the back of the cameras look identical. But if you look closely, you’ll see that the live view button has been moved from the bottom right to the top right of the viewfinder. This made room for the information button on the D780. The AE/AF lock button has been moved a bit lower on the D780, making room for a dedicated AF-On button. These are minor but appreciated tweaks — we just wish Nikon had included an AF joystick.
Not surprisingly, the weight of both cameras is almost identical. The D750 weighs 29.5 ounces while the D780 weighs 29.6 ounces, so it weighs a little more despite ditching the built-in flash. The D780 is also slightly larger in every dimension, though it’s hard to tell.
Battery and storage
DSLRs are known for their long battery life, and the D750 was best in class in 2014 with a battery rated for 1,230 exposures. Not content to leave it well enough alone, the D780 pushes that to 2,260 exposures (though the lack of a built-in flash gives it an advantage in the official CIPA battery test).
Both cameras also have two SD card slots, useful for backup, streaming or separate RAW+JPEG recording. The only slight difference is that the D780 reads higher speed UHS-II cards, as opposed to the D750’s UHS-I. High-speed cards will help clear the image buffer faster during continuous shooting, and can also transfer files to your computer faster to save time during import.
Also helping to reduce import times is the D780’s USB-C port, which is many times faster than the older D750’s USB 2 port.
Time to upgrade?
A cursory glance at the spec sheet might not show it, but the D780 is certainly a vastly improved version of the D750 — and it should be, given the amount of time that’s passed. But for photographers who don’t need advanced video or live view capabilities, the D750 remains a good camera.
If you don’t currently own a D750 and are debating between it and the D780, we definitely recommend the latter. However, at the time of writing, you can get the D750 for $1,500, while the D780 costs more than $2,300. That’s a significant price difference that’s worth it if you can afford it, but that extra $800 could also go toward a good lens.
The point
Buy the D780 if you shoot both stills and video, or you might benefit from its better Live View performance. Eye detection is a game changer for portraiture, especially at wide apertures.
Buy (or keep) the D750 if you don’t need live view, don’t care about video, or enjoy the ability to remotely fire Nikon Speedlights using the built-in flash.
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Categories: GAMING
Source: newstars.edu.vn