Nikon D1 - Retro Review
By 1999 professional digital sensors had been squeezed inside modified film SLR bodies for nearly a decade. Nikon broke this mould, the D1 was the first purpose-built DSLR. This pioneering model brought down the size and price for professionals, while enhancing user experience. This new segment became largely responsible for ending Kodak's reign in the professional digital camera market.
Nikon D1 + 50mm f/1.8 AF-D lens (early version)
Specifications
Date:
$ (inflation)::
Sensor:
Resolution:
Burst:
DR Stops:
P-Shutter
Shutter:
AF Points:
Video:
ISO:
OVF:
LCD:
Memory:
Data Cable:
Weight:
Battery:
1999 (June)
$5,500 ($10,500)
APS-C CCD
2.7 mp
4.5 fps / 4 frames
6.5 (12bit)
1/500th
30 sec - 1/16,000th
5 (1 cross type)
No
200 - 1600
0.8x / 96%
2" / 120k
CF I (up to 2GB)
Firewire 400
1.200Kg
~100 (EN4)
Build & History
The Nikon D1 is based on the format of the Nikon F5 (built-in vertical grip), but the styling was closer to the Nikon F100 (no removable prism). Unlike all digital SLRs before, the D1 was a uniquely digital design, allowing it to be smaller, stronger and with a more elegant power supply. Although Kodak and Fujifilm continued to make DSLRs the old way, with film cameras in the early 2000s, they used lower-end film models (often not including a vertical grip) and all stopped by the middle of the decade.
If you're a modern mirrorless user and think the D1 still looks large, you're right, although the Nikon Z9 is still bigger and heavier than this. However, for 1999 context, check out the Kodak DCS designs that preceded it. Prices of pro D-SLRs before the D1 were around $15,000 ($29,500 adjusted for inflation), but soon after they plummeted to desperately compete with the D1's $5,500 price tag ($10,500 today). Digital modified film SLRs didn't last long after proper DSLRs. Kodak was unable to compete with camera manufacturers and Fujiifilm tried using Nikon's DSLRs (instead of their film SLRs), but quickly realised that would not work.
You'd be forgiven for thinking that purpose build DSLRs already existed in 1999, with models like Nikon's E2/E2N that were partnered with Fuji (from 1995). However, they used Nikon F4 film bodies covered in a larger plastic chassis, but perhaps more importantly they were not technically even SLRs at all, since their small sensors did not look directly through the lens. Prior to the D1, all professional digital cameras were modified film bodies. These franken-cameras were ugly, awkward, bulky, heavy and very expensive.
Nikkor AF-D 85mm f/1.8 @ 1/100th, f/1.8, iso 320
Operation Greatness
Nikon's choice to dump the F5's idiotic locking mechanism for the on/off switch here was very wise. It pretty much required two hands to operate, which makes a digital camera pretty annoying to use. The poor Kodak DCS 760 is stuck with this, and it gets on your nerves pretty quickly. On the flip side, I really love the overly complicated, and hidden away memory card here. It's even more elaborate than the D2H here, requiring you to rotate the card ejection button to get the card out. That's after flipping out the panel that hides the door release. You don't want to get your card in a hurry often, at least not these days with big cards being relatively cheap, so I adore the very deliberately mechanical safety switches here.
Speaking of memory cards, Nikon came up with a genius method for formatting the memory all the way back in 1999 - holding down two buttons (on opposite sides of the camera), waiting for the screen to flash, releasing and then pressing the two buttons again. It's so quick and yet idiot-proof that I am amazed it's not standard practice today. Unfortunately, my mirrorless camera still requires me to go into the fricking menu to do this... so annoying!
Image Quality
Almost every aspect of digital photography has moved on in a quarter of a century, but you might be surprised how usable the Nikon D1 still is today. A few of these samples will show large when viewed on a PC with a high resolution monitor, so you'll be able to fully see the image quality on a big screen. You might expect the resolution to be the biggest issue, but I think the dynamic range (DR) is probably a bigger one.
Exposure values can only be nudged a little before encountering noise, and unfortunately the camera is too old to be supported in DxO pureRAW. You can change ISO from the base value of 200, but you probably shouldn't. If you push the shadows more than a stop you not only risk getting noise, but sensor banding as well, thus getting the exposure right in the camera is important. Fortunately, the metering on the Nikon D1 is extremely reliable.
The colours out of the D1 are just magical. These are some of the prettiest that I've seen in any digital camera. I know that sounds like a crazy subjective statement, especially given how old it is (and yes I am comparing this to the latest and greatest mirrorless cameras), but that's just the way they feel. My opinion is largely based on how well it copes with red squirrels fur in summer foliage (see above). The white balance is pretty great here too. Although I don't care too much what the camera thinks as I always shoot in RAW and adjust the temperature and tint for each image anyway, I have noticed that the D1 images need tweaking less than usual. I don't understand how this is possible. It's not even one of the early digital cameras that used a dedicated white balance sensor.
I thought RAW would be more important on these old cameras, but the dynamic range fits pretty well into an 8-bit JPG. Fun fact: The D1 was the first DSLR to shoot JPG, which makes sense when you look at the Kodak DCS 560. Sticking to JPG will help you with buffer speeds too, so it might be a better option for your shooting. TIFF (as always) is just a de-mosaic'd lossless file, so it's bigger than RAW with no real benefit and should generally be avoided.
A Quarter Century Of Progress
Nine years after the Nikon D1, the D3X had achieved 10 times the resolution and added 4 more stops of dynamic range (doubling 4 times = 16 times more sensitivity to light). From 2008 to now, the image quality gains have been tiny, but camera companies have innovated in many other meaningful way. We now have vastly improved autofocus, burst speeds (plus buffer depth), image stabilization and lens designs, so that we can appreciate the sharpness from these higher resolution sensors and carry around much less weight while doing so. All that said, these early cameras are still surprisingly capable, especially if posing to social media. The Nikon D1 & D3 models were huge milestones in camera imaging technology and are super fun budget options to play with today.
Nikkor AF-D 28mm f/2.8 @ 1/250th, f/5.6, iso 200
Focusing
If you shoot mostly with the single, centre point focusing, you'll likely be ok with the D1's autofocus. I assumed that going back to a focus system with only five points and using screw driven AF lenses it would be pretty lacklustre, but I was wrong. The focus accuracy and speed is very reliable. You can also use newer AF-S and G series hypersonic motor AF lenses fine here.
Speed
The 4.5fps burst speed might sound pretty impressive for 1999... and it is, but that's only for the continuous modes. Single shot mode will give you a single shot every 6.2 seconds and that's if you're using a fast solid state CF card, you can almost double that if you're using a Microdrive. Just to re-iterate, in single shot mode the camera is twenty-five times slower than it is in burst mode. For this reason, I leave the camera in continuous shooting mode and set the burst speed to 1fps. That's number 25 in the custom menu, by the way. If you're shooting RAW, you'll be lucky to get 4 images out of the buffer before it slows to 0.16 fps... ouch!
Nikkor AF-D 85mm f/1.4 @ 1/125th, f/1.4, iso 200
Mechanical Marvel
There are two mechanical features that will impress you, even today - maximum shutter speed (1/16000th) and flash sync (1/500th). These are still double what's on offer in the D6 for example. I really wish newer cameras had the higher shutter speeds for shooting fast lenses in bright conditions. This is something that you get on some mirrorless cameras in electronic shutter mode, but then you have to live with horrible rolling shutter, unless you're using an expensive stacked sensor. Although having this faster speed sounds great, the base ISO of 200 makes that redundant.
Screen
Looking at the rear colour LCD screen to view your images will be a bit of a shock these days. Its small size, low resolution and operating speed are poor by today's standards, but it works. You have to keep in mind that only a year or two before the D1, digital cameras did not have screens at all. It may take 10 seconds to properly show the image (depending on your card speed), but if you need to check your image, at least you can.
Menu
If you need to change something in the menu it's a little more "Stone Age" however. It essentially copies the system from the Nikon F5, using a separate LCD and buttons at the bottom left of the camera's back. A bunch of numbers represent a setting, which you'll need a chart to decipher. Then a second number represents its state (eg. 0=No, 1=Yes). There are about 30 options in this menu. It's kinda fun to see, but one of the things that ages the camera most. The use of this secondary screen is something that remained on future models, but how you interacted with it and what info it showed got much improved by the next generation.
Nikkor AF-D 24mm f/2.8 @ 1/400th, f/5.6, iso 200
Memory
Compact Flash (CF) cards are still sold today, although they are strangely expensive, even second hand. You'll need to find a 2GB or smaller sized card, which can be difficult. If you don't already have one lying around, you'll need to look for second-hand options, since these sizes are no longer made. A 2GB card will give you plenty of storage for the D1 (about 500 RAW files). If you're stuck with a 16MB card (like the old Nikon card, shown below) it's not so great. This will only hold 4 RAW files (or 16 fine quality JPGs).
Getting the images on to your computer today could also be tricky. I no longer had a CF reader, so had to buy a new multi-format one. I needed a USB-C reader anyway, so I didn't mind too much. The easiest way around this issue is to get a CF to SD card adapter (about £15). You can also use an SD to micro SD adapter (inside the CF to SD adapter), although the 2GB limit still applies.
Cable
Transferring your files directly from the camera is possible, but unfortunately the old FireWire 400 cables have not been used for a while, so you're unlikely to have these cables or connections on your computer, whether you're using a Mac or PC. There are FireWire to USB adapters, but I have no idea how well they work. This is not a rabbit hole I wanted to go down.
Battery
The original Ni-Mh type EN-4 batteries were pretty poor. Any original battery that was used will almost certainly no longer work. New 3rd party Ni-Mh and Li-ion versions exist, but in my experience the latter don't last as long, despite being the newer technology. We are used to pro DSLR batteries lasting thousands of shots and this is already true by the D2H/X series, so it's only really this first generation that was hamstrung on battery life. Some of this is due to battery technology and some is due to the camera's power efficiency. I was lucky (again) here and managed to find a new/old stock (BNIB) Nikon EN-4, which worked really well.
Either Ni-Mh or Li-Ion battery types will charge via the original MH-16 charger. This charger is harder to find second hand, so try to make sure you get a working one when you buy the camera, otherwise it might end up costing you more than the camera itself.
The rear of the D1, with original BM-1 LCD cover
Buying Used
If you would like to buy a Nikon D1 yourself, there are a few things to look out for. Unless you are lucky enough to find a new/old stock (BNIB) mint condition D1, it's likely going to have some wear. The D1 was mostly used by professional journalists. It was generally treated like a tank and often shows a great deal of external wear. It's also common for some smaller parts to be missing, so if you're after a complete set for a collection, check that the following items are included:
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The DK-14 eyepiece
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Rear LCD screen cover - the original was opaque (black)
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EN-4 battery
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MH-16 battery charger
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10-pin remote port cover
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Sync terminal cover
The latter two items are mostly generic and easy to find, but the others can be difficult to source. As far as I can tell the newer DK-17 viewfinder seems to fit the D1 just fine, it's just not a very cheap (£30). The transparent LCD cover (shown above) was an optional extra and isn't often seen with the camera. A Hoodman version was a little more common to see, but both are rare as rocking horse shit now. I was extremely lucky to find a new/old stock of this official Nikon BM-1 LCD cover and EN-4 battery.
Nikkor AF-D 85mm f/1.4 @ 1/250th, f/1.4, iso 200
Resolution
There is a rumour that the 2.7 megapixel Nikon D1/D1H and the 5.4mp D1X all used a 10mp sensor underneath. In the case of the first two, they apparently used a Sony A7SIII style quad-Beyer filter to reduce signal noise. If true that's mostly surprising from the perspective of the D1 coming out in 1999, although there is nothing you can do to extract that 10mp on those model (apparently you can for the D1X using Nikon Capture 4) so it's a little irrelevant. The 2.7 megapixel can sound rather obscure in 2024 compared to a modern high-end camera, so I combined a D1 image with an image from the Sony A1 (above) to illustrate.
Nikkor AF-D 85mm f/1.4 @ 1/200th, f/1.4, iso 200
Conclusion
Over a quarter of a century on, the Nikon D1 is a fascinating and fun camera to use. If you're used to any Nikon DSLRs (especially the pro models), you'll feel right at home here. The buttons and dials remained largely consistent over two decades. The card release door, mode dial, rear LCD and the way you format the card, were all firmly established here. The build quality and design are almost as top-notch as pros from later models have come to expect. Yes, the resolution and dynamic range are poor by today's standards, but they're probably not as bad as you've come to assume from years and years of "improvements".
It's obscure to think that something like the Nikon FM3A actually came out two years after the D1. Although this was actually a very advanced camera underneath (electronically & mechanically) it looks like something that would have come out many decades earlier.
More Squirrel Shots
Here are some more squirrels that I photographed on the Nikon D1. It's still a DSLR and a bit of a pain to use for squirrels due to a reliance on the optical viewfinder, but it's certainly not the worst DSLR that I've used for shooting them. It still has some of the best colours and the autofocusing has been extremely reliable for an old camera.
Nikon D1 vs Nikon FM3A