Making Friends with the Nikon D750

The box that arrived from LensRentals three days ago contained a Nikon D750 (currently on sale for $400 off at $1,897; that's normally the price for the D610, which is on sale for $500 off) and a copy of the new Tamron SP 35mm ƒ/1.8 Di VC USD ($599).

The next day's LensRentals box brought two Sigma 35mm ƒ/1.4 DG HSM Art lenses ($899, which is a chunk of change except that's very cheap for its specification—an AF full-frame 35mm ƒ/1.4 lens). They're identical except that one fits Nikon F mount and the other fits Sony A mount. I had in mind doing an evolution-of-FF tryout between the long-in-the-tooth 2008 24-MP Sony A900 and the new 24-MP D750. Predictably (I say that because I predicted it!), we have not had one spot of sunlight since the first box arrived, which annoys me, but then, it is Winter in New York, so what did I expect?

I've only got a few days with this stuff anyway, which is enough for tryouts but not tests. (When I used to write camera reviews, my personal standard was that I had to use the camera for 90 days, exclusively and for real work, before I'd write about it. Ah, youth.)

The lineup that doesn't quite line up
Even before seeing one in person, I considered the D750 the top recommendation among all Nikons. That doesn't mean this is an easy or sensible recommendation, however; Nikon's full-frame lineup is quite confused. It has the D4S (currently $500 off at $5,997), soon to be superseded by the D5; the D810 ($2,797), its 36-MP pixel-leader-o'-the-moment and a hunka hunka burning love (sorry; I mean it's a big ol' dragoon); the faux-retro Dƒ ($2,747 at the moment), which is apparently soon to go the way of all digital things, as end-of-lifecycle discounts have been doing the Whack-A-Mole dance recently; and then the D750 and the D610 (currently on sale for $1,497 and Nikon's best bargain in a FF camera), which are sorta the same but sorta aren't.

You get the feeling these days that Nikon's lineup is designed by a committee, but that the committee no longer meets. As if everybody's thinking straight but nobody's talking to anyone else. The only point of clarity in the FF range is that the D4S is targeted at pros. Beyond that, the D810 is for landscapes and product shots, sorta; the D610 (which I actually like quite a lot but which, as the D600, had a rocky intro with some well-publicized problems) is the entry-level FF; and the Dƒ is the camera that encapsulates Nikonish befuddlement in one body, because it's a retro dials-'n'-buttons buttons camera but a modern all-electronic camera as well. It comes off as not both but neither, a hybrid Frankenidea like a calf born with two heads or some other metaphor of DNA gone wrong. (While remaining a capable camera, of course; it's still a Nikon.) The distinction between the D610 and the D750, in terms of lineup placement, seems inherently difficult to parse. The difference in features between the two is modest (Imaging-Resource has the best comparison page). The biggest difference I notice is the D750's articulated viewing screen.

There's nothing wrong with any of these cameras, I hasten to add. It's just that as a product lineup it's pretty muddled. Nikon never lacks for competence, but recently seems lacking in clarity and, dare I venture to say it, confidence. Or it could be that the lineup suffers in comparison to Sony's bold A7 line, in which the various models each have unusual clarity of purpose.

Well and good
But down to the D750. It's named to conjure the famous D700 from 2008, which our readers in a poll some time back settled on as the #1 best-loved camera of the digital era. For some inexplicable reason, Nikon orphaned the D700. And the D300. When anyone would have thought that follow-ups to both those stalwarts would have been no-brainers. The D750 isn't entirely a logical D700 successor. It's been too many years, for one thing, and, as Thom Hogan points out, the D750 probably has the wrong sensor: to be a D700 heir it should have the one from the Dƒ. Not that there's nothing wrong with the sensor it has.

But I think it serves well enough as a D700 successor in spirit, as it's the current all-rounder FF Nikon that's best targeted at enthusiasts. Well and good.

It's impossible to unlearn what you already know, so I can't guess how the D750 would "present" to someone who's new to Nikon DSLRs or just new to DSLRs in general. They're very familiar to me. As a consequence the controls were mostly already familiar and the camera fell right to hand.

First handshakes with the D750 in the dark and changey weather.
Tamron SP35mm lens.

Nikon builds SLRs, and it is very good at building SLRs, and the D750 is a very good Nikon. It's a pleasure to hold, to look through, and to photograph with. Everything works a treat. It's loud. It has a flip-up viewing screen (I like those). Given time, you'd gradually fill in your knowledge of whichever controls aren't immediately apparent, and the controls you use most often would become second nature. The D750 is quite wonderful. It feels like a privilege to be using it every time I pick it up.

Making friends
The point I wanted to make today—forgive me if I go overboard here in the daily struggle to express myself—is that when you first try a new camera, I think a measure of respect for the process—for the experience—is appropriate. It's just a camera, so nothing about the experience is all that crucial. But, psychologically, you're at a vulnerable stage. You're calibrating broadly, and big missteps or mistakes or frustrations are going to loom larger than they should in your evolving appraisal. What I try to do, if I can, is to make sure that my first experience of a new camera is a positive one. If possible, I use a lens that's already familiar to me; I take some time to sort out the controls, and make sure I have the basic settings all configured correctly and that I know how to do things I'm likely to want to do right off the bat, like change the aperture or apply exposure compensation or switch to manual focus; I make sure the battery's charged and the card is fresh.

And I wait for good light and a relatively target-rich shooting location. The point is that your first experiences are going to go a long way toward setting your first impressions of the equipment, and it's sensible to make sure your first impression is a positive one. Even if you have to wait a few days.

Don't "stress" the camera right away by going directly to a test of whatever extreme capability it's supposed to be better at than the competition, or, worse, don't immediately test the feature the Internet tells you is weak or suspect. You know what a camera needs to shine: good light, middle apertures, low or medium ISO, subjects that are easy to focus on. Feed it what it wants and let it please you from the start. Make demands gradually. You'll make friends more easily that way.

Because it doesn't matter which camera you use, but it does matter that you enjoy using it and that you come to trust it. Doing good work helps your fluency with your equipment, and fluency with your equipment helps you do good work. Of course it doesn't matter so much with a brief tryout using a rental, but it certainly does when you've been saving for six months to buy an expensive camera you hope to use for several years, and it just arrived and you have it in your hand for the first time. In that case especially, what you want with your new camera, like Bogart said at the ending of Casablanca, is "the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

Hey, look—the weather's clearing up! I'd better get outside.

Mike

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(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

Lorne Black: "I think you are describing the difference between the lust for new equipment and actually using it as intended. Once money changes hands there is often a bit of buyer’s remorse. With cameras, the best way to battle that is to attach a favourite lens and make some photos.

"As to Nikon’s Dƒ, I see it from the other direction. In the ’60s and ’70s most SLRs looked pretty much same, slab sided and with sharp edges. Currently, DSLRs look pretty much the same with softer, rounded edges. Shape has nothing to do with capability though it can affect how comfortable it is to hold. Control layout may be good or bad, but the camera style has little impact. After eight years with my trusty D200, and with no D400 in sight, I was on the verge of buying a D800. But for about the same money the Dƒ offered the D4 sensor in a style I preferred. Admittedly, owning an F2, F3HP, and FM3a does influence my thinking. After two years and 20,000 frames I still find it an amazing bit of kit."

jerry roebuck: "When you have the time, and of course if it interests you, I would be very keen to know how easily this camera works with AI lenses. (I'm an old geezer with some very good Nikkor glass...and failing eyesight, so ease of focus is high priority.) Thank you."

Mike replies: With limited time with the equipment I'm unable to try everything. The D750 with AI lenses is something I'm unlikely to get around to because I'm not interested in it myself. Generally, my position for years has been that it's best to use cameras with the lenses they were designed to be paired with. I've had to modify that position since mirrorless came along, but I still stick to it pretty firmly personally.

I think I'd probably encourage you to switch to AF, Jerry, even if you have to trade a lot of older lenses for only two or three current ones. I often say that I lived at the perfect time to be a photographer. There are many reasons for that, but one of them is that the various automated focusing aids came along at the right time for me. As I got worse at focusing, cameras got better at it. Sweet. If you have problems focusing, the technological solution for you exists and is very effective and convenient, so I'd say you might as well take advantage of it.

Anders responds to jerry: "Kirk Tuck recently posted about using manual focus lenses on modern DSLRs."  

Thom Hogan responds to jerry: "The Dƒ is the best of the Nikon DSLRs if you're going to try to manually focus them via the focus screen. It's mildly better than the rest due to some small focus screen changes.

"However, remember that the AF indicators still work on all Nikon DSLRs when you manually focus. They even tell you which way to turn the top of the focus ring on AI lenses  ;~)  ."

Roger Engle: "I'd be curious to see B&W conversion comparisons between the D750 and X-T1, having heard that both do pretty well."

Mike replies: That's something I'm curious about too. I'll try if I have time.

Chris: "An incredible camera package, no doubt. I don't see the Nikon 35mm ƒ/1.8G ED lens getting much attention online. It's an excellent performing lens, on par with the Sigma in sharpness. You can couple it with a D810 and have a camera package that is actually lighter (by 230g) than the D750/Sigma combo. A light, capable lens on a D810 is nice alternative to consider for anyone's hard-earned $."

Bob Gary: "We need a paragraph or two like that with every camera manual we get so we don't get disappointed. If we applied those evaluations every time we approach any human tool, their usefulness would be so much more rewarding...."

Comments

[k4kafka]

So if you're only shooting pictures of rocks...Nikon. "rocks" ?

[But that's a great rock. I'm going to take a better picture of that rock some day. --Mike]

[Dalton]

Those Sigma Art lenses are gems. I hope the examples you're testing are as bright and sharp as mine. I've been using the Sigma 35mm Art lens and a Nikon D800 almost exclusively for the last 2 years and it's one of my favorite combos ever.

[Daniel]

When you check out these various new cameras, can you check how they are focusing older manual focuse lenses?
Too many of the new cameras are nearly impossible to focus with older lenses. Using the rear screen and magnifying to check focus is not feasible with moving subjects.
Still wish Nikon would make interchangable viewfinders as we had with the top Pro film camera bodies.

[Crabby Umbo]

Weirdly enough, I have at least two people on my staff with D750's, and one is kind of luke warm about it and one doesn't like it at all and thinks she should have bought Canon, for the reason you state above about confusion in the camera line. She says for the type of work she freelances on, about 90% of her competition use some permutation of the Canon 5D. Both can't believe that the report came out that Nikon users thought the D750 was the bomb; both thought that that they could have as easily got on with the D610 for less money...Interesting.

[Kefyn Moss]

Doing good work helps your fluency with your equipment, and fluency with your equipment helps you do good work.

Spot on Mike. The head space you're in is far more important than the equipment you use in doing good work but if you like the camera that helps the head space. I like my camera to be invisible but I still like it to be a nice bit of gear though!

I liked my D700 a lot but moved on (eventually to Fuji) when no successor was apparent. Having sold all my nikon gear years ago, the D750 came way, way too late, and for me that has been a very good thing.

[BH]

Not sure I understand all the confusion about Nikon's lineup. Thom Hogan seems to specialize in complaining about things. Compared to Canon the 610 is the 6d, the d750 is the 5d3. The d810 is the 5ds. The d4s is the 1dx. The only outlier is the Df, which was released as kind of a specialty/throwback attempt.

I've extensively used both the d750 and the 5d3. I prefer the build and some of the controls of the 5d3, but the d750's files are hard to beat. They're both really good cameras.

[Bryce Lee]

I have had "many" Nikon DSLR's and none of them felt like either my Nikon F3 or the subsequent Nikon F100.

Film processing locally is difficult to obtain; especially for E6 (and slides).
Digital just didn't cut it.

Until my local brick and mortar shop here in Burlington Ontario suggesteed I try a D750. It was not a 600 series, it was not an 800 series and it was not that awful DF. It has a wonderful deep grip, which no other Nikon exhibits and it is full-frame, most important!

Have had not real need to use the tilt screen although for some it could be useful. The D750 is not intended for video, for me.

For me it is a keeper. Even purchased a new 50mm f/1.8 lense to use with the camera.

Tried a Fuji mirrorless for two weeks, hated it and returned it to the dealer and sold it. At a loss. Too small for me; it didn't feel like a man's camera.

I enjoy a camera with heft, one that will knock out an intruder to my house with one blow if need be. And then photograph the scene afterwards without trouble.

[robert quiet photographer]

I'm so tempted by that Nikon DF (i'm nostalgic, I know) which in conjunction with that Sigma 35/1,4 Art should be my ideal camera...
robert

[Matt]

Good point about getting to know the camera gradually and not stressing it.

However, I disagree the d750 is the d700 successor.

For instance, the d750 doesn't have a dedicated AF-on button (which I use constantly), it doesn't have dedicated AF switches, its sync speed is worse... The lack of these controls makes the d750 an amateur camera to me.

Not a bad body but for less money you buy a used d700 which still is a more complete machine.

[Well, I don't think you read me quite right. I'm saying the D750 has the gestalt but doesn't get the details quite right. --Mike]

[Thom Hogan]

@BH: well, I'd complain about Canon's lineup, too, if I were a Canon shooter ;~)

@jerry roebuck: the Df is the best of the Nikon DSLRs if you're going to try to manually focus them via the focus screen. It's mildly better than the rest due to some small focus screen changes. However, remember that the AF indicators still work on all Nikon DSLRs when you manually focus. They even tell you which way to turn the top of the focus ring on AI lenses ;~).

@chris: bingo. The 35mm f/1.8 is an overlooked gem. Not perfect by any means, but really well balanced in terms of its optical attributes, and quite sharp on the 36mp cameras.

[Antonio Ramirez]

I believe the Df gets a bad rap mostly from people who have not used one for any significant period of time. The image quality is astonishingly good. Although not compact, it is significantly smaller than the D4 or D810 and still smaller than the D750 or D610. The retro dial design actually works quite well if you use lenses with aperture rings. That is how I use mine, and the shooting experience (save for the difference between the through the lens and window finders) is remarkably similar to shooting my M-P 240 Leica. The only thing I would change would be to allow for interchangeable screens (to allow use of a split image focusing aid for manual focus).

[psu]

The confusion (and Hogan's complaints) about the mid-end of the Nikon line mostly stem from Nikon not continuing the D700 (and D300) body and control style in the pro line. If you want the smaller "pro" body all there is is the D800/810, but then you are also buying 36mp frames... the D600/610/750 bodies all have the down-market "consumer" control style, which maybe you don't want if your other body is a D4 or D800. To me this seems needlessly confusing, but I got off the train (for Olympus, which BTW probably has an even worse control setup then the consumer Nikons, oh well. At least the stuff is small.) after D700 anyway because I got tired of carrying the giant camera everywhere. Still, I like the D700/D300/D800-style handling more than the D610/750.

Canon seems to have a bit more design unity in their mid and higher end cameras, maybe? I'm not sure, I've never used them extensively.

Some day when I retire to take location photos all over the world in my leisure time maybe I'll get whatever the D800 is then. Or maybe the iPhone will do everything by then. 😃

[Bob Rosinsky]

Thanks for this thoughtful Sunday afternoon read. Wisdom is welcome--it helps shed light on the day of the longest night of the year.

[Chuck Albertson]

I'll be interested in your take on the D750, as I recently acquired one myself (and like it a lot so far). If any of your tech staff fall idle, Thom Hogan says Nikon released a firmware update (1.10) for the beast last week.

[MHMG]

I'll put in a plug for the much maligned Df. Camera reviewers seem to be very critical of it, dismissing it as a botched attempt to appeal viscerally to aging baby boomers waxing sentimental about our first film cameras (F, F2,F3, FE, FM,etc), when it fact many users like me believe the Df has far more to offer than that. I own a D810 as well, and the DF complements the D810 as a second camera body better than pairing a D810 with a D750 for D610 despite how seemingly different they are in outward design. Both Df and D810 use the two button AF/AE setup on the back whereas the 610 and 750 have a one button arrangement. Both use the same round eyepiece that I fit with the Dk-17m magnifier, so I don't feel a difference when putting either up to my eye. I cradle the bulk of the camera/lens weight in the palm of my left hand, so blocky grip (D810) or petite grip (Df) is largely irrelevant to me. D810 with Zeiss primes is my go to camera for landscape photography and big prints on my Canon iPF8300. Df combined with small AIS primes is my kit for nimble unobtrusive street shooting. It's film camera appearance and smaller size seems to phase folks on the street far less than any modern big rig dSLR, and while I like my Fuji X100 for this type of photography as well, the X100 largely stays home now that I own a Df.

As for those hybrid controls the reviewers love to hate? The Df lays out ISO, EV compensation, and shooting modes in a pretty straightforward manner. If anything, my challenge is moving back to the more buried and complex control interface of the D810, but even there, it's not a big deal. These two Nikons play really nicely together, IMHO.

[Earl Dunbar]

Thanks for this, Mike. It's so easy to lose site of the fact that a camera or camera/lens combination one has used for years, decades even, has become a part of you. When I recently got my X-Pro1, I felt lost at sea. I still feel that way much of the time, but I did have the sense to introduce something familiar as a bridge.

I mounted my Zuiko 28/2.8 and set a custom b&w mode. Not that manual focusing on an X-Pro1 is optimal (especially in lower light where the X-Pro EVF struggles) but it gave me sort of comfort zone. Once I made a photo that I liked, even if imperfect, I relaxed enough to stop fighting the camera and the feeling that "this isn't going to work, it's not the camera for me."

[David Comdico]

I purchased a D810 after the recent price drop. I handled a D750 but it felt a little flimsy to me. The D810 is a workhorse, albeit with a few quirks. It's probably the most tool-like of my cameras. I don't love it but I love the pictures it takes.

With D or AI/S lenses the D810 is not really that bad, size or weight-wise. I installed a DK-17M with a DK-19 eyecup and the viewfinder is now more like my F100 and a bit better for manual focus. The rangefinder is nice too. I'm sure both are equally true for the D750.

The Sigma 35 Art turns the D810 into a beast. I wish it was lighter but it is totally useable wide open where it has a very interesting look. It might be a tad too clinically sharp stopped down, but that's probably just me as I think this is precisely the quality for which the lens is praised.

I considered the Tamron too so I'm looking forward to the future post(s) on these lenses.

[Rob L.]

The D750 is a great camera, and if that had been around when i got the D600....I may not have a Fuji now as well:) But, I did get that Fuji, and then an XT-1, so although the Sigma 35 + D600 combo is brilliant, I went with the Fuji 16 1.4 over the Sigma 24 1.4. Curious if much of the audience that would have been drooling over the D750 2 years back already moved to Fujis and Sonys. That said, once the great depreciation hits, it would be a great 'Last Big Nikon' to use my Nikkor glass with - that grip is so dang nice!

[Matt]

[Well, I don't think you read me quite right. I'm saying the D750 has the gestalt but doesn't get the details quite right. --Mike]

Agreed, but then, why would one pay so much for a body which is 'not quite it'. At this price, things should be done right.

Someone shooting professionally / frequently will feel restricted by this body.
On the other hand, someone shooting occasionally will not be happy with its price.
So for whom is this d750?

Compared to the d700, the d750 got a newer sensor but its operability / functions got cut back. I guess anyone who's used the d700 intensively will be bothered more by what's missing in the d750 than what is new.

[The confusion (and Hogan's complaints) about the mid-end of the Nikon line mostly stem from Nikon not continuing the D700 (and D300) body and control style in the pro line. If you want the smaller "pro" body all there is is the D800/810, but then you are also buying 36mp frames... the D600/610/750 bodies all have the down-market "consumer" control style...]

Exactly my point.

[Antonio Espino]

Your title - "Making Friends . . ." I purchased a Nikon Coolpix, it was certainty NOT my "friend." The camera stopped working after about one year. Found out that I would pay more on fixing it and shipping. What a waste of $$!
I consider any Nikon my "enemy." My friend currently - Canon.