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Nikon D2H

Nikon introduces an 8 frame/second speed demon, with WiFi connectivity and an amazing new flash system to boot!

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Page 11:Video, Power, Software

Review First Posted: 12/18/2003

Video Out
The D2H comes with an A/V cable for connection to a television set or VCR, and the video signal can be set to NTSC or PAL (at a slightly reduced resolution) through the LCD menu. This allows images to be played back on the TV screen and recorded to video tape, with all the menu options available.

 

Power
The D2H uses an EN-EL4 lithium-ion battery pack that communicates a variety of information to the camera. Both a battery and charger come with the camera. You can also purchase an EH-6 AC adapter separately (100-240 V AC) which is useful for saving battery power when working in the studio, or performing mundane tasks such as reviewing or downloading large numbers of images. An indicator on the status display panel lets you know approximately how much battery power is left and if no segments appear in the indicator at all, the battery is completely exhausted. (You can also view battery details through the Set-Up menu.)
The camera can also be run on mains power through a DC IN terminal located under a rubber cover on the left side of the camera. The battery pack is held in the camera by a latching cover that's normally attached to the battery itself, but which can be removed, making the battery fit into an equipment bag pocket more easily. In addition to the primary battery pack, there's also a small Lithium coin cell located in the top of the main battery compartment. (The coin cell apparently does nothing more than provide backup power to preserve camera settings and date/time data when the main battery is removed, so it should last more or less indefinitely.)

The special connections used between the D2H and EN-EL4 battery pack prevented me from performing my usual power-consumption measurements on the D2H, so I can't offer the sort of detailed power data I usually include here. I can give a general verdict based on my own experience with the camera though, based on having taken over a thousand shots with a prototype model at Nikon's "Gravity Games" press event, as well as at least that many shots captured while testing the prototype. The bottom line was that the D2H's battery pack still showed more than 50% charge remaining after over a thousand shots, including fairly heavy use of the rear-panel LCD. Based on this experience, I'd say that Nikon's claim of 2900 shots per battery charge are entirely reasonable - definitely what I would refer to as excellent battery life! While I usually strongly recommend purchasing a spare battery pack anytime you buy a digital camera, the D2H's battery life is so exceptional that I'll waive my usual recommendation. (Do note though, that low temperatures can significantly reduce battery capacity, so you may want to consider buying a spare battery if you anticipate much cold-weather shooting.)

 

Included Software
The D2H ships with the "Nikon View" software, which provides basic manipulation and cataloging capabilities for images captured by the camera, and which can interpret the raw CCD format "NEF" files. A much more advanced package called Nikon Capture is available separately, but I didn't receive a copy of it for testing. Users will also want to check out the third-party shareware applications Qimage and Bibble as well as commercial software like Phase One's Capture One (C1) and Adobe's Photoshop CS - all of which may offer support for the D2H in future versions since they currently support other Nikon cameras.

 

In the Box
Included in the box with the D2H are the following items:

  • Nikon D2H body with body cap and LCD monitor cover
  • Neck strap
  • EN-EL4 battery and charger
  • USB cable
  • Video cable
  • Nikon View CD-ROM
  • Nikon Capture 4 Trial Edition
  • Quickstart guide
  • Instruction manual
  • Registration kit



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