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The current
market for smartphones is cornered by Android and iOS, but Windows Phone continues to
climb positions. The secret of its success terminals are cheap but with good
looks, and an operating system that ensures that even the lowest possible
hardware will fully fluid.
Here you can
see the collection of the best Windows phones of the moment, divided into
categories so that you easier to choose your terminal. All often share be made
with polycarbonate premium house brand (resistant, interchangeable covers and
in which fingerprints are not), with Clear Black display technology and cameras
that even the low-end models take pictures better than anyone competition at
the same price. Even Carl Zeiss optics and optical image stabilization have
reached the mid-range Lumia 830.
Windows 10 After the
summer will begin to get the upgrade to Windows 10, and is an update that
Microsoft will all current phones with Windows Phone 8.1. No Lumia will be left
behind and outdated.
Of course,
since Microsoft ensure that phones with 512 MB may suffer a cut in the support
some features, but are determined by concrete terminals rather than a
limitation depending on the amount of memory on the phone.
Economic The
advantage of Windows Phone on Android is that the operating system allows a
maximum advantage of the hardware, and in comparison, a terminal with
"only" 512MB of RAM work as fluid as a 1GB Android phone. The
difference lies in developing applications in C, a programming language
optimized, Java against his feature "same code multiple platforms"
has always weighed her performance.
The Lumia
532 is a pretty complete phone for the low end. With Windows Phone fluidity
that provides this type of phones, with 1 GB of RAM and Snapdragon 200
processor has more than enough not to disappoint any user who wants a cheap
phone for calls, surf the Internet, use WhatsApp and other tasks basic.
The camera
has a good quality despite being 5 megapixels, and autonomy allows you to take
a day with heavy use. It is a complete phone, without great fanfare but
economic.
Qualcomm
Snapdragon 200 1 GB / 8 GB 4 '', 800 x 480 pixels (234 dpi) D 1560 mAh 118.9 x
65.5 x 11.6 mm Yes 5MP / VGA amazon
flag-ES99 EUR
The Lumia
630 is a great terminal with which to enjoy Windows Phone 8.1, with the most
useful assistant Cortana and other improvements. It is a fluid terminal, and
that being Windows Phone hardware works best with a "less" powerful.
A great phone for beginner’s smartphones or Windows Phone.
It is quite
ergonomic, has a design that I like Nokia, housing and high quality plastic
comes in multiple colors (usual in the Finnish company). It is suitable for
those who want a safe and secure terminal and access to the services of
Microsoft. Currently has little to envy of Android or iOS.
The Galaxy
S6 has already seen the light. It is one of two new models of high-end phones
that Samsung has presented at the start of Mobile World Congress. The Galaxy S6
(normal screen, not curved) is the best of the Korean company to improve its
image in terms of design and use of materials in phones. He has succeeded.
Design and
measurements: The Galaxy
S6 represents, compared to its predecessor, the Galaxy S5, a change of air. It
presents a fresh and refined design. It is higher than the Galaxy S5, narrower
and thinner. It is also less heavy. The plastic is dead for the high-end
Samsung. This new model has a whole body made of metal, in the style of Apple
or HTC.
The new
Galaxy has measures 143.3 x 70.8 x 6.9 mm and weighing 132 grams, while its
predecessor boasts measures 142 x 72.5 x 8.1 mm and weighs 145 grams. The
Galaxy S6 is then thirteen grams lighter than the Galaxy S5.
Display: The interesting
thing about the new measures is that Samsung has managed to adapt to these new
dimensions a screen of 5.1 inches, ie, the same size as the Galaxy S5. Although
in both mobile screen is the same size in the new phone integrate a higher resolution?
The Galaxy
S5 had a good "display" Super AMBLED of 1,920 x 1,080 pixels with a
density of 432 pixels per inch. The Galaxy S6 is set to the height of the
Galaxy Note 4, which boasts a spectacular display. The new smartphone from
Samsung has a Super AMBLED screen QuadHD 2560 x 1440 pixels with a density of
577 pixels per inch.
Processor
and camera: Samsung is
leaving Communal Snapdragon chip with the Galaxy S6, and has decided to return
to the Exons. This model integrates a Exynos 7420 eight-core, combined with 3GB
RAM. According to performance tests by "Computer Base", this
processor is a beast, that far exceeds its nearest competitors.
As for the
camera, but maintains the improved 16MP lens aperture, which is now of f / 1.9.
Also incorporates an optical image stabilizer, something that lacked the Galaxy
S5, which in theory should improve stability in taking pictures and videos.
It loses ... The Galaxy
S6 has had to sacrifice some of the key aspects of Samsung. For example, the
phone memory can not be expanded with microSD cards, as has happened so far.
The mobile applies the model that Apple is already an expert: launch several
models with different internal capacity, but closed. The Galaxy will enter S6
models: 32GB, 64GB and 128GB. Yes, like much, but for example, the Galaxy S5, a
user could purchase the 16 GB version, but extend up to 128 GB with external
cards. The Galaxy S6 lose that flexibility.
In line with
the "flexibility" for the user is away from the battery. The phone
includes a battery of 2,550 mAh, less amperage than the Galaxy S5 (2800 mAh).
But it not only lost milamperios, but a battery that can not be removed.
Many users
prefer the interchangeable battery Samsung because, instead of waiting to
recharge the used battery, a load changed and there was no problem. Samsung
wants to solve this problem and has enabled the Samsung S6 function ultra fast wireless charging. The battery charge in 10 minutes enough to use your mobile
for four hours energy.
The other
feature that loses is the IP67 certification, ie is no longer resistant to dust
and water. This was one of the best features of the Galaxy S5 and loses his new
brother. The mobile will no longer be submerged in water up to one meter of
water for 30 minutes.
While we don't know anything for sure about the HTC One M9 (other
than the fact that it's coming and is probably codenamed Hima), it's
going to be a massive deal - will it be the best Android phone of 2015?
Mooted
specs include: a QHD display, a Snapdragon 810 processor, 3GB of RAM, a
waterproof body and more megapixels in the camera, making the One M9
one of the highest-specification phones on the market. Updates: A new photo of the phone has appeared, a shot supposedly taken with the camera and a benchmark has given up a number of specs.
Cut to the chase
What is it? HTC's next flagship smartphone
When is it out? Launch event set for March 1
What will it cost? Likely at least £549 / $649 / AU$849
HTC One M9 release date
HTC has sent out invites to an event on March 1 at MWC 2015 in Barcelona, and it's almost certainly going to unveil it's next flagship smartphone here.
One M9 or HTC Utopia?The
invite reads "utopia in progress" - possibly a hint at the name for the
flagship phone, or perhaps it's another new camera mode HTC has
developed.
What we do know is we'll be there, reporting live on the event so you get all the latest news as it breaks.
News and rumors
The
most recent rumors regarding this new phone seem to make the most
sense: the HTC One M9 will have an octa core Qualcomm 810 Snapdragon
chipset at the heart, according to recent benchmarks - which saw it
score over 20% better results compared to the One M8.
This dovetails with rumours from retired leaker @upleaks,
saying the new HTC phone will have 3GB of RAM and an octa-core 64-bit
Snapdragon 810 processor, with four cores running at 2.0GHz and four at
1.5GHz, allowing it to switch between them depending on what it's doing,
using the slower cores to conserve battery when the extra power isn't
needed.
Further rumors have corroborated and smoothed these early specs: from a source speaking to Bloomberg
stated that there will be a 20MP snapper on the back and an UltraPixel
one on the front (probably 4 UltraPixels but that's not specified).
The 20MP camera theory has been made ever more likely as a picture, apparently snapped by the One M9, has made its way onto the web, detailing a 16:9 20MP photo.
The source goes on to say that the HTC One M9 / Hima will include Dolby 5.1 audio technology.
A rumor from GforGames
states the HTC One M9 might have a MediaTek processor rather than a
Qualcomm one, but if it does that will likely be a regional version for
China and possibly some other markets but not the whole world.
While
it's possible that all versions will sport it we'd be surprised, as
MediaTek chips tend to be cheaper and less powerful than Qualcomm's.
More likely if this is on the cards at all it will be for developing
markets.
Unsurprisingly it's rumored to run Android 5.0 Lollipop but that's hardly a surprise - imagine if it launched on KitKat?
In
terms of power, it will apparently have just a 2840 mAh battery, but
that's still an upgrade on the One M8's power pack and combined with a
more efficient processor it could get the job done, especially as rumors
claim HTC will be sticking with a 5-inch 1080p screen, rather than
moving to QHD.
Design
With the same size screen as the One M8 comes similar dimensions apparently, as the HTC One M9 is said to be 144.3 x 69.4 x 9.56mm, making it marginally shorter but actually slightly fatter than the 146.4 x 70.6 x 9.4mm HTC One (M8). However,
following the 5.5-inch and 5.0-inch rumors there's now talk that the
HTC One M9 could meet them in the middle and have a 5.2-inch screen.
That's according to Nowhereelse.fr, which even has images purportedly showing the display panel to back it up. We also may have got our first real look at the HTC One M9, as two images of an alleged prototype have been sent to Nowhereelse.fr.
The images show a device which looks a lot like the HTC One M8 or even
the original HTC One, suggesting the company isn't straying far from its
existing designs.
The front has speakers above and below the
screen, while the back shows a curved metal shell with a camera and a
dual-flash, though as the top of the phone has been cut off in the image
it's impossible to say whether it's got a second sensor, like on the
HTC One M8. It's
also hard to say whether they're accurate. They don't look fake and nor
are they an exact match for any existing HTC handset, but they could
easily be of an HTC One M8 protoype.
Two day battery life
We were pretty impressed by the battery life of the HTC One M8, but the Samsung Galaxy S5 and the Sony Xperia Z2 had it beat, while it looks like the Sony Xperia Z3 and the Xperia Z3 Compact might well widen the gap even further.
So
we'd love for the HTC One M9 to have more juice. We don't think two
days of battery life should be unrealistic, after all the HTC One M8 and
a number of other phones can already comfortably make it into a second
day, they just need a bit of a boost to make it to the end of the day.
If HTC can deliver even more than that then great, but we'd be happy with two days, at least until the M10 comes around.
A better camera
The
HTC One M8 is great in low light as its lens lets more light in than
competing smartphone cameras, but when you're trying to take photos in
bright conditions all the extra light it takes in actually seems to work
against it, causing the image to over-expose. On
top of that it's only got a 4MP sensor, which is fine when you're just
viewing shots on your phone, but blow them up and there'll be noticeable
noise.
So ideally we want more megapixels and a sensor which is
as adept in bright light as low light. It almost seems like HTC itself
might be moving away from UltraPixels, given that the HTC One Mini 2 and the HTC One E8 both have 13MP snappers, so we might well see a big change to the camera in the HTC One M9.
A QHD display
The HTC One M8 has a gorgeous screen, but it's very much an early 2014 screen, as the LG G3 and the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 are now bringing QHD (1440 x 2560) displays to the mainstream.
All
those extra pixels don't make a huge difference but it is a noticeable
one and if the HTC One M9 doesn't have a QHD display then it risks being
overlooked, because you can be almost certain that the competition
will.
A sapphire screen
Since we're talking about the
screen, how about making it with sapphire crystal glass? The HTC One M9
is bound to be expensive, so many people are going to want to put it in a
case to keep it protected, but it's also bound to be a thing of beauty
so it would be a shame to cover it up. The
more durable it is the less necessary that becomes and a sapphire
crystal screen would help a lot. The iPhone 6 didn't have one in the
end, so if the HTC One M9 does it could also be the first mainstream
smartphone to do so, which would surely be a big selling point.
Water and dust resistance
Another
way to keep it protected is with dust and water resistance. We don't
need to be able to take it swimming, but knowing that it could survive a
spill or a bit of rain would certainly be reassuring and now that
Samsung and Sony are both water and dust proofing their phones there's
little excuse for HTC not to do the same.
More of a health and fitness focus
The world is going health
and fitness mad, or at least that's what many of the latest smartphones
and smartwatches would lead you to believe. HTC though doesn't seem so
interested and we can't help but feel that it's missing a trick,
especially if the market for fitness focused tech continues to grow.
Sure
a heart rate monitor and UV sensor are hardly essential components of a
smartphone, but we wouldn't say no to them and we'd also be quite happy
to see more of a focus on fitness software from HTC, rather than it
relying on third party solutions, as HTC has done with the M8 by simply
including the Fitbit app. Apple has Health, Samsung has S Health, HTC
needs something.
Lots of power
It's reached the point
where almost every high end phone and a fair few lower end ones feel
fast and powerful, so we don't really need a lot more power in the HTC
One M9.
But specs sell and while HTC's flagships are always
powerful they're not always quite as powerful as the competition, at
least on paper. So next year we hope that changes. Impress us HTC, put
in an octa-core Snapdragon 810 with 6GB of RAM, or at least make sure
your phone is a match for the Samsung Galaxy S6 and Sony Xperia Z4.
An even better design and build
Design
is one of the things HTC has done best in recent years, with the One M8
rivalling even Apple's products, but it could still be better. There's
that black bar below the screen for example. On the original HTC One
that housed some capacitive buttons, but they've gone from the HTC One
M8 so it no longer serves any visible purpose. There may well be some
internal reasons for it but we'd love it if HTC could find a way to
remove it.
HTC could also improve the buttons, which feel a little
plastic on the M8 and we'd rather have the headphone port on the top
than the bottom.
More storage
HTC wisely added a microSD
card slot to the M8, but we'd still love more internal storage. Apple
now offers 128GB iPhones, so why can't an Android phone do the same? And
more specifically why can't HTC?
Do that while still including
microSD support and we could be looking at a phone with 256GB of
combined storage, which is far more than most people are ever likely to
need, but we'd rather have too much than too little.
Category 6 LTE
4G
is taking off in a big way, but while current phones are equipped to
support the fastest speeds we're likely to get in most places right now,
they're not particularly future-proofed. That's why we'd like to see
HTC put Category 6 LTE support in the HTC One M9.
That would
theoretically allow it to reach download speeds of around 300Mbps, which
is double what most current handsets can manage and should make it a
viable handset right up until 5G arrives.
The GoodThe Sony Alpha a99 SLT-A99V
has a lot going for it, including excellent photos and very good video,
a well-constructed and well-designed body, solid performance, and a
great feature set.
The Bad For
some folks, things like the lack of CompactFlash, poor battery life, and
compromises on video autofocus may not be reasonable trade-offs.
The Bottom LineThe Sony Alpha SLT-A99V is a generally great camera that's equally adept at both stills and video, but with a few caveats.
I admit, I really didn't like Sony's first full-frame cameras, the DSLR-A900 and its stripped-down sibling, the DSLR-A850.
I used to use them as examples of poor noise reduction and for
before-and-after examples for the virtues of third-party raw-processing
software. But that was almost four years ago, and just before Sony had
its "aha!" moment and started churning out excellent sensors, like the
one in the Alpha SLT-A99V. The company's flagship (and at least for now,
only) full-frame model delivers excellent photos and very good video,
and has a well-constructed and intelligently designed body, solid
performance, and a great feature set. Despite all the excellence,
though, there are some caveats to consider before shelling out the
not-inconsiderable amount of dough it costs. Image quality
The photo quality is great -- pretty much what you'd expect from a
full-frame camera -- with well-resolved detail, accurate color (as long
as you use the Neutral Creative Style setting), and a broad tonal range
with very good latitude in the highlights. Though it doesn't have an
antialiasing-filter-free model, the sensor in the A99V incorporates a
new selectively applied low-pass filter as a compromise for increased
ability to resolve detail.
According to Sony, the sensor also has new noise-reduction algorithms
designed to reduce noise only where you need it, but I still find that
(oddly) the Nikon D800 outperforms the A99V in this respect, especially
around ISO 1600 and above. For JPEGs, photos are extremely clean through
ISO 400, and you can start to see some slight edge artifacts appearing
at ISO 800. There's a noticeable jump in noise suppression between ISO
1600 and ISO 3200, regardless of how bright the scene is. But I couldn't
gain any better noise reduction below ISO 3200 by processing the raw;
at ISO 3200 and above I did manage to get some better results, enough to
gain about a stop of latitude. Overall, though, while the SLT-A99V is
extremely good at ISO 1600 and below, if you need the cleanest-possible
high-sensitivity results, the Nikon D800 and Canon EOS 5D Mark III are probably a bit better.
The camera also does an excellent job of preserving highlights in
seemingly blown-out areas. I was less impressed with recovering clipped
shadow detail, in part because it inevitably introduces a lot of color
noise, significantly more so than with the D800.
I was especially
impressed with the auto white balance. For one, it handled cloudy
shooting conditions properly; a lot of cameras I've tested recently have
not. Same goes for balance under our tungsten studio lights. Normally I
don't comment on the tungsten results because every camera handles it
miserably. On the flip side, though, Sony's default Standard Creative
Style pushes hues slightly, throwing off color accuracy. Switching to
the Neutral setting delivers the kind of results I expect from a pro
camera, though some people might want to tweak the sharpness (like most
manufacturers, Sony assumes if you want neutral colors you want no
processing at all).
The video quality is very good as well, though
here I admit I'm still partial to the warmer tonality delivered by the
Canon 5D Mark III and Nikon D800 and the sharper, less noisy low-light
video of 5D Mark III. Performance
Most of the
time, the A99V feels responsive and fluid to shoot with. Yes, there's
the occasional bout of reluctant autofocus lock and battery death -- for
decent battery life you really need the multibattery grip, though that
kind of defeats the purpose of making the camera lighter -- and the
menus take just a hair longer to come up than I'd like while the
camera's processing images. But overall I was happy with the camera's
speed.
By the numbers, the A99V offers performance competitive
with other full-frame cameras. (Our benchmarks for the 5D Mark III and
D800 used different methodology, but our numbers for the Nikon D600 and Canon EOS 6D
are comparable.) It powers on and shoots in just under a second -- a
little on the slow side. In good light, it takes about 0.4 second to
focus, expose, and shoot, which rises to 0.5 second in dimmer
conditions; that's relatively good, and partly held back by the somewhat
slow-driving but optically excellent lens we used for performance
testing, the Zeiss 24-70mm f2.8. Two sequential shots run about 0.3 second for either raw or JPEG, also decent times.
The
camera excels at continuous shooting. Sony seems to have rated it
pretty conservatively; as long as you stay below the buffer threshold,
20 JPEG shots or 17 raw shots, it can maintain a clip of roughly 6.2
frames per second (at least with a 95MBps SD card). Once you've exceeded
the buffer, it slows considerably and erratically, below 3fps. In
practice, shooting raw+JPEG, the buffer was less than 10 shots but
overall adequate for small bursts.
Despite the tons of
technological R&D it sounds like Sony put into the autofocus system,
I didn't feel always feel the magic. It has a dual phase-detection AF
system, which the company claims improves tracking AF considerably, and a
new AF Range control that lets you specify near and far distance
limiters for the focus range. I really like the tracking AF interface,
with the big green box that follows your subject around the screen, but
found that the focus lock just didn't keep up with the promise during
continuous shooting, and even with the range limiter enabled I found
that tracking box a little too fickle, willing to hightail off after any
bigger object that enters the scene. Nonetheless, I had no issues with
the AF system that I haven't had with other cameras.
In fact, I think the camera has too many
autofocus options, making figuring out which settings you should use a
bit too complicated. There are four AF mode choices: single, continuous,
auto (which selects between single and continuous), and dynamic (Depth
Map Assist Continuous AF), which seems to fine-tune the continuous AF
phase-detection focus lock by expanding to the assist the areas. Then
there are four AF area options: wide, zone, spot, and local. But the
options or combinations that automatically choose the focus areas never
seem to choose the correct ones, making it difficult to select the
option with any confidence. This isn't a Sony- or A99V-specific issue;
it's a problem with most AF systems that still remains despite all the
effort.
I'm not sure if I've complained about this elsewhere, but every time
you stick a card in, Sony cameras check it for an "Image Database" (a
Sony-compatible file-system structure). But if it doesn't find the
database, it pops up a message asking if you want to create one. Now, I
don't know about you, but every time I stick a card in the first thing I
do is format it and Sony's, um, helpfulness gets between me and the
format operation, requiring an extra few button presses before I can
start working. So no, Sony, I never want to create an image database. Get out of my way!
I can sort of understand this on point-and-shoots where people might
not realize the need to format, or if they never remove the cards, but
on a pro camera it's intrusive and unnecessary.
Both the
viewfinder and back display work very well, with no visibility issues in
direct sunlight or refresh issues while shooting action, and though I
still think that OLED displays are a little too cool and contrasty for
cameras -- photos never look better than on those displays, and that's
not necessarily a good thing -- Sony lets you adjust the color
temperature of the viewfinder. Design and features
For the most part, the camera body is very well designed and built,
with a great grip -- one of the most comfortable I've used -- and an
intelligent control layout. It's weather-sealed, though keep in mind
that as far as I know Sony only offers two full-frame weather-sealed
lenses to match. Yes, the body is also lighter than the competition, but
I find once you stick a good lens on it that roughly 6-ounce advantage
becomes moot.
All the controls are easily accessible and
distinguishable by feel, the mode dial has a central lock button (not my
favorite place for it), and everything is as configurable as you'd
expect from a camera in its class. I don't think it's the snazziest
design -- I'm not crazy about the bulbous look of the buttons boiling up
from the surface on the back -- but it's effective and that's more
important.
There's only one control I really dislike, and that's the navigation joystick. It simply feels mushy and imprecise.While I think competitors produce better video quality than the A99V, this is my favorite camera for shooting
video. It's one respect in which the fixed-mirror SLT technology gains a
huge advantage over SLR. The articulated OLED display, great EVF, and
manual-focus peaking make it extremely easy and comfortable to shoot
without having to Frankenstein the camera out with a rig, loupe, and
other accoutrements. The one, somewhat huge, exception to the love: you
can't adjust shutter speed or aperture for video while autofocus is
enabled. A lot of videographers use manual focus exclusively, so it
won't faze them, but it irks me to no end. And if you don't know this up
front, you can spend hours trying to figure out why the camera won't
let you adjust those settings.
Sony brings its Silent Controller from its prosumer camcorders for better video control.While
the Silent Controller is intended to allow you to avoid introducing
noise while changing settings during video shooting, it's also really
nice for simply changing settings without having to drop the camera from
your eye. It offers a lot of the same settings as the function menu,
but it has a different interface that takes up far less space in the
viewfinder.
Rated estimated max HD video length at best quality
29 minutes, 59 seconds
20 minutes
n/a
Audio
Mono; mic input; headphone jack
Mono; mic input; headphone jack
Stereo; mic input; headphone jack
LCD size
3.2 inches fixed
1.04 megadot
3.2 inches fixed
921,000 dots
3 inches articulated
921,600 dots
Memory slots
1 x CF (UDMA mode 7), 1 x SDXC
1 x CF (UDMA mode 7), 1 x SDXC
2 x SDXC
Wireless flash
No
Yes
No
Battery life viewfinder/Live View (CIPA rating)
950/200 shots
(1,800mAh)
900/
n/a shots
(1,800mAh)
410 shots
(1,650mAh)
Dimensions (inches, WHD)
6.1 x 4.6 x 3.0
5.7 x 4.8 x 3.2
5.9 x 4.5 x 3.1
Body operating weight (ounces)
33.5
35.1
29.2
Mfr. price
$3,499 (body only)
$2,999.95/ $3,299.95 (body only)
$2,799.99 (body only)
$4,299 (with 24-105mm lens)
n/a
n/a
Ship date
March 2012
March 2012/ April 2012
October 2012
In
addition to the complete set of essential features for a pro camera,
the A99V has a couple of unique features for this class, including
built-in GPS (which strains the already lackluster battery life a bit),
in-camera image stabilization (both Canon and Nikon use lens-based IS),
and a built-in stereo microphone (which is nice to have in a pinch). On
the downside, some folks may quibble with the decision to incorporate
two SD card slots instead of an SD and a CompactFlash; while it would
likely make little difference during shooting, CF is still the faster
technology for moving files to your computer in a time-sensitive
workflow.
If you're a Sony A series shooter disgruntled by the
company's lack of tethering support for most of its modern models, the
company has updated its Remote Camera Control software
to support the A99V. And one note about accessories: the A99V uses the
new Multi Interface Shoe, but ships with an adapter if you want to use
your old accessories.
For a complete account of the A99V's features and operation, download the PDF manual. Conclusion
The A99V is a powerful, complicated camera that may simply exceed the
needs (or budget) of most photographers, and since Sony doesn't offer a
cheaper full-frame model a la the Nikon D600 or Canon EOS 6D, the
company's missing out on an opportunity. If you need a single model that
can handle both stills and video with equal aplomb, and are willing to
make some trade-offs -- sacrificing a little on the video and high-ISO
quality as well as video AF -- it's a great choice.
The GoodThe
Nikon D750 delivers the best photo quality and continuous-shooting
performance in its price class, along with a nicely well-rounded feature
set.
The Bad Nikon's
Wi-Fi implementation is weak and some of the other features could be
executed a little better. Plus Live View performance is sad.
The Bottom LineIt's
not the cheapest camera in its class, but the Nikon D750 delivers an
excellent combination of quality, performance and features for its
price.
As the long-awaited sucessor to the six-year-old D700,
the Nikon D750 delivers admirably. While its $2,300 price tag
(£1,800/approximately AU$2,600) inhabits the upper reaches for many
enthusiasts, it's a perfect camera for people who are picky about their
photographs, who need better high-sensitivity quality than you can get
with one of the less-expensive full-frame options or an APS-C-based
dSLR, and who need speed for action shooting. Plus, it's a solid option
for pros looking for a good value.
The camera comes in a couple
of official kit configurations. The $3,000 bundle with the 24-120mm
f3.5-5.6 lens is the only Nikon-approved kit in the US, but a 24-85mm
f3.5-5.6 kit will also be available in the UK and possibly Australia (I
couldn't find any available options with prices at the time this review
was published, however).
The
D750 will be sold with the 24-120mm lens in the US, plus additional
kits with the 24-85mm f3.5-5.6 lens in the UK and possibly Australia.
Sarah Tew/CNET
Image quality
Nikon really does a nice job on photo quality. The D750 has an
excellent noise profile for both stills and video, and it produces
significantly cleaner raw images than the Sony A99
does as ISO sensitivity increases -- unsurprising, since the latter is
two years old and its image processing doesn't benefit from a couple
years of fine tuning. I like the more neutral white balance of the
Sony's default profile, though; Nikon's is just a hair shifted toward
red/blue. And while the D810 maintains sharpness and tonal range better
across the sensitivity range, for about $1,000 less the D750's photo
quality stands up pretty well against the D810's.
JPEGs from the D750 look exceptionally clean up through
ISO 1600, where a tiny bit of detail degradation begins in the in-focus
areas. At ISO 3200, you can start to see some mushiness develop in the
focused areas, and noise-reduction artifacts appear in the out-of-focus
areas. Dynamic range displays visible decreases around ISO 3200 as well,
with some clipping in low-key areas and loss of tonal distinctions in
high-key areas. There's also a slight color shift between ISO 50 (Low)
and ISO 100. However, I was happy with the JPEGs as high as ISO 6400 --
though that's dependent upon lighting and scene content -- and had ISO
12800 raw files that I could work with comfortably.
Movie
quality looks great, even in low light, though as with the stills you
start to lose tonal range about ISO 3200. Nevertheless, best quality
video looks sharp, with few visible artifacts, and up to ISO 3200
there's practically no noise sparkle. I suggest switching from the
default Picture Control for shooting video, though, unless you like your
blacks crushed and your whites blown, even in good light.
Performance
Note:
We recently updated our testing setup; though the methodology is
similar the lighting conditions are not, so the results aren't
comparable with previous testing. We're slowly retesting some important
older products, and until we have comparable results we will not be
posting performance charts.
In both lab and field testing,
the D750's shooting performance fared typically for this class of
camera; however, it's still really slow in Live View, and there are
annoying hitches when accessing some settings.
It takes less
than 0.2-second to power on, focus and shoot. Even then the bottleneck
is the power switch, since you have to turn it on and press the shutter
with the same finger. Single-shot performance is roughly what you'd
expect for the money. In both bright and dim conditions (down to about 3
EV), time to focus and shoot runs just under 0.4-second; actual speed
is a bit faster than that, since the kit lens tends to drive a little
slowly. And while I didn't time it, focus down to -1 EV was is
sufficiently fast and accurate as well. Both raw and JPEG take about
0.2-second between consecutive shots.
The camera excels when it
comes to continuous-shooting performance, however. It bursts about
6.6fps for highest-quality JPEGs (not even the default of Normal
quality) with a buffer well beyond my 30 test shots -- I got bored after
70. That sets a new high for its price class. While raw burst flies at
an even faster 7fps, that's only for about 15 shots. After that it
drops, though to a still-respectable 4.6fps. It manages about 10
raw+JPEG shots before slowing a lot.
Equally important, the
autofocus seems reasonably able to keep up with the continuous shooting;
my hit rate of usable shots using the new Group AF was significantly
better than Nikon's various tracking options, partly because in those
modes you have no real control over the actual focus points it uses.
(Your mileage may vary depending upon your personal shooting quirks, of
course.) I do miss an option for expanded-point AF, though, which
essentially uses a single focus point and only expands to a group of
points for support. The single-point autofocus mode is quite accurate
and quick.
Unfortunately, the D750's Live View performance
remains locked in the doldrums, taking about 1.5 seconds to focus and
shoot under optimal conditions.
There's also some sluggishness
bringing up screen-based options. For instance, using the back LCD view
to change the ISO sensitivity (the only way to see it when the camera's
set on a tripod at eye level), I frequently experienced long waits. This
is something that Nikon should be able to address in a firmware update,
though.
Design and features
With just a couple of
small exceptions, the design of the D750 has a streamlined shooting
design, a comfortable, high-quality build and an almost spot-on set of
features. The body incorporates magnesium alloy for the rear and top
cover, but uses lighter carbon fiber for the front chassis and cover.
Physically it bears a striking resemblance to the D610, with comparable weather sealing to the D810.
The design is a useful cross between the consumer and pro models. It
has a deep grip with a rubberized section on the back that is perfectly
sized for my hands, for whatever that's worth. In the front, accessible
via the fingers of your right hand, are two programmable buttons, while
the left side has the flash popup/compensation button, bracketing button
and manual focus/autofocus switch, with the button that brings up
autofocus mode selections. As you'd expect in this class of camera,
there are front and back adjustment dials.
On the top left sit a lockable mode and release-mode dials, similar to the D610. In addition to the usual manual, semimanual and automatic modes,
there's an Effects mode with a handful of basics: Night Vision (high
ISO sensitivity monochrome), Color Sketch, miniature, selective color,
silhouette, high key and low key. It also offers a pair of saved user
settings slots on the dial.
The release-mode dial contains a full set of choices: single,
continuous low and high, quiet single and continuous, mirror up, and a
self-timer with options for multiple shots at various intervals.
The left top includes the power switch around the shutter button, and
the metering and exposure compensation buttons. There's also a tiny,
hard-to-find-by-feel record button near the power switch and the usual
status LCD.
On the back you'll find the excellent viewfinder and
a large tilting LCD. While I prefer a fully articulated display, this
one does a full 90-degree angle facing both up and down. Down the left
side of the LCD are the menu, white balance, image quality, and ISO
sensitivity buttons, along with Nikon's i button. The latter provides access to context-sensitive semifrequently needed settings.
It incorporates a tilting LCD.
Sarah Tew/CNET
Don't confuse the i
button with the info button on the right, a non-interactive view of all
the current settings. A combo AE-L/AF-L button is reachable via your
right thumb. There's one big issue here: you have the ability to program
the function of the button as well as to assign the AF-L function to
another button on the camera, just like you can on higher-end models
like the D810. Unfortunately, if you reassign that button -- I like to
make it AE-L only -- then you lose the ability to focus via the shutter
button. That's how it works on the D810, but that camera has separate
AE-L and AF-L buttons so it's not as big an issue.
The camera
also has the same lockable multicontroller with center OK button as the
D610. I find it as uncomfortable to use on this camera as every other
Nikon that uses it. And at the bottom right is a Live View/Movie toggle
switch with a Live View button to initiate it.
You'll also find a
solid complement of ports on the left side: an accessory terminal for
remotes and Nikon GPS unit, HDMI (supporting clean output), mic and headphone jacks and a USB 3.0 port. And on the right there are two SD card slots, which are great to have.
As for features, the D750 provides all the essentials, plus highlights
like multiple exposure, intervalometer and time-lapse with exposure
smoothing; orientation-linked focus points; selectable spot size for
centerweighted metering plus the ability to set a permanent exposure
bias for each metering mode (matrix, center-weighted, spot and
highlight-weighted) in 1/6-stop steps up to 1; and 50/60Hz flicker
reduction.
In addition to clean HDMI out, the D750 includes the
same movie-shooting specific menu as the D810, where you can choose
default Picture Control, noise reduction and ISO sensitivity settings
for movies. I really wish it let you set a default shutter speed and
aperture as well; two custom settings slots aren't enough to handle both
still and video needs.
The camera also supports Nikon's power
aperture, which lets you change the aperture via the up/down buttons on
the multicontroller while recording. Power aperture does not mean silent
aperture, though. I also hate that you can't change other settings
while shooting. For instance, if I realize that I've got the wrong ISO
sensitivity set, I don't like having to stop and jump out, possibly
missing something; I'd rather change it while recording and toss the
transition portion of the clip later if necessary. I also miss an
autofocus sensitivity setting, a feature that Canon debuted with the 7D Mark II, to make the autofocus more usable in video.
The D750 incorporates Wi-Fi connectivity. Unfortunately, the Wi-Fi
implementation is pretty weak, at least until Nikon improves its app. In
its current incarnation, the app is basically a glorified remote
shutter -- effectively all you can do is press the capture icon -- and
utility to geotag and transfer photos to a mobile device or share them
via the connectors installed on the device. (While Canon's EOS Remote
software has more shooting flexibiility, at least Nikon's WMU can
directly upload via installed services.)
While the software
issue is resolvable, the hardware awkwardness isn't. There's no quick
way to enable Wi-Fi in the camera; you have to go into the setup menu to
do so, and you can't program another button as a shortcut.
Conclusion
Thus far, the D750 seems like the best overall value in the price
segment between $1,800 and $3,000 (£1,300 to £2,300/AU$2,000 to $3,400);
it's not cheap, but delivers the best combination of performance, image
quality, features for the money.
Compared to a more expensive
model like the D810, the D750 has only a few shortcomings. Its image
quality isn't quite as good and the resolution isn't as high, but both
may suffice for a lot of people. It also maxes out at one stop slower
shutter speed (1/4,000 sec. vs. 1/8,000 sec.), and it has a lower flash
sync of 1/200 vs. 1/250 sec.
But the D750 has advantages over
the D810, including an updated, more low-light sensitive autofocus
system (I haven't yet run performance tests on the D810) and slightly
better continuous-shooting performance; built-in Wi-Fi; a tilting LCD;
longer battery life; and it's smaller and lighter. It also has feature
advantages over the Canon 5D Mark III, like the tilting LCD, built-in
flash and Wi-Fi. (I haven't had a chance to retest the 5D Mark III for
performance and image-quality comparison, however.)
The D610
currently runs about $400 (£400/AU$300) less than the D750, but that
premium buys you better photo quality, newer autofocus and metering
systems, slightly faster continuous shooting, 1080/60p video and clean
HDMI out, a tilting LCD, built-in Wi-Fi, USB 3.0 support and better
battery life. And, in fact, with a few minor exceptions it has the same
body design as the D610. That's a lot more camera for a fairly modest
price differential.
The Sony A99 remains a compelling
alternative, especially at its lower price, but aside from being old, it
doesn't have the continuous-shooting performance, and some people
prefer an optical viewfinder to the Sony's electronic viewfinder. And
Sony's mirrorless full-frame alternatives -- the A7 series -- just don't
offer the performance of a dSLR.
Comparative specifications
Canon EOS 6D
Nikon D610
Nikon D750
Nikon D810
Sony Alpha SLT-A99
Sensor effective resolution
20.2MP CMOS
n/a
14-bit
24.3MP CMOS
n/a
14-bit
24.3MP CMOS
n/a
14-bit
36.3MP CMOS
12-channel readout
14-bit
24.3mp Exmor CMOS
n/a
14-bit
Sensor size
35.8 x 23.9mm
35.8 x 24mm
35.9 x 24mm
35.9 mm x 24mm
35.8 x 23.9mm
Focal-length multiplier
1.0x
1.0x
1.0x
1.0x
1.0x
OLPF
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Sensitivity range
ISO 100 - ISO 25600/102,400 (exp)
ISO 50 (exp)/100 - ISO 6400/ 25600 (exp)
ISO 50 (exp)/100 - ISO 12800/51200 (exp)
ISO 32 (exp)/64 - ISO 12800/51200 (exp)
ISO 50 (exp)/ISO 100 - ISO 51200/ISO 102400 (exp,
via multishot NR)
Burst shooting
4.5fps
15 raw/unlimited JPEG
6fps
n/a
6.5fps
n/a
5fps
n/a
(6fps in DX mode, 7fps with battery grip)
6fps
13 raw/14 JPEG
Viewfinder
(mag/ effective mag)
Optical
97% coverage
0.71x/0.71x
Optical
100% coverage
0.70x/0.7x
Optical
100% coverage
0.70x/0.70x
Optical
100% coverage
0.70x/0.70x
OLED EVF
0.5-inch
2.4 million dots
100% coverage
0.71x/0.71x
Hot shoe
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Autofocus
11-pt AF
1 center cross type
39-pt
9 cross type
(Multi-CAM 4800-FX)
51-pt
15 cross type
11 cross type to f8
(Multi-CAM 3500-FX II)
51-pt
15 cross type
11 cross type to f8
(Multi-CAM 3500-FX)
Dual phase-detection system
19pt
11 cross type;
102pt focal plane
