IŽll get a D600 soon, but I will like to know your first impressions.
Thanks

If I was rating purely off of image quality, I would have rated it excellent. Since I am rating the camera, I had to rate it very good. There are a few things that prevent it from being excellent. The lack of the 100% zoom option when you press ok, not being able to change the aperture in live view mode, I wish wi-fi was integrated instead of having to use that external dongle, the U1 and U2 user settings are a little awkward, and finally I wish the focus sensors were a little bit more spread-out over the image area. In spite of these things, I still think it is a very good camera. My impression after one week of use is that it is the best Nikon camera I have owned up to this point largely because the image quality is so good.

Love the camera for everything. IQ is fantastic, low light performance etc.

Only thing I am struggling with is the smaller body and controls. Love the pro and semi pro bodies. But I knew that going in

brianjb wrote:
There are a few things that prevent it from being excellent. The lack of the 100% zoom option when you press ok, not being able to change the aperture in live view mode...

I agree with the first point, but not the second, since you can change aperture in Live View mode just by turning the front dial...

It will be difficult to pass judgment on the camera's image quality, until there is a competent RAW converter available to process the D600 NEF files.

I absolutely love mine. I previously had a 5D2 before moving to a NEX setup earlier this year. The IQ on the D600 is outstanding. I'm also really liking the auto focus and the extremely accurate matrix metering.

Borrowed one for 3 days;

- Great handling, size, quiet shutter release
- Excellent image quality, high ISO is superb
- Feels robust in most places, more so than I would have thought
- Excellent AF, fast accurate

On the other hand, I do shoot with a D800 and a D800e. While the D600 saturation is a bit lower (and possibly for the better), it lacks sharpness out of the camera compared to the D800 and D800e. I assume this is due to its more aggressive anti aliasing filter. The D800 and D800e sharpness and detail capabilities have spoiled me. I found that I had to boost the in camera sharpness in the D600.

I voted very good. My only gripe is there is no live histogram in LV.

best camera ever! now I just need to purchase one to validate my claim.

With a grain of salt... as my primary body is a D3S and I also have a D700...

I voted VERY GOOD.

Image quality has clearly passed my expectations for this camera. I love the "differences" it has with the D700... in terms of resolution, low-light ability, and straight out-of-camera IQ all around. It's exceptional. 24MP for ME can be a LITTLE heavy, and I sure wouldn't thank you for 36... however there's no arguing the fact it cranks out stellar IQ. I think for my uses 16-18 might be the sweet spot, but I see resolution only being a climbing number at this point so I'll be fighting an uphill battle. Hopefully computers and memory keep pace. The camera does a lot of things very well... like the autofocus system is very capable, there's some great tweaks to previous bodies and new features, like the built-in HDR mode. I also like the fact it's very light and fairly small to see perfect use as a second body to carry.

The reason I didn't vote excellent is that it also loses out against the D3S type bodies (and yes, I understand that it SHOULD have some sacrifices). But the trouble is those sacrifices - such as the lack of an af-on button, the slightly more cramped and moved controls (still don't like the playback +/- placement), and the SD cards which I find too spindly and unassuring in use - make me hold back giving it the perfect score, as much as I likely should because it's nitpicking on my part. The truth is when I use it as a second body against the D3S, it just becomes a little more noticeable where the D3S is beefed up.

Thing is, if you know what you're in for when you buy it, the camera delivers in every way, and has been a very pleasant surprise to me. As I've said before recently, as much as I love my D700, the D600 is a more enjoyable camera to use now, and does some things the D700 plain can't match.

So far I am impressed with the camera's picture quality. I was looking for a light weight (travel) full frame alternative to my D4 and the D600 is definitely up to the task. It's obviously not as we'll built as the D4 and the on /off button for some reason has a cheap feel to it but other than that I am very pleased with the camera overall and I will be keeping it. Very good was my vote.

So far I'm loving mine. I shoot nothing but MF lenses these days, so having that nice big bright viewfinder has help me tremendously! NOW, if LR would just update I would be in heaven.

I'm also "rediscovering" all of my lenses and finding how much more I enjoy them with a FF sensor.

brianjb wrote: There are a few things that prevent it from being excellent. The lack of the 100% zoom option when you press ok, not being able to change the aperture in live view mode...

molson wrote: I agree with the first point, but not the second, since you can change aperture in Live View mode just by turning the front dial...


While this is true, it doesn't preview the aperture change. The word "live" would imply that it should update the image as changes are being made. It is clumsy to have to turn off and on live view to get an updated preview of what you are capturing, especially when doing macro shots where the DOF is very small. I should have been more specific about what I meant in my original comment.

Hey brian and molson. Can you please clarify about the aperture in Live View. I have read various reviews that say you can't change it in LV. Can you change the aperture in both the LV movie and LV photo modes? And if it does not "preview" the change, what kind of video results do you get when you are in the movie mode? Thanks.

I wish the ones that voted "I want to return it now" would share their reasons.. also it would be nice to know that they aren't trolls.

brad

I voted EXCELLENT, honestly the camera is making me happier every time I pick it up. Can't say enough about the image quality... and this is just with jpeg! I haven't shot jpeg in 4 years so for me to be loving what I am getting in that format I am very impressed.

The ergonomics took me aback for the first couple outings, coming from a D700/300 combo but I'm totally over that now. I was out with a friend who had his D700 on Saturday and was amazed at how quickly I'd forgotten the heft and size. Bottom line is that I don't miss that size and heft, in fact I'm not even sure I need the grip like I was fairly convinced I would earlier. We'll see.

Very happy customer, come on Adobe!

vpik01 wrote:
I voted EXCELLENT, honestly the camera is making me happier every time I pick it up. Can't say enough about the image quality... and this is just with jpeg! I haven't shot jpeg in 4 years so for me to be loving what I am getting in that format I am very impressed.

The ergonomics took me aback for the first couple outings, coming from a D700/300 combo but I'm totally over that now. I was out with a friend who had his D700 on Saturday and was amazed at how quickly I'd forgotten the heft and size. Bottom line is that I don't miss that size and heft, in fact I'm not even sure I need the grip like I was fairly convinced I would earlier. We'll see.

Very happy customer, come on Adobe!

Tony, you took the words right out of mouth! I agree with everything you said. The only thing I could add is that I'm coming from a D7000 with a grip, so I like the fact that the D600 feels a little bigger then the D7k. I'm not sure if I'll get a grip or not. However, I do miss the button for when I have the camera in portrait mode.

Gregstx wrote:
Hey brian and molson. Can you please clarify about the aperture in Live View. I have read various reviews that say you can't change it in LV. Can you change the aperture in both the LV movie and LV photo modes? And if it does not "preview" the change, what kind of video results do you get when you are in the movie mode? Thanks.

You can change the aperture in LV photo mode, but it will not update the view with the appropriate depth of field. If you hit the LV button twice to turn it off and on, the preview will update with the new aperture settings and you will see the DOF changes from the new aperture.

You cannot change the aperture in LV movie mode. The only way to do this is to use a lens that has an aperture collar. If you have such a lens, you can twist the aperture collar while recording to change the aperture. You really need one that doesn't have the clicks to be able to do this smoothly. The other option of course is to stop recording, turn off LV, change the aperture, and turn LV back on.

Must resist buying the D600!

Thank you guys for sharing your thoughts, I am a Canon guy and I just realize how much I'd like to have this camera.
There is something I dont quite understand: Can you or Cant you change the Aperture setting on Live View?
If you can but the camera dont update the Depth of Field view, that is just the way my Canon 60D works
The 60D shows you live view with the widest aperture of your lens
As you change the aperture value, the camera will update the exposure simulation but not the depth of field
So could you explain for me how this works on the D600?
Thank you for sharing BTW, I am exited about moving to the Nikon System soon

I love the D600 so far, it's not perfect but not a lot of cameras are. I've only put through about 1500 clicks but here are my thoughts so far

The Goods:
-Perfect balance of resolution and file size
-Amazing ISO performance in my eyes
-5.5 FPS is sufficient for most.
-Autofocus is snappy and tracking is good
-feels sturdy enough to withstand somewhat of a beating
-Viewfinder is big enough
-IQ is superb

The bad;
-Autofocus area does not cover enough of the frame though shooting hockey i found it fine enough
-The camera becomes uncomfortable on my middle finger while shooting, but that may be because I held it paired with an 80-200 for 3 hours. But is definitely a disappointment that you would not find out in store.
-DX style viewfinder instead of traditional FX.
- Cannot adjust aperture in live view (well you can but you cannot see the changes)
- Having an automode makes it feel like a d3100 to me lol