Bjarne wrote,
"I have spent a lot of time, but can´t decide which of D2H or D1X there´s the best."
Best for what?
If you are a full-time sports shooter, then the D2H is your obvious choice. It has a huge buffer allowing you to shoot sequences of eight frames per second with up to 40 frames before the buffer is filled.
If you are shooting large sporting events for a metropolitan daily newspaper and constantly have editors screaming at you for being slow to deliver images - even though you have been sitting in a two hour traffic jam - the WiFi transmitter will wirelessly transfer the images from the stadium or speedway as you shoot. I would have killed for that feature when I was shooting sports.
It starts almost instantly, has very little lag and the mirror blackout is so quick as to be virtually unnoticeable. Four megapixels will reproduce fine on newsprint. It is also a camera that will work resonably well if you are a news shooter, though most of its features are a bit of overkill. Rarely does a news shooter do a 40 image sequence, so that big expensive buffer and high-speed processor will mostly go to waste. If you are freelancing, editors may expect 6MP-8MP images now.
However, you have the benefit of contemporary technology. With the D1X you would be buying a camera with tech that was in need of replacement a year ago. It has had about the longest shelf life of any digital camera that is still on the market. It was a great camera - the state of the art when it was announced at PMA in 2001. It is surpassed now by the entry-level prosumer D70, in almost every way other than build.
Again if you are shooting sports for a living, you have the choice made for you. The D2H is a highly specialized single-purpose camera body optimized for sports only. If you are not a sports photographer, buying a D2H would be silly. It is mostly the huge buffer, superfast processor and wireless transfer of images to the sports desk that accounts for the price. As a general purpose camera, the dirt cheap D70 is far more versatile and economical. The D1X is an antique waiting to be put to rest.
Photokina is coming up at in a couple of weeks, and it is widely expected that Nikon will have some interesting cameras to announce. The D2X is vastly overdue. A successor to the mid-range D100 is certainly more than due. There have been rumours as well about a F6 with interchangeable film and digital backs - though I am a bit skeptical about that.
Digital technology moves at a frantic pace, and huge improvements to image quality and camera response come with each generation. I would say now is the worst possible time to buy. See what the camera makers have to offer at Photokina, and then make your choice, with the freshest and best.
larry!
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