Nikon just announced a brand new DSLR, the D5200. While this camera should be a replacement for another in the lineup, it actually seems as if Nikon will continue selling the D5100 for some time. The externals between the 5100 and the 5200 are virtually indentical, but most of the changes have been to the internal hardware. This new camera features a 24 MP sensor and for the first time on a Nikon DSLR, 60i. Now, I got slightly excited for a moment, but read on for what this really means.
Here are the specs of the D5200:
- 24 MP DX-Format CMOS Sensor, EXPEED 3
- 3" 921k dot Vari-angle LCD
- ISO 100-6400 (extendable to ISO 25600) (ISO 200 in Movie Mode)
- 1920 x 1080, 60i (59.94 fields/s)/50i (50 fields/s)
- 1920 x 1080, 30p/25p/24p
- 1280 x 720, 60p/50p
- H.264/MPEG-4 Advanced Video Coding
- Maximum clip time: 29 min 59 sec
- D-Movie AF modes: Live View autofocus works when shooting movie clips
- 39-point AF system with nine cross-type sensors in the center
- 5 fps continuous shooting
- 2,016 pixel RGB metering sensor
- Wireless Mobile Adaptor WU-1a can transmit images from the camera to an Apple or Android device
- 1/4000 to 30 s in steps of 1/3 or 1/2 EV, bulb, time (requires optional ML-L3 Remote Control)
- Availability January 2013 in the US
- Estimated price: $800-$1000 with kit lens
So what's the deal with 60i? Well, it's actually a bit of marketing, since you'll never be able to get 60p from a 60i signal. In fact, 60i is really a 30fps mode, since you have 2 fields which must be combined, therefore giving you 30 actual frames. This was a slight letdown when I first saw the specs, as I had thought for a moment that this was the first Nikon DSLR to give us 60p - which is great for slow motion.
Either way, this entire camera is a huge step up more in the photography aspects than the videography aspects. It does feature autofocus in video mode, but I would not expect it to be much better than the autofocus on the Canon T4i, which certainly leaves something to be desired -- even with Canon's new quiet motor lenses.
Since this is a world camera, the record time is still limited to 30 minutes internally. I would imagine the video encoding has not improved tremendously, but it does feature the same type of internal processing engine, EXPEED 3, as its bigger brothers, as well as a brand new 24 MP sensor. We are reaching a point where the increase of megapixels will start to seriously diminish the quality of the picture at lower ISOs. The more pixels the better for image quality, but at higher ISOs that image quality requires a ton of internal hardware noise reduction to match what the previous camera (which was 16 megapixels) has done. Nikon has actually been very good about this, so I would be surprised if this new camera wasn't at least in the ballpark of the old one.
US pricing is unknown at the moment since the camera was only actually unveiled in the rest of the world so far, but it will most likely slot right above the old model, which is currently going for under $600 with a kit lens. This would probably put the new D5200 right at $800-$1000 with the kit lens, depending on what they do with the old model.
Still interesting for video, but it will likely need manual Nikon lenses for full aperture control just like the previous model. You've also got a brand new menu interface, which may or may not mean anything for actual use. If you want to check out some of the stills from this camera, you can see them below (click for larger versions).
Link: Nikon Imaging -- D5200
[via Nikon Rumors]
