Product Listing

Nikon D600 - Full-frame for Everyone

By Alvin Soon - 4 Oct 2012
Launch SRP: S$3249

Conclusion

Conclusion

There is very little to fault the D600 for. One might have expected Nikon to cut corners in order to deliver a full-frame camera at this price, but that turns out not to have been the case at all. Build quality feels superb; handling should be familiar to anyone who's used Nikon's pro-grade cameras, with controls within easy reach and the camera responding quickly to your commands. Image quality is as good as you'd expect from a professional body, close to the D800 but without that camera's crazy high resolution.

The D600 is every bit a solid camera that both professionals and amateurs should find appealing. Case in point: D600's control layout isn't that much different from the D7000's. In other words, D7000 users should feel right at home with the D600. The presence of Auto and Scene selections on the Mode dial also suggests the audience Nikon is targeting with the D600.

The one compromise seems to have been made in the 39 AF points which are more tightly bunched together in the center, and we suggest you take a look for yourself before buying the camera. Photographers used to separate AE/AF lock buttons might also want to take the D600's single combined button into consideration.

For D700 users who are looking for a new body, neither the D800 nor the D600 are direct descendents of the D700. While the D700 was a superb all-in-one workhorse, the D800 is a specialized tool while the D600 is less of an all-rounder. It's a testament to the strength of the D700's design that it remains a viable, if legacy, alternative to the new D800 and D600 bodies. All things considered, the D700 offers faster frame-rates with capable AF and metering systems, albeit with noisier ISO sensitivities and limits in print size with its 12MP files.

While full-frame sensors remain the pinnacle of digital SLR cameras today, it helps to remember that not too long ago nearly everyone in the world was shooting full-frame with 35mm film cameras. S$3,249 isn't exactly entry-level affordable, but it significantly lowers the barrier of entry for full-frame. In fact, just in the month of September, we've seen the announcements of three full-frame cameras: the Nikon D600, the Canon EOS 6D, and the Sony A99. Hopefully, this is a signaler of more affordable full-frame cameras to come. It feels like we're finally coming back full-circle to 35mm film, more than ten years after the Nikon D1.

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9.5
  • Performance 9.5
  • Design 8.5
  • Features 9
  • User-Friendliness 8.5
  • Value 9.5
The Good
Most affordable Nikon full-frame camera yet
High resolution, great image quality
Snappy performance
Twin SD card slots
Good battery life
The Bad
AF points concentrated in center
Combined AE/AF-lock button
No burst shooting speed boost with vertical grip
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