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| Sony Alpha 700 |
The 2-inch LCDs we lauded a year or two ago are now dinky relics. A huge 3 inches, with a wide viewing angle, is the new standard.
Two of the new cameras, the Nikon and Sony, have spectacular VGA-resolution screens that provide 260 and 266 dpi -- photo quality -- display of images with viewing angles of 170 degrees. And both Nikon and Sony list screen resolution in terms of dots -- up to 921,000 of them, the total of R, G, and B elements, and the same as 307,000 pixels. Sony's screen also becomes automatically brighter in sunlight, a real plus. Nikon and Sony screens have much greater resolution than the Canon screen, which features a resolution of 76,800 pixels and a 140-degree viewing angle.
Still more impressive, the Canon and the Nikon go the next step with live view from the image sensor. Until recently, the only DSLRs that allowed this were from Olympus and Panasonic; the Canon EOS-1D Mark III entering the game mere months ago. Both also allow remote control with live preview, a useful tool for studio and nature photographers.
Allowing the big LCD to be used as a control panel is also popular. Indeed, on the Sony A700, the LCD must serve as the control panel because there isn't one on top of the camera. On the Nikon D300, you have a choice of using the top-deck control panel or the LCD. This arrangement should keep everybody happy -- those who like the highly legible type on an LCD, and those who like to glance down at their chest-level cameras to check settings. The Canon, meanwhile, continues the traditional arrangement: control readouts on top, rear monitor for picture review and menu settings.
Optical viewing hasn't been ignored, either. Canon and Sony have boosted the magnification and eye-point distance of their finders, and the Nikon D300 has a claimed 100 percent viewfinder accuracy. In addition, all three use glass pentaprisms for brighter, sharper images.
Furious Focusing
These camera makers are known for the speed and precision of their autofocus systems, and not one is resting on its laurels.
Though Canon is carrying forward the 30D's nine-point diamond-pattern array, in the 40D every point is a more-sensitive cross-type sensor, with an enhanced-precision center spot active with lenses of f/2.8 or brighter maximum apertures. And in a first for Canon DSLRs, the 40D has user-interchangeable focusing screens, a boon to photographers who like to manually fine-tune their focus.
The Sony A700's 11-point array at first looks identical to the Alpha 100's diamond pattern. But the center sensor is made up of five individual sensors, a unique design that combines two horizontal and two vertical sensors surrounding a cross-type sensor. What’s more, the central AF sensor array of the Sony also has a high-precision f/2.8 horizontal sensor that activates on lenses f/2.8 and faster. The camera's focusing screen can be changed, but only at a service center. Like the A100, it features eye-activated AF.
For sheer audacity, though, Nikon takes the award. The D300 has an array of 51 AF sensors, 15 of them cross-type, and all of them functional with lenses having maximum apertures of f/5.6 or larger, which includes the entire Nikkor lens family. Scene Recognition mode allows autofocus tracking by color (a football jersey, say). And there are two AF modes on the Nikon for use in live view mode. Slower than normal AF in either case, one is for handholding and the other for tripod-mounted shots.
Photo Finishing
Increasingly, manufacturers are building photo-editing functions into the cameras themselves. These three models are cases in point, with contrast control taking center stage. Sony's Dynamic Range Optimizer (DRO) gets five selectable levels on the A700, and the DRO levels can also be added during RAW image processing. The Nikon D300's Active D-lighting can not only bring up shadow detail on the fly, but can optimize the highlight exposure in the same frame. And the Canon 40D gets a trick from big brother EOS-1D Mark III: Highlight Tone Priority, which stretches out the range from midtone to maximum highlight.
Each DSLR also allows extensive tweaking of image profiles. Whether they're called Picture Styles or Color Styles or Picture Control, the idea is the same: a choice of preset profiles, each of which can be customized. These are often quite sophisticated. For instance, the Nikon D300 offers in-camera correction of lateral chromatic aberration based on analysis of RAW data, and not the specific lens used.
And, recognizing that more shooters are using RAW capture, all models offer ways to work with smaller files. The Canon 40D has a 2.5MP small RAW (sRAW) option, while the Sony A700 and Nikon D300 give you a lossless-compression mode for full-size RAW files.
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