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Nikon D4: specs, release date, price, and our in-depth preview

The Nikon D4 is the Japanese company's February 2012 refresh to the very top end of its camera range, targeting sports photographers in particular with its high shooting speed and strong low light performance. It offers a full-frame 16.2-megapixel sensor, an improved 51-point AF system that's dramatically faster than the D3s, and an even wider ISO range. The camera is available and started shipping in the US on March 20th for $5999.95. Meanwhile, the UK and Europe saw the D4 launch on February 16th at prices of £4,799.99 and €5,658 respectively.

  • Sam Byford

    Apr 5, 2012

    Sam Byford

    Nikon D4 mechanics captured at 1,000 frames per stunning second

    nikon D4
    nikon D4

    At 11 full-resolution frames per second, the Nikon D4 is a pretty fast camera by most people's standards. It's not quite a match for the Phantom HD Gold, however, which was recently used in a gorgeous amateur promo video to capture slow motion footage of the D4's shutter at 1,000 frames per second. The video was created by a couple of employees from the Scheimpflug photography equipment service, who gave the D4 the lavish attention to detail normally reserved for Formula One cars or military hardware in Jerry Bruckheimer movies, with the mirror crashing up and down like a concrete guillotine. Make sure to watch the video below — the shutter-slapping action begins at around the 0:55 mark.

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  • Jamie Keene

    Mar 26, 2012

    Jamie Keene

    Nikon D4 and D800 prices rise 10 percent in the UK after computer mix-up

    Gallery Photo: Nikon D4 hands-on hardware photos
    Gallery Photo: Nikon D4 hands-on hardware photos

    Nikon has announced a 10 percent price rise in the UK on its forthcoming D4, D800, and D800E cameras, with the originally published (and now retracted) MSRPs being blamed on a "local internal systems error." Prospective British buyers can now expect to pay a hefty £5,289.99 for the D4, £2,599.99 for the D800, and £2,899.99 for the D800E. Nikon also says that the Irish pricing is similarly affected, but hasn't given a figure in Euros. While $300 might seem a steep difference between the D800 and D800E, £300 feels even sharper.

    It's been a long wait for Nikon's newest full-frame cameras, however the company does give one piece of good news for those who have been holding patiently. Customers who have pre-ordered the camera at the original price shouldn't be affected by the hike — Nikon says that it will honor the original prices to retailers on any pre-orders placed prior to March 24th.

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  • Sam Byford

    Mar 15, 2012

    Sam Byford

    Nikon D4 manual available to download, camera may come bundled with 16GB XQD card

    Gallery Photo: Nikon D4 hands-on hardware photos
    Gallery Photo: Nikon D4 hands-on hardware photos

    Can't wait out the remaining days until your Nikon D4 ships? You could always make yourself as prepared as possible for the full-frame shooter's arrival by perusing the manual, which has been made available through Nikon's EU support site. It doesn't appear to contain much in the way of truly new information following our in-depth preview of the camera, but at nearly 500 pages long there's certainly a lot to digest. After all, the better you know your camera's button layout, the less you'll have to think about it before taking the picture.

    In other D4 news, there are reports that the camera may come bundled with a 16GB Sony XQD card and reader. Australian sports photographer Sydney Low and Czech stock imaging agency Candybox have been lucky enough to receive their D4 packages already, and both found Sony's latest flash memory technology inside. The card would be the perfect partner, with Sony's claims that it can keep up with 100 RAW files in continuous shooting mode — considering the D4's ability to shoot 11 RAW files a second, you may well need it. While the manual does state that memory cards are sold separately, Nikon Rumors has heard the first shipment may be different. In any case, we have less than a week to find out if Nikon will be extending the same service to its non-professional customers.

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  • Sam Byford

    Mar 9, 2012

    Sam Byford

    Nikon D4 and D800 out on March 20th, up for preorder on Amazon

    nikon d4
    nikon d4

    We previously heard that the Nikon D4 was set to come out in "mid-March" with the D800 following a week or two later, but if Amazon's listings are anything to go by it looks like both cameras will be available on March 20th. The retailer has placed both full-frame shooters back up for preorder, and we'd definitely advise anyone interested to go that direction — pro-level Nikon cameras are often sold out for several months after release. You'll even save 95 cents on Nikon's list price, with the 16-megapixel D4 going for $5999.00 and the D800 at $2999.00 (both in body-only form). The D800E doesn't have a release date listed, but is also available to preorder for anyone interested in paying a $300 premium to remove the anti-aliasing filter.

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  • Dante D'Orazio

    Mar 1, 2012

    Dante D'Orazio

    Nikon D4 in-depth preview

    Gallery Photo: Nikon D4 hands-on hardware photos
    Gallery Photo: Nikon D4 hands-on hardware photos

    $5,999.95 is a mighty large chunk of change to plunk down on a camera. That's how much Nikon's brand new flagship camera, the D4, will cost you, but for those who truly need the kind of power this monster brings to the table, money really isn't an object. In fact, while the D4 hasn't been released yet — it's slated for a mid-March debut — professionals are already committing to buying it without ever touching the camera. That might not make sense to most, but after spending just a bit of time with the D4, I don't think those buyers are going to be disappointed.

    We've heard all about the D4's specs, and we even got to spend a few minutes playing with the hardware, but this time we got to shoot on our own terms and keep the photos and video we took. This preview is about what the D4 is like to shoot with and what kind of results it produces, so read on to see what you'll be getting if you're one of the lucky photographers to purchase a D4 in the coming weeks.

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  • Nathan Ingraham

    Feb 17, 2012

    Nathan Ingraham

    Nikon D4 scheduled for March 15th release in France, to debut mid-March in US

    Nikon D800 and D4
    Nikon D800 and D4

    Earlier today, as part of a Q&A on Nikon France's Facebook page, the company said the D4 would be launching on March 15th, with the D800 launching a week later on March 22nd and the D800E coming on April 12th. Naturally, we wondered if those dates were for France only or if the US could expect to see Nikon's latest around the same time — Nikon let us know that the D4 will indeed be launching in the US in "mid-March," rather than in February as we heard initially. Nikon also confirmed that the D800 will follow in "late March," and the D800E in "mid-April" — this timeframe matches up with what we heard for the D800 when the camera was announced last week. While we can't say for certain that these new DSLRs will be launching in the US on the same date as they are in France, it wouldn't surprise us at all to see them hit stores within the same week. Mark your calendars — the D4 is only a month away.

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  • Jan 6, 2012

    Vlad Savov

    Nikon D4 hands-on impressions

    Gallery Photo: Nikon D4 hands-on gallery
    Gallery Photo: Nikon D4 hands-on gallery

    You know you're in for a treat when Nikon decides to upgrade the very top of its camera range, the single-digit DSLR flagship. Taking over from the D3s is the D4, a $6,000 camera that gleefully upgrades just about every spec from its predecessor while also weighing less and lasting longer on a smaller battery.

    Handling of the new camera isn't all that dramatically different from the D3s. A few of the keys have played a game of musical chairs, but you're still looking at more or less the same layout. Nikon has added a pair of joysticks for manipulating your focus point while shooting or moving around an image when reviewing, plus there's now a movie mode toggle framing the Live View button. The biggest change in the D4 is in the way Nikon has duplicated right-hand controls for shooting in portrait orientation — that is to say, the buttons available to you in landscape mode are in exactly the same position when you flip the camera into portrait. I only spent a short time with Nikon's new DSLR, but it's quite obvious how that would benefit those who switch orientation often.

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  • David Pierce

    Jan 6, 2012

    David Pierce

    Nikon D4 announced: 16.2MP full-frame DSLR for $5,999.95 in February

    Nikon D4
    Nikon D4

    On the inside, the DSLR is a much larger upgrade. There's a 16.2-megapixel FX format CMOS sensor inside, measuring 36.0 x 23.9mm. It has a native ISO of up to 12,800, higher than was originally rumored, and is expandable to 204,800. The camera is faster than ever, too, thanks to Nikon's new Expeed 3 processor — reps said the D4 will boot in .012 seconds, has .042-second shutter lag, and will shoot at 11 frames per second, one faster than the D3s. The Expeed 3 processor also improves autofocus performance, which still has 51 points but can use phase detection in even worse lighting conditions. (The autofocus system upgrade also now supports any Nikon lens up to f/8, which is pretty much all of them.) The RGB metering sensor has been bumped up to 91,005 pixels, which makes metering far better, particularly on small subjects. Live View and Movie mode autofocus have both been improved as well — which any D3s user knows is not a moment too soon — though it's still contrast-detect autofocus.

    Video performance in general was clearly high on Nikon's list for the D4's functionality. The new shooter captures 1080p30, 1080p24, and 720p60 video, and Nikon has added smooth aperture adjustment as well as three different crops for video, up to 2.7x — that means you can shoot 1080p video, and give it the appearance of being zoomed a long way without any special optics. There's a new 20-level audio metering system, plus a headphone jack with 30-level adjustment so you can monitor straight from the camera. Apparently Nikon had some processing power to spare, too, because you can stream a full, uncompressed 720p signal out of the camera through its HDMI port, and view it on the camera simultaneously.

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  • Sean Hollister

    Jan 5, 2012

    Sean Hollister

    Nikon D4 wire report leaks, confirming 16.2MP full-frame DSLR for $6,000 in February

    Nikon D4 D3 comparison RUMOR Nikon Rumors
    Nikon D4 D3 comparison RUMOR Nikon Rumors

    We're still not completely sure what Nikon's D4 will look like, but we can tell you its specs: it seems a wire report has been inadvertently published confirming that the hotly-anticipated DSLR will arrive in February, bringing a full-frame 16.2 megapixel sensor with a 100-102,400 native ISO range for $6,000.

    Many major specs detailed in the International Press Telecommunications Council report were already leaked, including the camera's 51-point AF system (with 9 cross-type points), 50-204,800 expanded ISO range, ethernet jack and Compact Flash XQD memory card slot, but we're now learning that the camera will have 100 percent coverage in its full pentaprism optical viewfinder, and do contrast-detect autofocus and smoothly adjust aperture while recording 1080p30, 1080p24 and 720p60 HD video. According to the report, the max continuous shooting speed will actually be 10fps, not the 11fps rumored, but the D4 will do face detection, has a 91,000-pixel RGB metering sensor, and will feature illuminated function keys and a dedicated video recording button. Nikon's also introducing a new AF-S 85mm f/1.8G FX format lens, with an MSRP of around $500. The wire report's dated January 10th, so expect an official announcement from Nikon around then. We've also reached out to Nikon for comment and will let you know what we hear.

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  • Nathan Ingraham

    Dec 30, 2011

    Nathan Ingraham

    Potential Nikon D4 image surfaces, looks a lot like the D3s

    Nikon D4 D3 comparison RUMOR Nikon Rumors
    Nikon D4 D3 comparison RUMOR Nikon Rumors

    Rumors are starting to fly fast around the Nikon D4, the long-rumored successor to the excellent D3 and D3s. A detailed (though unconfirmed) spec sheet made the rounds a few weeks ago, and now the often-reliable Nikon Rumors has posted a photo of a Nikon camera that could be the D4, though the grey box covering up the camera's name badge sets off a few alarms. Overall, the purported D4 (pictured above, on the left) looks like it tightens up the D3s design ever so slightly while still retaining all of the camera's myriad ports, buttons, and dials (from the front, at least). It's been over four years since the D3 was announced, and Nikon definitely needs a response to Canon's monstrous 1D X coming this spring. We're expecting to see more of a camera presence in general at this year's CES, and the D4 would certainly turn a lot of heads.

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  • Dec 12, 2011

    Vlad Savov

    Nikon D4 specs rumored: 204,800 max ISO, 16.2-megapixel sensor, and 11fps continuous shooting

    nikon d3x
    nikon d3x

    Canon's introduction of the 1D X had to prompt a response from Nikon, and now we're hearing the first rumored spec sheet for what that might look like. Nikon's D4, the subject of whispers and speculation for most of this year, will reportedly feature a 16.2-megapixel sensor, an 11fps burst mode, and a native ISO range of between 100 and 102,400. That doubles the 1D X's 51,200 default maximum ISO, but there's an expansion option that can crank things up to the wild heights of ISO 204,800 (the 1D X is capable of that too, through its own extension mode). These numbers hardly sound credible, but having witnessed the amazing performance of the Nikon D3s at ISO 12,800, we're willing to believe Nikon can deliver useful images even at the extremes quoted here. Part of that achievement will also be down to keeping the pixel count soberly in check at just over 16 million.

    Other improvements over Nikon's current top-of-the-line cameras include compatibility with CompactFlash XQD memory cards, an integrated Ethernet port, and unspecified tweaks to the 51-point autofocus array and video. The cross-type autofocus points are down to nine from the 15 on the D3s and D3x. This is all still speculative information for now, but Nikon Rumors has a good record of unearthing the facts ahead of release, so we wouldn't be surprised if the eventual D4 specs turn out very close to what we're seeing here. Now that some actual numbers are slipping out of Japan about this new camera, it also looks likely to debut alongside the long-awaited D800. Should make for a fun January in the photography world.

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