Top Level Digital SLR

As an amateur photographer I bought a D2X because D200 was not available at that time and my -47C Siberia tested D100 was barely satisfactory for my needs.

D2X is a special machine. It has so many features that you really need to sit down and study. Some of these features are for professionals. Some for advanced amateurs and a few for beginners so if you are thinking about a D2X you’d better be a pro or a rich advanced amateur.

Having said all of this, I should also mention that I am observing a trend on the net where people forget about the art of photography and focus on technical issues. So, while focusing on cameras, please do not forget the most important photographic device, your vision. IHMO, the spirit of a photograph is absolutely dependent on the photographer and has nothing to do with the camera system. The optical quality of a photograph has to do not with the camera but with the lens where no. 1 Zeiss is the followed by no. 2 Canon and then afterwards by no. 3 Nikon when we exclude large and medium format lenses. Your camera body will only make it easier to take photographs.

D2X certainly does that. It is Nikon tough and unless you work for a secret service you may not get anything tougher. (In the past I watched one documentary about how amazing spy cameras were built for spies) Nevertheless, it has so many features that having read the book a couple of times, I can’t remember some of them.

I mostly shoot in raw format and the rear control screen and buttons remind me about the settings so I am much less likely to forget to readjust the iso/wb/quality/size settings. To me this is a lifesaver as I often forget to change controls when focused on photography. You can make “raw” mistakes but jpeg’s have no forgiveness.

D2X is/was the epitome of the Nikon system. Nikon and Adobe had a fight of some sort as to establish the ruler of cyberphotography. In older versions of Photoshop you could not import certain D2X raw data directly and had to deal with tiny screens. I do not know about CS2 & CS3. Nikon processing software (Nikon Editor) -I am sorry to say- sucks. There is one software named Capture One published by Phase One where you can get limited or full versions for raw processing. I would highly recommend this product.

Until someone more knowledgeable provides an authoritative list, I shall name some D2X capabilities that I enjoy.

-Superior focusing features. This was my big problem with D100. Now, there are so many different settings that Ineed to take it really seriously and not forget the focusing meter settings.
-Ergonomical. D2X is one HUGE and HEAVY camera yet I am so used to carrying mine for days and days that I often forget that I am carrying a 1076 gram body (without battery, lens and memory card) and sometimes when walking into tight places, there are small non-damaging accidents. Yes, this huge camera is very ergonomical and easy to use. In my case, the easiest and most ergonomical to use so far. But I know little outside Nikon so lay your hands on other brands too.
-This ergonomy helps me while shooting too. After a while your fingers memorize who is where so while shooting photos you can easily change settings without getting distracted.
-One wonderful feature is the adjustable timer. This is different then the auto-timer. Here you can order your D2X to take say, 14 photographs at say, 7 sec intervals. Or you can ask the camera to start shooting at a certain time ! I am really uncomfortable asking strangers to shoot us because most likely they can not frame nice. With a D2X, you can adjust the camera and then pose like a model and the camera will keep and keep shooting. We took many photographs like this in our honeymoon. Well done D2X !
-I never had any problems with exposure control with my Nikons so can not make mcu comments. Strangely, I have fewer and fewer exposure problems every passing year. This may have to with me and also with the superior exposure metering system on the camera.
-Regarding raw format, I am indebted to D2X's excellent raw compression. My D100 could theoretically do this too but the results were problematic. Raw compression means putting in many more photos into a memory card with extremely little (to my needs, negligable) quality loss.

And the last words :
Some say a big camera distracts others but I have to disagree so far. I noticed that if a photographer is uncomfortable, shy with other people or fears that a huge camera will stop them from behaving natural then people will probably not act natural as it happened to me in the past. Then I came to learn that when a photographer is comfortable, confident, photographically happy (focused not on camera but on the subject and his feelings related to his photographical vision) then many people around sense this and respond very positively. I say this so you will not forgo a D2X only because it is large.

After reading this review kindly remember that I am an amateur photographer and consult more experienced people.

No matter what you do, what you have, keep shooting & enjoy.