Nikon D4S Digital Camera Review - AutoenGadget.com

The Nikon D4, launched back in 2012, was a revolutionary camera that combined fast capture speed, superb ergonomics and control, and truly professional caliber video options. As the company has done with previous generations of pro-level cameras, Nikon is back with a subtle refresh of its top camera, touting greater dynamic range, improved continuous shooting speed with autofocus, and a frankly ridiculous top ISO of 409,600. Meet Nikon's D4S.

As with those earlier top-level refreshes, the D4S doesn't drastically alter the D4's blueprint. Instead, it's a minor adjustment of the camera that preceded it, adding a couple of new features and a new processor rather than taking the whole thing back to the drawing board.
We've gotten a chance to run the D4S (MSRP $6,499.95) through our full suite of lab tests along with the standard 24-70mm f/2.8G Nikon lens to see what working professionals can expect from Nikon's latest and greatest DSLR. While the improvements are subtle, the D4S is without a doubt the best digital SLR Nikon has ever produced.

Design & Handling

Nikon has clearly found little fault with the D4's design, electing to change almost nothing.

Nikon isn't known for dramatically altering control schemes or menu design, so the fact that the D4S and D4 look and feel practically identical isn't a surprise. The two cameras have mostly all of the same ports, button placement is identical, and the control scheme is unchanged between the two cameras. The only real outward difference is a new knurled texture for the sub-selector joysticks. That's pretty much it. If you're a working pro who knows your D4 inside and out, feel free to skip ahead, because nothing else in this section will be news to you.

Nikon isn't known for dramatically altering control schemes or menu design, so the fact that the D4S and D4 look and feel practically identical isn't a surprise.

For those who haven't seen or used a D4 yet, there's quite a bit of ground to cover. For starters the D4S is massive, with full weather sealing and a durable magnesium alloy frame. Its size is due to its integrated portrait grip, which also houses the camera's upgraded 10.8V, 2500mAh EN-EL18a rechargeable battery. The battery has a slightly higher capacity than the 2,000 mAh EN-EL18 used in the D4, which bumps the battery life rating from 2,600 shots to just north of 3,000 by CIPA's convoluted rating. In practice you should be able to go even beyond that when shooting normally.

Nikon's FX logo is reserved for SLRs with full-frame 35mm image sensors.

On the top plate of the camera you'll find all of the standard controls like power and shutter release, mode and exposure compensation buttons, and a dedicated video record button. There's also a very useful secondary LCD that provides a snapshot of your current shooting settings. On the other side of the top plate there's also a locking drive mode selection dial and buttons for bracket, metering, and flash settings.
Exposure is adjusted via the two main control dials. When holding the camera by the standard grip, one is placed right where your thumb falls while the other is right under your index finger. The dials have a solid resistance, with a slightly tacky material that provides purchase. On the back you'll find the multi-selector, a four-way directional pad used for menu navigation. A smaller textured joystick called the sub-selector is also here, normally used to move between focus points.

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On the portrait grip most of the necessary controls make another appearance, including a secondary shutter button, two more control dials, and a dedicated customizable button. There's also a second sub-selector joystick, placed in nearly the same location relative to the thumb rest as the standard sub-selector. Menu navigation is still a pain in portrait mode, unfortunately. The biggest issue is that none of the content on the rear LCD rotates vertically, so every time you want to review a shot or access the menu, you have to turn the camera back to landscape mode. In fact, the only way to correctly view a shot taken in portrait orientation is to turn off auto image rotation in playback, which is incredibly counterintuitive.

The bottom right corner of the D4S is where you'll find all of the major shooting controls replicated for use with the portrait grip.

On the back there's also a 3.2-inch 921k-dot fixed LCD, with an array of menu and playback mode controls beside it. In this control stack you'll also find quick access for the customizable color profiles, useful for those shooting primarily video or JPEG stills. Just below the rear LCD is a third LCD, as well as buttons for controlling ISO, white balance, and image quality settings. Next to those is a mono microphone and a button for capturing quick voice memos relative to shots you've just taken. There's also an awkwardly located switch for activating live view and recording videos. It's far out of the way when shooting with the standard grip, but it's easily accessible via the portrait grip.

Shooting With the D4S

Faster shooting speed with autofocus is wonderful, but we hoped for more AF control

At its heart, the D4S is still a camera designed for professional sports and news photographers who need a camera that responds instantly. As you'd expect given the lack of changes, we are still as impressed with this camera as we were with the D4. The 51-point autofocus system is still superb, and does a great job of locking onto a single subject and tracking it through the frame. All of the buttons and dials feel expertly crafted and overall response time is excellent.
Though we found that continuous shooting speed still tops out at around 12fps when capturing JPEGs, the D4 can capture 11fps while using autofocus. Continuous autofocus is useful when it works, but in testing we found that your results will likely vary greatly depending on the velocity and type of subject. Those moving directly away from the camera seemed to present the biggest issues, but focus was close enough that we would still call most of the shots acceptable. At the very least, it seems there's nothing that the D4 can do that the D4S cannot.

The 24-70mm f/2.8 and the Nikon D4S isolate the lock in this shot, creating a nice shallow depth of field effect. View Larger

One thing that we do wish Nikon had been willing to add to the D4S is enhanced autofocus control. While the improved continuous performance is nice, the case-based AF control present on the Canon EOS 1D X remains a premium feature that Nikon simply isn't matching right now. Nikon has introduced a new "Group AF" mode that seems to track faster subjects better, however. In this mode the focus system lets you select a single point, but will also track a subject with the four surrounding points. In our experience this better accounts for unpredictable moving subjects like birds and athletes where an object may escape the range of a single AF point.

Even with Nikon's rather hefty 24-70mm f/2.8G lens, the D4S felt fine after a couple separate hour-long shooting trips.

From a handling perspective the D4S is heavy, but the grips are nicely sculpted and extended periods of shooting aren't bothersome. Even with Nikon's rather hefty 24-70mm f/2.8G lens (or Sigma's behemoth 100-300mm f/4), the D4S felt fine after a couple separate hour-long shooting trips. While important controls like white balance and ISO aren't as easily accessible as on the 1D X, the D4S does have loads of little control touches that help you adapt to changing conditions on the fly. Our favorite might be the ability to activate auto ISO simply by holding the ISO key and turning the front dial. Even if you've been changing ISOs manually with the rear dial, you can flick to auto ISO and let the camera figure it out if lighting conditions suddenly change. This saves a trip to the menu, which may be the difference between missing or making a shot.