10 Years Ago - 2003

[KmH]

Nikon only offered 3 - DSLR cameras. Today they offer 11 DSLR models.

The pro grade, flagship, 5.2 MP - D1X
The pro grade, flagship, 2.7 MP - D1H (for sports),
and the prosumer (professional compact), 6.0 MP - D100

At the beginning of 2003, both the D1X and D1H had been available for about 2 years.
Mid-2003, the D1H would be replaced by the 4.1 MP - D2H. Mid-2004 the D1X would be replaced by the 12.1 MP - D2X
The D100 would soldier on until the 4th quarter of 2005, currently the second longest run in Nikon DSLR history (3.75 years).

The D90 currently holds the longevity record at 4.5 years, and counting.

June 2001 - Nikon D1x Review: Digital Photography Review
September 2001 - Nikon D1H Review: Digital Photography Review
July 2002 - Nikon D100 Review: Digital Photography Review

 

[rexbobcat]

The university newspaper here owns a D1.

The ergonomics are sooooooo bad. And ugly.

Edit: The Nikon D100 was $2000? And people are complaining that the Nikon D600 and Canon 6D are sooooo expensive

 

[leeroix]

d90 is great.

 

[KmH]

Cool a D1.

The D1 was introduced on June 15, 1999, and was replace by the D1X/D1H on February 5, 2001.

 

[rexbobcat]

Cool a D1.

The D1 was introduced on June 15, 1999, and was replace by the D1X/D1H on February 5, 2001.

Yeah it's pretty cool. They own every model except for the D3 and newer. They switched to Canon before it was released

It's also kind of weird though because none of their Nikon lenses are actually Nikon. They're all Tokina, including the sought after 28-70 f/2.6

 

[BrianV]

20 years ago, Kodak DCS200. This is the Infrared version. $12,400 for the body. 20 years ago. The D1 was much lighter, easier to use, and you could actually view the image in the camera! and a lot cheaper. The Nikon E3- Now that one is big and ugly. But it still works.

I bought a pair of D1x's with every Micro-Nikkor lens available in 2001, also bought a pair of F3HP's with it. $20K. The F3HP's were a few Sn's apart, 1 just below 2M and the other just above it. "Missed it by that much".

 

[ratssass]

...kinda puts into perspective tha adage "body's come and go,but quality glass lasts a long time".I just bought a d200 (33,000 actuations) for $250.00.

 

[Derrel]

10 years ago I was shooting with the then fairly new FujiFilm FinePix S2 Pro digital SLR camera...a d-slr that at that time, had probably the best color rendering of almost any d-slr of the entire era. it produced fantastic SOOC JPEGs, and had even more-incredible raw files. Compared to the Nikon D1 generation cameras I had, the Fuji S2 Pro had a simply incredible, delightful, wonderful color palette; the Nikon D1 was horrible; the D1h, significantly better; the Nikon D100, simply dull and flat and ugly, and requiring extensive post-processing of both JPEGs and RAW files. The D1x...basically 5.4 megapixels of average color...

 

[rexbobcat]

I think it's kind of funny how Fuji, Kodak, and Canon were kind of seen as the main up-and-comers of the DSLR age what with the 1Ds, S1(?), and the full frame Kodak 14n.

A full frame...14 megapixel...Kodak camera...in the early 2000s.

Yeah, it existed, and the body was based on a Nikon body.

And back then Nikon was kind of...slow...when it came to keeping up with the digital innovation...

And now Kodak is defunct and Nikon is one of the ringleaders of image quality. Oh sweet irony. Haha

 

[TheLost]

The D90 currently holds the longevity record at 4.5 years, and counting.

If you want to be technical.. The D700 is still being sold by Nikon. It came out in July 2008. The D90 didn't come out until August 2008. That makes the D700 the record holder for longevity

Also... The only people who don't call the D7000 the replacement for the D90 are people who own a D90.

The TRUE milestone for Nikon was in 2004 with the introduction of 'the working stiffs' DSLR.. the D70. At a price of only $1,200 for the kit it was the first Nikon aimed at hobbyists. Before that, the $4.3k/$5.3k price of the D1h/D1x put it out of reach of most people.

2014 will also be important not only as the 10 year anniversary of the D70... but as the 20 year anniversary of the Apple QuickTake 100! IMHO, that is a milestone camera

 

[KmH]

Good call on the D700.

Redo your post in 2014.

 

[kathyt]

I thought I was going to see some of your images from 10 years ago! Darn. I feel kinda cheated.

 

[Derrel]

Nikon does not have the D700 listed on its USA web site...but they still have the D90 listed. Digital SLR Cameras | Nikon D-SLR Cameras & Compact D-SLR Cameras

 

[KmH]

That means the D700 has officially been replaced by the D800.

 

[pixmedic]

we got our first DSLR in 2006, a D100 from the photographer my wife knew. (he upgraded to D200's)
we replaced it a few years later when the D90 came out.
and just for kicks, I recently picked up a D200 in EX condition with 11,400 clicks on it for $100.

I also had a sony mavica with image stabilization Amazon.com: Sony MVC-FD95 Mavica 2MP Digital Camera with 10x Optical Zoom: Camera & Photo
it took 3.5 floppy disks as memory. ah, good times.