First few hours with the Nikon D600

Of late, Nikon has been pushing the envelope as far as DSLRs are concerned. After the 36-mega pixel D800, it has now introduced the D600.

It might be the world's smallest full frame camera, but the D600 still weighs around 760 grams and can be quite a handful. It uses a 35.9 X 24.0 mm Fx format CMOS sensor with 24.3 effective mega pixels. The Fn button under the lens can be used to shift to the 24X16 mm DX format.

The body, however, is easier to grip than the D800 thanks to some of the extra curves that have been added where the fingers come.

The controls are very similar to the D800E we tested a couple of months back though this has two SD card slots.

The command dial is on the left, while there is a backlit LED on the right. There is no dedicated ISO button and you will need to use the info screen to change film speed.

The menu can be a bit confusing as there are screen after screen of settings to be fiddled with. But, thankfully, the basic stuff can all be tackled with getting to the menu.

The camera can really break into a canter in the Continuous modes. The Quiet mode has a slight latency at lower shutter speeds. Despite these pictures being big and so full of details, the processing is fast as the EXPEED 3 image-processing engine has been optimised for the D600.

You will need a really fast, possibly Class 10, SD card though - an average image is saved at around 6 MB. Another reason for having a good card is that this is a Full HD video camera with broadcast quality footage.

Read the full review in next issue of Gadgets & Gizmos