New D600...First Thoughts

Pulled the pin early this morning and purchased a D600 and just finished an actual shoot with it (had my D3 as well since this wan't a "fun" shoot).  Here are my first thoughts:

1.)  Color/White Balance:  Very good although I probably didn't really stress it too much.  Very clean whites and greys with nice, but natural colors.  I really like the job Nikon has done with Picture Controls...it seems to keep colors more stable and predictable between different models, unlike the old days where a different model meant get ready for the colors to be a bit different. Auto White Balance under flourescent lights and daylight was VERY accurate.  I find that setting it to NEUTRAL as opposed to the default STANDARD works better...you *might* want to push the sharpening one click to the right if you use the NEUTRAL setting

2.) Shutter:  Tight-sounding (this is good) and quiet...not clunky or tinny-sounding.

3.)  Handling:  Feels really good in my hands...even better than the D800 I had tested.  This is a personal opinion, of course, but the D600 may be the best-handling SLR (film or digital) I have ever picked up.  Right out of the box it felt like I had been using it for a while.  I always liked the handling and feel of the D7000, the D600 is a bit more robust and really has a nice size and balance to it.

4.)  Autofocus:  Can't really comment too much yet since I was shooting a static subject but it still performed fast, quiet and accurate.

5.)  ISO 1600:  Only shot a couple, so again, not a comprehensive test, but the images were very clean.

6.)  Some Downsides:  I wished the ISO button was on the top dial like on the D3.  I don't really like the locking dial...I see where Nikon was going with it and why, but I would prefer to not have a lock, I'm sure I'll get used to it.

Tomorrow it gets a real workout and I will know more, but my first impression with the D600 is a good one.

So far I think Nikon has done a good job with the D600.

By the way...NO SENSOR DUST!!!

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