Dave Etchells over at Imaging-Resource has just posted a gallery of sample images from a prototype Nikon D2H. The D2H is the sucessor to the D1H and features Nikon's new four megapixel JFET LBCAST sensor technology. Dave has produced a wide range of shots including action shots and moderate ISO sensitvities (up to ISO 640 for the action shots). One thing Dave notes is strong noise in shadow areas of the images. "In their presentations about the D2H, Nikon has made a big deal about how much their LBCAST sensor technology should improve image noise. Given that, I was very surprised by how high the image noise was in some of these photos, even at very modest ISO ratings."

UPDATE 16/Sep/03: Dave has been asked by Nikon to take down this samples gallery.

"While I and the other journalists attending Nikon's "Gravity Games" event were told that the cameras we were shooting with were "very close" to final production, I have since been informed that they were in fact much earlier-stage prototypes than we were initially told. Accordingly, Nikon has asked that I remove the images previously posted here until such time as final production-level units are available to test.

Apologies for the confusion over this, it appears that Nikon US was as much surprised by this as all of us are.

- Dave Etchells"

Click here for our brief Nikon D2H preview