Viewfinder

The DCS-14n's viewfinder has a rubber eyepiece cup (which can be removed for accessory attachment). Because the 14n has a full 35 mm size sensor the view is very big and bright, the focusing screen is good enough for manual focusing. You can choose to have on-demand gridlines visible on the focusing screen. There is a small dioptre adjustment on the right side of the viewfinder.

Viewfinder view

Through the viewfinder you'll see the center-weighted metering circle and five indicated AF area markers. Note that the active focus area darkens when selected. The on-demand grid lines can be turned on from the custom function (CSM) menu, these gridlines prove useful for ensuring alignment when taking landscape or architectural shots. Along the bottom of the viewfinder view you will see the status bar. This provides you with an overview of camera (photographic) settings as well as exposure settings.

Battery / Charger

The DCS-14n features a single 'stick pack' Lithium-ion battery. This slides into the bottom left edge of the camera and is held in place by a lever built into the battery. This battery provides 1800 mAh at 7.4 V and weighs just 116 g (4.1 oz). This battery contributes greatly to the 14n's relatively low weight. It is apparently based on mobile phone battery technology and contains two cells.

Battery charger / AC Adapter

The battery charges in the supplied charger / adapter. A full charge should take approximately 90 minutes. The LED on the charger indicates the current charge status with a number of blinks. This unit can also be used as an AC adapter by inserting the dummy battery 'power module' into the camera and connecting this to the charger unit via a supplied cable.

Storage Compartment

On the rear of the DSC-14n you will find a horizontally hinged door which is opened by pushing a small lever downwards. Inside you will find two storage slots, one for Compact Flash Type I or II (including IBM Microdrive), the second for Secure Digital / Multi Media Cards. It's interesting that Kodak chose to include an SD/MMC slot, discussing this with them they hinted that this slot provides the possibility of other types of connectivity in the future (bluetooth, mobile, wireless internet etc.).

Connections

On the left side of the camera directly above the battery compartment are the Video Out and IEEE 1394 (Firewire) connectors. On the front of the camera there is a PC Sync flash terminal and a 10-pin Nikon remote / accessory terminal.

Camera Base / Tripod Mount

When you see the camera from the bottom you can appreciate how wide it is down there, obviously a fair amount of that width is required for the stick pack battery, the rest is the vertical hand grip and thick rear digital portion. Note that the camera has a soft rubber 'foot' (very nice and useful for steadying the camera), the tripod mount is a little far forward for my liking, it's certainly not in line with the focal plane and can cause the camera to tip forwards slightly on certain tripod quick release plates.

Pop-up Flash

The DCS-14n's pop-up flash is released by pressing a small button on the left side just below the flash. Opening the flash automatically enables it and charges the flash capacitor ready to shoot. The flash has a guide number of 12/39 (m/ft) at ISO 100. Just like the D100 and S2 Pro the DCS-14n fires its flash only once for each shot, enabling red-eye reduction illuminates the AF assist lamp.

AF Assist Lamp

The AF assist lamp on the DCS-14n will automatically illuminate the subject if light levels are too low for the AF system to make a good focus. The lamp can be enabled or disabled via a custom function. Note that the lamp is also used to indicate self-timer countdown and for red-eye reduction.

Flash Hot-shoe

The DSC-14n has a standard Nikon hot-shoe which can accept a wide range of Nikon Speedlights including the SB-28Dx, SB-80DX and SB-50DX (pictured below). It supports D-TTL mode for the SB-28DX, SB-80DX and SB-50DX as well as Auto Aperture and Non-TTL auto with the SB-28DX and SB-80DX.

Lens Mount / Sensor cleaning

The DCS-14n has a standard Nikon F lens mount, it can accept almost any Nikkor F mount lens. Full camera features are only available when you use G or D type AF Nikkor CPU lenses. The camera has a dedicated 'Imager Clean' mode for cleaning and removing dust from the sensor surface. You can enter sensor cleaning mode with a freshly charged battery although the use of the AC adapter is recommended.

Box Contents

Contents of the retail box are:

• Kodak Pro DCS-14n digital SLR
• Body cap
• Charger / AC Adapter
• Rechargeable Lithium-Ion battery pack
• DC Power module (dummy battery)
• 4-pin Firewire (IEEE 1394) cable
• Hand and neck straps
• User guide (English)
• Documentation CD (8 languages)
• Host software CD (DCS Photo Desk, DCS Camera Manager)
• Warranty Card / Service Information