Battery and Charger

The D100's battery compartment can be found in the base of the hand grip. The camera takes an the new Nikon EN-EL3 Lithium-Ion battery pack (7.4 V 1400 mAh; 10.4 Wh). As you can see in the last shot in the series below the EN-EL3 is virtually identical in appearance to Canon's BP-511, despite this appearance they are not the same and nor are they interchangeable. Indeed, interestingly the Nikon battery has 300 mAh more than the Canon (and we were impressed by the battery life from the Canon!).

The supplied MH-18 quick charger can be powered by 100-240 VAC and recharges one EN-EL3 battery in approximately two hours (if completely discharged).

Compact Flash Compartment

On the rear of the camera is the Compact Flash compartment, the door is held shut by a sprung clip which is opened by simply pressing a lever on the edge of the door (neat and works well). Inside you'll find a Compact Flash Type I/II slot (Microdrive compatible) which is interestingly mounted at a slight (about 10 degrees) angle. Apparently designed this way to keep the overall dimensions of the camera as compact as possible. Just like other Nikon Digital SLR's the D100's CF door is designed cleverly so that you can close it by simply holding the camera normally (the door then 'clicks' shut).

Connections

On the left side of the camera you'll find all of the D100's connectors behind one rubber cover. Inside is a DC-IN connector (for optional AC adapter), video out and a mini-USB port. Interesting to note that the D100 doesn't have a PC sync flash connector (something I feel it really should have) or an electronic remote control connector (although it does allow the physical screw-in type on the shutter release).

Camera Base / Tripod Mount

On the bottom of the camera you'll find the metal tripod socket which is aligned exactly with the center line of the lens. The mount also appears to be in line with the focal plane (position of the imager). The base of the camera is fairly straightforward although it would have been nice to see a rubber 'foot' which we've seen on the D1, D1H and D1x.

Pop-up Flash

The D100'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 11/36 (m/ft) at ISO 100. Unlike other digital cameras the D100 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 D100 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. Although we couldn't find any official specs on the lamp's effective range I estimated it to be approximately 4 m (13 ft).

Flash Hot-shoe

The D100 has a standard Nikon hot-shoe which can accept a wide range of Nikon Speedlights including the new SB-80DX and SB-50DX (pictured below).

Lens Mount

The D100 has a 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.

Box Contents

Contents of the retail box are:  • Nikon D100 digital SLR body  • EN-EL Lithium-Ion battery  • MH-18 Quick charger  • LCD Monitor cover (BM-2)  • Neck strap  • Video cable  • USB cable  • Manual  • CD-ROM