D100 - no user upgrade for a reason!

[Phil Askey]

Guys,

CHILL OUT!

There are many digital cameras (consumer and D-SLR) which can't be flashed by the user simply because of the type of EEPROM chip they use to hold the firmware. Sony digital cameras for example can't be flashed by the user and have to be taken to a service center.

Nikon are offering the upgrade for free, all you have to do is get the camera to the service center.

--
Phil Askey
Editor / Owner, dpreview.com

 

[Phil Askey]

I should also add that Nikon may need to re-calibrated or run some other special application on the D100 after the firmware is installed. Whichever way I'm sure you would want the best possible result for your camera.

Guys,

CHILL OUT!

There are many digital cameras (consumer and D-SLR) which can't be
flashed by the user simply because of the type of EEPROM chip they
use to hold the firmware. Sony digital cameras for example can't
be flashed by the user and have to be taken to a service center.

Nikon are offering the upgrade for free, all you have to do is get
the camera to the service center.

--
Phil Askey
Editor / Owner, dpreview.com

--
Phil Askey
Editor / Owner, dpreview.com

 

[greg n]

Well that pretty well summs it up.

Guys,

CHILL OUT!

There are many digital cameras (consumer and D-SLR) which can't be
flashed by the user simply because of the type of EEPROM chip they
use to hold the firmware. Sony digital cameras for example can't
be flashed by the user and have to be taken to a service center.

Nikon are offering the upgrade for free, all you have to do is get
the camera to the service center.

--
Phil Askey
Editor / Owner, dpreview.com

--
Phil Askey
Editor / Owner, dpreview.com

 

[Frans Leerdam]

Guys,

CHILL OUT!

There are many digital cameras (consumer and D-SLR) which can't be
flashed by the user simply because of the type of EEPROM chip they
use to hold the firmware. Sony digital cameras for example can't
be flashed by the user and have to be taken to a service center.

Nikon are offering the upgrade for free, all you have to do is get
the camera to the service center.

--
Phil Askey
Editor / Owner, dpreview.com

--
Phil Askey
Editor / Owner, dpreview.com

Good words Phil !!!!

Frans....

--
Nikon D1X
Nikor 17-35 AFS 2.8
Nikor 28-70 AFS 2.8
Waiting for Nikor 70-200 AFS VR 2.8
Nikor 60 micro 2.8
Nikon SB-80 DX
http://www.jagtveld.nl/gallery/

 

[Bill Choice119732]

Phil –

As a quiet observer of your website and forums I have gained helpful knowledge to make informed decisions on my purchases. I have been watching for your input on this latest development and wonder when you might be getting an updated D100 and if you will test the latest firmware against the previous version? I shoot mostly jpeg and am particularly interested in a fix of the jpeg sharpness. I know they don’t list a jpeg fix on the press release, but it’s not inconceivable that they have additional fixes in the 2.0 revision.

I would love to flash the firmware myself, just like my 995 and computers, but I don’t have a problem sending the D100 in for Nikon to do it. I just want to know if I need to send it right away or wait for the rush to be over. If I will get some real improvements in the firmware it’s out the door, but if the only improvements are in the press release I’ll probably wait.

Thanks!
Bill

Guys,

CHILL OUT!

There are many digital cameras (consumer and D-SLR) which can't be
flashed by the user simply because of the type of EEPROM chip they
use to hold the firmware. Sony digital cameras for example can't
be flashed by the user and have to be taken to a service center.

Nikon are offering the upgrade for free, all you have to do is get
the camera to the service center.

--
Phil Askey
Editor / Owner, dpreview.com

 

[Rob Muller]

Guys,

CHILL OUT!

There are many digital cameras (consumer and D-SLR) which can't be
flashed by the user simply because of the type of EEPROM chip they
use to hold the firmware. Sony digital cameras for example can't
be flashed by the user and have to be taken to a service center.

Nikon are offering the upgrade for free, all you have to do is get
the camera to the service center.

--
Phil Askey
Editor / Owner, dpreview.com

Phil-

I hope you can understand our gripe. I just purchased my D-100 2 weeks ago and already it needs a firmware upgrade? That is utterly rediculous. Never have I purchased a product, computer or otherwise, that required an update one week after I purchased it. I fell in love with the D-100. I'm shooting events every weekend since I got it. Now, I have to pack it up and ship it away for two weeks? Terrible. I don't have a camera of equal quality as a backup. I'm not a happy camper. Nikon should send me a replacement while I'm getting mine fixed. Notice I said fixed and not upgraded. I truly believe that it's a fix. Anyway, I think our point was made on this forum and I hope Nikon is/was listening to the unhappy D100 customers. No business, I repeat no business, can afford to have unhappy customers these days. The economy is bad enough. I'll get off my soapbox now.

BTW, you have a great website and forum. Your information and reviews have been brilliant. Keep up the good work. Rob

 

[Jason Busch]

Guys,

CHILL OUT!

There are many digital cameras (consumer and D-SLR) which can't be
flashed by the user simply because of the type of EEPROM chip they
use to hold the firmware. Sony digital cameras for example can't
be flashed by the user and have to be taken to a service center.

Nikon are offering the upgrade for free, all you have to do is get
the camera to the service center.

Hi Phil,

The problem is, many Nikon owners do not live near an upgrade center. In the US, Canada, and the UK, you can locate a center that will get your camera back in a short period of time (a week or so--not sure about the UK, you'll have a better idea on that). In other areas, it takes several weeks to upgrade the camera, and a repair facility is just too far away (Eastern Europe for example).

Nikon is very generous in offering the free upgrade and I am appreciate the offer and I love my camera to death, but at the same time, several of us cannot afford a second D100 or D1x, and sending the camera out for an upgrade, is inconvenient. We look at Canon owners and they simply download an upgrade, copy it to their CF, and install it on their cameras. Why can't we do this?

http://www.powershot.com/powershot2/customer/firmware.html

Here's a clip from Canon's update for the 1D:

"VERSION 1.4.0

Dear EOS-1D Owner:

Thank you very much for purchasing the Canon EOS-1D.

As a part of our ongoing commitment to maintaining the highest standards of product performance and customer support, we are taking this opportunity to inform you of a new firmware update for the EOS-1D. This update can be installed by users without sending the camera in for service. For information, installation instructions and to download the new firmware, please visit the following web site:"

http://www.canon.co.jp/Imaging/EOS1D/1D_firmware-e.html

And here is an example for those who are reading this:

http://www.canon.co.jp/Imaging/D60/D60_Firm-j.html

Canon provides a choice to its customers that Nikon should provide for D-series owners as well:

1) Upgrade yourself
2) Take it to a Repair Center for upgrade if you don't want to do it

Upgrading may not be an easy thing to do for some, but there are several D1x and D100 owners who are very computer literate, and who will not have a problem doing this. All we ask is that we have a choice.

If Nikon has a considerably valid reason for not providing user-upgradeable firmware, we will need to know. An excuse like, "Well, some people may crash their camera and will have to send it in" is not good enough. If a moron wants to take a chance with his camera, then fine. He can pay for the repair. But, there are many more of us who can do the upgrade without any problems.

Thanks for chiming in.

--
http://pub103.ezboard.com/bthedigitaldinguscommunity
http://d100.topcities.com/
http://e10club.topcities.com/
--
Please see my Profile for equipment I use

 

[greg n]

Rob it is not relevent when you purchased the camera, but rather when the camera was released. By your reasoning it would be silly to have an upgrade two years from now if you purchased the camera in two years. No disrespect intended, but your argument is not sound.

Guys,

CHILL OUT!

There are many digital cameras (consumer and D-SLR) which can't be
flashed by the user simply because of the type of EEPROM chip they
use to hold the firmware. Sony digital cameras for example can't
be flashed by the user and have to be taken to a service center.

Nikon are offering the upgrade for free, all you have to do is get
the camera to the service center.

--
Phil Askey
Editor / Owner, dpreview.com

Phil-
I hope you can understand our gripe. I just purchased my D-100 2
weeks ago and already it needs a firmware upgrade? That is utterly
rediculous. Never have I purchased a product, computer or
otherwise, that required an update one week after I purchased it.
I fell in love with the D-100. I'm shooting events every weekend
since I got it. Now, I have to pack it up and ship it away for two
weeks? Terrible. I don't have a camera of equal quality as a
backup. I'm not a happy camper. Nikon should send me a
replacement while I'm getting mine fixed. Notice I said fixed and
not upgraded. I truly believe that it's a fix. Anyway, I think
our point was made on this forum and I hope Nikon is/was listening
to the unhappy D100 customers. No business, I repeat no business,
can afford to have unhappy customers these days. The economy is
bad enough. I'll get off my soapbox now.

BTW, you have a great website and forum. Your information and
reviews have been brilliant. Keep up the good work. Rob

 

[Rich Gibson]

Since when does it NEED an upgrade? Mi D100 works fine today. It has worked fine since I bought it. If I don't get the upgrade it will still be taking beautiful pictures years from now. If you bought it last Saturday it would be only a couple of days and then "needed" an upgrade. How does that relate to anything?

You've let yourself get carried away with the passionate remarks of a few. Calm down and take some pictures.

Rich

Guys,

CHILL OUT!

There are many digital cameras (consumer and D-SLR) which can't be
flashed by the user simply because of the type of EEPROM chip they
use to hold the firmware. Sony digital cameras for example can't
be flashed by the user and have to be taken to a service center.

Nikon are offering the upgrade for free, all you have to do is get
the camera to the service center.

--
Phil Askey
Editor / Owner, dpreview.com

Phil-
I hope you can understand our gripe. I just purchased my D-100 2
weeks ago and already it needs a firmware upgrade? That is utterly
rediculous. Never have I purchased a product, computer or
otherwise, that required an update one week after I purchased it.
I fell in love with the D-100. I'm shooting events every weekend
since I got it. Now, I have to pack it up and ship it away for two
weeks? Terrible. I don't have a camera of equal quality as a
backup. I'm not a happy camper. Nikon should send me a
replacement while I'm getting mine fixed. Notice I said fixed and
not upgraded. I truly believe that it's a fix. Anyway, I think
our point was made on this forum and I hope Nikon is/was listening
to the unhappy D100 customers. No business, I repeat no business,
can afford to have unhappy customers these days. The economy is
bad enough. I'll get off my soapbox now.

BTW, you have a great website and forum. Your information and
reviews have been brilliant. Keep up the good work. Rob

 

[Anthony Medici]

I've had mine since the first day it was sold in the US. This is the second upgrade to the firmware. I didn't bother to do the first one. I just don't WB bracket! This one's a toss up. I'll probably end up doing it but only because I like the idea of Vinetting compensation built in with the Capture upgrade. FWIW, the capture upgrade is more important than the camera upgrade. The ability to imped LARGE jpegs in the NEFs will definately speed things up when reviewing old images.

--
Tony

http://homepage.mac.com/a5m http://www.pbase.com/a5m

Guys,

CHILL OUT!
--
Phil Askey
Editor / Owner, dpreview.com

Phil-
I hope you can understand our gripe. I just purchased my D-100 2
weeks ago and already it needs a firmware upgrade? I'll get off my
soapbox now.

BTW, you have a great website and forum. Your information and
reviews have been brilliant. Keep up the good work. Rob

 

[Rob Muller]

Rob it is not relevent when you purchased the camera, but rather
when the camera was released. By your reasoning it would be silly
to have an upgrade two years from now if you purchased the camera
in two years. No disrespect intended, but your argument is not
sound.

Greg, had I known there was a firmware upgrade in the works I would have held off buying the camera. Or, I would have made sure that it had the 2.0 update before I bought it...that's all. That was the point or argument that I was trying to make and it is pretty sound.

Guys,

CHILL OUT!

There are many digital cameras (consumer and D-SLR) which can't be
flashed by the user simply because of the type of EEPROM chip they
use to hold the firmware. Sony digital cameras for example can't
be flashed by the user and have to be taken to a service center.

Nikon are offering the upgrade for free, all you have to do is get
the camera to the service center.

--
Phil Askey
Editor / Owner, dpreview.com

Phil-
I hope you can understand our gripe. I just purchased my D-100 2
weeks ago and already it needs a firmware upgrade? That is utterly
rediculous. Never have I purchased a product, computer or
otherwise, that required an update one week after I purchased it.
I fell in love with the D-100. I'm shooting events every weekend
since I got it. Now, I have to pack it up and ship it away for two
weeks? Terrible. I don't have a camera of equal quality as a
backup. I'm not a happy camper. Nikon should send me a
replacement while I'm getting mine fixed. Notice I said fixed and
not upgraded. I truly believe that it's a fix. Anyway, I think
our point was made on this forum and I hope Nikon is/was listening
to the unhappy D100 customers. No business, I repeat no business,
can afford to have unhappy customers these days. The economy is
bad enough. I'll get off my soapbox now.

BTW, you have a great website and forum. Your information and
reviews have been brilliant. Keep up the good work. Rob

 

[Rob Muller]

Since when does it NEED an upgrade? Mi D100 works fine today. It
has worked fine since I bought it. If I don't get the upgrade it
will still be taking beautiful pictures years from now. If you
bought it last Saturday it would be only a couple of days and then
"needed" an upgrade. How does that relate to anything?

Rich, I have been tweaking my D100 since the day I bought it. First, the pics were underexposed. So, I found out that I should use +0.7 EV. Then I noticed the pics were soft. So, I set the Sharpening to high. What's next? My 990 took great pics right out of the box. Do you want to see some of them to compare with my D100? I'll send them to you. And, I didn't buy it last Saturday. If you read my post I bought it weeks ago.

You've let yourself get carried away with the passionate remarks of
a few. Calm down and take some pictures.

I have been taking pics and constantly tweaking the D100 to get it right. I'm not even talking post processing in Photoshop.

Rich

Guys,

CHILL OUT!

There are many digital cameras (consumer and D-SLR) which can't be
flashed by the user simply because of the type of EEPROM chip they
use to hold the firmware. Sony digital cameras for example can't
be flashed by the user and have to be taken to a service center.

Nikon are offering the upgrade for free, all you have to do is get
the camera to the service center.

--
Phil Askey
Editor / Owner, dpreview.com

Phil-
I hope you can understand our gripe. I just purchased my D-100 2
weeks ago and already it needs a firmware upgrade? That is utterly
rediculous. Never have I purchased a product, computer or
otherwise, that required an update one week after I purchased it.
I fell in love with the D-100. I'm shooting events every weekend
since I got it. Now, I have to pack it up and ship it away for two
weeks? Terrible. I don't have a camera of equal quality as a
backup. I'm not a happy camper. Nikon should send me a
replacement while I'm getting mine fixed. Notice I said fixed and
not upgraded. I truly believe that it's a fix. Anyway, I think
our point was made on this forum and I hope Nikon is/was listening
to the unhappy D100 customers. No business, I repeat no business,
can afford to have unhappy customers these days. The economy is
bad enough. I'll get off my soapbox now.

BTW, you have a great website and forum. Your information and
reviews have been brilliant. Keep up the good work. Rob

 

[Ilan Shanon]

Guys,

CHILL OUT!

There are many digital cameras (consumer and D-SLR) which can't be
flashed by the user simply because of the type of EEPROM chip they
use to hold the firmware. Sony digital cameras for example can't
be flashed by the user and have to be taken to a service center.

Nikon are offering the upgrade for free, all you have to do is get
the camera to the service center.

Hi Phil:

I only registered today, but have been visiting this site for over a year. The fantastic information on this site is what prompted me to sell my Sony F707 and my Leica M6 system in order to fund the D100 which I've had for 3 weeks, and which is now sitting in some cold airplane cargo bay on its way to Kentucky. I, like the majority of people am very frustrated about the need to ship the camera to Kentucky and risk further delays due to possible damage or loss and hassle related to the camera being handled by multiple people who don't care about the camera the way I do. However, if Nikon would simply state on their website WHY the camera cannot be upgraded via download, I might understand and not harbor ill-feelings; Especially in light of the type of service Canon is providing, and in lieu of Nikon's recent Coolpix 5700 downloadable firmware upgrade. Furthermore, if there are "hidden" fixes, I wish Nikon would tell us what they are. Since the sixties, IBM and other computer companies always published "known" bugs in their operating system, and the status of their repairs. Why can't Niikon just level with us? Haven't they taken note of their users' frustrations, including the soft JPEG issue which you noted on your D100 review? If they can't fix it, tell us. If they are fixing it with 2.0, tell us. We all understand and appreciate the complexity involved in this technology, and the majority of us would support Nikon if we felt we're being dealt with honestly and openly.

Ilan Shanon
Nikon F4s, D100, sb80dx, sb26, sb27
All Nikon Lenses: 50mm f1.8, 18-35, 28-105, 35-70 f2.8, 80-200mm f2.8

 

[greg n]

I see your point.

Rob it is not relevent when you purchased the camera, but rather
when the camera was released. By your reasoning it would be silly
to have an upgrade two years from now if you purchased the camera
in two years. No disrespect intended, but your argument is not
sound.

Greg, had I known there was a firmware upgrade in the works I would
have held off buying the camera. Or, I would have made sure that
it had the 2.0 update before I bought it...that's all. That was
the point or argument that I was trying to make and it is pretty
sound.

Guys,

CHILL OUT!

There are many digital cameras (consumer and D-SLR) which can't be
flashed by the user simply because of the type of EEPROM chip they
use to hold the firmware. Sony digital cameras for example can't
be flashed by the user and have to be taken to a service center.

Nikon are offering the upgrade for free, all you have to do is get
the camera to the service center.

--
Phil Askey
Editor / Owner, dpreview.com

Phil-
I hope you can understand our gripe. I just purchased my D-100 2
weeks ago and already it needs a firmware upgrade? That is utterly
rediculous. Never have I purchased a product, computer or
otherwise, that required an update one week after I purchased it.
I fell in love with the D-100. I'm shooting events every weekend
since I got it. Now, I have to pack it up and ship it away for two
weeks? Terrible. I don't have a camera of equal quality as a
backup. I'm not a happy camper. Nikon should send me a
replacement while I'm getting mine fixed. Notice I said fixed and
not upgraded. I truly believe that it's a fix. Anyway, I think
our point was made on this forum and I hope Nikon is/was listening
to the unhappy D100 customers. No business, I repeat no business,
can afford to have unhappy customers these days. The economy is
bad enough. I'll get off my soapbox now.

BTW, you have a great website and forum. Your information and
reviews have been brilliant. Keep up the good work. Rob

 

[Rich Gibson]

I too own the 990, have owned the 5000, 950, 900 and the Ricoh RDC-2. I have thousands of 990 pictures as wel my friend. Compared to the D100 they suck. You want CA? You've got it. Noise? You've got it. Blurred mild action shots? Tops of childrens' heads (who left the scene before the 990 finally snapped). I still have the 990 and will probably never sell it since it can take overhead shots that the D100 can't. The pictures from the 990 are excellent, but can't come close to the ones from the D100.

However to compare the quality of 990 images with the D100's is absurd. The 990 is a point and shoot, the D100 is, as you realize, an SLR with interchangeable lenses. I bought the D100 specifically because I can change anything to suit the circumstances. I consider the D100 vis-a-vis the 990 similar to my Denon THX receiver compared to the Bose radio. Despite costing thousands more than the Bose, the Denon still has a volume, bass and treble control yielding a "flat" response. I don't care that it doesn't loosen your lower intestines with low frequency throbbing bass. I can set that if I want but if it can be set to flat I can change the sound profile to anything I want. The Bose, while a nice piece of equipment has a much narrower performance band and the engineers built into it a specific profile. I can change the volume, maybe the bass and treble, but not the psychoacoustic dynamics, cross soundstage delay, orchestral soundstage, etc.

The "optimum" settings asked for people here, and provided by many other sincere owners are, in acutal fact, less than helpful. Cloudy -3, EV+7, EV-7, No sharpening, Full Sharpening, Auto WB, etc. etc. I found through experience that the best pictures occur when I rememeber to look down at the LCD and see 1. what the histogram looks like and then 2. check for blowouts, then I change the settings as necessary and shoot again. I quickly realized that to get the best images from this, and frankly any of the othr excellent DSLRs, you have to analyze as much as you can and keep experimenting till it all becomes natural. You need, I'm sure you know, to take literally thousands of pictures to get good at it. I'm not anywhere near there, but I'm shooting like a fool to get there.

Frankly, if you're looking for snappy pictures "out of the box" sell the D100 and get the Fuji. You'll be less disappointed.

Regards, Rich.

Since when does it NEED an upgrade? Mi D100 works fine today. It
has worked fine since I bought it. If I don't get the upgrade it
will still be taking beautiful pictures years from now. If you
bought it last Saturday it would be only a couple of days and then
"needed" an upgrade. How does that relate to anything?

Rich, I have been tweaking my D100 since the day I bought it.
First, the pics were underexposed. So, I found out that I should
use +0.7 EV. Then I noticed the pics were soft. So, I set the
Sharpening to high. What's next? My 990 took great pics right out
of the box. Do you want to see some of them to compare with my
D100? I'll send them to you. And, I didn't buy it last Saturday.
If you read my post I bought it weeks ago.

You've let yourself get carried away with the passionate remarks of
a few. Calm down and take some pictures.

I have been taking pics and constantly tweaking the D100 to get it
right. I'm not even talking post processing in Photoshop.

Rich

Guys,

CHILL OUT!

There are many digital cameras (consumer and D-SLR) which can't be
flashed by the user simply because of the type of EEPROM chip they
use to hold the firmware. Sony digital cameras for example can't
be flashed by the user and have to be taken to a service center.

Nikon are offering the upgrade for free, all you have to do is get
the camera to the service center.

--
Phil Askey
Editor / Owner, dpreview.com

Phil-
I hope you can understand our gripe. I just purchased my D-100 2
weeks ago and already it needs a firmware upgrade? That is utterly
rediculous. Never have I purchased a product, computer or
otherwise, that required an update one week after I purchased it.
I fell in love with the D-100. I'm shooting events every weekend
since I got it. Now, I have to pack it up and ship it away for two
weeks? Terrible. I don't have a camera of equal quality as a
backup. I'm not a happy camper. Nikon should send me a
replacement while I'm getting mine fixed. Notice I said fixed and
not upgraded. I truly believe that it's a fix. Anyway, I think
our point was made on this forum and I hope Nikon is/was listening
to the unhappy D100 customers. No business, I repeat no business,
can afford to have unhappy customers these days. The economy is
bad enough. I'll get off my soapbox now.

BTW, you have a great website and forum. Your information and
reviews have been brilliant. Keep up the good work. Rob

 

[michaeladawson]

cold airplane cargo bay on its way to Kentucky. I, like the
majority of people am very frustrated about the need to ship the
camera to Kentucky and risk further delays due to possible damage
or loss and hassle related to the camera being handled by multiple
people who don't care about the camera the way I do.

There is no NEED to ship the camera to Kentucky. Why? Because you don't NEED the upgrade. The upgrade contains enhancements, not fixes like in the v1.01 recall. You may WANT the upgrade but that's your decision.

Furthermore, if there are "hidden" fixes, I wish
Nikon would tell us what they are. Since the sixties, IBM and
other computer companies always published "known" bugs in their

That's a key IF. You may very well be right. But it's only an IF. While it may be naive to think that there are no undocumented bug fixes in this firmware upgrade it is also paranoid behavior to assume that there are and that Nikon is hiding them.

operating system, and the status of their repairs. Why can't
Niikon just level with us? Haven't they taken note of their users'

You may not intend it that way but to use a phrase like "Why can't they level with us" is to imply that they are lying and deceiving their users. If you have solid evidence of this please provide the details.

frustrations, including the soft JPEG issue which you noted on your
D100 review? If they can't fix it, tell us. If they are fixing it

Many people are dissatisfied with the JPEG sharpness. Many others are satisfied. Please indicate which opinion group Nikon is going to be able to satisfy on this issue. Just because JPEG sharpness out of the camera does not match Canon does not mean it is wrong

with 2.0, tell us. We all understand and appreciate the complexity
involved in this technology, and the majority of us would support
Nikon if we felt we're being dealt with honestly and openly.

You and many others obviously feel like you are not being dealt with honestly and openly. I can't argue with that. However, myself and many others do not share this opinion.

 

[Rich Gibson]

cold airplane cargo bay on its way to Kentucky. I, like the
majority of people am very frustrated about the need to ship the
camera to Kentucky and risk further delays due to possible damage
or loss and hassle related to the camera being handled by multiple
people who don't care about the camera the way I do.

There is no NEED to ship the camera to Kentucky. Why? Because you
don't NEED the upgrade. The upgrade contains enhancements, not
fixes like in the v1.01 recall. You may WANT the upgrade but
that's your decision.

Furthermore, if there are "hidden" fixes, I wish
Nikon would tell us what they are. Since the sixties, IBM and
other computer companies always published "known" bugs in their

That's a key IF. You may very well be right. But it's only an IF.
While it may be naive to think that there are no undocumented bug
fixes in this firmware upgrade it is also paranoid behavior to
assume that there are and that Nikon is hiding them.

operating system, and the status of their repairs. Why can't
Niikon just level with us? Haven't they taken note of their users'

You may not intend it that way but to use a phrase like "Why can't
they level with us" is to imply that they are lying and deceiving
their users. If you have solid evidence of this please provide the
details.

frustrations, including the soft JPEG issue which you noted on your
D100 review? If they can't fix it, tell us. If they are fixing it

Many people are dissatisfied with the JPEG sharpness. Many others
are satisfied. Please indicate which opinion group Nikon is going
to be able to satisfy on this issue. Just because JPEG sharpness
out of the camera does not match Canon does not mean it is wrong

with 2.0, tell us. We all understand and appreciate the complexity
involved in this technology, and the majority of us would support
Nikon if we felt we're being dealt with honestly and openly.

You and many others obviously feel like you are not being dealt
with honestly and openly. I can't argue with that. However,
myself and many others do not share this opinion.

 

[stonecraft]

However, if

Nikon would simply state on their website WHY the camera cannot be
upgraded via download, I might understand and not harbor
ill-feelings; Especially in light of the type of service Canon is
providing, and in lieu of Nikon's recent Coolpix 5700 downloadable
firmware upgrade. Furthermore, if there are "hidden" fixes, I wish
Nikon would tell us what they are. Since the sixties, IBM and
other computer companies always published "known" bugs in their
operating system, and the status of their repairs. Why can't
Niikon just level with us? Haven't they taken note of their users'
frustrations, including the soft JPEG issue which you noted on your
D100 review? If they can't fix it, tell us. If they are fixing it
with 2.0, tell us. We all understand and appreciate the complexity
involved in this technology, and the majority of us would support
Nikon if we felt we're being dealt with honestly and openly.

As a former product manager in high tech responsible for several products that had firmware, I suspect the update process and quality testing requires equipment beyond a personal computer or tools the average customer has access to. The issue is probably related to the D100 design itself, and can not be compensated with the software installer for the firmware. Such as desgin shows poor forethought on Nikon's part, but I'm still happy they are investing the resources to improve the camera, and offer the improvements to the installed base. It looks like Canon did a better job, but many other technology companies neglect products once they ship and focus resources on future products.

If it was simple, Nikon would just release it like the Coolpix updaters. Why would they go to a much greater expense unless this was the only option? Sure, I'm frustrated that I will have to wait before I get my new D100, but I'm grateful that Nikon is committed to improving this Camera.

 

[Rob Muller]

I too own the 990, have owned the 5000, 950, 900 and the Ricoh
RDC-2. I have thousands of 990 pictures as wel my friend.
Compared to the D100 they suck.

Hmmm.. I beg to differ.

You want CA? You've got it.
Nope..sorry! Not on my 990

Noise? You've got it.

Nope..sorry! Not on my 990

Blurred mild action shots?

Yep..agree..but that's not why I bought the 990. If I wanted action shots I'd buy the D1H.

Tops of

childrens' heads (who left the scene before the 990 finally
snapped).

Sounds like user error to me. There are a lot of ways to speed up taking shots with the 990...like Single AF instead of Cont AF, Focus Confirm OFF, Display- Preview Only, etc.

I still have the 990 and will probably never sell it

since it can take overhead shots that the D100 can't. The pictures
from the 990 are excellent, but can't come close to the ones from
the D100.

You just said that the 990 sucked compared to the D100. If you are saying the pics from the 990 are excellent what does that make the D100? Cosmic?

However to compare the quality of 990 images with the D100's is
absurd.

At the resolution that I shot the 990 pics you can't tell them apart from the D100. Wanna take a test to see which was a D100 pic and which one was the 990 pic? I'll betcha a beer you won't be able to tell.

The 990 is a point and shoot, the D100 is, as you realize,

an SLR with interchangeable lenses. I bought the D100 specifically
because I can change anything to suit the circumstances. I
consider the D100 vis-a-vis the 990 similar to my Denon THX
receiver compared to the Bose radio. Despite costing thousands
more than the Bose, the Denon still has a volume, bass and treble
control yielding a "flat" response. I don't care that it doesn't
loosen your lower intestines with low frequency throbbing bass. I
can set that if I want but if it can be set to flat I can change
the sound profile to anything I want. The Bose, while a nice piece
of equipment has a much narrower performance band and the engineers
built into it a specific profile. I can change the volume, maybe
the bass and treble, but not the psychoacoustic dynamics, cross
soundstage delay, orchestral soundstage, etc.

Point taken

The "optimum" settings asked for people here, and provided by many
other sincere owners are, in acutal fact, less than helpful.

I beg to differ.. EV+0.7 and sharpening to high has made a dramatic difference in my D100 pics.

Cloudy -3, EV+7, EV-7, No sharpening, Full Sharpening, Auto WB,
etc. etc. I found through experience that the best pictures occur
when I rememeber to look down at the LCD and see 1. what the
histogram looks like and then 2. check for blowouts, then I change
the settings as necessary and shoot again. I quickly realized that
to get the best images from this, and frankly any of the othr
excellent DSLRs, you have to analyze as much as you can and keep
experimenting till it all becomes natural. You need, I'm sure you
know, to take literally thousands of pictures to get good at it.
I'm not anywhere near there, but I'm shooting like a fool to get
there.

Frankly, if you're looking for snappy pictures "out of the box"
sell the D100 and get the Fuji. You'll be less disappointed.

That was not my point. I happen to like the Nikon name.

 

[kevin keller]

So what is broken. You say you love the d100 so what is wrong with it that you have to have the firmware upgrade. If you use it everyweekend for events then it must be doing the job that you bought it to do.

Phil-
I hope you can understand our gripe. I just purchased my D-100 2
weeks ago and already it needs a firmware upgrade? That is utterly
rediculous. Never have I purchased a product, computer or
otherwise, that required an update one week after I purchased it.
I fell in love with the D-100. I'm shooting events every weekend
since I got it. Now, I have to pack it up and ship it away for two
weeks? Terrible. I don't have a camera of equal quality as a
backup. I'm not a happy camper. Nikon should send me a
replacement while I'm getting mine fixed. Notice I said fixed and
not upgraded. I truly believe that it's a fix. Anyway, I think
our point was made on this forum and I hope Nikon is/was listening
to the unhappy D100 customers. No business, I repeat no business,
can afford to have unhappy customers these days. The economy is
bad enough. I'll get off my soapbox now.

BTW, you have a great website and forum. Your information and
reviews have been brilliant. Keep up the good work. Rob