THE BIG FLIP -OUT DEBATE
Brian Burd’s Star Letter last issue about the Nikon D750’s tilting LCD provoked a strong reaction from many readers… No flip for us! I would like to comment on the mail from Brian Burd regarding flip-up screens. Having suffered connection failures through the rather dubious medium of ribbon-cable connectors both on one laptop, clamshell telephones and two well-known but different camcorders, I agree totally with those sentiments. H. Porcher. Shropshire I totally agree with Brian Burd. When I first bought my D7100 to immerse myself in the wonderful world of photography, it was completely price-dependent. I chose Nikon on a pure value-for-money basis. I was struck, however, by the complete absurdity of superfluous and gimmicky addons. I have no use for a video facility. If I had, I would have bought a camcorder. I also have no need for a flip- up screen. I feel that Nikon could strip down their cameras and subsequently ‘clean up’ in the beginner market, by providing highquality, no frills equipment. Rob Davies, Holywell, Flintshire Hmm… I had a Nikon D5000. It was a great camera and I really miss the tilting screen on my D7000; they’re so useful for going over people’s heads or getting close up to an ant without getting your knees muddy. As far as this photographer is concerned this is one “gimmick” that I miss! Terry Coulcher, via email You invited comments on the tilting screen debate. Like your correspondent in the December issue I’m a D700 user and have been watching the reports and tests of the D750 with interest. I’ve found the D700 to be very rugged, reliable and trustworthy (it even came deep underground with me recently, down an ironore mine). It does have some drawbacks and is ageing, so I’ve also started using a Fuji XT-1, and find that it surpasses the D700 in terms of image quality. It too has a tilting screen, and far from being a gimmicky toy, it is extremely useful in some circumstances (almost like a waist-level finder from the golden days of medium-format film). My conclusion? I don’t need to replace the D700 – the Fuji gives me all the quality I need. But if I did want a D750 I must respond to Brian Burd’s tirade against the D750. Does he not realise that many pros now use D-SLRs to produce videos, and that Nikon has had to produce a camera with excellent video capability, which the D750 undoubtedly has? The tilt screen helps in this respect, as many videos are shot at waist level. The screen is also great for shooting over crowds and for low-level perspectives. Dave Heath, West Midlands I cannot agree with the comments in the last issue about the D750’s tilt screen. I have been wanting one on an FX camera and now it has arrived. Tilt screens will be on all D-SLRs in the coming years. Michael Cadiz, via email From these comments (and those in all the other letters and emails that we’ve received) it looks like the strong opinions are pretty much evenly split – so it’s a good thing that the Nikon D-SLR range is broad enough to include something for everyone! If you want a tilting screen, there are cameras with them, and if you don’t, alternative bodies are available. Diversity’s great!