Nikon d810A

Shoot for the stars with Nikon’s first SLR designed specifically for astrophotography

D-SLR £3000, $3797 www.nikon.com

With its excellent resolving power and noise control, the D810 is popular with astrophotographers. Its standard sensor isn’t the best for capturing nebulae, however, and in an interesting – if very niche – development Nikon has addressed this with the D810A, which has a modified infrared (IR) filter to make it four times more sensitive to the H-alpha (656nm) wavelength that these dust and gas clouds emit. The D810A has a native sensitivity range of ISO200-12800 (expandable to ISO100-51200) and a Long Exposure Manual (M*) mode that enables timed exposures up to 900 seconds, as well as the usual Bulb and Time modes. To help with focusing and composition when shooting in Live View there’s also a new Virtual Live View Exposure Preview that brightens the on-screen image.

FIRS T IMPR ESSIONS: By its own admission, Nikon has released this highly specialised SLR in part because it can: it has the technology and has seen a gap in the market. It will be interesting to see if any of this technology will trickle down to its...