8/10/2019 f2NikonD3200

1/5

54 f2 FREELA NCE PHOTOGRAPHER Vol 6 No 9

Nikon D3200

While devices to shoot picturesget ever smaller, the plankton

bloom of photographs shot ex-

pands exponentially to swamp the globe.

We seem to have an insatiable appetite

for taking and sharing our pictures, andto be happy to spend lots of money doing

so. An estimate at www.quora.com puts

the total number of photos shot last year

at 375 billion. Even if this is wildly inac-

curate, it is clear that snaps are clearlynot going to go away anytime soon.

As cameras get smaller, camera phones

meanwhile get ever smarter. At the dawn

of the digital age, my professional friends

At around 460 including ViewNX 2 software and an 18-55mm kit lens, Nikons

D3200 is an entry level camera that features a 24.2MP DX format sensor, 1080pHD video, Wi-Fi, and of course Nikons F mount, meaning it is compatible with a vastrange of lenses past and present. Is there a catch? Adam Wooltt investigates

This page: Nikon D3200 with in-built ashextended, and 18-55mm kit lens tted.Right: Shot with Nikon D3200 with50mm f/1.8 Nikkor AS lens. 1/400sec atf/4. Shooting at ISO 6400,,the cameracaptures excellent detail despite thenoticeable noise. Children from the Ab-bey School enjoying a History Tour withmembers of the educational team atAudley End.

Far right: enlarged detail of Audley Endshot, showing level of detail achieved,despite high ISO.

8/10/2019 f2NikonD3200

2/5

f2Tech

f2 FREELA NCE PHOTOGRAPHER Vol 6 No9 55

and I joked about squeezing a 10x8 Dear-

dorf eld camera inside a wristwatch. But

we arent too far from that now, if you

consider Nokias 808 PureView mobile

phone, which features a 41MP camera

with a Carl Zeiss lens. Though the phone

and its operating system leave something

to be desired, the results that I have seen

from the camera are amazing.

So for picture quality versus bulk, true

DSLRs are facing a growing challenge, as

a result of which there is an ongoing push

to make them smaller and lighter.

This is a market segment that changesalmost weekly. As I sat down to write this

review, both Canon and Nikon launched

full frame cameras at photokina (the D600

and the 6D respectively), which are very

much smaller than last years models.

And then there is the intense competi-tion from dozens of mirrorless and com-

pact digital models to consider.

Nikons D3200 is a trim, featherweight

DSLR, with a 23.2x15.4mm sized DX

CMOS sensor, onto which Nikon has man-

aged to cram 24.2MP effective pixels. This

potentially makes for very sharp pictures

- and surprisingly chunky les.

When I set the camera to capture NEF

les (Nikons raw format) + a medium Jpeg,

I found my SD cards lling up fast, and was

reminded, each time I changed one, howmuch I dislike the SD card format. I nd

them too small, too ddly, too fragile and far

too easy to misplace in a pocket or camera

bag. But maybe thats just prejudice speak-

ing - many people love them.

Camera makers certainly love them,

because SD cards occupy so little space in

the total volume of a camera body, easing

the designers problems of shoehorning

everything like batteries and processors

into a compact DSLR.

With the 17-55mm f/3.5-5.6 kit lens t-

ted, the D3200 package is certainly com-

pact and trim, and handles very nicely.

Its ergonomically shaped handgrip has

a non-slip covering, which is pleasantly

tactile, and provides a rm grip on the

camera.

The body includes a pop-up ash,

which, while essential in any camera likely

to accompany its owner to a wedding or a

disco, is also beefy enough to ll the shad-

ows on harsh sunlit portraits, and makes a

surprising but disceet difference to inte-

riors and medium close ups on a dull day.

External controls

Layout of the external controls will be

familiar to those who have handled or

owned earlier iterations of the D3200. To

the left of the rear 3ins 920,000 pixel LCD

screen are ve buttons ranged vertically.

The uppermost button controls the re-

view function, and displays images that

have been shot at full screen.

The next button down gives access to

the entire menu structure with its ve ba-sic screens, each of which has up to ve

sub screens.

Next comes the Magnify button, which

enables close examination of images.

8/10/2019 f2NikonD3200

3/5

56f2 FREELA NCE PHOTOGRAPHER Vol 6 No 9

Above: 18-55mm kit lens @ 18mm. 1/320sec; f/7.1; ISO 100. A very useful wide angle performance at the short end of the 18-

55mm kit lens pulls in lots of detail in this classic view of the gardens at Hampton Court.

Scrolling around within the frame mean-

while is achieved with the four-way pad to

the right of the screen.

Below that is a dual function button,

which zooms out of any image being

viewed on the LCD screen, while if the

camera is in a shooting mode, it brings up

a helpful dialogue to prompt you through

the possibilities available in whatever

shooting mode is in operation. This facil-

ity works well, and should prove helpful

even to advanced users!

The lowest button, marked I for info, gives

access to a quick setting screen, which dis-

plays the basic settings in use, all of which can

be accessed and altered from this screen.

A simplied access screen is becoming

a common feature on new cameras and,

since it saves scrolling through numerous

menus to get at basics like ISO or image

quality, is much to be welcomed.

The top plate has a no-nonsense Ex-

posure Settings wheel to the right of the

prism housing, with click stops that are

commendably rm, offering little chance

of switching functions by mistake.

As bets a camera suitable for begin-

ners, several of the settings on this dial

are dedicated to common scenarios, such

as close-ups, sports, and night portraits.

An even simpler menu is invoked by se-

lecting Guide on the exposure wheel on

the top of the camera.

Left and below: Kit lens 18-55mm @

18mm 1/500sec; f/5.6 at ISO 400. A midrange setting (40mm) on the 18-55mm

lens pulls in lots of detail in this shot of

chickens in a Cornish barnyard.

8/10/2019 f2NikonD3200

4/5

Technical

f2 FREELA NCE PHOTOGRAPHER Vol 6 No 9 57

For more advanced users, there are the

usual Manual, Aperture Priority, Shutter

Priority and Program settings. The groupis completed with a setting for full Auto.

The ISO range is from 100-6400, plus a

H1 setting (12800). The camera performed

well up to ISO6400, though at that set-

ting there was evident but well controlled

noise. A subtle improvement over the in

camera noise reduction was possible by

careful processing in LightRoom 4, but at

the cost of some slight loss of resolution.

On top of the camera near the shutter

button are three other control buttons.

One is an Info button, duplicating that onthe rear, which you press to display cam-

era settings on the rear screen. A second

one controls exposure override in 1/3 stop

increments.

Left: Nikon D3200 with 50mm f/1.8 Nik-

kor AS. 1/40 sec at f/5. Shooting at ISO

6400, the camera captures excellent

detail despite the noticeable noise,

while the Tungsten white balance set-

ting gets the colour spot on. Paintingin the State Apartments at Hampton

Court. Above: Detail of Henry VIII,

something almost impossible to record

using lm under these conditions.

Above: Rear screen of the Nikon D3200

set to playback video capture. Dis-

played are the video resolution and

frame rate, plus date, time and dura-

tion of the clip.

Although this can be a little hesitant in

low light, it saves the 10 years experience

required to become a fully competent fo-cus puller!

Wi-Fi

But that is not the only surprise hidden

away in this little box of tricks. Although

I haven't tested this facility, Nikons docu-

mentation describes how the camera can

interact with a smartphone via the WU-

1a, a tiny (optional) Wi-Fi dongle, which

slots into the AV port behind the rubber

cover on the right of the camera body.

Once the dedicated Nikon Wireless Mo-bile Adapter Utility app is installed on the

phone, you can take photos remotely while

viewing the live view image from the camera

on your smartphone.

HD video

When the camera is in Live View mode,

with an image displayed on the rear LCDscreen, the third button (coloured red) initi-

ates video capture.

A small red signal lights up in the LCD

when the video is running, along with video

parameters, running time available, and the

microphone input levels.

The camera features a microphone socket

as well as a built-in mike, and it is possible

to adjust recording levels within the video

settings menu: one of many sophisticated

facilities tucked away inside this supposedly

humble camera.At 1920x1080 @ 24fps, Best Video qual-

ity is very good, with lower resolution op-

tions and frames rates available. The sys-

tem offers auto focus during shooting.

8/10/2019 f2NikonD3200

5/5

58f2 FREELA NCE PHOTOGRAPHER Vol 6 No 9

Technical

Left and above: Kit lens 18-55mm @

50mm 1/125sec, f/8 ISO 125. A close up

with the 18-55mm kit lens set at 50mm

reveals lots of excellent detail.

Below: In View NX2, Nikon's processing

software, you can use Google Earth'smaps to add GEO Tags to identify the lo-

cation of an image. Here, the Victoria &

Albert Museum is tagged.

You can also immediately transfer cap-

tured images to the smartphone, and thence

to social networking sites. Currently, this only

works with Android devices. An Apple version

will follow shortly.

Kit lens

The kit lens is often the weakest link in

entry level cameras, and although picture

quality proved pretty good with the AF-S

Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 G lens sup-

plied, there was a marked improvement

in resolution when using an AF-S Nikkor

50mm F/1.8 G prime lens.

ViewNX 2

There are good reasons to experiment with

Nikons ViewNX 2 software, which is bun-

dled with the camera, and provides a num-

ber of clever add-ons, like GEO tagging and

highlighting the auto focus targets.

Conclusion

It is very hard to fault this camera, as a

lightweight APS DSLR with commendable

video quality thrown in. But I have one

personal caveat. The camera is so light,

that it requires positive concentration to

hold it steady. Flash exposures and those

made on a tripod reveal the true quality in

this little bundle of joy.

The complete kit, including the lens

and ViewNX 2 software, currently costsaround 460 on the street, somewhat

less than a 16GB iPhone5. Now, if only the

Nikon D3200 could make phone calls!

www.nikon.co.uk