Nikon D2Xs

I have owned a good few cameras and never lamented the sale of any of them. This one I would not sell. The D2Xs was introduced in 2006. I bought mine secondhand in 2011. It looked nearly new yet had 40,000 shutter actuations; a sign perhaps of a cushy life in a studio. Photographed with an AF Nikkor 180mm f/2.8 IF-ED lens on a Nikon D700.

Photographed with a Nikon D2Xs fitted with a Nikon TC-16A teleconverter and a 75-150mm f/3.5 Series E lens. With the teleconverter, the lens becomes a 120-240mm f/5.6. On the cropped sensor, the field of view is therefore 180-360mm - not bad for a dinky lightweight lens taking a 52mm filter. The Nikon 75-150mm f/3.5 lens is generally accepted to have been the best of the Series E range; in 'The Nikon Compendium Handbook of the Nikon System' by Rudolf Hillebrand and Hans-Joachim Hauschild, it is remarked, 'The image quality of this NIC-coated lens is so good that it would have fitted perfectly into the Nikkor programme.' This lens was available only from 1979 to 1983, being discontinued because the market was demanding zoom lenses with greater reach.

The D2X and D2Xs were Nikon's last professional grade DSLR cameras using the APS-C format, which Nikon badged 'DX'. They were in production between 2004 and 2007 with the final year being the 's' variant, although the update changed little. They were essentially the same and you can get one now for about £250 (2022). I got mine secondhand in 2011 and it is the one camera I am never going to sell or give away. Sometimes you just get lucky and find the product that seems a perfect fit. Set at 100 ISO results can be sublime. Beyond 400 ISO they can be - and often are - dreadful. This is a camera for which you need decent light and fast lenses. Nikon D2Xs and Tamron 35mm f/1.8 lens. 100 ISO. F/1.8. 1/500th.

Nikon D2Xs and 55mm Micro-Nikkor f/3.5 AI lens.

Nikon D2Xs + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 AF-D lens. Aperture-priority; 100 ISO. 1/400th at f/4.5. The D2Xs, once the flagship of the Nikon fleet, has not become a poor camera simply because later models eclipse its ability. If it used to be good enough for professional photographers, it is a happy experience for amateurs working on their coat tails. Up to 400 ISO it is good; at 100 ISO it is possibly peerless. I love to use it in good light at 100 ISO. It performs best when teamed with a fast prime lens.

I photographed this with a venerable Nikon D2Xs. Using it is such a pleasurable experience that I prefer it to more modern and capable kit. I try to limit it to 100 ISO (as here) and certainly no more than 400 ISO because high ISO is definitely not where it excels, whereas 100 ISO produces nice images. Years ago we used 100 ISO film and managed alright, and so that's how I approach the D2Xs now. Here it is partnered with a Tamron 35mm f/1.8 lens at f/11. A 35mm lens on the D2Xs is akin to using a 50mm lens on a film SLR of what is now classified as 'full frame'. Shutter speed 1/250th. There was plenty of light until the storm broke about an hour later.

Photographed in Avebury, Wiltshire, using a Nikon D2Xs with a Nikon TC-16A teleconverter and a Nikkor-H Auto 300mm f/4.5 lens from around 1971. The TC-16A is compatible with only a small number of cameras and although Nikon doesn’t officially recognise the D2X as one of them, it nevertheless operates successfully. The Nikkor-H has been factory AI converted, making a functional set of instruments never really envisaged to harmonise. The TC-16A adds 1.6x to the lens it is mated with, so in this case the focal length was 480mm. You really need a fast shutter speed and a bit of stabilisation using a rig this long. I put it on a monopod and the shutter speed was 1/1500th. Mostly you’re forced into using maximum aperture and ISO even in decent light. The results can be mediocre, but now and again you get a sensation of unusual packed perspective. Of course, perspective depends on where you stand, not which lens you use, but you might never choose a tiny area of a picture to enlarge and get this view.

It is New Year's Day. Let us consider the future and reflect on the past. The subject is a Nikon FG-20 and a Soligor C/D Zoom Macro 80-200mm f4.5 lens Photographed with an AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.4D lens on a Nikon D2Xs set at 100 ISO. I resolve to make much greater use of 50mm prime lenses. I have sold the FG-20 and the Soligor zoom lens.

Built in 1863. Photographed with a Nikon D2Xs + Nikkor-P 105mm f/2.5 lens + Nikon Teleconverter TC-16A.

Scenes of a Wiltshire village one Thursday afternoon in September, 2015. Nikon D2Xs + Nikkor-P 105mm f/2.5 + Nikon Teleconverter TC-16A. The EXIF data shows '134.5 mm' because I set the camera for a 135mm focal length to compensate for using a teleconverter with the 105mm lens. 135mm is, of course, not 105 x 1.6 but it's close enough for metering.

Lacock Abbey cloisters. Nikon D2Xs and Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 AI lens.

Nikon D2Xs + Teleconverter TC-16A + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 AI-S lens.

Nikon D2Xs + Teleconverter TC-16A + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 AI-S lens.

Acorn was a brand name used by J A Chapman for a line of metal bodied planes from 1934. Stanley took them over in 1936 and carried on using the name. Nikon D2Xs and Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 AF-D lens. 100 ISO; f/8; 1/40th.

Rubber bands photographed with a Nikon D2Xs + Teleconverter TC-16A + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 AI-S lens.

Daring. Defiant. Courageous. Majestic. Nikon D2Xs + Nikkor-H Auto 300mm f/4.5 lens, possibly with a TC16A teleconverter. Not the easiest rig to master.

Lacock Abbey, Wiltshire (National Trust). Nikon D2Xs and Nikkor-H Auto 300mm f/4.5 lens made circa 1972. 200 ISO; 1/200th; f/8

AF Nikkor 180mm f/2.8 IF-ED on a Nikon D2Xs.