Hands On With The Nikon D780

On this video review, our friends and colleagues Chris Niccolls (and Jordan Drake) from DPR, take a look at the D780 and how it performs on its own and compared to the original D750.

In many respects, we find the D780 more interesting than the new D6 in the Nikon line. Especially since Nikon tried to implement for the first time the AF tracking capabilities in video that we have seen from the mirrorless Z line into a DSLR (Canon has the dual pixel AF system in their DSLRs for many years now but Nikon DSLRs basically didn’t have a functioning AF system in DSLRs until the D780 and for some strange reason the flagship D6 doesn’t have it as well).

Testing the camera Niccolls feels that Nikon has done a nice work with the camera and if you own a lot of Nikon older glass and want to stay another generation with a DSLR and most of the things that you shoot are stills (maybe with a little bit of video) than the D780 can be a pretty solid camera to move onto.

Is this camera a big enough move away from the older D750 – well it is hard to say – it is updated in almost any aspect that you can think of (sensor, processor, shooting speed, AF, video capabilities, memory cards, connectivity, button layout, and operation as well as the display), is it enough though – that is harder to answer especially with so many amazing cameras now on the market and with the general sentiment that the market is going to move to mirrorless sooner rather than later.

Here is a reminder of the specs of the D780:

Sensor: Backside illuminated 24.5-megapixel FF sensor.
Processor: EXPEED 6.
Shooting speed: up to 12fps with Silent shooting in LV mode (up to 7fps with the viewfinder.
AF system: the camera has a 51-point AF module when you shoot through the viewfinder, but it gains the 180,000-pixel RGB metering sensor and AF algorithms used in the D5. If you use Live View it is fairly similar to the Z6 (with 273 AF points ranged across 90% of the frame).
Buttons: the button layout has changed and is more in tune with what you might find on the D850 now (although the video/stills mode switch is closer to the viewfinder).
Video: Up to 4K 30p (120p in 1080p).
Memory cards: Dual UHS-II SD card slots.
Display: 3.2″ tilt touchscreen.
Battery: 2260 shots per charge (EN-EL15b battery).
Shutter speed: 900 sec-1/8000.
Connectivity: WIFI/B.T. USB-C and mini-HDMI.
Weight: 29.6 oz (840 g).
Pricing: $2300 (available later this month).

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Iddo Genuth

Iddo Genuth is the founder and chief editor of LensVid.com. He has been a technology reporter working for international publications since the late 1990's and covering photography since 2009. Iddo is also a co-founder of a production company specializing in commercial food and product visual content.