Just for your information:

All the Nikon cameras we ever reviewed were our own cameras. Why? We do not know where we are on Nikon's editorial delivery list (a search with Google "Nikon D1x Review" finds our review at #5).

We did not plan to photograph that much wildlife this time at Mono Lake. But at our visit at Mono Lake County Park we had a very special encounter: Thousands of Wilson's Phalaropes.

" The Wilson's Phalarope approaches Mono Lake in a flock of several thousand tiny birds flying, diving, turning, and swooping in unison.

The flock lands and begins feeding on their main food source, the alkali fly. Not only do they pick flies off the ground, but they also jump and pluck them out of the air. Soon after the arrival of the Wilson's, the Red-necked Phalaropes join them at the lake. They mainly feed in the open water, often swimming in tight little circles, which create a vortex that brings the fly larva within range of their one inch beaks. Once the phalaropes have consumed enough fuel, about double their body weight, they will continue their migration. The Wilson's Phalaropes will fly to Bolivia and Argentina and the Red-necked Phalaropes to the southern oceans. This forms a non-stop flight over 3,000 miles long which requires about sixty hours of flying time."

Shooting first with the D1x and later with the D100 (same lens: AF-S 300mm f/4 + TC-14E) showed the following differences:

• D100 is much more silent
• D1x has a bit more buffer size and slightly higher burst rate (but also not as much as one would like for these kind of pictures)
• D1x can be used with compressed NEFs but also gets faster using uncompressed NEFs.

Otherwise the D100 handles well but the main actors were the Wilson's: Just amazing!

This photo was taken with the D1x but the D100 would do the job as well. The only difference would be that I could use a higher burst rate with the D1x than with the D100. This was necessary as there were some gusty winds.

We use now both the D1x and the D100 which allows to have two lenses mounted at any time. The D100 would be the clear choice for long time exposures.

Lenses used today:AF-S 28-70, 80-200 and 300 f/4 + TC-14E.

Moose Peterson posted his D100 review. He likes the camera but does not think it works for his wildlife photography:

• Far to slow write speed for action
• Low 1/180 flash synch speed
• Moose use JPG

We found the review by Moose very helpful. It also demonstrates that you first need to know what you want to do with a camera before you make a decision. Moose points to clear shortcomings of the D100 but they are just no big deal for our(!) style of photography. Find out what you think is yours.

The first dust spot and we would need a different power supply for cleaning than with the D1x.

We are now in the Mammoth (Eastern Sierra) and hope to get some nice photos the next days.

• Camera Profiles
• The Digital Workflow
• RAW file processing

Other reviews

• Phil Askey's D100 Review
• Steve Sanders D100 Review
• Imaging Resource
• Bjorn Rorslett