Nikon launches D610 full-frame DSLR with updated shutter mechanism

Nikon has announced the much-rumored D610 24MP full-frame DSLR. Coming just a year after the D600, the D610 appears to be a very minor refresh, with a quiet continuous shooting mode, improved white balance and faster continuous shooting touted as its major changes. Beyond this, the D610 is essentially the same camera as the D600 and, given its launch at the same $2000 SRP, it’s extremely likely that the D610 replaces the older camera.

Click here to read our first impressions Nikon D610 review

Jump to:

• Nikon D610 First Impressions Review
• Press Release
• Specifications
• Additional Images

Press Release:

CONCENTRATE ON THE CLARITY: THE NEW NIKON D610 FX-FORMAT D-SLR PLACES EMPHASIS ON THE IMAGE MAKING EXPERIENCE

The Nikon D610 HD-SLR Delivers FX-Format Quality and Pro-Level Features for Enthusiasts Ready to Take Their Passion to the Next Level

MELVILLE, NY (October 8, 2013) – Nikon Inc. today announced the Nikon D610, the latest FX-format HD-SLR to incorporate cutting-edge features and superior operability to help photographers create amazing images and Full HD video.  Engineered for those enthusiasts who focus on the color, sharpness and clarity of their images, the D610 provides enhanced performance and image quality improvements, coupled with Nikon core technologies, all in a lightweight form factor. With image quality rivaled only by the 36.3 megapixel Nikon D800, the D610 is an attractive option for those willing to step up to FX-format.

“For many of us, photography is an unexplainable passion; a relentless pursuit of sharpness and fidelity in every image captured, as we endlessly seek a way to express ourselves,” said Masahiro Horie, Director of Marketing and Planning, Nikon Inc. “The Nikon D610 is a tool to help us capture and share our creative vision with all the benefits of a full frame sensor, including expanded depth-of-field control, wide dynamic range, high image quality, low noise, fine color, and low-light capability.”

Superior Image Quality
Inside and out, the Nikon D610 is dynamically engineered to deliver the outstanding balance of image quality, performance and operability that only a full-frame camera can offer. The large 24.3-megapixel FX-format (35.9 x 24mm) CMOS sensor is capable of creating low-noise images with amazing dynamic range, clarity and precise color, even in challenging light. No matter the type of photography, from landscapes to wildlife, portraits to sports, the Nikon D610 excels, delivering stellar sharpness, superior handling, and the ability to enjoy the full resolution benefits of a wide variety of NIKKOR glass. Image quality and performance are further bolstered with the aid of Nikon’s EXPEED 3 image processing engine, which helps to provide vivid colors and an exceptionally broad tonal range while quickly processing image data transfer from capture to card. Additionally, EXPEED 3 contributes to surprising energy efficiency for all-day shooting.   

Serious Performance for the Advanced Photographer
Whether capturing an awe-inspiring vista at the golden hour, or portraits that absolutely have to flatter, the swift response and advanced feature set will appeal to a wide range of users. From Nikon core technologies to thoughtfully laid-out controls, the robust and innovative feature set of this D-SLR will satisfy even the most demanding enthusiast.

• Low-Light Performance:  A wide ISO range helps the user master any lighting challenge. From a clean ISO 100 to a versatile 6,400 (25,600, Hi-2), the D610 provides minimal noise and maximum confidence.   
• 39-Point AF System and Scene Recognition System:  Users can select single point, continuous, dynamic or 3D autofocus modes to adapt to any shooting situation from static subjects to dynamic athletics. The Nikon D610’s 39-point AF system quickly acquires focus throughout the frame, even on fast moving subjects. For further accuracy, the system uses Nikon’s exclusive 3D Color Matrix Metering II 2016 pixel RGB Sensor in conjunction with the Scene Recognition System to analyze the scene and adjust exposure, white balance and focus. The resulting images display a more balanced exposure, precise sharpness and accurate color. Furthermore, the D610 utilizes nine cross-type sensors, seven of which retain AF ability up to f/8, a true boon to wildlife and sports photographers who rely on teleconverters for maximum distance.
• New Improved Automatic White Balance (AWB):  With an updated AWB algorithm, users can capture more vivid skies, and more natural-appearing reproduction of artificial light than ever before. Additionally, more natural skin tones can be captured, rendering faces with a more three-dimensional appearance. 
• New Increased Speed and Performance: A new shutter mechanism in the D610 affords a faster frame rate. Users can now capture the action at a continuous 6 frames-per-second (fps), which is ideal for photographing action sports or elusive wildlife.
• New Quiet Continuous Shutter Mode: Ideal for weddings and other sensitive events, the D610 features a new Quiet Continuous Shutter Mode. When selected via the main command dial, users can shoot discreetly at up to 3 fps.
• 100% Frame Coverage and 3.2-inch High Resolution LCD: Shoot all day comfortably and compose easily through the wide and bright optical viewfinder, which offers 100% frame coverage. Additionally, the high-resolution 921K dot, 3.2-inch LCD screen is viewable from a wide variety of angles making it easy to compose, review and share.
• Unleash Creativity with Advanced Modes:  With a wide variety of creative modes designed for enthusiasts, users can continue to express themselves in new, creative ways. A series of images with multiple exposures can be combined with built-in HDR, while users can explore their inner artist with an automatic Time Lapse Mode, or the intervalometer found in all advanced Nikon D-SLR’s. To adjust color, saturation and other image parameters on the fly, Picture Controls can be applied to both stills and HD video. 
• Dual SD Memory Card Slots: The Nikon D610 accepts two SD memory cards, which users can set to copy and overflow, or mark as one dedicated video when shooting multimedia. Additionally, the D610 accepts blazing-fast and high capacity SDXC and UHS cards.
• Full High Definition Capabilities: Capture stunning Full 1080P HD video in a variety of frame rates, including a cinematic 24p, 30p and 60i. A useful feature inherited from professional Nikon cameras, the Nikon D610 can feed 100% full screen, uncompressed video via HDMI to an external device such as a monitor or digital recorder. Additionally, a stereo microphone and headphones can be connected through thoughtfully placed auxiliary input jacks for capturing and monitoring audio.
• Share a Stellar Shot Instantly: When using the optional WU-1b Wireless Mobile Adapter1, unbelievable images can be shared directly to a compatible smart mobile device such as a phone or tablet. Users can then share these images with friends and family through their own social networks or photo sharing applications.
• Robust Construction: The Nikon D610 is sealed and gasketed, with dust and moisture resistance of the same caliber as the Nikon D800. The top and rear covers of the camera are made of magnesium alloy for maximum durability, while the shutter unit is tested to 150,000 cycles.

NIKKOR, Speedlight and System Compatibility
The Nikon D610 is compatible with a wide variety of NIKKOR Lenses, allowing users to truly realize a lens’ potential with an FX-format camera. For eighty years, photographers have come to rely on Nikon’s heritage of optical excellence for lenses that deliver the pinnacle of optical quality. Additionally, the Nikon D610 is fully compatible with Nikon’s Creative Lighting (CLS) System, and can act as a Commander to control up to two groups of Speedlights, in-camera. 

Price and Availability
The Nikon D610 D-SLR will be available in late October 2013 in a variety of configurations.

• Body Only – $1999.95* Suggested Retail Price (SRP)
• With AF-S NIKKOR 24-85MM F/3.5-4.5G ED VR Lens – $2599.95* SRP
• With AF-S NIKKOR 28-300MM F/3.5-5.6G ED VR Lens + 32GB Class 10 memory card + Large Laptop Bag – $3049.95* SRP
• With AF-S NIKKOR 24-85MM F/3.5-4.5G ED VR Lens + AF-S VR ZOOM-NIKKOR 70-300MM F/4.5-5.6G IF-ED Lens + WU-1b Wireless Mobile Adapter + D-SLR Tablet Bag + 32GB Class 10 memory card – $3249.95* SRP

1The Wireless Mobile Adapter Utility Application must be installed on the smart device before it can be used with the WU-1b Wireless Mobile Adapter connected to the Nikon D610. The application can be downloaded free of charge from Google Play™ or the Apple App Store. For use with Android or iOS mobile devices, please refer to mobile device compatibility and available features at https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nikon.wu.wmau&hl=en (Android) or https://itunes.apple.com/en/app/wireless-mobile-adapter-utility/id554157010 (iOS).
2Android and Google Play are trademarks of Google, Inc. 
3iPhone, iPad and iTunes are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.

*SRP (Suggested Retail Price) listed only as a suggestion. Actual prices are set by dealers and are subject to change at any time.

Nikon D610 specifications

Additional images

Comments

D600.1

What if they didn’t even fix the issues with the 610? That would be a real crime.

Eager to buy a used D600 for under $600.

Nice of you to launch the D610 BUT I’m still awaiting the D400 prosumer DX!

All other issues aside, I’m pretty excited that we’re finally getting a camera that places emphasis on the image making experience!

No AF improvement no go

Another fine product from Nikon that won’t be able to replace my D300.

there goes the value of your D600…. who buys a used and known faulty product.

I got a D610 months ago…when they replaced my shutter for free 😉

so their fix was to leave all the current D600 user stranded with a shutter that vomits all over their sensor and who now have a worthless camera, who the hell would buy one second hand now!.

Nice one Nikon! I thought hiking the D800 price a week after launch was harsh but youve topped yourselves this time 🙂

I would! I actually hope the price of used D600 falls a lot! Yes, I probably would need to clean the sensor regularly until certain threshold (some thousands of actuations)… I can live with that if the price is low enough.

Brace yourselves, next whining stop: Hot pixels… waiting for 25600 ISO / 30″ shots with lens cap on.

OMG… Did Dpreview actually admit here that the D600 has a sensor oil/dust issue? And all it took was a incremental model number change by Nikon! Imagine if Nikon had released a D810 as well… Dpreview might have also had the guts to finally acknowledge the Left AF focusing defect instead of hiding their heads in the sand for a year.

Indeed. I can’t believe it that DPR finally admitted that Nikon blundered.

Not my Brand

K.r.

With everything said, now’s the best time to look for bargain D600s. Never had problems with mine, and we are in dire need for another FF.

Good luck

Nikon’s apology is worse than their crime.

Come on guys! This is a great camera!

Is it? Suddenly after fixing the most ridiculous issue ever by releasing a new model instead of actually repairing the old one – it become a great camera? If I would own D600 I would never buy another camera from them after being f**** up so much with D600.

And who says the opposite? This is not the issue, here.

Nikon D600 Built 134, final Beta 3. We’re close, now, to the release of the consumer version. Q-)

Now that the D 610 is out, lets use it and see what are its remaining defects and then we can have the D 620 !! Well Done Nikon …….

Well in the worst upgrade stakes it’s a two horse race between Canon and Nikon. However, the race is a non-starter as both have pulled up LAME!

I’m calling this one and giving it to Nikon by a pixel.

Refuse to support a company which first denies a clear and apparent flaw in their product and then releases a measly incremental model which is clearly meant to solve precisely that.

Does this mean if you buy a dirt cheap warranted D600, will Nikon replace your shutter mechanism with one that doesn’t splash oil onto your sensor? If so that would be a much better deal!

What others mentioned before.
This is not a nice move from Nikon.
Why not a decent repair for D600 owners?
Trying to keep your costumers in your shop for the rest of their life.
No, dump those D600 owners and try to get new customers, who will be screwed the next time…
D600 owners are screwed.

Nikon, no thanks…

If there was any justice, the Pentax K-3 should get the lions share of the traffic today, not the D610 announcement.

Many people have leaped off the APS-C upgrade treadmill or they want to, because upgrading mindlessly from one APS-C model to another, year after year, without any noticeable improvement in image quality, simply makes no sense. I call it a treadmill because you can run as hard as you want but you haven’t gone anywhere. Assuming that you spend $1200 average for every upgrade and you have gone through 5 upgrades, that is $6,000 spent with nothing to show for it. In the bad old days, when FF cost $3,500 to $7,000, people had no choice but to buy APS-C models. Now there are choices from Nikon and Canon that only cost them a few hundred dollars more than an “enthusiast” APS-C model. Can’t blame the people for showing interest in an upgrade that is actually an upgrade.

@anastigment couldn’t agree more. 24mp on an aps-c size sensor does nothing for me.

D600 oil spots. Yahoo answers: D610. Cheers! 🙂
P. S.: Yahoo answered the same for Canon not so long ago (700D).

like Thom said it very well in his latest article, this is the most lame product introduction, and this shows us clearly Nikon lacks complete honesty and respect to its long time loyal customers.
I will not buy any more Nikon gear, I will just keep my current D800E but it is and will be my last Nikon, I am done with this fraud business.
I think this is very extremely insulting to us.

I’m absolutely with you on this one. I’ve watched Japanese people bow with respect and admit mistakes. Nikon on the other hand chose to remain silent and give us a D610. Volkswagen released a Golf VI in Europe after the V turned out to be a bit of a lemon. At least top level management admitted that the VI would put things right that were wrong on the V. I have a drawer full of Nikon stuff and am loyal for 25 years. If Fujifilm gets it right with the X-Pro2 en X-E2, I’ll buy into the X-system. Amongst other things for Fujifilm’s caring attitude to customers. I am currently still resolving the issue with my V1 that devours EN-EL15 batteries. Unsuccesfully so far. Free replacement batteries keep ageing extremely quickly, becoming unusable within 10 charge cycles. Nikon still has to admit to the problem being in the V1. Thom had an interesting read on this problem on his mirrorless site and basically confirmed that something is wrong on at least some of the V1s.

Maarten says: “I’ve watched Japanese people bow with respect and admit mistakes.”

Not within the Japanese business cultural will you find any admitting of mistakes. This idea that corporate management does no wrong is ingrained in the culture (and is so contrary to Western ideals; just look what happened to Olympus with their British CEO, Michael Woodford.) Here is one of many articles explaining that corporate culture: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/06/business/global/06toyota.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

“In Japan, there is a phrase: if something smells, put a lid on it,” said Shunkichi Takayama, a Tokyo-based lawyer….

…..and that’s also what Nikon just did. They put a lid on it.

Who’s Thom? Isn’t that the blogger who complains about every single move Nikon makes?

@Fogsville: “Not within the Japanese business cultural will you find any admitting of mistakes”. I jsut read the article you linked to, and I may indeed have confused bowing for admitting… Not too encouraging.

Oil my God!

LOL!!!

Instead of accepting issues with D600 and provide service to faulty cameras they just release a new camera leaving users of old camera frustrated. Nikon needs to get their act up soon or they will be in trouble.

Actually, according to Thom Hogan, Nikon is quietly replacing the cameras that come in for service with new shutters. I am not defending Nikon but they are not doing what you allege.

I agree. This output of the D6010 is a final confirmation of a production of faulty D600. If Nikon wants to prove to those who require serious need to replace the old machine with the new model. It would be unfortunate not to try to compensate those who bought the D600 (and did not spend much).

Nikon is not replacing the faulty D600s in India. A friend of mine owns the D600 which has oil leak problems and so far he has sent that camera 7 times for service in last 5 months with no avail.

Hooray for all the screwed D600 owners!

Remember when Leica M240s were smashing to the ground because of loose strap lugs? Every camera that got damaged earned a free trip to Solmes, a full CLA and updated warranty. In most countries people received replacement cameras to use during the wait period. Learn something Nikon?

Learned they need to start asking $7000 ?

I agree though, but Fuji might be a better example. A new sensor if you encountered the Fuji Orb problem (x10), a new shutter for the Sticky blades problem (x100), both even outside of the warranty, and free of course. They stand up and do something.

Also close to a million firmware upgrades with not just fixes but many new features. Even for older bodies that have long been replaced by a new one … adopting many of the features from the new model that aren’t hardware-dependent. 🙂

Really nice from Fuji!!! 😀

Is this the fastest FF replacement ever?

I hope they didn’t (as the Chinese say) add oil… 😉

USB 2.0?

now i know why the oil price was up. I hope D610 make the oil price back to normal 🙂

Also known as D600 Refurb.

Nikon introduces the Ford Pinto 2.0, now with fewer oil explosions.

Everybody that has shot the D600 has raved about the image quality and shots this camera is capable of.
Now with the improved shutter, faster frame rate and quiet 3 fps the D610 looks like a winner.

Key word is “now”. Too bad about all those who bought the beta version.

This is nothing more than a lame excuse for Nikon to raise the price.

“…given its launch at the same $2000 SRP…”

Uhh…

Uhh, the D600 isn’t selling for $2000 anymore because nobody was buying. It’s $1859 on Amazon. So Nikon is adding some gimmick features to try and justify a 7.6% price increase. Of course that isn’t going to make current D600 owners very happy since that camera will likely drop in price even more.

No thanks. I’m getting the Lumina 1020. More useful with no oil or dust on sensor.

I believe you’re thinking of the D600. This model has obviously been designed NOT to have oil or dust on the sensor (any more than any DSLR gets)

Because pixels rock. And so does the ability to never change lenses.

The Lumina? That is like settling for a Yugo after shopping for a Honda.

Hmmm. Minor updates. It should be called D601.

Well said! LOL

D610 is a good name. After all it is just a D600 + 10% bump up in price, making it the D610.

D600s

D600 oil free