Unlike most comentary on new cameras, this article about my new Nikon D2h will not be discussing the inner mechanism of the D2h. You won't find out in great detail the raw data on image noise, resolution, sensitivity, or even analitically how many frames per second it shoots. This article is all about my decision process to put the Nikon D2h into my workflow and my completely 100% subjective thoughts on how good this camera is at fullfilling my needs.

First thing with this article is realize where I'm starting from. I'm a nature photographer generalist. When I'm asked what type of pictures I take, I usually respond I'll shoot anything that doesn't involve people. It's not that I'm affraid of people, it's just that putting people into the equation complicates the image process considerably for me. Some folks have a knack for establishing a rapport with their subjects and effortlessly create incredible imagery. I, on the other hand, look at establishing this kind of rapport as an intrustion into their lives and therefore an intrustion into mine--a general pain in the but all around. The efforts are just too large. As a result, I'm pretty much a wildlife, landscape photographer that shoots anything that doesn't have a human personal relationship requirement.

What's that have to do with my choice for a new digital camera? It's important in the sense that when buying any piece of equipment you should know exactly how it will fit into your workflow. You have to know exactly how this new piece of gear will interface with your style of photography. And, the most basic aspect of knowing your style of photography is knowing what you like to shoot. So, I needed to fullfill the needs of a landscape/wildlife photographer with a decidedly adversarial relationship with people photography.

But there's more. My particular style of photography was all about producing prints. In that sense I was not out to make prints for impossibly large billboards. Shooting for the remote chase it'll be printed on a huge billboard has always been beyond my wildest thoughts. In fact, the largest prints I hope to make are defined by the parameters of my biggest printer, an Epson 7600. At 24 inches wide, the largest image will only be 20 inches giving me a one inch border on matt paper, my preferred paper choice. All this tends towards the largest imager size--whether film or digital--I need. In fact, I'll say right now, anything more than this will be a burden to my workflow that I'll explain in more detail later in this article..

What else is important with my photography style? Well, speed is very important. I'm not talking frames per second but more on time from depressing the shutter and actually firing. Parrellel to this is the feel of the user's interface. A better user interface will cause the camera to be "faster". Being easier to change important settings without fumbling through a series of menus will prevent me from missing more than necessary shots in a quickly changing situation. So, a fast camera is important. Let me re-emphasize I'm not talking about shooting lots of frames in short order. I am not a subscriber to the machine gun approach to photography. I'm an assess the situation, wait for the image to come together, and fire off two or three images in quick succession. I never just lay the finger down and fire away for "effect" as if I had a machine gun. For example, I was leading a group of photographers a couple years ago in Jasper NP. At the end of the day we encountered a pair of bull elk that began to spar. In the five minute sequence, I shot with my Nikon D1h a paltry 35 images, my partner with his brand new Canon 1D shot at 8 fps almost three hundred images. I'm sure somewhere in there he got some keepers I missed. But, I got the ones I liked and felt very much in control with my image making. I have a lengthy article discussing aspects of image making and how we're involved here. I talk at great length how important you and your individuality are to the image making process. Shooting at maximum frame rate for extended periods of time I feel lessens your involvement with the image making process hence the reason why I don't insist on a high frame rate capability on my cameras.

Since my eyes are suffering from what everyone goes through when they get older--eye-sight going south--I need auto-focus. In fact, I'll say I need really good auto-focus because I love shooting in-flight birds and a superior auto-focus is the only way to increase the number of "keepers". I've shot with both superior and poorly focusing cameras. There's a clear difference to success when using one over the other. The obvious answer is the better your auto-focus is, the better your in-flight photography will be.

And, that's about it. These are pretty much the limits of my camera needs. It's not a very large list. In fact, I'd say it's a ridiculously simple list. Sure there are issues with battery life and other things I'm disappointed with on my current camera but in so far as defining what I really need it's all about finding something that fits within my workflow and fills some imagery needs I don't have with my current equipment.