The Nikon D750 is a significant release of the company as its a full-frame DSLR which provides many of the features of the D610 and the D810, while sitting in between the two. Some aspects such as faster continuous shooting and improved autofocus system better than what can be found in the D810 and with a 24MP sensor, there’s plenty in here to be a very versatile camera.
Although the Nikon D750 was released in 2014, its still a contender today, so let’s see what’s in the box and if it’s still worth buying.
Design
Those familiar with the D610 will be right at home here. The layout is very much the same, only the info button has been moved to near the rear control pad.
The camera itself is made out of carbon-fiber reinforced thermoplastics and magnesium alloy. Solid feeling and clearly crammed full of features. The rear tilting LCD screen is a great addition and feels very solid to use.
Not everybody prefers a tilting rear screen mainly as it can be knocked and damaged, but this one feels solid enough to take regular wear and tear.
The top of the camera looks very similar to the D610. The usual exposure mode dial and Nikon control screen take up most of the room.
There are also additional buttons for video record, metering, exposure compensation, and the shutter release button, which is surrounded by the power dial. The rear tilting screen is basically a movable version of the one found on the D810, which can move up and down, but is not fully articulated.
One nice thing about Nikon cameras is the amount of customization. Most of the buttons are assignable and can be set to many sub-menu items. For instance, the OK button can be used in live view, shooting and playback, along with zooming in 100 percent in playback mode. Plenty here to keep your most used functions at finger length.
When it comes to features the D750 has loads, too many to list, but we will go through some of the more important ones. The metering system comes from the D810 and does a great job of tracking subjects, along with fancy features like Highlight-weighted Metering which helps with preserving highlight tones.
Auto ISO gives you plenty of options like maximum ISO values and minimum shutter speeds. Continuous shooting has been increased to 6.5fps, Wi-Fi has also been added which allows you to control of the camera or to transfer images.
The autofocus system on the Nikon D750 doesn’t disappoint with a 51-point Multi-CAM 3500FX AF system rated to -3 EV. The spread of AF points is between the D610 and the D810, with the rest of the system lifted straight from the D810. Single or multi-point focus, 3D tracking, auto area, face detection and group area AF are all featured, similarly in live view.
Clearly there are lots of features packed into the D750 which should cover most applications.
Image Quality
Low-light focusing is extremely good on the Nikon D750, offering the same levels as found in the D810. Face detection works extremely well, as does the 3D focus tracking.
These are very helpful, especially in video mode where a person’s face or eye can be accurately tracked as long as there are adequate light levels. As far as autofocus and tracking go there are no complaints here.
Video facilities are another section which has been ported over from the D810. full HD can be recorded at 60p, 50p, 30p, 25p, and 24p with an option for full frame or crop modes.
Dedicated video people will like the addition of the Zebra pattern, but there isn’t any focus peaking. There are included mic and headphone sockets with the ability to adjust both in-camera. Video can also be outputted as 8-bit uncompressed 4:2:2 via HDMI.
There are plenty of additional features like flat picture control which provides low contrast footage, for better post-processing and timelapse modes. The D750 may not replace a dedicated cam, but it does a very good job, especially if you’re happy with HD footage.
Depending on the lens being used, you really cannot fault the dynamic range. There’s enough detail in stills to be able to pull up shadows in post-processing and still get a great image.
The default picture profiles make images look punchy and, with a bit of exposure compensation, are a good way to capture images on the fly, especially for events or weddings.
As per overall image quality, colors come out well defined and vibrant, giving very nice skin tones and detail. At base ISO levels you really can’t fault the images. Cranking the ISO up to its max and lowering noise reduction still produces reasonable images, with less than expected grain, but still being soft – and yet still very impressive.
How Does the Nikon D750 Compare?
In reality, most people eyeing up the D750 will be from the Nikon camp. The main contenders will be the D610 and D810. As the D750 borrows from both, it can be seen as a nice happy medium.
The ultimate decision will come down to your budget and if extra features and resolution are your main priority. All three cameras are great workhorses and can’t be faulted much for their functionality and quality.
| Nikon D750 | Nikon D810 | |
| Sensor | 24.3MP CMOS | 36.3MP CMOS with on OLPF |
| AF System | 51 points | 51 points |
| ISO | 100-12,800 | 64 -12,800 |
| Video | 1080/60p | 1080/60p |
Conclusion
In a roundabout way, the D750 is a more cost-effective, lower resolution version of the D810. But, it also brings more to the table with an improved autofocus system, tilting LCD and a few other features. Image quality is excellent on the D750 with low noise levels and fantastic dynamic range.
