Surprise! Nikon Targets GoPro With the KeyMission 360 Action Cam

LAS VEGAS—Nikon had previously teased the D5 with a development announcement, so it's of little surprise that the company opted to announce it at CES. But it's joined by two unexpected products: the D500, the long-awaited pro-grade APS-C successor to the D300s, and the KeyMission 360, Nikon's first action camera.

I'm going to start with the D5. It's a camera that's going to appeal to many a pro photographer. It replaces the D4s in the Nikon lineup, and while the internal components includes significant updates, there aren't huge changes to the body itself, other than the rear display supporting touch input for image review and menu navigation. It's still a beefy SLR with extensive weather sealing, an integrated grip, huge battery, and large optical viewfinder. It's heavy in the hand, even with a modest 24-70mm f/2.8 zoom attached.

Video capture has been upgraded to 4K UHD at 24, 25, or 30fps. If you need a quicker frame rate, you can shoot 1080p or 720p at up to 60fps. It records compressed H.264 footage directly to a memory card, but can also output uncompressed footage over the HDMI port. Now, 4K does come with two caveats. The first is a huge one—clips are limited to 3 minutes in length. The second is a concern for wide-angle videography, as the frame is cropped, covering the same field of view as a DX (APS-C) image sensor. But you can always use a wide DX lens like the AF-S DX Nikkor 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5G ED when recording in 4K.

Both 1080p and 720p can be shot in full-frame or in a DX crop mode. Finally, there's a 1080p 3x crop mode. It matches the center 1,920-by-1,080 pixels of the image sensor, so you won't lose any quality by opting for this mode, while at the same time giving your lenses a much more effective telephoto reach. A flat profile is available for videographers who wish to grade footage.

As happy as I am to see 4K in a Nikon SLR, you're not going to buy the D5 because of its video features. There are better options out for dedicated videographers, like the Sony Alpha 7S II. The strength of Nikon's flagship SLR line has always been its autofocus system. And boy, has the D5 enjoyed some updates there.

The AF module has 153 points—99 of them are the more precise cross-type. They're not all bunched up in the center either—the cross-type sensors run down the center, and along both the left and right edge. The focus system doesn't cover the entire sensor (see above), but the area covered is what you expect from a full-frame SLR. It can keep focus locked on a moving subject even when the camera is shooting at its maximum 12fps burst rate.

And it focuses in very dim light. The central focus points are rated to work in light as dim as -4EV, with peripheral focus points rated to -3EV. To complement that low-light focus, Nikon pushed the D5's ISO rating quite high. In its native range it can shoot from ISO 100 all the way through ISO 102400. For capture in very bright light, or for long exposures, you can pull the ISO down to 50, and for extreme low-light photography the D5 supports an extended range up to Hi5. That's ISO 3280000—3.28 million—for those not familiar with Nikon's naming conventions. Now, in the real world you are probably not going to want to push the camera that far, but at least you have the option to do so. I wasn't able to save any of the images I shot—Nikon covered up memory card slots on the demo units with gaffer tape—but a review on the rear LCD showed that the JPG quality looks pretty good in its native range, but starts to get shaky when pushed to any of the Hi settings. I'll have more to say about that when I can test the camera in the lab and field and really give those crazy high ISO shots a good look.

As for focus performance, it wasn't possible to give the D5 a proper workout in my short time with it today. There's only so much you can do with a camera that's chained to a table. But I could see the focus system reacquiring a lock as I panned quickly from one subject to another, all while holding the shutter button down. There were some soft shots as the D5 reacquired a target, but not a lot of them. A more realistic real-world test is tracking a moving target, which is something that will have to wait until I get to use the camera in the field.

The focus system and the D5's imaging engine are driven by an Expeed 5 image processor. Nikon promises that it will capture images with natural skin tones, even in difficult and mixed lighting. The processor is also largely responsible for driving the contrast-based autofocus system that's used when shooting in Live View mode. It's quite responsive, and an electronic first curtain function has been added when shooting in Live View, which helps to minimize vibration in order to capture sharper photos.

The D5 is going to be sold in two versions. One will have dual XQD memory card slots, and the other will have dual CompactFlash shots. This is a departure from the D4s, which had one XQD and one CF slot. Photographers who have a heavy investment in CF media and aren't ready to buy a pile of new memory cards can still enjoy the D5's new features, and those whose workflow requires the incredible speed benefits of XQD media can go all-in with the format. Nikon states that the D5 is able to capture up to 200 14-bit Raw images at the maximum 12fps burst rate when using XQD memory.

There's no built-in flash—the Nikon D810 is the only pro-grade SLR that includes one. The D5 has some new features for wireless flash control, however. It can use the WR-R10, or with the new SB-5000 Speedlight, the D5 can control off-camera Speedlights via RF communication. Wireless image transfer also requires an adapter—the D5 does have a Gigabit Ethernet port for wired transfer at speeds of up to 400Mbps—the WT-6A transmitter, which is compliant with the 802.11ac standard for 130Mbps transfers.

The D5 is scheduled to ship in March. It's priced at $6,499.95 as a body only, the same price as the D4s. The SB-5000 AF Speedlight is also shipping in March for $599.95, and the WT-6a Wireless Transmitter joins them the same month for $749.95.

Next up is the D500. It replaces the D300s as Nikon's flagship DX (APS-C) SLR. The D300s has been around since 2009, and was really just the 2007's D300 with added video support. We can blame many things for the delay of the camera that most were expecting to be called the D400, but natural disasters—the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan in 2011, as well as flooding in Thailand the same year, certainly played a part in the delay.

It's no coincidence that Nikon decided to skip a model number with this iteration. The D500 shares a good deal of technology with the D5, including the autofocus system. It uses the same 153-point module, but due to the smaller image image sensor, the focus points cover the entire width of the sensor. The D500 even has a small joystick on the rear to move the active focus point, the same as you'll find on a D5, and a first for a Nikon DX camera.

Wildlife photographers often reach for an APS-C camera for the extra effective reach that it gives telephoto lenses. The D500's image sensor is 20.9 megapixels in resolution, basically the same as the D5, but since it's smaller, the field of view captured by a full-frame telezoom like the Sigma 150-600mm DG OS HSM Contemporary is tighter. If you swapped the lens to the D5 and took a photo from the same position you'd need to crop it down to about 8.9 megapixels to match the shots.

That's a big resolution advantage when you're shooting wildlife from a distance. And having an autofocus system that covers the entire width of the frame is another, especially if you're photographing fast-moving sports action or trying to capture images of wildlife. And if you shoot outdoors, you'll be happy to know that the D500's weather sealing is on par with the D5.

The autofocus system isn't the only shared tech. The D500 is powered by an Expeed 5 processor, and can capture full-size, medium, or small photos in the same range of file formats as the D5. And it records video at 4K UHD resolution, but like the D5 this footage is cropped by 1.5x, and clips are limited to 3 minutes. Flat video profiles and uncompressed output over HDMI are available. You can record standard quality HD footage using the entire image sensor for up to 30 minutes, or high quality for 20 minutes, just as you can with the D5.

The D500 is notably smaller than its full-frame sibling. It's sized more in line with the D810, a traditional SLR without an integrated grip. Of course, there is the option to use an add-on battery grip if you prefer more to hold on to. The rear display is touch-sensitive, and it's mounted on a hinge similar to the LCD used by the Nikon D750. Unlike the D5, you can tap an area of the display to set the focus point when shooting in Live View mode.

Wi-Fi is built-in. In order to accommodate this function, Nikon had to design the chassis in a similar manner to the D750. It's not a full mag alloy shell, instead there's some carbon fiber components involved. In the past, Nikon owners have used the Wireless Mobile Utility app to transfer photos, but the D500 is coming with a new companion app. Nikon is branding its Wi-Fi system as SnapBridge, and is attempting to rectify one of the pain points of wireless image transfer—the need to manually connect your phone to the camera's Wi-Fi network. The D500 has Bluetooth, which keeps a connection alive with your phone at all times. You have the option of having the camera automatically copy photos to your phone as you take them, although volume shooters will probably want to be more selective. The app isn't available yet, so I wasn't able to try out this function.

In terms of focus speed, the D500 is the equal of the D5. Burst shooting is a little bit slower—it tops out at 10fps, but that still matches the rival Canon EOS 7D Mark II. I was able to shoot about 125 14-bit Raw images with lossless compression enabled at the top shooting speed. The camera has dual memory card slots—one XQD and one SDXC—but I wasn't able to verify what speed XQD memory card netted those results.

The ISO range isn't quite as ambitious. The image sensor is physically smaller than that of the D5, but offers the same resolution, so the pixels are smaller. The D500 can be set from ISO 100 to 51200 in its native range, and also offers ISO 50 as a low extended mode, and five high extended modes, for a maximum ISO 1640000 sensitivity.

The D500 is the DX flagship camera that many Nikon photographers have been waiting for. But prepare to wait a bit longer to buy one—it's shipping in March. Nikon is offering it as a body only for $1,999.95, or kitted with the AF-S DX Nikkor 16-80mm f/2.8-4E ED VR lens for $3,069.95.

Finally, there's the KeyMission 360. It's an action cam, a first for Nikon, and a dual-lens spherical model at that. Details are very sparse at this time—CES is more of a teaser for this product rather than a proper announcement. We do know that it records 4K video, that it's waterproof to 100 feet, and shockproof to about 6.5 feet. There is digital image stabilization, but Nikon is mum on additional details.

At a press conference here at CES, Nikon Ambassador Corey Rich showed off some footage that he captured on location with the KeyMission 360. It showed the camera capturing off-road bicycling, kayaking, rock climbing, and other intense activities. Rich spoke eloquently on the challenge of adapting to 360-degree capture: "Everything is in front of the lens. There's no more hiding behind the camera."

The camera is scheduled for an official release this spring. For now, we're only able to look at it under glass.