A couple of weeks back, I was fortunate to have had the opportunity to have a quick hands-on impressions session with Nikon’s newest flagship camera, the D4.

Unfortunately, I was not permitted to use my own memory card in the camera, so I’m unable to offer any sample images. Rather, I can only describe the way the camera felt in terms of its operational capabilities, ergonomics, and such.

And in terms of how it felt in my hands … wonderful. First of all, it felt lighter than I expected. This is a full size camera.

In fact, it’s actually larger than a full size camera: my background is such that a full size camera is that of a typical 35mm body from the ’70s or ’80s: Canon A1, Nikon FE or FM, and so on. Items like the battery grip, now an integral part of cameras like the D4, were but add-on accessories in those days.

So, for the size, it felt somewhat lighter than I expected. Very solid though.

In use, focus acquisition was very fast, but of course that’s what you’d expect from a camera such as this. The target market here is high speed and action photographers, and so a fast frame rate (11fps) and focus acquisition are essential elements in a camera such as this.

The frame rate however, is only good as long as the camera’s memory buffer doesn’t overfill. If the buffer fills up, then the camera will slow down or stop. That may be ok, or it may mean that you lose the one shot you were hoping to get. Here, the D4 truly shines as a high performance camera, and when shooting bursts, the camera just keeps going and going and going …

As it was a bright sunny day, I was unable to try out the low light (high ISO) capabilities of the D4. I’m led to believe that we should see two stops better performance here, but I will reserve my judgement on this until such time as I can see some results for myself.

See also Nikon D800E First Impressions.