Nikon D100 (2002)

Nikon's own technical literature says little about the D100. The record does show it was announced on 21 February 2002 and shown at that year's PMA show. It was Nikon's first DSLR aimed squarely at the amateur market, sitting between the professional D1 series and the consumer point-and-shoots.

The D100 was built on the body of the Nikon N80 film camera. That gave it a mid-size, compact shape and a familiar feel for film shooters moving to digital. One account describes a magnesium alloy chassis, but there is no second source for that, so treat it as unconfirmed. The sensor was 6.1 megapixels, a figure that appears consistently in surviving listings and references. Other specs: a 5-point autofocus module shared with the later D50/D70/D70s, a pentaprism viewfinder, and CompactFlash storage including Type II cards and Hitachi Microdrive. It had six white-balance presets plus custom, and an ISO range of 200-1600 in 1/3 EV steps with a special 6400 mode. Flash was Nikon's d-TTL system. The camera added dark-frame-subtraction noise reduction and supported manual focusing.

The D100 sold out on release and had waiting lists. By 2003 it was Nikon's most popular SLR. It competed against the Canon D30, D60 and 10D, the Fuji S2, Kodak DCS Pro 14n, Contax N Digital, and Nikon's own Coolpix 5700. It launched at $1,999, fell to $1,699 in May 2003, $1,499 by December 2003, and $999 by May 2005. The D70 replaced it in 2004 and the D70s in 2005, but Nikon kept the D100 in the lineup at a higher price to slot it between the D1 series and the newer amateur models. In 2005, used D100s sometimes fetched more than new D70s. A battery recall was issued on 8 November 2005. Later reviews flagged limits in flash sync performance and the d-TTL system compared to newer bodies, and users reported a tendency toward under-exposure.

Beyond the outline above, the record is thin. No dimensions, weight, battery type, shutter speed range, frame rate, or exact discontinuation year survives in the documentation located. A classified section from Audio (January 1980, p.116) offers only tangential vintage-market context and no D100-specific specifications.

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