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The Nikon D780 brings mirrorless tech to full-frame photography

After a mere four years, Nikon is back with the successor to the D750 DSLR

The Nikon D780 is here. The long-awaited successor to 2015’s D750 – announced at this year’s CES event in Las Vegas – pairs some of the tech found in Nikons’ latest mirrorless cameras with the image-capturing capability of full-frame models.

The result is a full-frame DSLR with a new 273-point hybrid autofocus system available via the live preview screen; up to 12fps burst shooting in Silent Live View Photography mode; and 4K/30fps plus 1080p/120fps video recording. Incidentally, the new autofocus system is the same one found on the Nikon Z6.

Otherwise, this is very much the full-frame DSLR you might remember from 2015. That means you’ll find the same tilting live preview display and optical viewfinder here as you would on the D750. The 51-point viewfinder autofocus and 24.5-megapixel CMOS sensor also remain unchanged.

Then again, this is entirely the point. Senior Commercial Planning Manager at Nikon UK Robert Harmon said in a statement: “Many photographers love DSLR, and they’ve been waiting for a model like the D780.

If you’re a DSLR lover, and you want to shoot movies as well as stills, this is the perfect solution. If you want to explore mirrorless, we have the Z system for that too! Whichever system excites image makers, we’re thrilled to offer the versatility that lets them create without limits.”

The D780 is in other words an iterative update to the existing D750. Photographers looking for the live preview capabilities of a mirrorless camera who simply cannot bear to part with a good old fashioned optical viewfinder might find a healthy compromise in the D780 – if they can bear the expense.

The new camera will be available to purchase from 23 January in the UK, for a cool £2,199 body-only. If you’d like an AF-S 24-120 f/4G ED VR lens thrown in, it’ll set you back a total of £2,619.

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