Kodak DCS Pro 14n: 14 Million Reasons To Go Digital Touchy-Feely Stuff… Familiar Nikon Form Factor Anyone familiar with the Nikon F80 (N80) or indeed the Fuji S2 Pro or Nikon D100 will find the top portion and area surrounding the lens mount very familiar. However, I must admit, the DCS 14n is a mixed bag of fish when it comes to handling. Firstly, the grip wasn't very inclined to ergonomics - the horizontal shutter was evidently sculpted for smaller hands (which should be a boon for Asian sizes) while my large hands would struggle with finding a comfortable grip. The use of the handstrap (standard accessory) did help to improve handling though, and the deep recessed portion of the handgrip (as compared to the shallow grip of the D100 or S2 Pro) is something which Nikon and Fujifilm should take a leaf from. The vertical grip was definitely more for a bigger grasp though, and I can't visualize how most would be able to handle it properly. Even if you possess long fingers, there was still little space between the finger grip and lens mount to grasp the camera firmly. However, all these factors made perfect sense if you bear in mind that the DCS-14n is used in a controlled environment, ideally mounted on a firm tripod. The reassuring weight and wide base contributes enormously to the stability of the camera. The magnesium alloy used in the chassis of the DCS-14n imparts a strong sense of durability, something found only with the top-end models of Canon and Nikon cameras. In terms of form factor design, each aspect of the DCS-14n has been completely researched and improved on. The viewfinder (by virtue of the DCS-14n's full-frame sensor) is large and bright, ideal for manual focusing, unlike the smallish viewfinders of the D100 and S2 Pro. Standard Nikon accessories can be used with the viewfinder, including the standard eyepieces, diopters and rubber eyecups. The side of the viewfinder also retains the diopter adjustment lever of the F80. Kodak opted to use their own proprietary battery instead of the excellent EN-EL3 used in the D100. This makes sense in the light that Kodak probably wants to maintain the small form factor with their own 'stick-style' Lithium-ion battery. A recharging pack is also included in the standard package, but I couldn't thoroughly test the battery life (again due to the short review time), but some initial observations suggest that the DCS-14n drains power rather fast, so it would be advisable to obtain a spare battery for extended fieldwork. The DCS-14n utilizes two storage slots, one for Compact Flash Type I or II (including IBM Microdrive), the second for Secure Digital / Multi Media Cards. The choice of storage media is an interesting one since most pro-grade D-SLRs utilize CF media alone, which suggests some form of inter-device connectivity/interaction in the future (e.g. printing through Bluetooth to wireless printers, or communication with PDAs with a wireless module). However, this still remains to be seen. In terms of operation, the DCS-14n retains the same control interface of the F80/D100, including the same pop-up Speedlight flash, D-TTL enabled flash hotshoe, AF servos, command dials and camera controls. I shall not attempt to delve into that, as IMHO that's been covered to death and I wouldn't provide any new insights. The AF motor also uses the same CAM900 auto focus module that's used with the F80, D100 and S2 Pro, which means AF performance isn't quite up to par with the D1 series (which uses the much faster CAM1300 AF module). However, what is notable is the rear camera interface, which forms the command center of the DCS-14n. The design is a lot more intuitive and the additional display panel also served to simplify operation of the camera. I subjected the DCS-14n to my usual acid test of usability - attempting to use the camera without even looking at the manuals - and the camera fares fairly well in that aspect. I could figure out most of the controls through the user interface, and only at the end of the last day before the unit was due did I peek at the instruction sheets. The vertical shutter release button also incorporates an automatic orientation device, which re-orientates image file to vertical/horizontal, depending on which shutter release was used. This is a big time-saver, shaving precious time in a professional workflow, especially when dealing with large number of files. The vertical shutter release does suffer from the lack of command dials, which makes it tricky when shooting portraits. Startup time when switching on the camera is sluggish at best, even on a freshly charged battery. It take around 6-7 seconds from powering up the camera to being able to take the first shot, and if you wait for the camera to calibrate itself, the wait can be even longer. By comparison, the D1 series and EOS digital models all take less than 2 seconds to startup. Writing time for files to be recorded in the media is also fairly slow, which is no big surprise considering the huge file sizes and processing involved when producing anything other than a 14-megapixel RAW file. Be prepared to wait for the buffer to write to the storage when shooting files in continuous mode. The DCS-14n is provided with three main software applications / utilities. DCS Camera Manager - Provides remote control of the camera from a computer (Windows or Mac OS). Connection is made by IEEE 1394 (Firewire). DCS Photo Desk - For browsing of all image formats as well as advanced conversion of RAW images. Photo Desk is the main application for conversion of Kodak's DCR RAW images. File Format Module - An Adobe Photoshop plugin which provides access to the extra data stored in JPEG ERI format images. The module automatically detects a ERI-JPEG image when opened by Photoshop. Parting comments and views of the DCS 14n