The Full Frame Experience

The name “Nikon” comes from the Greek word “νύκτορ” (nyktor), which means “night” or “watcher of the night”. In ancient Greek, the prefix “νύκ-” was used to describe someone who watched or observed at night.

In 1917, the Japanese optics company Nippon Kogaku Seizo Co., Ltd. was renamed Nikon Corporation in reference to this Greek word. The founders chose this name as a tribute to their goal of observing and capturing the world through optical instruments.

Interestingly, the company’s first product was an optical instrument called the “Nikon 35mm camera”, released in 1959.

Before you get too impressed with my vast knowledge of fun photography facts, I have to confess – I got that from Meta AI.

In mid-2016, I was 39 and I chose to mark the last year of my 30’s with a camera body. At that time, the Canon SL1 was purchased as a substantial upgrade to my original Digital Rebel XT. Fast forward a decade. I turned 49 last week, and now, I am in the last year of my 40’s. A lot has changed in ten years. In 2016, I had no idea that I would inherit a plethora of my father’s very high-end Nikon lenses and a D7000 body. I also had no idea that we would soldier through a nasty global pandemic, or that The Cure would actually release a new album. I also had no idea that the Digital SLR type of camera would cease production in favor of the newer “mirrorless” design.

I felt like I wanted to do some type of upgrade, but I was at a loss as to what. It would not be as simple as a trip to Best Buy on Black Friday for the deal. There are no new DSLRs to be found from Canon or Nikon in 2025. Pentax does have a DSLR coming in 2025, supposedly. However, the only K-mount lenses I have are older mechanical lenses – nothing new with the electronics for auto focusing and those things. That’s okay, but they sell adapter rings to make these fit on Canon or Nikon digital bodies.

Being a Canon man for the overwhelming majority of my 25-year photography life, one might think I would look at them. Indeed, I did. There are lots of used bodies available that are great. Their prices, not great. Aside from that, I have all these high-end Nikon lenses now, geared more toward the “full-frame sensor” camera type that I want to have used in more places.

I wanted to experience the legendary “full frame” digital SLR camera. I won’t glaze you all over with too many technical details here, but I will give you the simple explanation. As you know, digital cameras have an electronic sensor behind the lens that captures light and takes the place of film. In a “full frame” camera, this is a very large sensor that is the exact size of a 35mm film frame. Or, as photographers put it, it’s a full size frame, or rather, a full frame. In contrast, the less expensive cameras use what they call a “crop sensor” which has a sensor about 2/3 (roughly) the size of a 35mm film frame. It’s called that because most lenses are larger and project an image that goes beyond the sensor, or is “cropped” out.

That was a little more technical than I wanted, but I tried. Photography aficionados and professionals swear by the full frame design because it yields images that are at a much higher resolution than their “mere mortal” counterparts. In all of my photographic life, these were out of my reach. In fact, the body I chose sold new in the year 2013 for $2000, or close to $2800 adjusted for inflation in 2025. No hobbyist should have to pay that much for any camera.

I decided after doing the research that it should be a Nikon body, and not only that, a Nikon body that all the spare parts and extra batteries would fit on, so it could blend in to my collection and complement the D7000 that I already have. I preferred full-frame, but it was not a must. I ended up deciding on the Nikon D610. It shares batteries, as well as accessories, but most importantly, high end lenses such as the 105mm 1:1 macro lens, as well as an 85mm lens and an f/1.4 50mm lens, neither of which I have reviewed here yet, but intend to at some point.

One night on eBay….

We all know where this is going right? I found what turned out to be a great deal. A Nikon D610 with a zoom lens included for $399 U.S. Except, it got better. I inquired what came with it, and they made an offer for $379. I thought about it a while. Then eBay went and did automated price reductions, so it was down to $358.98. Now, the temptation was too much to ignore. On my 49th birthday, coming armed with cashed out vacation time, for which I am notoriously bad about not using at work , credit card rewards, and free shipping, I gave in and clicked “Buy it Now” with the intention of saying “happy birthday to me.”

A week went by, anticipation growing as tracking updates appear on the U.S. Postal Service app. Finally, it arrived, and like a dog waiting for its favorite human to come home, I went outside and got it. So, here it is with the 55-200mm (oddly DX, not FX) lens that it came with attached.

As can be seen, when compared to my D7000, it’s just a little bit wider and a little bit thicker. It’s also a bit heavier.

For a camera of this age (12 years old) it is in remarkably good condition, and there are units that are much more expensive. $350 when the retail price was nearly $3000 in 2025 dollars is great – 90% of the experience for 10% of the cost.

After a wipedown with isoprophyl alcohol, a new battery, firmware updates, lens data updates and a blowout of the sensor chamber, I decided to take this thing for a spin. To really test it, I put on my 50mm “full frame” lens.

No extra magnification here, so this lens functions exactly the way it would if it were attached to a film camera. The color is very faithfully reproduced. Appropriately, I shot this mural on my lunch break, so it really is “recess.”

This stuffed frog cell phone holder was on the dash of my wife’s car. The resolution of images on this camera is a mind blowing 6030×4028 at 24 megapixels. That’s higher than 4k resolution blu ray movies. And, it does video at that resolution and uncompressed. This could literally be used by a low-budget indy filmmaker.

The burning question that I am sure some of you have – what is the shutter count on this unit? It was advertised as 119,000. For a camera of this age and of this price, that’s about average. There are websites where you can test your picture files that you see all over the place. However, aside from being a photo nerd, I’m also a computer nerd, and consequently a Linux nerd. So, you know I am going to be using command line Linux utilities to check this. At 113,417, that’s a bit lower than I was expecting, so all the better.

So, is the upgrade to the “full frame” design worth it? To put it in a bit of perspective, definitely maybe. There are definite advantages – You can see the details in the bricks of the mural photo I posted here. A bigger sensor means it’s more sensitive to light because there’s more real estate to work with. Then again, even professional photographers have gone decades without ever using a full frame camera and still yield outstanding photos. Given this is the end of an era for digital SLRs and you can now find used units that cost a lot less, it’s perhaps worth a try. Would this have been worth it as a new unit in 2013? Doubtful. Is it worth it now being nearly 90% less expensive for someone that has a lot of hardware to use with it with no intension of upgrading to any other format? Absolutely, and I feel like I’ve captured the best of the DSLR era without breaking the bank.

Shoot photos, not each other!