Pro-Quality Autofocus System
Dynamic Autofocus, a Nikon original, gives all photographers the flexibility to capture great action shots. Dynamic AF automatically follows subjects that move among five creatively positioned focus areas. Features such as wide-area coverage and three cross-type sensors distinguish the F100's Dynamic Autofocus. Even if the subject moves off the selected focus area, accurate autofocus is ensured by Nikon's Lock-On feature.

With the F100's wide cross array, you're not limited to using the center sensor for the first autofocus detection. You can choose any one of the five AF sensors as the primary sensor, allowing more creative picture composition. Further, your ability to respond to quickly changing conditions is limitless. The system is designed so that you can make your focus area selection while you are looking through the viewfinder, or when the camera is away from your eye while you're anticipating the action.

After analyzing the way you take pictures, Nikon developed the Focus Area Selector Pad. A simple press of the pad is all it takes to select or change from among five focus areas.

The F100's manual focusing is fully mechanical, so operation is smoother and more precise. Unlike other systems, Nikon's Manual Focus mode uses no power so it extends battery life in power draining conditions.

Metering and Exposure Control
Nikon 3D Matrix Metering works differently than all other light meters. Imagine you're a professional photographer with decades of experience. You take a light meter reading of the scene and then you consider the reading according to your experience. Nikon's exclusive design incorporates a database of picture-taking information that is built upon more than 30,000 actual picture-taking scenes. Every time the 3D Matrix Meter measures a scene's brightness and contrast, it compares its information with is professional database. The result is unsurpassed exposure-control performance and accuracy, even in the most demanding situations.

To fine-tune the camera's automatic metering system, you can compensate exposure ±5EV in 1/3 EV increments. The F100 makes it easy to perform exposure bracketing of two or three frames in 1/3 to 1-EV steps with all exposure modes, including Manual.

TTL Flash Features
The F100's 3D Multi-Sensor Balanced Fill-Flash works with the camera's Matrix and Center-Weighted Meters. You can also use it with each of the F100's exposure control modes. With an exclusive 5-Segment TTL Multi-Sensor, the F100 delivers sophisticated exposure control even under complex conditions, and it does it faster than you could handle manually. Using a pattern based on the classic rules of composition, the TTL Multi-Sensor monitors flash output and optimizes exposure control for great automatic fill-flash results.

The F100 offers a top TTL flash sync speed of 1/250 sec., so you can use automatic balanced fill-flash even with the fasted moving subjects and ensure stability with longer lenses.

Nikon Construction & System Compatibility
The F100's front body, top and bottom covers are made of rugged magnesium alloy. Critical areas are covered with tough rubber surfaces textured to provide a secure grip and buffer against impact and harsh environments. Strategically placed O-rings guard against moisture and dust.

The F100 is powered by four AA-type alkaline or lithium batteries. Lithium is better for cold weather, which tends to drain power faster. This ensures optimum performance at low temperatures and makes for a lighter overall camera.

Floating Mechanism for Silent Operation The F100's new quick-return mirror is specially designed to help reduce mirror bounce and vibration. Moreover, coreless motors and gears are configured in a floating-type design for quiet operation. With a rubber-armored, shock-absorbing construction, these motors work to minimize internal vibration.

Simple, Intuitive Operation The F100 has two Command Dials and a focus area selector that give you quick access to most features. You can even lock selected controls to prevent inadvertent switching. All controls are easy to operate and logically positioned for fast and easy operation.

Custom Settings The Custom Settings feature allows you to bypass the F100's defaults and create your own combination of settings. Change bracketing order, Command Dial functions, AE-L/AF-L button function, self-timer duration and more.

Optimal Lens Compatibility When designing the F100, Nikon placed priority on ensuring its compatibility with all current Nikkor lenses, including AF-S Silent Wave and Vibration Reduction lenses. Nikon compatibility is a key part of the foundation of the Nikon system. The F100 automatically determines which lens is attached and makes the necessary adjustments for optimal performance.
 

The Maxxum 7 is the first SLR body to adopt a dot matrix navigation display, giving you the camera's overall status at a glance. The large 1.5-by-1-inch LCD panel is positioned on the camera's back cover and provides a variety of information to meet users' specific preferences or skills. This information includes camera settings, custom functions, exposure history, meter index, brightness distribution, depth of field, and data memory (selectable in five different languages). And for easy readability, the LCD display automatically shifts from horizontal to vertical orientation depending on the camera's position. This feature saves photographers the trouble of changing their holding position each time they check the data panel--which is typically placed on the top of the camera.

The central processing unit in the Maxxum 7 has a data processing speed five times faster than earlier AF SLR models. This camera provides the world's fastest autofocus speed, in spite of the greater volume of data received from the wide focus area, due to its powerful lens driving motor that promises quick accelerations and decelerations of lens movement. The Maxxum 7 is able to track abrupt changes in speed or direction perfectly. In fact, the second you bring this camera to your eye, the lens snaps into focus and is ready for use, even if you, or the object you are shooting, happens to be in motion. For example, with a 300mm lens attached, the Maxxum 7 can accurately follow an object moving as fast as 31 miles per hour to within 26 feet.

The new AF module incorporates eight line sensors, as well as Minolta's unique center dual cross-hair sensors. Its nine-point sensors cover the central area of the viewfinder frame and divide it horizontally and vertically into thirds. By efficiently covering a wide focus area, the nine-point sensors assure great flexibility when composing pictures and allow the photographer to precisely capture moving subjects. The Advanced Distance Integration (ADI) flash metering system provides greater accuracy when used with Minolta's new AF lenses, which incorporate distance encoders. The guide number control and the four-segment pre-flash metering work together to virtually eliminate the influence of background or subject reflectance in your photographs.

The Maxxum 7 also features 35 customizable functions that allow photographers to take instant control of virtually all camera functions. Its ergonomically redesigned AF/MF control button permits the switch between autofocus (AF) and manual focus (MF) modes via a button located on the back of the camera. This button is easily operated without losing sight of the subject in the camera's viewfinder.

Relatively small (5.6 by 3.8 by 2.6 inches) and lightweight (20.3 ounces), this camera's compact body, with the ultra-compact AF 24-105mm f3.5 to f4.5 standard lens, assures greater handling and carrying comfort. With power performance features such as a top shutter speed of 1/8,000 second and a maximum drive speed of four frames per second--and all of this in a body smaller than any other 35mm AF SLR with comparable features--the Maxxum 7 sets a new standard for performance and compactness.