Few have the disposable income to casually drop $9000 on a
camera like Nikon's D5. NASA, of course, has a couple of spare pennies to toss
around on purchases such as this. And when NASA buys cameras, it buys cameras.
53 to be exact. Yes, the US space organisation has just unloaded close to
half-a-million bucks on Nikon's DSLRs.
According to Nikon, all 53 cameras are destined for us on
the International Space Station, for taking images like the one above and for
recording this sort of amazing footage:
The D5, which packs a 36 x 44mm, 21-megapixel sensor, is
preferred by NASA for its "incredible reliability" and "ability
to withstand ... the harshest of environments". And space is about as
harsh as it gets.
Nikon's press release also mentions that the units are
"the same models available to consumers", so if you're planning to do
any extraterrestrial photography, know that Nikon has you covered
off-the-shelf.
Now, NASA probably didn't pay retail for those cameras, but
even so, that's easily $250,000-$500,000 in photo-taking hardware. A drop in
the ocean for NASA, certainly, but a bit harder for us to scrounge up.
Not that you'd need that many D5s, unless you're planning
some Matrix-style bullet-time shenanigans.
