NASA reveals 'generational' Earthset photo taken on a Nikon D5 — the decade-old DSLR with one secret weapon over modern cameras for space photography

• NASA has released new Artemis II photos taken on its Moon fly-by
• The 'Earthset' image was again taken on a Nikon D5
• The D5, released in 2015, is NASA's choice for Artemis II's most important photographs

NASA has released some stunning new photos taken by the Artemis II crew during its Moon fly-by — and the key shots were once again taken on the ten-year-old Nikon DSLR.

The series of incredible photos (scroll down to see them) show some unique sights, including a solar eclipse from the other side of the Moon. And the signature 'Earthset' shot, described as "generational" by one observer in NASA's Flickr gallery, was taken on the Nikon D5 (settings were f/8 at 1/1000s, ISO 400, in case you were wondering).

This has become something of a theme. When the eye-popping first images from NASA's Artemis II mission began beaming back last week, photographers online did what they always do: they looked at the EXIF data. And what they found raised a few eyebrows.

Those stunning shots were captured on the Nikon D5, a DSLR that launched over a decade ago and, frankly, wasn't exactly met with universal adoration at the time. Shouldn't the astronauts aboard the Orion craft be using something a little more, well, space-age than that? Was this really the best camera for the job of capturing these historic photographs?

But NASA's choice makes plenty of sense when you take a closer look, and it says something interesting about what "the best camera" means when the stakes are so high.

An unlikely hero?

All four of the shots above were taken on the Nikon D5. That DSLR arrived in 2016 with a spec sheet designed to make noise — because of how little noise the camera's photos actually exhibited.

The standout spec was the camera's maximum ISO of 3,280,000 — a number so lofty it prompted immediate skepticism from camera experts, most of whom concluded that the upper reaches of that range were essentially unusable. They turned out to be correct, but they still missed the point.

While nobody is shooting at ISO 3,280,000 and expecting clean results, the engineering effort that went into pushing that sensor that far up the sensitivity scale had a knock-on effect when shooting at more "normal" settings. The D5 remains, even today, Nikon's best-ever digital camera for high-ISO performance. The Nikon Z9, the company's current mirrorless flagship, tops out at ISO 102,400.

That low-light performance is essential for a mission traveling through the darkness of deep space. Astronaut Reid Wiseman's already widely shared snapshot of Earth – the planet mostly in shadow, with only a thin crescent of sunlight catching its edge – was captured at ISO 51,200 with a shutter speed of 1/4s.

Interestingly, Wiseman reportedly asked NASA control to adjust the Orion's angle slightly, so that he could press the lens' front right up to the window in a bid for extra stability. Those are settings guaranteed to show up the limitations of a weak sensor.

Analysis: Tested in the toughest conditions

However, the D5 isn't only about high ISO performance. The 'Earthset' photo from NASA's recent Moon fly-by set, and many others, were shot at ISO 400.

The D5's low-light performance alone wouldn't be enough to earn a seat on one of the most high-profile space missions in a generation. It also has an enviable track record in extreme environments. The camera has been a fixture in conflict journalism and professional sports photography for years — in other words, the kind of work where reliability is critical. As a professional, you simply cannot afford to have your camera fail on you.

Beyond its general ruggedness, the D5 has also demonstrated strong resistance to radiation, which becomes a serious concern once you move beyond low Earth orbit. The crew of Artemis II — Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen — are operating at distances that expose their equipment to radiation levels beyond what the ISS has to deal with. The D5 has been put through the appropriate qualification testing to confirm it can handle that environment. A newer camera, however impressive its spec sheet, would need to earn that same level of trust.

NASA has confirmed that future Artemis missions will use next-generation camera systems currently undergoing qualification, with Nikon's Z9 platform understood to underpin the forthcoming Handheld Universal Lunar Camera (HULC) for Artemis III. The Nikon Z9 has also been used for some Artemis II photos, such as 'Artemis II in eclipse'(f/2.0 at two seconds, ISO 1600). But for this mission, the proven option won out more often than not.

Incredibly, you can pick up a second-hand Nikon D5 from the likes of MPB for only $874 / £654 (around $1,250) at the time of writing. That is for a "well used" model with a high shutter count (effectively miles on the clock, in camera terms), but even ones in "good" condition can be found for only $1,079 / £824 (about AU$1,570).

The mirrorless era has delivered major advances in autofocus, speed and video capability. What it hasn't necessarily done is improve high-ISO image quality across the board. The D5's particular strength – its ability to pull clean detail from near-darkness – has never been surpassed in a subsequent Nikon body.

As swan songs go, being the primary camera on a mission that has already set a new record for the farthest distance humans have ever traveled from Earth (252,760 miles) isn't a bad way to bow out. The D5 may not be the most glamorous camera around, but up there, in the dark, it's the perfect tool for the job.

Two D5s made the trip aboard the Orion, accompanied by a Nikon Z9. There's also a 30-year-old Nikkor 35mm f/2 AF-D prime lens in the bag, a detail that will delight a certain kind of photography nerd. GoPros are also onboard, courtesy of Disney, for a National Geographic documentary. There are reportedly 17 handheld cameras in total inside the spacecraft for crew use, and 15 installed on its exterior.

To see more images from the Artemis II mission, make sure to check out NASA's Flickr photostream.

The best cheap camera

➡️ Read our full best cheap camera guide
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4. Best DSLR
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