Nikon's New Stuff

[TObject]

Nobody knows when the Nikon is going to announce new cameras, but everybody is talking about it. And the talk says ? tomorrow.

Rumors are we are finally getting a full frame or almost full frame Nikon digital SLR.

http://www.nikon.co.jp/main/eng/index.htm

[TObject]

Boo Yaaa!

http://www1.nikonusa.com/announcement/index.html

I am placing Nikon D3 and an AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED into my shopping cart. This is going to be an expensive Christmas.

[mrblaine]

Originally posted by TObject
Boo Yaaa!

http://www1.nikonusa.com/announcement/index.html

I am placing Nikon D3 and an AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED into my shopping cart. This is going to be an expensive Christmas.

Did I really read 9 fps at full resolution?

What else compares to that?

[TObject]

Yes.

Nikon is aiming the D3 towards sports photographers and photojournalists; the frame rate is critical to those guys. Lately, that field has been dominated by Canon cameras.

Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III has about 5 fps of continuous shooting speed. There are faster Canons, but not of the full frame variety.

[TObject]

The first official D3 images just became available. Here is a link:

http://www.nikon-image.com/jpn/produ.../d3/sample.htm

Amazing high ISO performance, best I've ever seen. But, I was a little underwhelmed by the dynamic range and by the lower ISO samples; maybe it's just the way they compressed the jpegs. The pictures are kind of soft. I mean, it's great for portrets, but I would like them to step the lens down some more and control the exposure better, so we can evaluate the camera.

Don't get me wrong; I am still itching to get one, I am on the waiting list at Ritz.

[cookie]

Dang! Now that is low noise in a minimal light scenario. The depth of those shadows have gravity.

http://chsv.nikon-image.com/jpn/prod...le/pic_001.jpg

http://chsv.nikon-image.com/jpn/prod...le/pic_002.jpg

[TObject]

Nikon D3 became available on Friday. There is very high demand; rumor was, amateur photographers would be allowed to purchase D3s only after professionals had a chance to get their units. Fortunately, Nikon decided it was prudent to give at least some cameras to amateurs, and I received mine.

Let me tell you, I?ve been waiting over 10 years for a camera like this. It is simply awesome.



This is a hand-held night shot at ISO 3200.

Back in the days for something to resemble that picture I had to screw my camera in on top of a tripod, set the exposure for 60 seconds, and hope there is no wind. And now I just use magic.

[mrblaine]

Originally Posted by TObject

Nikon D3 became available on Friday. There is very high demand; rumor was, amateur photographers would be allowed to purchase D3s only after professionals had a chance to get their units. Fortunately, Nikon decided it was prudent to give at least some cameras to amateurs, and I received mine.

Let me tell you, I?ve been waiting over 10 years for a camera like this. It is simply awesome.



This is a hand-held night shot at ISO 3200.

Back in the days for something to resemble that picture I had to screw my camera in on top of a tripod, set the exposure for 60 seconds, and hope there is no wind. And now I just use magic.

Very nice Sergey. Do it again at 6400 and then at 12800 and watch how little the noise increases. Fairly astounding.

[speaceman]

That's impressive Sergey!

You are the resident Nikon guy so I have a question.

How's the D40? Is it a good value for the quality of pics it takes? Or is there something else I should be looking at in the SLR Nikon line up?

I don't need anything super fancy. I'm mostly curious because there's a deal for the d40 with two lenses right now.

[TObject]

Originally Posted by speaceman

How's the D40?

Shalom,

The D40 is excellent; it's a cute little SLR that takes very good pictures. The only thing you need to watch out for is that it will not auto focus with older lenses that do not have the built-in motor. I have recommended the D40 to numerous friends, and every single one who got it is happy with it.

[TObject]

Originally Posted by mrblaine

Very nice Sergey. Do it again at 6400 and then at 12800 and watch how little the noise increases. Fairly astounding.

Thank you. Here is a link to the first picture I took with the D3:

http://www.pronografics.com/pictures...t-ISO6400.html

This is an out of the camera JPEG, with all image adjustment settings at factory default, hand-held at 1/250 of a second exposure with f/13 aperture, using the AF Nikkor 85mm f/1.4D IF lens.

The picture may not look very impressive when presented this way, but you have to take into account that you are looking at a 12.1 megapixel image; which is closer than examining film with a usual magnifier glass. The astonishing thing about that image is that it was taken at ISO 6400 setting, astonishing for those who remember what ISO 6400 looked like back in the film days anyway.

[Jeff Weston]

Originally Posted by speaceman

That's impressive Sergey!

You are the resident Nikon guy so I have a question.

How's the D40? Is it a good value for the quality of pics it takes? Or is there something else I should be looking at in the SLR Nikon line up?

I don't need anything super fancy. I'm mostly curious because there's a deal for the d40 with two lenses right now.

Shalom,

I had the D80 for a day but swapped it for the D40 at about half the cost after Sergey's recommendation. Like he said, a potential problem for somebody with a bag of old lenses is that the camera body does not have the autofocus drive built into it. If you're like me starting from scratch, it is not a problem.

I have been quite pleased with the D40. A nice thing it has over the D80 and other Nikons is it is smaller making it a bit easier to carry it with you. One of the cool things about the digital SLR is that you can take literally hundreds of photos on a single charge since the LCD is not used for framing a shot. Also, it is perfect for shooting young kids as there is very little shutter lag and you can rapid fire shots, picking out the best one when they smile just right.

I don't think you'll be disappointed with it.

[speaceman]

Cool, thanks guys.

I think I'm going to end up waiting a bit and maybe think about this sometime next year. I'm not really in a rush right now.