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Nikon D3  (Source: Nikon)

Nikon D300  (Source: Nikon)
Nikon follows Canon with two professional D-SLRs

Not to be outdone by Canon's announcement of the EOS 40D and EOS-1Ds Mark III, Nikon has fired back with two new D-SLR's of its own. The new D3 and D300 are truly impressive machines.

The D3 comes equipped with a full frame (23.9 x 36mm) 12.1MP image sensor and Nikon's new EXPEED Image Processing System for blazingly fast processing power. The D3 has a shutter lag of 37 milliseconds, start-up time of 0.12 seconds and the ability to capture continuous shots at 9 FPS in full resolution.

Other features include a 3" 920k pixel LCD with LiveView, Multi-CAM 3500FX auto focus module which can take advantage of up to 51 AF points, dual CompactFlash slots (UDMA supported), HDMI output and the capability to capture images at up to ISO 25,600.

"Nikon has eclipsed the competition with the D3, a cutting edge camera that will change how professional photographers take pictures," said Nikon Professional Products Brand Manager Robert Christina. "The incredible speed, resolution and flexibility of the D3 will enable photographers to capture images under conditions previously thought impossible."

The D3 will be available in November with a price tag of $4,999 USD.

The other new D-SLR from the Nikon camp is the D300. The D300 makes use of a 12.3MP image sensor backed up with the EXPEED image processor. Like the D3, the D300 packs a 3" 922k LCD with LiveView, UDMA support for the CompactFlash slot and HDMI output. Also on deck is the Multi-CAM 3500DX auto focus system with 51 AF points.

Performance wise, the D300 offers a burst mode of 6 FRPS (8 FPS with an optional Multi Power Battery Pack), start-up time of 0.13 seconds and a shutter lag of 45 milliseconds.

"Packed with the latest technologies and Nikon’s renowned ergonomics, the D300 sets a new standard for professionals on a budget," Christina continued. "The D300 is a true ‘go-anywhere’ camera, delivering fast response, high performance and ease of use that will appeal to anyone serious about their photography."

The D300 will be available in November for $1,799 USD.

You can view detailed previews of both the D3 and D300 at Digital Photography Review.

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wow
By soydios on 8/23/2007 3:55:53 PM , Rating: 2
whoa, Nikon has been really busy. new bodies and a much-needed update to their lenses




RE: wow
By Fnoob on 8/23/2007 7:18:19 PM , Rating: 2
Did I miss the lense updates.... (checking site)...website is down (WTF?).

I sure do hope they finally release some non-variable aperature zooms for their D bodies. Seems silly to slap a $300 lense on a $5000 body. Especially now that they have a full frame sensor (finally). Every little flaw in those inexpensive lenses is brought out with a high MP full frame sensor.

ATTN NIKON : please make an 18-200f2.8 ED pretty please?


RE: wow
By AmbroseAthan on 8/23/2007 7:31:11 PM , Rating: 2
I think you will find the professionals using these cameras at the Professional Level are not often using the DX Lenses (besides for maybe the 18-200mm one) and are instead using the regular non-variable aperature lenses; the cheapest of which tend to be close to $1000, most costing a couple thousand. Just have to deal with the 1.5 multiplier; though does that apply with the full frame sensor?


RE: wow
By AmbroseAthan on 8/24/2007 12:34:22 PM , Rating: 2
To answer my own question:

The D300 still has the 1.5 multiplier for regular lenses.

The D3, using a full size image sensor will have no multiplier, so the pro's will just be using the regular Nikkor Lenses. A DX lense on the D3 would put the 1.5x crop onto the full-size D3 Sensor.


RE: wow
By TomZ on 8/24/2007 1:31:31 PM , Rating: 2
That's interesting information. I think, considering the price points, it's a reasonable trade-off. Full-frame CMOS sensor is really overkill for most people, and I think most people are not using old lenses with their new DSLRs anyway. Most of my friends and family with DSLRs are just using the single zoom lens that came with their kit.


RE: wow
By Oregonian2 on 8/28/2007 12:57:57 PM , Rating: 2
You're saying then, that the Nikon DSLRs are mostly being used by newcomers, not people with a history with Nikon products?


RE: wow
By tdawg on 8/23/2007 9:34:06 PM , Rating: 2
You're kidding, right?! Have you seen the size of the 70-200 f/2.8, or the price? Image how large a 18-200 f/2.8 would be and how expensive! Plus, that wide of zoom range doesn't deliver the best quality all the way throughout the range, so it'd be kind of wasteful. Plus, with the new 14-24, 24-70, and existing 70-200, you should have three stellar lenses that cover a great range at exceptional quality. I can't wait to see how all this gear performs in the hands of actual users.


RE: wow
By Fnoob on 8/25/2007 5:29:38 PM , Rating: 2
Mostly kidding yes. Surely the damn thing would have like, 135 elements in 45 groups ;)

But seriously, not having to change lenses at all would be great. With digital, dust scares me. Anyone know if Nikon has integrated a 'dust removal system' like the Canon and Sony?

"Have you seen the size of the 70-200 f/2.8, or the price?"

Yep... painfully familiar with the cost of real glass, but oh what a difference it makes.


RE: wow
By AmbroseAthan on 8/27/2007 8:48:49 AM , Rating: 2
Both the D300 and D3 have the dust removal now; visit the links to dpreview above to find out alot more.


The best news - Now the D200 is cheaper!
By rangerdavid on 8/23/2007 2:02:24 PM , Rating: 2
These look great, but the best news is that I hope to be able to afford the D200 now. I'm curious how the price on that unit will drop once this new D300 is widely available.

When was the ship date on these? Available now?




RE: The best news - Now the D200 is cheaper!
By chucky2 on 8/23/07, Rating: 0
RE: The best news - Now the D200 is cheaper!
By TomZ on 8/23/2007 2:42:14 PM , Rating: 1
I assume you mean, without noise?


By TomZ on 8/23/2007 3:09:40 PM , Rating: 2
Sorry, my mistake - I forgot the noise is on higher ISO, not lower.


RE: The best news - Now the D200 is cheaper!
By vgermax on 8/23/2007 4:17:27 PM , Rating: 2
What would your requirement be for ISO 25 or 50? It was a low ISO exposure of film to obtain better color saturation, lower noise, and finer grain structure. By not having to impart a photochemical change to a film base, a digital imaging sensor can achieve largely comparable images at faster exposures. One only needs to compare the ISO 3200 pictures from the Canon 1D Mk III versus ISO 3200 film to see. ISO is a measure of exposure requirements, not of image quality. It just so happened the two were conjoined with film.

As it stands, the visible noise at ISO 100/200 is virtually identical for current generation DSLRs, which is to say non-existent.


RE: The best news - Now the D200 is cheaper!
By BeastieBoy on 8/24/2007 3:07:25 AM , Rating: 2
But a lower ISO would allow shots in a bright environment whilst still using a wide aperture. There is a limit as to how fast the shutter speed can go.
Maybe that was his requirement.


By grenableu on 8/24/2007 12:54:17 PM , Rating: 2
Agreed. The whole point of ISO has nothing to do with "color quality". That was just an unfortunate tradeoff of the old film print era.


RE: The best news - Now the D200 is cheaper!
By colonelclaw on 8/24/2007 11:59:31 AM , Rating: 2
when i close my eyes and imagine what the perfect professional SLR should look like it always ends up looking like a Nikon D-series. their industrial design is absolutely stunning. canon's cameras, although technically may be better (maybe? not sure - but they do have larger market share) always look like underdesigned big lumps of plastic


By TomZ on 8/24/2007 1:33:10 PM , Rating: 2
I have to agree with you on that. Nikon does an excellent job with the look and feel of the camera. Metal bodies underneath plastic skin give a solid, robust feel. I also like having nice metal-to-metal contact between the camera body and the lens - much better than plastic!


ISO 25600?? is that right??
By DeepBlue1975 on 8/23/2007 4:10:37 PM , Rating: 3
With such kind of sensitivity you should be able to take snaps in complete darkness and yet almost with a low but acceptable shutter speed! (maybe the likes of 1/15" - 1/20" on a normal evening?)

I'd like to see snaps of that one using that high of an ISO.
I wouldn't pretend to get low noise at that ISO speed, though :D




RE: ISO 25600?? is that right??
By NagoyaX on 8/23/2007 10:15:53 PM , Rating: 2
yeah. the noise on those iso speed will probalby be so bad that you cant use it @ all...
shame really


RE: ISO 25600?? is that right??
By KorruptioN on 8/23/2007 11:52:35 PM , Rating: 2
We'll see. It is a large yet low resolution sensor...


RE: ISO 25600?? is that right??
By colonelclaw on 8/24/2007 11:55:15 AM , Rating: 2
i doubt that they would have included it if the image quality would be so low as to be unusable


RE: ISO 25600?? is that right??
By TomZ on 8/24/2007 1:28:42 PM , Rating: 2
I disagree - there are many combinations of settings on a camera like this that will produce unsatisfactory results. These cameras give you all the control necessary to produce outstanding photos or garbage photos. There may be some situations where someone may need such a high ISO and be willing to put up with negative consequences, e.g., noise.

As a long-time amateur photographer, I still think it's pretty cool that you can change the ISO by just changing a setting. With film, you'd have to change to a different ISO film in order to optimize for different lighting conditions. Now it's tons easier.


By DeepBlue1975 on 8/29/2007 8:59:03 AM , Rating: 2
I still guess it wouldn't be that bad because:

a- you have 12mp available. If the picture is too noisy, you can downsample it to the likes of maybe 3 or 4mp or maybe even 5mp and get a very usable image after processing the 12mp raw first with something like neatimage

b- it has a very big sensor and, for the price it will cost and its target public, coupling that with a suitable lens I don't think they just threw ISOs in such high a range only for marketing's sake.

But anyway, I'm eager to see pics taken by that cam in very poor light situations with no flash :D


Competition is nice
By Ihmemies on 8/23/2007 2:00:42 PM , Rating: 1
Now we just need to wait and see what Canon does. Probably nothing, since they just released their own products.




RE: Competition is nice
By TomZ on 8/23/2007 2:03:35 PM , Rating: 2
These types of products have relatively long development cycles, so it's not like the companies can react to each other in the sense that you mean.


RE: Competition is nice
By ksherman on 8/23/2007 2:13:55 PM , Rating: 2
I really hope this drives Canon to release an updated 5D. I was really impressed to see even the D300 viewfinder improved to a 100% frame coverage, which is stellar! Canon needs to add that to the 5D as well.


RE: Competition is nice
By awer26 on 8/23/2007 4:16:51 PM , Rating: 2
And I just bought a D80 last week! The D300 is a little out of my price range, but if they had a D90 for <$1000...


RE: Competition is nice
By colonelclaw on 8/24/2007 12:07:53 PM , Rating: 2
just because the d300 came out doesnt make the d80 any less good. its still the best camera for the cash


Nikon Vs. Canon
By finbarqs on 8/24/2007 12:27:14 PM , Rating: 2
It seems like Nikon has canon beat on this one... 100% of the view finder, 53 autofocus points, 920k LCD resolution... Canon still hovering around 9 point auto focus.. 95% viewfinder... And that awful wheel for apeture adjustments... Now there's no reason to go canon, as nikon has finally released their full frame counterpart! Anyway, i've always been a canon fan, but i cannot look the other way when it comes to these AWESOME specs. I guess i gotta wait for dpreview's in depth review for both cameras!

I've used a D100, D70, 400D (XTi), 20D, 5D, and now a Panasonic DMC-L1.

I try not to play a biased role here, but I'm still leaning towards canon as I love their L lenses. Though Nikon's ED lenses are no slouch either, and Leica... well it's a leica.




RE: Nikon Vs. Canon
By luhar49 on 8/25/2007 2:35:01 AM , Rating: 2
Nikon vs Canon angle is not too relevant here.

From Nikon's perspective they have taken a huge step forward. D3 is not just another new camera. Its the full frame from Nikon. Something that they put off as not necessary for a long time. They have finally bowed to pressure from the pros.

The new telephoto lenses with VR are also aimed at sports photographers. Basically Nikon have gone all out to get a piece of the Pro marketshare. These past few years they had been doing very well in the prosumer market but often left behind in pro market. Lack of full frame, no VR in a number of telephoto lenses etc were main reasons for pros shunning them.

I can see a lot of them coming back. We might see a lot of used Canon glass in ebay soon.

Good days for users in like me for whom photography is just a keen hobby. We get to pick some very good older bodies/lenses at good prices.


RE: Nikon Vs. Canon
By Fnoob on 8/25/2007 12:34:51 PM , Rating: 2
"Leica... well it's a leica."

So true, hard to find better lenses... but where is Leica in Pro market-share now that the market is digital? I know they had a 10MP back for the R9 years ago, but I think it had many issues and didn't review so well.

"We get to pick some very good older bodies/lenses at good prices."

Also very true, and a bit sad. Amazing to see that my Nikon F5 35mm body has depreciated from $2500 to $250. Sighs.

With the exponential progress that digital has made over a short period, how long do you folks think it will be before I can buy an SLR body that will surpass my old Wisner 8x10 field camera? Any speculation regarding the amount of MP and bit depth that will require?


RE: Nikon Vs. Canon
By Oregonian2 on 8/28/2007 1:14:00 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
"Leica... well it's a leica."


Panasonic digital camera lenses are 'leica" branded lenses. Panasonic also seems to have made Leica's digital (great deal of Panasonic "style" in the looks of the design).

quote:
With the exponential progress that digital has made over a short period, how long do you folks think it will be before I can buy an SLR body that will surpass my old Wisner 8x10 field camera? Any speculation regarding the amount of MP and bit depth that will require?


That one's probably safe. Just having pixel count doesn't do the trick, noise rears its ugly head. For an 8x10 (or even MF) even "full frame" sensors probably aren't big enough (regardless of pixel count). For your 8x10 you'll probably need a MF "full frame" sensor. There have been scanning MF digital backs for a long time, but doubt non-scanning ones are coming any time soon.

Of course, I suspect that 8x10's are lens-limited on resolution so maybe a high'ish pixel-count full-frame (35mm) might give it a run for it's money.

Ignoring dynamic range and the like of course, which we do for all the other digital cameras (vs film, esp negative film).


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