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Home » SLR Cameras, Digital & Film

Nikon D3

Reviews	Views	Date product posted
0	1599	Wed August 20, 2008

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Description:

Well folks - got my hands on one at last; To all who are used to the D2 series weight, heft, ergonomics - very much the same. Controls are in the expected places so swop over has no nasty surprises bar one that annoys me. I always carry a spare battery - EN-EL4a with compartment cover fixed on. Batteries are interchangeable - great - compartment covers - which look identical are NOT. Very small fractional difference but D2 series compartment covers do not fit D3.

Rear LCD now a great 3" and superb view BUT - it does not come with any protection so only time will tell if it scratches!! Menu similar to D300 with several new additions.

You no longer have a grid you can superimpose - instead you have an artificial horizon to tell you the camera is level - I like the grid so time will tell - I hope I can rely on you all to tell me if my horizons start to wander out of true!! ;

Viewfinder is brilliant - no other description full 100% - bright and a joy to look through.

One problem is a load of DX lenses although it automatically detects them. But it chops itself down to DX format and reduces itself to 5.1mp - mind you it does then accelerate from 9fps to 11fps - still we'll see - it certainly makes my D70; D200; D2H redundant so I'll be offering some bargains shortly. D2X - I'm not too sure because I like it so much

Have loaded the latest firmware updates and tomorrow I start shooting - Please watch for the posts and let me know what you think. I'll continue to report back on this thread over the near future to keep you up to date.

I am used to a D300 with 18-200mm AF Nikor as walk about outfit but 18-200 not very good as you loose FX format - So I am trying a Nikkor 35-70 f2.8 which I think will be its "walk about" lens. AF is fast and dare I say a bit of an animal - - I think I would be unsure about using other make lenses as it may rip the guts out of them. It is set to auto at the moment with the 51 sensors on - very very fast and accurate. Following some house martins who nest with us each year is easy and spot on. Weight is fine but with the 70-200 f2.8 or 80-400 lenses it is not something to lug about all day - so I guess I start weight training today.

The full frame format is great - WYSIWYG in the viewfinder - 100% - no more 98% or 95% - full 100% - takes me back to my film days and my stolen F2AS. More to follow.

I have to say that I love my D2X as well, It is interesting that Nikon offer 3 downloadable picture controls for the D300 and the D3 and they are the settings for the D2X. On the D300 I use the D2X settings almost exclusively. I have downloaded both sets but for the time being I am using the D3's own settings. As for D3H's & D3X's - I'm not bothered - on the D2 series Nikon quickly brought out firmware upgrades that increased the functionality of the D2X to D2Xs standard - I assume they will continue the pattern.

FX format -

I'm old enough to remember and have owned a Canon Demi - a film camera that shot half frame 35 mm film. I got 72 instead of 36 shots. Now a days it's Compact Flash cards. The D3 has two slots that can be set up in various ways - one backs up the other or one acts as overflow or one stores RAW the other JPEG - I am using both slots - shooting RAW & Large JPEG - no compression and Optimal Quality. I have a 16Gb card in slot one and a 12Gb card in slot two - set as overflow. Picture count shows 524. Set to small jpeg alone and you are into thousands.
On the D3 the FX format is immediately noticeable when transfered to Photoshop - pictures are sharper, clearer and detail is superb especially in shadows. They are a lot easier to edit if you are working on the small details - I'm going to do a side by side comparison with some D2x shots and will report back because they do seem clearer than the D2X.

As a D2X owner I was not really bothered but the opportunity arose to be able to afford D300 and D3 so I took it. AF and follow focus are definitely better with both D3 and D300 than the D2X or D200. They are faster and more responsive - as I said before its an animal on both.

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Nikon D3 FX Format

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