Nikon D3x SLR Update
If there's one thing for certain, Nikon is full of surprises! With the D3 JUST announced, the flood gates of speculation have opened, and the water is at eye level. I don't think Nikon could have picked a better time to announce their newest flagship camera, with it's full frame sensor! Hot on the heels of Canon's release of the 1Ds Mark III, Nikon was not going to be caught with its pants down and they leapt to the call with a 12.1 full frame D3...
Wait, what? Did I just reverse the '1' and the '2' in that pixel count? Surely it must be '21MP', no? No! The camera Nikon chose to debut its Full Frame sensor on is the sport shooter/journalist's dream machine. With 12.1MP, it has upped the last generation's camera, the D2h, but a whopping 8megapixels! The D3 no doubt seems like a replacement for the D2h, however, it could very well be just the first in a series of D3, D3h and D3x machines, with the D3x being their true flagship camera.
With Canon already showing their cards with the 1Ds Mark III, Nikon's job has become that much easier. They now know what to put their sites on when developing the D3x and can meet, exceed or just totally blow away the 1Ds.
So just what might Nikon come to market with? Well, if I was a gambling person, I'd say for sure it will be > 20 MP. If I had to put an exact number on it, I'd say 24megapixels. If I had to choose an over/under, I'd put it right at 20Megapixels, with 18 on the low side and 26 on the high side. Of course FPS won't be as high as the D3/D3h, but that is to be expected when you're talking about having to process so much data. As it is now, the 1Ds is processing about 150MB/s which rivals most optimized servers.
What else can Nikon bring to the table with the D3x? Could they possible cram more than the 920,000 pixels they already display on their 3" LCD screen? At this point, I think I would not be surpised if they introduced the first ever 3" HDTV LCD screen ;).
Just how many megapixels will the D3x camera have?
Comments on the Nikon D3h:
FormerNikonian on 8/24/2007 3:07:20 AM wrote:
@ 26Megapixels, you are deep into the RANGE of medium format. I made the switch from Nikons to Canons a few years ago when the best they had to offer was the D2h but I've always missed the Nikon glass and the Nikon look to photos. With the release of the D3 I've already told my wife my Canon gear is going on eBay, and that D3 will be mine. Couple it with the new 24-70mm lense and you have an almost perfect setup.
If only I had a reason to setup a network of cameras with the WT-4 ;). Speaking of wireless, I must say, Canon's wireless system, while it doesn't intregrate as well into the body of the camera, I do like how you can attach a longer cable to it and put it on your belt. These cameras aren't getting any lighter, and I'm not getting any younger...