$8,000.00 drool machine

[Starmapper]

Sorta makes my E-3 look like a brownie.....:)

LINK (http://imaging.nikon.com/products/imaging/lineup/digitalcamera/slr/d3x/index.htm)


Joe Mcnally had it for a bit and here's his take


JOELINK (http://www.joemcnally.com/blog/)


Nice camera, just a few blocks out of my price range:(

[Petrus]

Yeah, nice on paper/screen, but after 12 MPix even with 35mm sensors the lenses do not resolve good enough. It is either the lens quality in general or diffraction which limits the resolution with FF sensors to 12 MPIx or less with smaller apertures than f11, no matter how good the lens is. Laws of physics.

For me 12 MPix FF sensor is enough. For more true resolution bigger sensors are needed. In that sense the basic D3 is better, D700 even more so.

[egproductions]

You can resolve more than 12 megapixels but you have to make sure you are using sharp lenses and using them properly (not wide open and not to closed, in focus and no motion blur)

If you are just going to be using a 200 dollar zoom you might as well be shooting on a $600 camera.

[Andrew Brinkhaus]

It's really not that that bothers me so much as it is that this is the EXACT same camera as the D3, with a few minor add ons and the upgraded MP count, definitely not something I would invest in personally... It's just not worth the extra 3,000 IMO.

[Petrus]

Yes, where are 24MPix needed, it is twice as big as a magazine full spread. And the sad fact is that unless certain best prime lenses are used at optimum apertures the true resolution is not any better than with D3 or D700. There are more pixels in the file, true, but you can achieve the same by uprezing in Photoshop...

Already some 5 years ago a major photograpy site compared Canon 5D (12 MPix) to Ds mkII (16 MPix) and concluded that the resolution was identical. Lenses...

I will be takin sabbatical from work, after that I will be getting D700 bodies to replace Canon 5D & EOS-1 MkII. I think Nikon D700 is The Camera at the moment, at least I do not need any more "resolution". Actually as good or better than D3 and much cheaper.

[egproductions]

its true that the difference between an 8 and 24MP camera is not something to worry about and that the 24mp claim is not a true 24mp but all digital cameras have interpolation at the pixel level you can't say that you cna just uprez in post and it would be the same.

In regards to the price difference between the D3 is that you get more rugidness and durability. It is meant for people who demand the best and shoot every single day all day and sometimes in bad conditions. The same is true with the Canon 1D line. Canon probably shot themselves in the foot since the The 5D mark II is technically a superior camera but the reason the 1Ds Mark III is so much more expensive comes down to the body build of the camera.

[Petrus]

you can't say that you cna just uprez in post and it would be the same.

If the sensor originated 24 PMix file really has that resolution (good enough lens) uprezing 12 MPix file is not the same. If the lens used gives appr. 12 MPix resolution no matter where it is attached, then a 12 MPix file uprezed would be (practically) the same.

I was disapointed with 5DmkII, basically just too many pixels and slightly better sensetivity. New Nikons have many details better, sensible pixel count, good sensitivity, fast drives, sharper LCD, intervalometer etc. As I am not paying fot the cameras myself I do not need to be loyal to a brand. Canon was the leader for 7 years, now Nikon has taken the lead.

[egproductions]

To me the determaning factor for the brand I choose is amount of sensor noise and lens options. Canon is the brand for me for these two reasons (the 5d II kills in low noise) but I have no issues with nikon either. I would try to stay away from other brands so that I don't invest is their glass.

The first thing you said is true. Whats good about the 5D II is the smaller Raw files. You can still have the latitude of Raw but less MP count when all you need are 4x6 or 8x10s. Whats good about the small Raw also is that when you zoom into 100% you are seeing a full MP count not a bayer interpolated 22MP.