d3 and d300 Focusing Cam

OK, I read it as both have the same cam fosucing mechanism, the 3500 FX which

is completely new..Owning the d200 which is slower focusing than the d2x, if

the newer cameras both use the same newer,faster focusing unit would be very

nice. Unlikely I could or would buy the d3 but if anyone knows the details on

the 3500 FX please advise. Also the d300 has TIFF (surpise) does it shoot

slower in that mode?..thanks to all of you, reading the forum is like going to

school..Joe Degennaro

"Also the d300 has TIFF (surpise)" - surprise indeed... to the point that is hard to believe, it is so new... where did you get this information ?

Ignore my question. I found it on www.nikonusa.com. I wonder why D3 does not have TIFF ?

 

Perhaps TIFF would place D300 more in the prosumer class? while D3 is for more professional users.

If I'm reading it correctly,<a href=http://www.dpreview.com/previews/nikond3/page2.asp> D3 offers the tiff format also</a>.

Joe, I am sure there is not very many people who have got to shoot these new cameras, so here is a clip from the new release discribing it. I am sure you have read it but I am thinking it might spark some thoughts from others reading your post.

 

The Nikon D3 features the new TTL Multi-CAM 3500 FX auto focus module, equipping the camera with a total of 51 auto focus points. In the summer of SLR releases, Nikon?s 51-point auto focus system trumps competitors in terms of the number of auto focus points. The 51 points are a combination of 15 cross-type sensors and 36 horizontal sensors. Users can select to use the points in two ways: individually in Single Area focus or in Dynamic AF mode in groups of nine, 21, or 51 focus point clusters. When users select all 51-points, the new Nikon 3D Focus Tracking can be engaged to utilize light and color information to better track moving subjects, according to the release.

"If I'm reading it correctly" - nothing wrong with your reading, just read the official Nikon brochure:

 

http://chsv.nikonimaging.com/global/products/digitalcamera/slr/d3/pdf/d3_2p.pdf

 

Both sources were incomplete or wrong many times in the passed, so... we will have to wait a bit for the verdict.

What is the importance of TIFF? The D100 has TIFF. On the D100, TIFFs are about 17MB vs. ~9MB for uncompressed raw, IIRC. Additionally, the camera settings are baked into TIFFs, not unlike JPEGs.

 

The D3 and/or D300 also have compressed NEF in lossless and lossy compression (don't remember exactly from what I've read). The resulting files should be much, much smaller than TIFFs (maybe 20%-30% of the size -- just guessing) and much more flexible.

 

I suppose if you have a workflow based on TIFF that this could be a good thing. Any other reasons?

in-camera tifs...a huge waste of space? I think so. <p>That focusing module is the biggest news for those of us who know the D200 and wanted better low light focusing (the only problem I have with the camera). <p>I think the D300 and the 14mm prime might be the better economy/image quality deal than getting the D3 and going back to FF lenses, if you don't shoot with high iso (Nikon seems impressed/excited with the D3 noise levels and iso boosting). <p>My recent experience printing at 38in (long dim) from a D200 file gives me confidence in the D300's resolution... t

If you want minimal loss in quality and shoot digital like slide film, perfect from the moment of exposure, tiff could have some value. The extremely fast writing speeds of modern cards with the D3 should make it a viable option for some.

 

I don't love the time spent converting raw files. And I hate JPG artifacts. Lightroom has made using raw files a lot more tolerable though.

It appears that the TIFF is an option on the Real Time Image Processing, after the image was stored. My guess that is, based on fragments of information from non-confirmed sources.

 

Due to larger size and a post-processing result leading to TIFF output, that must be a slower performer. I am not sure if D3 has TIFF shooting mode, or just real-time processing from picture stored in the other mode.

 

Strangely, TIFF in D300 camera is advertised a bit differently, but perhaps it is the same thing ?

The D3 does have a TIFF recording mode. Evidently there is some demand for this from some

quarter otherwise they wouldn't have included it. I can't forsee many people (including me)

using it but maybe there are are a few important clients who want this feature. The D3 does

a massively fast job of gettignthe data from the sensor to the CF cards (there are two slots).

Hmm... I don't think TIFF is a good option (but since it's an option, why now?)

 

Huge, and may come already with the wrong profile (sRGB for instance, if you are shooting that way).

 

I guess RAW is always the right approach.

 

TIFF is nice. But to me it's like keeping the large high-quality print and tossing the negative away.