Tokyo report: D3 and D300

Ellis,

 

I sure hope that picture of you and Bjorn wasn't taken on the the new D3 or D300 ;-). Thanks for all the info guys, fun watching this unfold.

Ok, thats it, I am now completely jealous of you two.

 

Congrats on getting over there and thanks for sharing with all of us who aren't fortunate enough to go.

when does all this stop

award winning shots can be done on a NIKON 2020 6006 Pentax K1000

its not the camera

its the one holding the camera

isnt this conspicuous consumption leading us all nowhere.

More is better? new means better?

Glenn,

 

For me, some of the new features will allow me to improve and alter my shooting in ways that previously I couldn't. The improved low light performance will make it easier for me to do photography at concerts. The live preview will allow me a new way to visualize the scene as I am composing it (probably will only use it for setup shots, still use the view finder for sports, etc.). The new AF will help me a lot since I shoot a large amount of sports.

 

Is it really that much different than having to try different emulsions of new films? Some people will be satisfied with the older equipment. If it wasn't for a few key improvements, I would have no reason (other than I need an additional body right now anyways) to upgrade.

Maybe it is just me but that D300 is going to give the D2Xs a real run for its money and looks to me more like successor to that camera than to the D200. Is it true that the D200 will stay in production?

People seem to be much more excited to finally see the first Nikon FF DSLR, but the D300 to me is the real hit here.

According to Nikon Japan's web site, the D2Hs is no longer "in production" but the D200 is. However, I can see that a lot of people would upgrade from the D200 to D300. In other words, there'll be plenty of used D200's in the market, and it'll be difficult for Nikon to make new ones to compete.

 

Speaking of the Sendai factory, I suppose only the D3 is produced there. If the D300 is produced in Thailand, continue making the D200 would also compete with the D300 in terms of factory capacity.

 

The D200 may be "current" in the sense that Nikon may still have some remaining stock to sell, but it is pretty much history. My D200 is only 4 months old and at that time I knew about this risk, but I needed one at that time so that I had no choice. I'll wait at least 6 months before I'd buy any new D300, anyway. There are simply too many new parts that have not been tested in real life, such as the Multi-CAM 3500.

I agree Shun, and I'm also waiting to see how well the D300 handles high ISO noise as compared to the D200. I'm not seeing much in writing on that front as compared to the D3 directly addressing that issue.

"BTW, the full 35mm film frame is 24x36mm"

 

If you've ever measured the sizes of your negative (which I'm sure some of you have), you'll find some cameras have a slightly larger or smaller negative - by 0,1 mm or so. Not that it matters anyway.

Thank you Ellis & Bjorn...good news indeed.

<p>

I'm interested in how the D300 handles noise compared to the Canon 5D (which I've been shooting with recently). If it's equal or better I've got a 5D for sale.

<p>

Your opinions on that issue would be helpful. Also, how's the viewfinder in the D300?

<p>

Have fun and go easy on the Sake.

Actually, using a wide-angle lens could make your film negative significantly bigger than the nominal 24x36mm. Similar won't easily happen with a digital sensor since it in principle is area limited, but some software RAW applications might be able to add a few more of those "outside" pixels (there is a border of extra pixels dedicated to calibrating sensor dark current etc.).

@Eric: Canon redesigned the 16-35 because their design was a dog on full frame with regards to corner performance. Using an adapted Nikkor 17-35 or Contax N 17-35 produced distinctly better results on the Canon bodies.

 

I wouldn't worry about Nikon's lens performance, Nikon didn't have the weakness in good wide designs that Canon had up until recently. The 28/1.4 is known to perform quite well on FF digital and I'd expect that to carry over to the D3.

 

I also disagree with Shun about the D3 being a D2H replacement. It's a D2X replacement pure and simple. Nikon's offered speed + resolution on the D2X and the D3 continues that design, while the D300 is the real D2H replacement (as a budget sports camera) and rolls the D2H and the D200 into one product. Nikon has chosen not to offer a pseudo-MF body a la 1DsmIII, which competes against the lower-end MF solutions like the Mamiya ZD back and Phase One P20 rather than against 35mm-type bodies for around half the cost.

So I understand the difference between DX and regular lens, but what is the difference between an FX len and a non-dx lens (film) lens in nikon's portfolio?

Thanks steven

Adam, IMO you are too hung up on the "replacement" issue. There is little doubt that the D70s replaces the D70, but otherwise, not every camera has an exact reaplacement with some upgrades. For example, the D40 has fewer features (e.g. no AF motor) than the D50, which was discontinued around the time the D40 was introduced. Nikon introduced the D40 for the low-end comsumers, but it doesn't quite replace the D50.

 

The D3 is not an exact replacement of the D2H/D2Hs, but its frame rate (9 per second) and relatively limited pixel count (fewer than even the old 1Ds II that is now discontinued) suggests that it is optimized for sports/action photography but also good enough for other applications such as weddings, events .... However, for landscape, high-end portraits, fashion, product shots ...., more pixels such as the 1Ds III still has some advantage. I would like to think that Nikon will introduce some D3X (X meaning more pixels, such as D1 -> D1X and D40 -> D40X), or whatever Nikon chooses to name it, in the future. But only time will tell whether that will materialize.

BTW, Thom Hogan has some interesting comments on the D3, D300 and lenses: http://www.bythom.com/D3comments1.htm

 

I did check with Hogan yesterday. He is not in Tokyo.

Bjorn & Ellis -

 

Helpful report and discussion. Thanks.

Ellis, Bjorn,

 

My heartfelt thanks for all the information you are providing, and you both look very happy in Tokyo!!

 

Shun, thanks for helping to make it all possible.

 

WOW!! :-)

The news annoucements from NikonUSA:<br><br>

On D3:  <a

href="http://press.nikonusa.com/2007/08/eight_years_after_changing_pro.php">http://press.nikonusa.com/2007/08/eight_years_after_changing_pro.php</a><br>

<br>

On D300: <a

href="http://press.nikonusa.com/2007/08/nikon_introduces_the_new_d300.php">http://press.nikonusa.com/2007/08/nikon_introduces_the_new_d300.php</a><br>

It's interesting the announcement refers to the

D300 as a

"professional" camera and "its most advanced DX-format digital

SLR".  It also mentions a higher image quality over

the D200 which is actually pretty good already.  Let's hope

the promises hold up.<br>

<br>

On the new lenses:<a

href="http://press.nikonusa.com/2007/08/professional_zoom_lenses_enter.php"><br>

http://press.nikonusa.com/2007/08/professional_zoom_lenses_enter.php</a><br>

<a

href="http://press.nikonusa.com/2007/08/nikon_adds_three_new_supertele.php">http://press.nikonusa.com/2007/08/nikon_adds_three_new_supertele.php</a><br>

<br>

Mary

I think this is great news. For my wallet the D300 is horribly tempting and while the D1-x may get booted out of its spot in the bag, I still ain't selling it.

 

Question: will all my old AI glass,which works fine on all my DSLR's so far, still meter on the D3 and D300?

 

Rick H.

Brochure site for the <a href="http://nikonimaging.com/global/products/d300/index.htm" target="_blank">D300</a> and the <a href="http://nikonimaging.com/global/products/d3/index.htm" target="_blank">D3</a>.

Rick, yes it will. The D300 and D3 have all the same connections as the D2/D200 cameras.

In a way this thread is the result of Nikon marketing. When you fly a person from Europe, N. or S. America, other parts of Asia, etc. into Japan. Just the air travel cost plus hotel, meals, internal transportion, etc. etc., it can easily be $5000 per person. If you add some spouses for 350 participants, you will be talking about a budget of US$2 million. Clearly, Nikon has invested a lot of money to make this product launch a success.

 

In turn, the likes of Bjorn, Ellis, etc. help spread the words here, and we all benefit. Of course, when you buy your next Nikon, you'll pay for your share of the cost. :-)

some good info here, thanks guys. The 14-24 is really interesting. I can only hope that the new primes next year won't be "G" models. A modern update to the 58/1.2 would be pretty cool, maybe 55/1.0? One can dream...

 

Hope there will be some comparisons of the D3's high ISO performance soon, if it delivers the goods at 6400, then it's a pretty strong case for this new "FX" format.

Mind if I go back to something Shun mentioned? How does one navigate a 51 point AF system?

 

allan

Ellis, Bjorn: I have what may be an odd question. Using live preview, are you able to zoom into the photos to check accuracy of focus? Basically I am wanting to compose like I was on a mini 4x5, minus the whole upside down thing.

>In turn, the likes of Bjorn, Ellis, etc. help spread the words here, and we all benefit. Of course, when you buy your next Nikon, you'll pay for your share of the cost. :-)

 

Don't forget the costs of Geishas massaging Ellis' and Bjorn's sore backs ... :)