D3 first impressions

[bikealps]

<p>Used D3 arrived in the mail yesterday. I don't yet have any modern CF cards. I have a 256 MB CF card (SanDisk, speed not stated) that I purchased with my CoolPix 2500 in 2001. I get some 16 GB 30 MBps CF cards later this week.</p>

<p>Camera is big and heavy compared to my D90. It makes my lenses look dinky, even my 70-200 f2.8 AF-S VR2 and 300 f4 AF. I'd better start saving up for a 400 f2.8 to better balance this rig. :-)</p>

<p>Buttons are different than D90. Manual looks thick and intimidating. I remember how long it took me to figure out D90 and get worried. So rather than read manual cover-to-cover, I make a list of stuff I'd better know how to set:</p>

<ul>

<li>setting WB</li>

<li>setting ISO</li>

<li>choosing aperture priority</li>

<li>choosing AF modes</li>

<li>choosing metering modes</li>

<li>choosing JPG/RAW (laugh at me now, I picked .jpg, remember I only have a 0.25 GB card!)</li>

<li>choosing motor drive settings</li>

<li>moving AF point</li>

<li>formatting memory card</li>

<li>reviewing images</li>

<li>deleting images</li>

</ul>

<p>I fool around with the buttons. My hands are shaking. One hour later I know how to set everything on the list without even looking at the manual. I spent almost as much time installing the strap. What you learn on your first Nikon DSLR translates over very quickly. The D3 has very sensible UI. Some things that were hidden on the D90 have simple buttons on the D3. It feels much more like a manual, old-style film SLRwhere the photographer is in control. It always bugged me that I had to use a dial to set aperture instead of twiddling the lens. The D3 makes it easy to get to the controls.</p>

<p>9 fps is blazingly fast. Shutter is LOUD! Compared to my buddy's Canon 1D, this thing will wake up the neighborhood. CH is dangerous. When I press the button, it is very hard to get just 1 shot.</p>

<p>Not sure if viewfinder is really any bigger. At first images looked soft. I had a smudge on front of my 24-70 lens. Also, the diopter was set for previous owner who must need glasses.</p>

<p>Masking modes are kinda cool. Edges are greyed out (like LR) not blacked out. I know I will LOVE this in the studio for shooting 4x5s. Once I shoot and download some files, I can see if it also gives you the pixels outside the mask. Maybe the .jpg is 4x5 but the .nef file is 4x6?</p>

<p>I tried D3 with my 300 f4 AF screwdrive lens. 300 f4 focuses too slow with the D90 to be useful for bicycle races. D3 with 300 f4 SEEMS faster but I'm not sure. I'll shoot a real race this weekend and then I'll know for sure. Losing the 1.5x lens length advantage, and using my 70-200 at 200 ALL THE TIME, I really hope the D3 makes the 300 f4 useful so I can have this focal length back for action. I will try the D3 vs. D90 with every one of my lenses in a real race situation and report back.</p>

<p>Voice annotation sounds handy for bike races when you need to record something that happens during a race. Apparently recording time is limited so you can't use it for interviewing racers after the race. Hmmm.... maybe I need a tape recorder.</p>

<p>Sync connector is built-in. Don't need AS-15 on hot-shoe to hook up sync cords in the studio. Nice.</p>

<p>Seems to have to remote control shutter release mode. Manual calls for ML-3 IR transmitter but I don't see how to use it. ML-L3 from my D90 doesn't work. Accepts 10-pin wired remote release. I'll have to go get one. MC-10 from my 8008s doesn't work.</p>

<p>No scene modes. Waaaah! :-)</p>

<p>It reports buffer depth on top LCD given your settings. For .jpg with stone-age CF card, I get 33 in one burst. Pretty good, considering that's 1/2 of a card. Hope my new CF cards get here before the weekend.</p>

<p>I had planned on selling my 12-24 f4 DX and getting a 14-24 or 16-35, but realize the 24-70 is probably wide enough for what I really shoot. If that is true, my D3 bag is lighter than my D90 bag because I am carrying one less lens. D3 + 24-70 + 70-200 >> D90 + 12-24 + 24-70 + 70-200</p>

<p>I'll report back on AF performance, IQ, and anything else I learn. I don't shoot much low light, but look forward to seeing what the D3 can do. I figure FX plus shooting raw will really help.</p>

[elliot1]

<p>Congratulations. The more you use it, the more you will like it.</p>

<p>It is probably worth reading the manual (at least for those topics of interest you list) as there is a lot more to this body than the D90. There are a lot more customizable options through the menu.</p>

<p>I suggest for the bike races (and other sports) turning A4 to off. Having this on can give the appearance of slow focusing when a subject is moving. I am sure you will find your 300mm will have extremely fast focusing with this body compared to your D90. I have several screw-drive lenses and they all perform admirably on the D3.</p>

<p>You can get 11fps in DX mode but you lose AF. You must select this frame rate in the menus if you want it. I find this useful on occasion.</p>

<p>Scene modes??? Sorry, no more crutches!!!</p>

<p>Enjoy!</p>

<p> </p>

[wade_roth]

I'm jealous. If it was a D3s I might actual cry. :-)

 

Congrats and good luck Allan!

 

-- Wade

[dwight200]

<p>Another reference you might consider is Thom Hogan's ebook on the D3. I find it a useful reference and it's stored on my laptop where it's readily accessible. And it's only about 800 pages.</p>

<p>Since it's electronic, it's really easy to search for something.</p>

<p>Your 256Mbyte card will be useful. You can save your settings on it and keep it in your kit. That makes it easy to restore your settings later. 256Mbytes is too small to really tempt you to take pictures on it, so you will never have to reformat it (losing your settings in the process). To address the possibility of losing your settings card, you can transfer the settings to your laptop and back the file up just like all the other files you're backing up on a regular basis.</p>

<p>You can set up four scene modes. They're called shooting banks and custom settings banks. The shooting banks are easily accessible by programming the function button to change banks with the dial. The banks are only labelled A,B,C,D, so you have to remember which is which.</p>

<p>I have the 14-24/2.8 and rarely use it. The 24-70 is generally wide enough and if it's not I can usually stitch. Not for dynamic scenes, of course, but the 14-24 is a specialty lens that's not usually in my bag. The 24-70 seems to balance the camera as far as I'm concerned.</p>

<p>I use Aperture priority 99.9% of the time, but then I don't shoot sports. ISO is 400-800 99% of the time, with indoor excursions to 3200. I shoot RAW only, with two 4Gbyte cards. I don't do a lot of burst shots, so those cards are enough for me. Ch is tough to get one shot, so I set Cl to 5fps and use that for normal situations. I format the card(s) in-camera after every download (first confirming that the files are saved and backed up). Most of my deleting is in Lightroom.</p>

<p>Voice recorder is very useful for recording people's names or interesting facts about the shot. No more stopping to write something down.</p>

<p>Read the manual while taking pictures. Of course the first shot has to be of your dog or cat. After that it's all learning about the details. One way to learn things is to look for a button or menu item you're not sure about. Read about it and work it into a bunch of shots. Then look for another button or menu item. Repeat. Enjoy a great camera.</p>

[vince-p]

<p>Waaaah. Waaaaaah. Waaaaaaaaaah-ah-ah-waaah. I want one.</p>

 

[hoi_kwong]

<p>Would you mind telling me where did you purchase from ? I'm looking for used D3s too but no confident on used items shopping on Ebay.</p>

[elliot1]

<p>Hoi, eBay is an excellent source for used gear if you use the feedback system properly and check who the seller is - there are many authorized Nikon dealers that sell gear on eBay. </p>

[pcnilssen]

 

<blockquote>

<p>I'm jealous. If it was a D3s I might actual cry. :-)<br>

Congrats and good luck Allan!<br>

-- Wade</p>

</blockquote>

<p>That was excactly my thought as well.... ;) I sincerely hope you will find much amusement with you new camera, Allan! Enjoy!</p>

<p>--Per-Christian</p>

 

 

[bikealps]

<p>@Hoi -- I'm new to eBay, too. Here are my experiences.</p>

<p>2 years ago I tried to purchase a 12-24 f4. I got skunked in a few auctions, gave up, and bought one from a local retail store.</p>

<p>Because I don't understand how to win the auction process and needed the camera pronto for an event, I preferred to buy a D3 that has a "buy it now" price. Also, the "buy it now" prices were very close to current in-progress auctions, so there seemed to be no cost for the certainty of being able to buy. Because I didn't want to hassle with customs, I decided to buy only from US sellers.</p>

<p>I first tried to buy a used D3, 20k clicks, from a guy in Texas. The seller has extensive history and 100% positive feedback. I hit "buy it now" for $3549 + $50 shipping. eBay charged my card. I then ordered a bunch of accessories from Adorama (CF cards, extra battery, SB-900, SD-9). After placing the order, the guy from Texas cancelled the transaction claiming that since I had zero transaction history on eBay I was a risky buyer. I don't understand how I could be risky because they charge my card and he gets the money. I tried to negotiate with him, but he refused. He offered to sell me the camera only if I send him a cashiers check and he waited until it cleared. eBay policy forbids transactions outside of eBay and warns they may be scams. I reported him to eBay. I have not heard back from eBay.</p>

<p>At this point there were no "buy it now" D3s from US sellers at reasonable prices. I was REALLY stressed out.</p>

<p>The next day I found a D3, 16k clicks, $3500 buy it now, shipping included, from a US seller on the east coast. I clicked "buy" on Friday. He shipped on Saturday and followed up with a series of friendly and helpful emails. It arrived Monday. It was beautifully packed and is fully functional as far as I can tell. It has a few scratches on the body (more than my 40k clicks D90, but not bad... worst scratches are on the battery cap which is replacable) but the LCD is pristine (my D90 is not). I think I got a good deal. I have done nothing more than test shots so far. I have not verified # clicks but I think I got a fine camera at a decent price with no hassle.</p>

<p>I got all my stuff from Adorama today, so I'm ready to go with this camera.</p>

<p>@ Elliott -- I was kidding about "Waahh! No scene modes." I never used them anyway. They are a waste of space on a real camera. I don't understand how they work so I don't trust them. I just go "A", "S", or "M".</p>

[mike_halliwell]

<p>Allan... Hopefully the Texas fraudster will be removed, idiots like that ruin the whole Auction experience. Buying 'off-list', is a major No-No, especially cash in the carpark merchants!</p>

<p>Price-wise is quite strange here on eBay in the UK.... well used cameras are going for as little as £1600, with mint, low actuation ones, are going for £3750! That is a shed-load of difference!! Maybe the D700 situation is having a knock-on effect??</p>

<p> </p>

[bikealps]

<p>a few more impressions from my first weekend of shooting...<br>

in another thread I mentioned the DX to FX bump in image quality -- incredible!<br>

AF works different. In the D90, I used single-point AF only. The "magic" multi-point pick the closest object function was garbage. With the D3, multi-point seems to work remarkably well. With the D3, in single-point AF, it seems easier at first to move the focus point around with that nicer button/dial, but in a fast-moving race situation it actually seems harder. I think I just need practice.<br>

I also need more practice with the AF-L button. To me, it seems like it's not in the right place, and I keep hitting AF-ON instead.<br>

I thought I'd really like the second shutter release button for holding the camera vertically, but:</p>

<ol>

<li>the camera is REALLY heavy when you hold it vertically,</li>

<li>it seems easier to just rotate your hand than switch grip spots,</li>

<li>the vertical grip isn't as comfortable, and</li>

<li>you can't reach the AF-L button when using the vertical grip.</li>

</ol>

<p>Also, I haven't yet figured out the playback menu. I'd better read the menu because it seems like you can't zoom into photos like you could on the D90.</p>

[janos_kovacs]

<p>Congrats for your camera ! Once you get used to it, it's a real pleasure to use it ! I definitely love mine. Enjoy your D3 !</p>