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http://www.mannyphoto.com/nikonD3/

I just saw this in my travels on the internet.

Hmm, looks like that camera is gonna suck...









...the money right out of my wallet

Those ISO25k shots - after all the hype you'd expect something somewhat usable, but what I've seen so far if far better than just usable. Mmmm, 5 stops faster than ISO800... <drool>

Cheers
Steffen.

Jesus. Steffen, you're right, those samples at 25k are VERY usable... particularly if you convert to b&w. Those images are resized, but to be honest even at that size they look a lot cleaner than my D200's 3200 images!

This camera is going to be amazing for those who shoot sports or wildlife at night or indoors.

Luckily it is going to be three times the cost of the D300 so I won't be able to afford it

Des,

Just sell an arm.

Or have a couple of kids. A baby bonus or two should cover it.

gstark wrote:Des,

Just sell an arm.

Or have a couple of kids. A baby bonus or two should cover it.

Hah!!! Aren't they more of a financial burden than a windfall, Gary? Christ, get a couple of those, and watch my lens money gurgle noisily down the drain....... PS: We are due in April, which gives me roughly 6 months to buy as much gear as I can before the sleepless nights drive all thoughts of photography, sports and other hobbies from my mind....

losfp wrote:PS: We are due in April, which gives me roughly 6 months to buy as much gear as I can before the sleepless nights drive all thoughts of photography, sports and other hobbies from my mind....

Surely you need all the gear to make sure you photographically journal the little one's life. I'd believe it.

Wow I don't think many Nikon shooters could look at that and not be impressed compared to their current camera (whatever that may be). The good news is that while in the short term it this type of performance will be only in the high end models, if Nikon follows their previous trends it won't be that long till the lower end of the spectrum receives some love in the low noise department.

losfp wrote:PS: We are due in April

Congratulations.

With all of the babies being born around here, I think we almost need a separate baby shower forum section, where you guys can practice gurgling and ooh-ing and ahh-ing all by yourselves.

OK people... I have been holding out... there are six Nikon D3 camera's in the country and I have had one of them since last week.... and I am loving every moment of it. I have taken about 2500 photos with it so far and the majority of them have been shot at 6400 ISO. I ran a test the other night under tungsten light where I did the ol' "bowl of fruit" routine (because the bowl of fruit was there, ok). I put the camera on the tripod and then started shooting, 4 seconds at 100 ISO, 2 seconds at 200, right through to 25,000 ISO. What was amazing that the colour and tonal range looked consistant right through to 6400 ISO, blues included..... without pixel peeping you would have a hard time determining the difference between images. Above 6400 ISO the images start to get grainy and the colour looses a little saturation but even then, they are grainy, more so than noisy. On Saturday I shot a friends wedding with the D3 and it was great. I put in 2x 4GB cards and di not have to give them a thought for six hours (shooting Large fine JPEGS only as there is no RAW convertor out for it yet. In total I shot 10 gig (1700 images) and put less than half a dent into the battery. Because they were married on sunset it was getting dark as I started shooting the family images and I ended up shooting the formals available light on a tennis court half an hour after sunset... shooting a 6400 at f1.4. The images are good enought to get me by and I think my friends will be happy enough. The more interesting and memorable images were to be had later inside at the reception... again working with a 20-35 2.8, a 50mm f1.4 and a 135mm f2 and all working at 6400. What is good is that most of the images are usable straight out of the camera, unlike the D200 that would have me pissing about with RAW conversions and noise ninja to get the best results (from 800 and 1600 ISO). I have also been talking to another photographer who is trailing the D300 and he too is loving it. It sounds like the high ISO is not as great as the D3 but he tells me it is a lot better than the D200.... it is a very worthwhile upgrade from the D200.

gstark wrote:Des,

Just sell an arm.

Or have a couple of kids. A baby bonus or two should cover it.

ROTFLMAO!!!

Thanks for the update Anthony any chance you'll share a few images here, I'll understand if you can't, but its at least worth asking.

Thanks Antsl for the update. Terrific news for all the 'True believers'. How about you ol' fox holding out like that. Get your hands on the D300 and give us your comparative feedback
cheers
marco

Usable range at ISO 25,600 and f/1.4... what else can you ask for... <drool>

Alpha_7 wrote:Thanks for the update Anthony any chance you'll share a few images here, I'll understand if you can't, but its at least worth asking.

I would dearly love to share some of the images with you... over the past week I have often had to stop and push my jaw back into place again, the images have been that striking. Sadly I am under strict instructions not to put the images onto any electronic forum, blogs included and so I am compelled to behave myself.... if they get tracked back to me I am in trouble. Trust me though when I say the images are looking fantastic, even at 6400 and straight out of the camera. On friday night I took a wander along the Yarra and made an image of some bikes parked at the base of the Queens Bridge (the one with the statues on it). The image was made from about 12 metres from the bikes and yet the links in the chains were visible! At 6400, handheld, 2.8 at 125th. And the blacks were very useable. The image could almost go straight to print without any work..... stunning.

Usually I would be reviewing this camera for AP but this time I was pulled off the case because Nikon have asked me to help them road test the camera. Three photographers about the country have been asked to test these new machines and the images will be displayed to promote the cameras in November. Once we are clear of that date I can post some of the images but I am guessing by then you will have seen a lot more, particularly from overseas. I am testing the cameras low light performance based on my experience working in very low light conditions with no flash or tripod. The other two photographers have been issued with D300s...... I am not at liberty to tell you who they are but you should be getting to see some good images.

Lucky you Anthony to be one of the chosen ones.

You live so close to where I live - Im very tempted to suggest I come around some time to pay hommage to this wonderful new piece of equipment...