Nikon D3 Review: Full Review. Nikon D3 Overviewby Shawn Barnett, Dave Etchells, Siegfried Weidelich, and Mike Pasini.
Hands- on Preview: 1. Full Review: 0. 1/2. Pro photographers last year got a new option for full- frame digital photography: the Nikon D3 digital SLR camera. Not only did it make their old Nikon glass fully usable again, but it's the fastest digital SLR on the market - - with some limitations.
The big news was that Canon finally had a rival in the full- 3. It had been a long time coming. As they did with the D2x, Nikon struck a very fine balance with the D3. It's not 1. 6 or 2. Canon 1. Ds line, it's 1. And it's not a full 1.
D Mark III, it's 9; but you can get to 1. It's an interesting and effective strategy.
While they've surrounded Canon's models at the low end, they're still wisely splitting the difference at the pro end, and the resulting cameras are more versatile than the competition. But resolution and frame rate aren't the only important aspects to this new professional digital SLR camera.
Double Rainbow. Nikon D3, Nikon Nikkor 13mm f/5.6 AI-s. The Nikon system includes a 13mm f/5.6 non-distorting lens made from 1975-1998. There are none available. Picture Controls. The Nikon D3 offers Picture Control settings of Standard, Neutral, Vivid, and Monochrome. You can also adjust each of these to your liking.
The highest performance among entry-class, the brand new Nikon D3200 is a dream come true for entry users. This compact lightweight camera utilizes the newly. Nikon D300 Overview. by Shawn Barnett, Dave Etchells, and Siegfried Weidelich Posted: 08/23/07 Updated: 02/06/08 02/12/08: Added Diary 1 and Diary 2 tabs to Mike. A review of the Nikon D3 digital camera by Nikon expert Thom Hogan. Default (defaultOption): false active(available for sale)): true available(inStock/inventory): false commerce_enabled: true whereToBuyEnabled (wtb.enabled): true. The Nikon D7000 [2] is a 16.2-megapixel digital single-lens reflex camera (DSLR) model announced by Nikon on September 15, 2010. At the time of announcement, it was a. Where can I download PDF manuals for my Nikon products? Nikon Product Manuals available for download 13948.
The Nikon D3 has 1. A/D conversion, just like the D3. A/D conversion if you desire. The Nikon D3's new Scene Recognition System merges data from the AF system with data from the 1,0. A new 5. 1- point AF system includes 1.
And the 9. 20,0. 00 pixel, 3- inch LCD rivals the Nikon D3's own optical viewfinder for clarity; both offer 1. In- camera Lateral Chromatic Aberration Correction, optic- by- optic autofocus fine- tuning, a wide ISO range of 2. Lo- 1 (1. 00) and Hi- 2 (2.
As if to underscore how Nikon has split the difference between the Canon 1. Ds and 1. D Mark III offerings, the price of the Nikon D3 digital SLR is $4,9. Nikon D3 User Reportby Mike Pasini.
During a break at my adventure at Dogpatch Studios, the inevitable question was raised. We'd been shooting with D3. So what, we wondered, is the big deal about the D3? A few of us had actually held a D3 in our hands and the same answer occurred to each of us: It's just the most responsive camera we've ever used. Touch the Shutter button and the camera fires before you've finished pushing it down. If you don't immediately release the Shutter button, you've got a series of images.
But that light touch grows on you instantly. You begin to wonder why every camera can't be so responsive. It's how your mind works, after all. And then everything else you need is right at your fingertips, from ISO and White Balance settings to shooting modes and Aperture and Shutter speed dials.
If you've shot with a Nikon digital SLR before, you'll feel right at home. We all agreed that the one thing we did not like about the D3 is its weight. At 2. 7. 3 pounds without a lens, it's not going to go everywhere with you even if it won't fit in a drawer. It means business and it isn't shy about it.
One thing we didn't all agree on was the importance of its 3. Nikon calls this FX (to distinguish it from both the DX of its APS- C sensors and the implications of "full" frame). While it's nice to have your focal lengths behave normally, modern fast autofocusing lenses (many with image stabilization) are hefty in their own right. The question left on everyone's mind - - especially after falling in love with the D3. FX system. Here we mounted a Nikkor 3.
D3. 00 whose 1. 5 focal length multiplier equates to a 5. Nikkor 5. 0mm f/1. D3 in FX mode. Both cameras were set to ISO 2. Aperture priority mode. While the images are close equivalents, there are differences in the amount of background blur and overall contrast. Some of that is no doubt due to the difference between the two prime lenses.
But in the real world, you would be considering the composition two different lenses would provide. There is no standard prime 3. The key point here is how similar the compositions are. There's only one compositional issue to consider. The smaller DX format does handicap you if you want to shoot wider than an 1. D3 gets down to 1. We discuss the FX factor in more depth below, but except for that wide angle issue, the DX format is not handicapped when it comes to composing your images.
Look and Feel. Much like the Nikon D3. Nikon D3 body design features mostly evolutionary design changes, which is better for existing D2x users. The pentaprism housing is notably larger, and the ambient light sensor is no longer a part of the design (on the D2x, the white window perched over the Nikon logo is the ambient light sensor). The red accent on the grip has been restyled as well. The new cover over the Flash and Remote Terminal has a new one- piece design. Also note the gold FX logo in the lower right corner, denoting Nikon's new designation for Full Frame. Fewer changes are made to the Nikon D3's control arrangement than were done to the D3.
The Enter button is now an OK button. The speaker below this button has been moved closer to the rear Status LCD. The LCD is larger, going from 2.
The more significant improvement is in the LCD's resolution: now 6. It's hard to appreciate this improvement until you see an image on the screen. The AE/AF Lock button has gotten smaller and dropped down a bit, making it easier to distinguish from the AF- ON button, which used to be right next to it. The two rear Command dials are set at a slight angle to match the orientation of the thumb's pivot point when holding the Nikon D3; a nice ergonomic change.
The vertical, or secondary AF- ON button in the lower right corner has been moved from below the Command dial to above it. Without holding the camera, it's tough to know which will be preferable. The old location did make it easier to press the button accidentally. There is no plastic screen cover for the Nikon D3. Here on top, the Metering selector dial has moved back a bit, and the Mode and EV compensation buttons have changed shape. The hot shoe design has changed a bit. Body. Size and weight has increased on the Nikon D3 when compared to the Nikon D2x.
The D3 weighs 2. 7 pounds (1,2. D2x was 2. 4 pounds (1,0. Along with the sensor size increase come necessary increases in size for the mirror, mirror box, shutter, and probably the motors needed to activate these mechanisms. The larger pentaprism and LCD would also affect weight and size.
Dimensions are now 6. The exterior shell of the Nikon D3 is made of magnesium alloy, and sealed against dust and water.
Nikon D3 Setup. The D3 we tested came from our lab so I didn't go through all the setup changes I normally do. But I did follow my usual routine for setting up the camera to behave the way I expect, skipping just a few of the more personal touches. Among the things I didn't do, for example, was set up a copyright notice using the Comment feature and personalize the folder name with my initials. The essential setup involves adjusting the diopter, setting the viewfinder display and going through the Menu system item by item.
Diopter. Pull it out, click to set and push it back in. Diopter Adjustment.
The diopter knob pulls out so you can twist through the settings. Once you've found the sweet spot where the focus screen is sharp, you lock in your setting by pushing the diopter knob back in.
I actually had to resort to the manual to figure out that you pull the diopter knob out. I could not figure out with trial and error how the diopter knob worked. Pulling it out was the last thing I'd have thought to do.
Which suggests how secure the setting is once you've made it. Mode Dial. Single, Continuous Low, Continuous High, Self- Timer, Mirror Up, and here set to Live View. Viewfinder. The D3. Unlike the D3. 00, I couldn't enable a grid display in the Nikon D3 viewfinder, one of my survival tactics. Instead, I had to learn how to use the D3's Virtual Horizon feature. That's a bit more than a simple setup option, so I've detailed it below. A Strap. It didn't take very much time handling the Nikon D3 before I decided it wasn't safe to do so without a shoulder strap.
Nikon does supply one with the camera, but I had just received some UPstraps (http: //www. I snugged the quick release version to the D3.
The strap's non- slip grip (which really does not slip) was reassuring. Ports. USB connector on top, DC In, AV out, and HDMI connectors on bottom. The Nikon D3, like any digital SLR with a vertical grip, is really too big for a wrist strap. But with the quick release Upstrap, I found it easy to shoot in either the horizontal or vertical orientation. Nikon D3 Menu Items.
There are a lot of menu items on the Nikon D3 but don't let them confuse you. The Menu system features a context- sensitive Help feature accessible by pressing the ? LCD). If you find an option unclear, just hold down the ? Another source of help is the Nikonians, a Nikon user group, which has developed a D3 setting spreadsheet for keeping track of menu item settings. There are a number of alternatives available as well, all worth checking out at least as starting points for your own setup. Among the Menu system items I found some of my old favorites and essential settings for my work habits.
Auto Image Rotation. I like this on even though the data itself isn't rotated.
But it does write the correct orientation to the orientation tags in the Exif header so I can see the image normally during slide shows. And slide shows with the D3's HDMI output are not to be missed. Color Space. My workflow uses Adobe.
RGB as the color space, so I changed the Nikon D3 from s. RGB to Adobe. RGB. I start wide and normal down everything here myself, but if you like to use a service for prints, you might prefer to leave the camera set to s. RGB. Focus Mode. Having been impressed with the D3. Dogpatch, I quickly started from there on the Nikon D3.
You can stick with single- point autofocus (which is how we all learned to focus) but there's 9- point and 2. You can even select one point from a set of 1. But more importantly with 5. D tracking of moving objects. And you can do this in Live Mode. It takes some coordination (which doesn't come easily to some of us) but you can do it.
Nikon D3 Review. Double Rainbow. Nikon D3, Nikon Nikkor 1.
AI- s. The Nikon system includes a 1. There are none available anywhere, but if you have one, you just outdid every other professional SLR system on earth. Faster and Easier to Use top.
The AF system just works. Set to the All Areas dummy mode (the big white rectangle), it really just finds the correct sensors and uses them without you or I having to jack any switches around for each shot.
From a convenience aspect, the larger 3" LCD screen is nice, but far nicer is how much faster playback responds to button presses. I can scroll around a magnified image much faster, and RGB histograms come up instantly instead of bogging down for a full second for each image as they did on the old D2. Times the Battery Life of the D2.
Times the Battery Life of the D3. My D3 gets about 3,0. My D3. 00 gets about 1,0.
D2. 00 gets about 4. I've made over 1.
D3 in the past six weeks, and can't remember when I last charged it. I'm not buying a spare battery. Minor D3 Complaints top. The only blunders of the D3 are trivial annoyances. The hackers haven't discovered any vast- conspiracy- style flaws like the banding of the D2.
D7. 0. (Nikon fixed all those under warranty, and I never saw those problems on my cameras.) 1.) Replace the idiotic, multiple and still incomplete Settings Banks fiasco with something sensible like Canon's C1 and C2 controls on a mode dial. Auto ISO is still partially defective in manual exposure mode. It doesn't automatically deactivate when you go to manual exposure!
You have to go to the menus to turn it off in manual exposure, otherwise the D3 tries its best to screw with your manual exposures. The D3 needs an additional menu option labeled "Deactivate Auto ISO during Manual Exposure?"3.) The Fn button can only be programmed to do half of what it does on the D2. Specifically, on my D2. I have it set for flash exposure lock and hold, and to allow me to enter the focal length and speed of manual focus lenses for matrix metering. On the D3, I only can get one of those functions and have to trudge through menus again to get the other function. New on the D3 is the option to let the Fn button call up the level display in the right- hand bar graph! Manual lens data now only can be entered though deep menus.
Once entered (only 9 lenses maximum, and each setting on a zoom takes one memory) you might be able to select among them with the Fn button, but forget easy, instant direct adjustment as you change lenses as you can on the D2. The D3 is similar to the F6 (1. F6 makes better use of the Fn button. If you use a couple of manual zooms, you can quickly fill the 9 spots.
If you use a 2. 8- 8. AI- s and an 8. 0- 2. AI- s, those two lenses just stole 8 of the 9 spots!
You'd need to program 2. That leaves only one spot for an 8mm circular fisheye, an ultrawide or a long tele. I'm often having to revert to the menus, unlike the D2. This doesn't matter for any autofocus lens, since the D3 reads all the info directly.
It only matters to people like me who also use Nikon's exquisite manual focus lenses. Thank God we shoot Nikon; Canon sh*t- canned manual focus FD lens compatibility back in 1.
With Nikon and manual focus lenses, even ones from the 1. AI converted, we get matrix metering and full finder readout and EXIF data. There is no spring inside the CF card door to ensure the CF cards are fully seated when I close the door. I forgot once, and the D3 was alternately writing to the other CF card! It confused the dickens out of me until I figured out where the photos I was taking were going, since when the card wiggled out I only could see the half that made it to the second card.
This shows how great it is to have two CF cards loaded: any problem, and the D3 just goes on shooting. Custom function e. ON by default. This can cause blindness since it fires off a long, unexpected burst of flash when you hit the depth- of- field button. The first thing I did on my D3 after I cranked the saturation all the way up was to set e. OFF. Everything has design flaws, don't worry. The fact that no one has found any real flaws with the D3 says a lot.
D3 Suggested Improvements top(1 - 5 fix issues above.) 1.) Add "Cancel Auto ISO in Manual Exposure Mode?" menu option. February 2. 00. 8 or before.)2.) Fix the broken Fn button so it can work as well as it did in the D2. Make manual lens data as easy to enter as in the D2. Make manual lens data appear in finder, with focal length displaying in the shutter speed digits and the f/stop in the f/stop display, when being changed via the Fn button.
Add a card- seating spring in CF card door. Set CFN E3 OFF by default so no one goes blind. Add a third, deeper, position in the shutter button, so we get Cl normally, but get Ch when we press HARD. This way way we can shoot normal stuff normally, and when the sh*t hits the fan, just push harder to blast at 9 FPS.
This way we never miss the moment having to take the camera down to set it up to Ch. We can't leave it in Ch because too often we get two shots or more with each slow target/sniper- rifle- trigger push. February 2. 00. 8.)7.) Add menu option in Auto ISO: "Set Lowest Shutter Speed based on Focal Length," and follow it with a factor, like 4x, 2x, 1x, 1/2x, 1/4x, etc. February 2. 00. 8 or before.) This way we don't have to jack around the Lowest Shutter Speed setting as we zoom and change lenses.
Now that we can set the colors to insane, much as Canon DSLRs have done since about 2. We need a dedicated hard switch to select among a few preset Picture Controls, just as we select AF Zone modes with a rotary thumb switch on the rear. I need this because I set the colors to VIVID and +3 saturation most of the time, but if a person is in the shot, I throttle back to STANDARD and +2 saturation. On Canon we have been able to program the equivalent of the middle button of the multi- way thumb selector to call up our banks of preset Picture Controls to allow instant changes as fast as we change WB. Nikon needs to add this; having Manage Picture Settings in My Menu isn't fast enough. If it takes more than one click, the click I need to set the next menu could have been the click for the photo I just missed.
For instance, my tiny Casio EX- V8 pocket camera does this better. The Casio, a camera smaller than a deck of cards, has a knob on it with eight positions, and I can set at least two of them to totally different color settings. Thus I can shoot a thing in one position, and completely without menus, just turn the knob a click to get to my milder color settings for people.
I set the Casio's red rectangle to +2 saturation and +2 contrast, and set a BS mode, chosen with the [BS] setting next to the red rectangle, to +- 0 saturation and - 1 contrast.)9.) Nikon's color Matrix meter is the smartest on the planet. It is largely infallible when used with film or normal digital camera color settings. The D3 still isn't smart enough to have the Picture Controls talk forward to the meter as does ADR.
If I have the saturation cranked in Vivid mode, many colors overexpose slightly, so I have to set exposure compensation back to - 0. Color Matrix meter isn't taking the picture controls into consideration. Now when I shift Picture Control between VIVID for things and NEUTRAL for people, I also have to shift exposure compensation. The D3 should be improved so that the color Matrix meter takes Picture Control settings into account when setting exposure. AM PDT, 2. 5 June 2.
Since I need NEUTRAL Picture Control for people and VIVID for things, even better than having an easy way to do this would be to allow the user to allow the facial recognition system to swap among picture controls if it sees a face. Two new menu options would be added|ALLOW AUTOMATIC SELECTION OF PICTURE CONTROL WHEN A FACE IS DETECTED Y/N?
YES: SELECT PICTURE CONTROL TO BE USED WHEN A FACE IS DETECTED (option to select any of the Picture controls)? AM PDT, 2. 5 June 2.
Since face recognition knows where the faces are, why set the entire image to a picture control if you could have the background set to one Picture Control, like VIVID, and have the D3 automatically recognize and apply another PC to the faces? I'm serious: studio TV cameras have done this for years to apply selective softening to make old ladies look like girls. Menu options, in addition to the above, would be: APPLY LOCALIZED PICTURE CONTROL TO FACES? Y/Nand as a submenu of the above if YES: SELECT PICTURE CONTOL APPLIED TO FACES ONLY (choose).(invention disclosure 1. AM PDT, 2. 5 June 2. When I shoot fast, I want Image Review OFF, and when I shoot slowly, I want it ON.
Nikon's Setting Banks don't save and recall it, so as I shift styles I always have to dig into the menus, which sucks. Nikon should redo the firmware so that holding the PLAY button for more than two seconds toggles this mode on and off. PM PST, 2. 6 February 2.
Improve manual focus indication to work as Canon has done for years. In Canon, each sensor blinks in red as perfect focus is achieved there. Canons are great: turn the manual focus ring, and sensors blink at the exact instant each part of the image pops into focus. It makes manual focus ten times faster than Nikon's single- sensor- at- a- time null indicator.
For all cameras, in Auto ISO mode and most exposure modes, re- assign the shutter speed dial (rear or front control dial on most Nikons) to control the lowest shutter speed permitted at which Auto ISO starts increasing the ISO. In program mode, one command dial will be program shift, the other will be the lowest shutter speed setting. While it's turned, the viewfinder display should show the set lowest speed as it's being adjusted, and return to actual exposure display as soon as the adjustment is complete. PM PDT, 0. 8 July 2. Bring back the pro trick that holding the "Key/?" button as you turn on the power creates a new folder and saves the new images you make to it.