Wowzer, Nikon wasn’t kidding when they jacked the high ISO performance through the roof!
http://forum.xitek.com/showthread.php?threadid=467667&pagenumber=2
This is shaping up to be one awesome pro camera. Not that I’ll be able to afford one any time soon, but SOME day!!!
=Matt=
Aug. 24th 2007:
Hey everybody, just thought I’d mention this really quick:
Do NOT click the free Macbook Pro ad banner if it shows up on my or any other Xanga etc…
It caught my eye at first, but I googled the company behind the whole thing (Product Test Panel) and apparently it’s a rip-off. They start you out doing cheap little participation offers like the standard weight loss pill samples etc, you know the kind of stuff that those free iPod websites used. However apparently they end up requiring you to eventually participate in some crazy offers that cost easily as much money as a Macbook Pro if not more.
So, don’t waste your time.
This public service announcement brought to you by your friendly internet scam watchdog, Matthew Saville…
=Matt=
$5,000,
full 35mm frame,
14 bit 12 megapixels,
9 FPS with AF tracking in between each pic. (WOW.)
brand-new 51 point AF system,
ISO 100-25600 with boost, (nope, not a typo… ISO 25600, most people haven’t even HEARD of it. It’s 2 stops above 6400, which is 2 stops above 1600…)
3″ LCD with live view + autofocus, (live view does not pause?)
DX crop with 11 FPS (no AF tracking at 11 FPS)
Oh and TWO compact flash compartments. LOL.
Nikon D300:
$1,800,
1.5x,
14 bit 12 megapixels,
6 FPS, (8 with battery pack)
brand-new 51 point AF system,
ISO 100-6400 with boost,
3″ LCD with live view + autofocus, (live view does not pause?)
Oh and a self-cleaning sensor…
Pretty interesting, eh? I totally thought Nikon would drop the ball and fall short here, but they DELIVERED.
“only” 12 megapixels on the D3, you say? ISO 25600, I say. My gosh, if it’s even halfway use-able, what the heck would I do with FOUR extra stops above the ISO 1600 I’ve been using? I could almost forget about f/1.4 primes and just shoot with f/2.8 zooms, how convenient…
Okay to be serious with regard to the D3 being just 12 MP- the D3 is probably just Nikon’s high-speed camera, equivalent to the Canon 1D mk III more than the 1Ds mk III. And as that kind of camera, it pretty much rules.
A Nikon D3X might have ~20 MP, maybe we’ll see that in a year or two.
All in all, what can I say? This is pretty weird. I guess I should have known better than to doubt Nikon. They have consistently delivered. The D70 was a ground-breaking camera of unprecedented value at under $1000, the D200 was another huge milestone that brought pro features to the masses for less than $2000… The only things that Nikon has rightfully been scolded for have been high ISO performance and lack of full-frame. And, if the D3′s native ISO 6400 is good, (let alone the 1280 or 25600) …Nikon has remedied these problems in one fell swoop.
Nikon still needs an affordable full frame camera though. The 5D is still completely un-paralleled. Yes, Nikon now as a 12 MP camera (with even higher ISO) but that won’t quiet down the people who swear by the “look” of full frame sensors. (And they do have a look, and it’s a nice look, the DOF is definitely sweet…) So, Nikon needs a 5D equivalent, like a D80 but with a full-frame 10-12 megapixel sensor. AND an equivalent to the behemoth 21 megapixel Canon…
=Matt=
WOW. When can we have THIS technology available in photoshop? SWEET!!!!
As Phil Askey joked on DPR in his official press release, imaging purists concerned with image veracity are probably leaning over the side of their chair and hurling right now. You can “seamlessly” warp images, completely throwing TRUE perspective and view out the window…
For the design of wedding albums and other graphic things, this is going to be an amazingly powerful, CUTTING EDGE tool that I can’t wait to employ…
HOWEVER for nature photography, adventure photography and photojournalism, the danger of image manipulation just went to a whole new level… You probably don’t remember this, but a few years / decades ago National Geographic got into HUGE trouble because they manipulated an image of Egyptian pyramids, placing them closer together for a more powerful image. Did the manipulated image make a powerful piece of fine artwork? You bet. But did it accurately represent the original scene, and did it belong on a documentary magazine that is strictly about photojournalism and WHAT OUR WORLD REALLY LOOKS LIKE? I don’t think so…
=Matt=
Canon 40D:
http://www.dpreview.com/news/0708/07082010canoneos40d.asp
Hot specs:
$1,300 (NICE, that should drive the cost of every other camera through the FLOOR!)
10.1 megapixels
(1.6x crop, not FF)
YES, WEATHER SEALING! 
[edit] Crap, nevermind! At least, not 1-series weather sealing. It’s got a sealed CF and battery door, slightly “tougher” built, maybe with a little more precision, but definitely far from 1-series construction, that’s for sure. But still, it’s probably good enough for 90% of potential buyers!
ISO in the viewfinder (yay)
Dedicated AF-ON button (*cough* copying Nikon *cough*)
3″ LCD with live preview
automatic sensor cleaning system
6.5 fps
Wifi
Slightly improved 9 point AF, the center point has some sort of “high precision” AF sensor…
From what I can tell, it looks like Canon finally 1-upped the Nikon D200, in fact the D200 still costs $1350 used, and frankly it’s dead in the water unless the price drops to at least $1300 new. It will have an impossible time competing with Canon’s high ISO advantage, automatic sensor cleaning system and live preview! Still no wireless capability with flashes, but most people don’t need that…
Oh and they’ve come out with a 17-85 EF-S IS, nice!
Canon 1Ds mk II
http://www.dpreview.com/news/0708/07082009canoneos1dsmarkiii.asp
Hot specs:
$8000 
21 megapixels
5 frames per second
dual core Digic III processor. (lol)
3″ LCD with live view
Automatic sensor cleaning system
ISO is in the viewfinder now, yay Canon!
Freaking burly construction, magnesium alloy body, pro-series weather sealing, and shutter rated to last a whopping 300,000 clicks.
Nikon’s D3 is alleged to be about the same as this, but only time will tell. I’m sure the Nikon will be fantastic, a few $K cheaper, but not quite as good, and Canon will “triumph” (in the eyes of the masses) once again. Oh well! I have to admit, if I had tons and tons of money, I’d give the 1Ds 3 a whirl, with a nice fat 85mm f/1.2 L, hehehe…
Better get on the waiting list for your respective dream camera now!
=Matt=
[edit] Oh snap!!! I didn’t even notice! Canon also released two *other* new lenses! An 18-55 EF-S IS, and a 55-250 EF-S IS. (Thanks Skunk) The kicker? They’ve figured out a way to do it much simpler and more affordably, apparently. And it achieves FOUR stops of stabilization! That means that if you can hand-hold at 1/60th, you can now hand-hold at 1/4 sec!!!!
They’ll probably be making pretty much every lens from now on with stabilization, or at least every “pro-sumer” lens. This is going to be a sucker punch / death blow to Nikon and all other brands, unless they have an identical technology waiting up their sleeve to release within the next 365 days or so…
Oh and the three new P&S Canons announced all have stabilization, too.
Ouch, Canon, ouch. That hurt…
Canon’s 40D may have officially “leaked” on Amazon.com.
Looks like it might be a KILLER camera! All the things we were assuming it would never have, except weather sealing maybe. (I couldn’t tell from the specs, but it at least sounds BURLY…) Watch out, Nikon! (And everyone else!)
10 MP
6.5 FPS
14 bit A/D converter for greather dynamic range compared to most cameras 12 bit…
3″ LCD
“live view” on LCD
vibration sensor cleaner
Some sort of new “high-precision AF point” center point.
ISO in the viewfinder
Magnesium alloy inner frame
Dedicated AF-On button
Wireless / remote compatibility (still no sign of wireless flash though)
Last but definitely not least, the glorious “Pict bridbe” button 
All for $ 1299!!!!!! Sell your 5D’s now and get on the waiting list!!!
You heard it here first, folks,
=Matt=
So, the latest rumor, a promotional ad / image in japanese, has the numbers “51″ and “9″ which people are saying translate to mean it will have 51 AF points and 9 FPS…
Other cryptic ads (could be all fake of course) state that it will be in the 18-22 MP range, will have a CMOS sensor, and will be 1.125x crop or so…
Sadly, the rumors also put this puppy at around $8,000 so it doesn’t really make a difference to me lol.
HowEVER, more rumors abound that “just after” this D3 announcement, another body will be announced that will wow the advanced amateur market as well…
Oh and we’re still talking about getting a bunch of new AF-S lenses, I just hope they come out with some wide angle DX primes!!!
That’s all I have time for now, gotta get back to work, but do come online on Aug. 23/24/25 and check back, it MIGHT be announced then!
=Matt=
First, Gary Fong’s latest diffuser, the “Puffer”, is out. Yet again, he is a genius. This is something I’ve been wanting for years and Gary implemented it in a genius way I never thought of before. Basically it’s a diffuser for your pop-up flash, that plugs into your external flash hotshoe!
Do you have any idea how perfect this is for Nikon shooters who use their pop-up flash as a wireless commander a lot? I would order one right away if I were you!
Second, I have a couple questions for all you hard-core photo editors out there. Do you edit on a laptop or a desktop? If you use a desktop, have you ever had the power go out on you? OUCH. Unless you save your work constantly, chances are you’re going to sit there and cry.
Sure, EVERY body has a “surge protector” power strip. But about a year ago, I took that precaution one step further and bought a UPS. No I didn’t buy a package delivery person wearing brown shourts, I bought an Un-interuptible Power Supply. A UPS. In fact I got it from APC. A UPS from APC. LOL. IMO.
Basically it’s a monstrous battery that sits under your desk and you plug all your CRITICAL electronics into it. So, your desktop tower, your monitor, and maybe your printer if you must… Then if the power goes out, the battery is there to keep you running for a little while, but the important thing is that it’s long enough to save your work and shut down properly. Then maybe once you’ve done that, you can plug in a desk lamp or radio and use that until the rest of the battery juice gets used up… (The UPS also has standard surge-protected plugs that don’t drain the battery, how convenient!)
The next step of course is to get a generator lol, just in case you have a LOONG power outage and a LOT of photos that you simply must edit, but I’m not at that stage just yet.
I ask because I just got this APC catalog in the mail, and there’s a bunch of sales going on apparently. I don’t need ANOTHER UPS obviously, so I thought I’d post about UPS’s in general and see if anyone thinks they should be using one, because if so I have a promo code for some deals, including the smallest UPS for just $39 I think, or $20 off an order over $200. Message me if you’d like the code, but first I’m going to check on Google and see if this is a wide-spread code that everyone can use, or if it’s just a one-use code that ony *I* was given… Either way like I said I don’t need it!
Although I WILL be using the 5% off coupon I got from G-Technology for purchasing one of their external hard drives, sorry!
Take care,
=Matt=
Okay, I can’t say this is 100% GOLD, but it sounds like Nikon may be about to completely re-design the digital sensor as we know it today. Back in 2003 they filed a patent for a revolutionary sensor design, and it is just now coming to the surface for some reason, just before the highly expected release of Nikon’s next flagship model. It may be a dud patent for dead technology, but I think not, the timing is just toooooo suspicious!
Here’s the deal: Most “Bayer” sensors, which Canon, Nikon and others (except Sigma) use, are designed as follows- Each pixel has either a red, green or blue filter on top of it, and a light-collecting “photosite” underneath that. When light hits a pixel, a blue filter will only let blue light through, a red filter will only let red light through, and a green filter will only let green light through. The rest of the light is “lost” completely. Now I’m no math whiz, but people have said in the past that if you could have a simple sensor with zero color filters on it, making it a B&W sensor, you could capture 100% of light coming into the camera, instead of throwing away 66%, therefore achieving 3x the sensitivity out of the sensor! That would skyrocket today’s ISO 1600 and 3200 capable sensors to capable of ISO 1280 and 2560, respectively. WOW.
It’s slightly complicated to explain, but apparently Nikon has figured out how to use multiple colored mirrors and photosites to sense all three colors, RGB, at each “pixel”, by basically putting a red, green AND blue “photosite” within EACH pixel. There’s debate about which is more important for keeping high ISO noise at bay, pixel microlens size or actual photosite size, but if Nikon knows what the heck they’re doing, which I hope, they may be about to turn the industry upside down.
I’m just sayin’!
=Matt=
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