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Fielding Your Questions on the Nikon D3

By Scott on Monday, September 24th, 2007 at 1:36 am | updates.

I’ve had a number of posts and emails about my experience with the new Nikon D3 this past week, and to make sure I address the questions you want answered about the new camera, so I invite you to post questions here (in the comments section of this post), that you’d like me to take a shot at answering. I won’t have all the answers, but I want to address as many as I can, so thanks for your input, and check back tomorrow for some of the answers.

NOTE: I’ve posted some other shots below from the workshop, including a pano from one of my students.

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  1. #1

    Hi Scott

    Is the D3 really usable at very high iso (6400 and more), as promised in the advertisements ?

    Michael on September 24th, 2007 at 2:25 am
  2. #2

    Hi Scott,

    I have two questions:
    1. Do you find that 12MP is a good choice from Nikon and is it sufficient?
    2. Have you already placed your order? ;-)

    Thanks!

    Rolph on September 24th, 2007 at 2:38 am
  3. #3

    Hey Scott,

    Well I’m back now from a week away in France so am catching up on all the blog entries.

    Whilst out in France I was taking alot of shots that I would create a HDR image from and so was bracketing with 1 stop difference. I needed to merge 3 images, 2 stops apart so had to take 5 shots with the Nikon D200 to enable me to do this (geez I hope this is making sense). Anyway, after all that my question is … Can the D3 take 3 bracketed shots that are 2 stops apart like the Canon 5D can?

    Great shots as always Scott, and thanks for all the news,
    All the best to you and yours,
    Glyn

    Glyn Dewis on September 24th, 2007 at 4:41 am
  4. #4

    1. What are your impressions of the newly developed autofocus-system?

    2. Pros and cons with the new camera?

    Thanks!

    yamahafj on September 24th, 2007 at 4:58 am
  5. #5

    I got the chance to use a pre-production D3 (firmware: A0.28 B0.23). What is the firmware version of the D3 you were using? And how does the AutoWB do in real life conditions?

    Kalmár Nagy András on September 24th, 2007 at 6:07 am
  6. #6

    Hi Scott,

    I like your philosophy of getting it right in the camera so there is less production work. How do I lower the noise I get with my Canon in low light situations?

    Thanks,

    Mike Reeves

    Michael Reeves on September 24th, 2007 at 7:28 am
  7. #7

    Hi Mike.. That is not a question regarding the Nikon D3 now is it ;-) But maybe I can help you out a bit:

    Scott: Mike wants to know if he should sell his Canon gear in favour of the new D3 so he can shoot better pictures in low light situations.

    (sorry but I couldn’t help myself ;-))

    Rolph on September 24th, 2007 at 9:06 am
  8. #8

    Hello Scott,
    I’m curious to know if the dynamic range of the D3 is greater than the dynamic range of the D2X? Is it greater than the Fuji S5Pro? (particularly interested in getting detail in highlights—like a wedding dress)

    I also shoot HDR images from time to time and I agree with Glyn Dewis’s post. A normal exposure, 2 stops over, and 2 stops under is the perfect combination to create a HDR. Currently with my D2X, I am forced to take 5 exposures to get this range with auto bracketing. (I don’t need the 1 over and 1 under)—seems like a simple firmware issue.
    many thanks,
    Larry

    Larry Watson on September 24th, 2007 at 10:21 am
  9. #9

    Can I have it when you are done? =)

    Sam on September 24th, 2007 at 10:44 am
  10. #10

    I note that both the D3 and D300 use a new CMOS image chip, which I understand that is made by Sony. Is it reasonable to assume that the D300 will also exhibit the great low noise preformance of the D3?

    Monte Whitham on September 24th, 2007 at 10:44 am
  11. #11

    Is the D3 a replacement for the D2s, or is it a replacemnt for the D2h? Several sites on the web claim that Nikon will come out in early 2008 with a D3s (?) to replace the D2s. Any thoughts?
    Thansks
    David

    David Leatherwood on September 24th, 2007 at 10:48 am
  12. #12

    Scott,

    Can you compare impressions of the 5D you used a few weeks ago with the D3.

    Phil Thomas on September 24th, 2007 at 10:58 am
  13. #13

    Re: pixel density and choice of formats.
    Scott: if one were trying to decide between a D3 and a D300 (dollars aside) re: landscape shooting - which would be the better choice for detail - the DX or FX format?

    Glenn M on September 24th, 2007 at 11:55 am
  14. #14

    Scott the stats on the D3 say lossless compressed Raw.. What is that ? I know on my D200 i can set it for Uncompressed Raw. So does this mean that I am not really be getting all of the file ?….Because my D200 files are larger that the New D3…Like 15 megs VS 12 megs in the D3 Stats

    Jared on September 24th, 2007 at 12:51 pm
  15. #15

    Monte, the D300 uses a chip from Sony, but the D3 uses a different chip that Nikon claims as their own

    Glenn Piper on September 24th, 2007 at 1:24 pm
  16. #16

    Just a couple of things readers of this thread might be interested in seeing:
    Nikon has sample images from both the d3 and d300 you can view full-size. Unfortunately, they don’t have high iso samples from the d300. Wonder if that’s significant? :)

    Click on sample images under these links:
    http://nikonimaging.com/global/products/digitalcamera/slr/d3/index.htm
    http://nikonimaging.com/global/products/digitalcamera/slr/d300/index.htm

    Todd Nordquist on September 24th, 2007 at 2:41 pm
  17. #17

    hi scott,
    thank you for taking the time to field these questions. I started out with the d70, then upgraded to the d200. I do feel that the d200 had been everything that I need, but so would prefer the full frame of the d3. I shoot portraits and plan on traveling quite a bit. The size of the d3 is probably cumbersome for travel, but the d300 is on the same level of the d200 with newer technology.

    for the portrait photographer who wants to take the next step and upgrade up a level should go with the d300 or d3? is this a no brainer? I’ve never had the d1, d2 etc and I would be going from the d200 - the d3. I also shoot mostly with iso100.

    janet

    janet on September 24th, 2007 at 4:02 pm
  18. #18

    A follow-up on Jared’s question. My D80’s RAW files are compressed as well. Other than the higher bit in the D3, are you aware of any other differences in the compression algorithms between the RAW files?

    Michael Shaw on September 24th, 2007 at 6:00 pm
  19. #19

    I guess my most concerning question is: How difficult is it going to be to buy in the near future and what do you recommend to be one of the lucky first buyers?

    Carlo on September 24th, 2007 at 7:31 pm
  20. #20

    I too am very anxious to know how the camera does at high ISO in low light. If you could take some pictures under these conditions and show us that would be great!

    Del Tanner on September 24th, 2007 at 10:22 pm
  21. #21

    First off, I love Nikon, but is the D3 going to be worth shelling out that much money? I’ve heard rumors in the past of Nikon not going full frame because of loss of information around the edges… does the sensor in the D3 rectify this?

    Thanks, and keep shooting amazing pictures!

    JT on September 25th, 2007 at 12:34 am
  22. #22

    hi Scott, thanks for sharing your experience on the D3
    how good is the camera on low iso. Is iso200 better than iso100 on the D2X/
    Thanks

    paul on September 25th, 2007 at 8:29 am
  23. #23

    Scott,

    I’m going to be printing 36″x48” prints. Do you think the D3 can produce quality print of this size. I’ve read that that had prints of this size and larger at the Tokyo premier, and they looked amazing! I’m on the fence with this camera. No one seems to know. I don’t know if it will be much of a improvemet over the 5D, or the maybe upcoming 16meg 5D. Put I’m getting the impression the D3 in in a whole new ballpark and the 12 meg sensor, and the way it processes the image, it will not matter much on a 36×48 print and it will stand up against 16 meg offerings from the other guy.

    Thanks, Mark

    Mark Jansen on September 25th, 2007 at 10:42 am
  24. #24

    apart and aside from the high ISO low noise comparisons that are flying about what about portrait comparison between the 5D and the new D3

    Bill on March 23rd, 2008 at 3:25 pm
  25. #25

    In ‘A’ mode, using a older AF lens (i.e., the AF 200mm f4D Micro-Nikkor) — does the Nikon D3 not have the control wheel ability of the D200? I’ve check the manual and cannot find out why this is happening. I can manually set the f-stop but since the lens is a AF Nikkor (not AF-S,) this seems a bit odd.

    Jerry Litynski on April 9th, 2008 at 7:00 pm
  26. #26

    Scott

    I am the new owner of a D300 and still learning how to use it. Well, I forgot to switch from incandescent lighting to outdoor lighting and shot about 50 pictures of family and wonderful memories I would like to keep. It was kind of bright outside and everything looked good, but I realized I had goofed when all I could see was Blue faces. Is there anyway of switching inside the camera to turn all of the now “Blue” photos to look normal, if not is there a way of doing it through the Nikon Capture NX program that came with my camera… Thanks for any help… Tony

    Tony on August 17th, 2008 at 4:01 pm

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Scott Kelby

Scott Kelby is the editor and publisher of Photoshop User Magazine, Layers magazine (the how-to magazine for everything Adobe®) and President of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP). Make sure you check out Scott's Gear *updated* and his Photography Portfolio.

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