Nikon have launched a new flagship DSLR in the form of the D3X. Ian Andrews got his hands on one for a few minutes.
Nikon let their Pro Users in the UK know on Friday last that they were launching the D3X, a new flagship model dSLR, when the latest edition of the excellent magazine, Nikon Pro, dropped through their letterboxes.
The official launch, however, was not until today, when the 24.5 megapixel FX version of the award winning D3 was announced to the world and shown to the UK press at the Jasmine Studios in London. And let's be honest, the D3X is physically identical to the D3, and Nikon made no pretension on that score. Inside though, during the 12 months (to the day) since the D3 hit the shelves, the boffins in Japan have not been idle.
Having been given a camera to play with for five minutes, one that was already set up for shooting in a studio with all the attendent flash equipment, I promptly removed the sync cord and pushed up the ISO to the 1600 mark! There will be plenty of images available throughout the web at the 100 ISO setting, but I wanted to see what else the new sensor was capable of.
One of the areas that Nikon are promoting this camera for is stock photography with it's massive file sizes needing no interpolation to get them well past the size required by even the most demanding library. But stock photography is not all carried out in a studio, and not with the 85mm prime lens that was fitted. So I put a 24-70mm f/2.8 Nikkor on at the same time!
The image, right, was shot at 1600 ISO at 50mm and f/5.6! There is a 100% crop of it HERE
My interest was to see if the excellent noise control that has been evident in the D300/D3/D700 that have won Nikon so many friends (and awards) over the last twelve months had been transferred to this new model. I have to say that I am impressed! It is not quite as good as the D3/D700, but it is a considerable improvement on the D300, a camera that is no slouch in that area anyway! (The 24-70mm is a cracker too!)
While I had the attention of some of Nikon UK's top brass, I asked about their lens plans as well, but all I could get out of Chris Hoare, their Professional Business Manager, was to watch this space! Pressed further, he did say that items like mid-range lenses, for example the much asked for 300mm AF-S VR f/4 type of model would be produced 'as they get around to them!'.
He was rather more proud, understandably, about the fact that the latest GFK reports show Nikon dSLR's are now the No1 for share by volume in the UK, Europe, USA and Japan, and that over the last five years they have achieved 333% growth in their sales figures!
The Nikon FX format now covers three cameras, the most comprehensive range of any manufacturer, and with the previous two hitting the shops soon after announcement. Nikon intend to keep up this record and promised to have the D3X available in the shops before Christmas! That is some going for any manufacturer, getting three full frame models into availability within 13 months.
