Honestly, it makes sense. Why buy a D3 when you can buy a D3x? The updated electronics make it a far better camera, if you can get past the crazy high price. Nikon might have made a little misstep there, charging $8000 for a camera that should have been priced at $5,500.

So farewell Nikon D3. So far this is only a rumor, but the majority of the retailers out there are out of stock, and have been for quite some time.

Some German photography message board claims that the Nikon D3 will be replaced—that’s key, replaced, and not sold side-by-side—by either the D3x or D4 as early as February, 2009. The original post even has two stats for us: 24 megapixels and 6-7 photos per second in burst mode.

The only reason we’re even acknowledging this rumor is because it does sync up with that expected BIG announcement or press conference Nikon is planning for November 20.

In any event the make-believe photographers here are looking forward to see what, if anything, Nikon has in store.

via Nikon Rumors

Will Nikon do the obvious and release a D3x? Will it release the camera this December for $6,499? Will the camera have a 24.4-megapixel image sensor? Will it have the same body as its progenitor, the D3? Will it be able to shoot at a rate of 9 frames per second?

We don’t know, but we wouldn’t mind playing around with such a camera.

The camera has already won the Camera Grand Prix 2008 award in Japan and the Technical Image Press Association‘s Best Professional Digital SLR Camera 2008 award in Europe.

Nikon is actually a late entrant to the market for professional digital SLRs, with the D3 being the company’s first full-frame model. 

We’re led to believe this scan of a German photography magazine article about the D700 is real. Having “been had” last week, I reserve the right to remain suspicious.

These are the specs that appear in the article. Maybe.

D700: D3-Sensor, AF-Module but no phone/speaker, only 95% viewer, 200-6400ISO, 5FPS (8 with MB-D10), pop-up-flash (power 11), dust-removal on sensor, EN-EL3e, 1076g, fsync 1/250, 1/8000-30s, one CF-Slot, grid in viewer optional, virtual horizon, little less fast to D3. Compatible to WT-4.

So, no 100 percent viewer? Did we lose a war?

Oh, and the all-important price: €2,599, or $4,094.

All these D’s and numbers are getting confusing to me, we’ll have to do a DSLR roundup soon just so I can get my head straight. In the meantime, PB has some handy rumor pages put up for the D3x and “D90.”

Those of you special enough to have a D3 may want to know that Nikon has released firmware version 1.10 for the behemoth of a DSLR. That’s fine and dandy but some chaps over at DPReview did a little digging into the firmware and found some lines of code that have led some to believe that the elusive D3X, a 24.4-megapixel, could be on its way. Keep reading for more details.

Here’s what the latest firmware will do for your D3. Be sure to upgrade both A and B.

A “Vignette Control” item has been added to the ” Shooting Menu”.

A focus point brightness item has been added to the “a6: Focus point illumination” setting in the “Autofocus” category in the ” Custom Settings”.

The ” Highlights” playback display option has been moved from “Display mode > Basic photo info > Highlights” in the playback menu to “Display Mode > Detailed photo info > Highlights”.

When shutter speed and/or aperture are locked when shooting in LiveView mode, using the “L” (command lock) button, an “L” icon is now displayed in the camera monitor.

The size and color of “Demo” displayed in the monitor with playback, when “No memory card?” in the “Custom Settings” is set to “Enable Release”, have been modified.

The range of settings available for “ISO sensitivity settings > ISO sensitivity auto control > Minimum shutter speed” in the Shooting Menu has been increased from 1/250th – 1s to 1/4000s – 1s.

When a compatible Speedlight or Wireless Speedlight Commander is used, the AF assist illuminator now lights regardless of focal length.

When shooting in hand-held LiveView mode and the frame is magnified prior to autofocusing, operation has been modified so that display returns to the magnified display rather than full-frame display.

In some rare cases, white balance was not accurately calculated for images captured at a shutter speed of around 1/4s in P and A exposure modes. This issue has been resolved.

When attempting to crop images at an aspect ratio of 4:3 using the “Trim” option in the “Retouch” menu, the cropped image did not have an accurate 4:3 aspect ratio. This issue has been resolved.

Windows update.
Mac update.

Now this is what AxelR found.

The following strings are in the D3′s B-firmware file v1.10, starting at offet 3’614’640:
6048×4032 24.4 M
4544×3024 13.7 M
3024×2016 6.1 M
5056×4032 20.4 M
3792×3024 11.5 M
2528×2016 5.1 M
3968×2640 10.5 M
2976×1976 5.9 M
1984×1320 2.6 M
D3X

Thoughts?

So that super-duper, top secret reason why I’m here in Japan—the Nikon D3 and D300, two digital SLRs that should help the Japanese company reclaim some lost ground in its Tolkienian battle against Canon. The D3, which is aimed at professional photographers, is Nikon’s first to make use of the FX format, a fancy term for what amounts to a full 35mm sensing area. (Photographers know what that means, I’ve been told.) The new top of the line camera’s 12.1-megapixel CMOS sensor may sorta have you scratching your head—only 12? Well, just like the megahertz myth, there’s a hell of a lot more involved in taking pictures than just how many pixels make up an image.

Not unlike Q showing off MI6′s newest toys to James Bond, Nikon showed me and a select group of other journos the cameras yesterday, which means that I had to sit on this information for a whole day before writing about it. Professional picture-taking guys (“photographers”) will appreciate the D3′s ability to have up to 51 separate points of focus. Nikon is also the first company to introduce a camera with an ISO speed of up to 6,400.

Another thing to note is the D3′s Live Mode, which lets you use the LCD to see what you’re taking a picture of, sorta like a point and shoot. Another first.

Less words, more pictures. Got it.

Oh there will be more in the hours ahead. Count on it.

And no, I didn’t forget the D300. That gets it own post. It’s only fair.

Nikon