Uh oh! Looks like the British Journal of Photography isn’t going to be invited to next year’s big Nikon event. Well, their loss is our gain as they confirm the details we suspected for the D3s. The actual announcement is supposed to go up in about six hours, but hey, it’s out there in the open. What’s new? Well, before you read any further, consider that this camera has been priced at £4200, or around $6700, for the body only. This is a professional camera. But that said, features that start pro-only tend to trickle down in the next generation of prosumer and consumer cameras, so let’s take a look.
Perhaps the most eye-catching new feature is ISO boost that can take you up to an ISO of 102,400. You read that correctly: ISO of one hundred and two thousand, four hundred. I tend not to shoot over 800. I’m not a sports or action photographer so this doesn’t affect me, but this does mean shorter exposures in worse light. And hey, if they’re being printed on newspaper or spread on the web, no one’s going to notice a little noise if the shot is right.
HD video is… improved but not apparently by much. 1280×720 at 24p, plus ISO boost is available so low light might really be an option. One actual benefit of the throw-away-and-resize DSLR method of creating video is that it minimizes ISO noise due to the resizing. Onlookers are said to have noted high-ISO video from the D3s as looking natural, which I don’t doubt. Video from the D300s looked solid, though autofocus is still slow, loud, and inaccurate.
It’ll shoot 9 frames per second at full res, or 11 if you only use the cropped sensor size. Other features:
- 12 megapixels (honestly, you don’t need more)
- Improved viewfinder (probably brighter and closer to 100%)
- 51-point autofocus (standard and good)
- 14-bit A/D conversion and 16-bit image processing (why not)
- Twin CF slots (hmm)
Looks like a solid camera, but unless you really need that insane ISO range, I don’t see a lot here that necessitates a purchase. If you’re a Nikon man, the D300s should be sufficient, and if not… why are you reading this?
We may as well note here that speculation on this camera was way off. There are no unicorns mentioned anywhere in the article.
Ah, there is a new picture, this one of the back of the sucker. Also from Nikon rumors. Here we go:
I’m not familiar with Nikon rear-layout. Anybody want to step in?
[via Nikon Rumors]