Nikon D3s Hands On.

by jared1December 2^nd, 2009

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Nikon D3s

The New Nikon D3s will have trouble competing with Most of the Newer Canon DSLR’s out on the street. Nikon has wasted a good full frame sensor with only 12 megapixels and 720 /24fps HD movie mode.  At over $5K, this camera just does not deliver. When five grand will get you two Canon 7D’s with lenses, the choice should be simple.

Click Here for hands on test from DP review.

New 12.1 megapixel Full-Frame (36 x 24 mm) sensor

▪                ISO 200 – 12800 (ISO 100 – 102,400 in Boost mode)

▪                720p / 24 fps HD movie mode

▪                Eleven frames per second in continuous and DX mode

▪                Larger buffer for 48 RAW frames in one burst (18 on the D3)

▪                Multi-CAM3500FX Auto Focus sensor (51-point, 15 cross-type, more vertical coverage),

▪                In-camera RAW processing

▪                Also supports DX lenses, viewfinder automatically masks (5.1 megapixels with DX lens)

▪                14-bit A/D conversion, 12 channel readout

▪                Nikon EXPEED image processor

▪                Super fast operation (power-up 12 ms, shutter lag 41 ms, black-out 74 ms)

▪                Kevlar / carbon fibre composite shutter with 300,000 exposure durability

▪                Auto-focus tracking by color (using information from 1005-pixel AE sensor)

▪                Auto-focus calibration (fine-tuning) available (fixed body or up to 20 separate lens settings)

▪                Scene Recognition System (uses AE sensor, AF sensor)

▪                Dual Compact Flash card slots (overflow, back-up, RAW on 1 / JPEG on 2, Stills on 1 / Movies on 2, copy)

▪                Compact Flash UDMA support

▪                3.0″ 922,000 pixel LCD monitor

▪                Live View with either phase detect (mirror up/down) or improved (30% faster) contrast detect Auto Focus

▪                Virtual horizon indicates if camera is level, available on the LCD during video capture

▪                HDMI HD video output

▪                ‘Active D-Lighting’ ‘Extra High’ setting (adjusts metering as well as applying D-Lighting curve)

▪                Detailed ‘Control Panel’ type display on LCD monitor, changes color in darkness

▪                Buttons sealed against moisture

Dual battery charger as standard