Nikon D3X on the way

[Javelin]

theres an 800mm F5.6 sigma that sells for about 6k in minolta mount to. For PC there is a thread on here with a few options .. look for the tilt/shift thread

[NealS]

Nikon and Canon offer such an extensive range of lenses and accessories that Sony/Maxxum is not a viable or preferable option for many photographers. If you need a 24PC lens or a 800mm telephoto you don't care if the A900 is half the price of a Niknon D3x, it simply will not do.
Thus N & C enjoy greater flexibility in pricing their wares. Of course, how they will maintain pricing given current economic conditions remains to be seen.

FYI, the a900 was never aimed at top end pros shooting 800mm lenses...Sony said as much.

If I owned this one I could be amused for a bit.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/8 ... _0_n_.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I guess one could grab one of these if they needed to:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Sigma-APO-800mm-f5- ... dZViewItem" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

But yes...to get top end pros Sony will need to work on more system and service options. Give them time, they will get there if they choose. On-the-other-hand, the a900 will pick up many FF users that Canon and Nikon are not getting along the way.

-Sonolta

You have just made my point. The D3X and A900 bodies and associated systems are not directly comparable at this juncture. Hence pricing can well be different.

I agree that Sony needs to expand it range of premium quality lenses if it is to bring in Canon or Nikon users.

[Greg Beetham]

Nikon and Canon offer such an extensive range of lenses and accessories that Sony/Maxxum is not a viable or preferable option for many photographers. If you need a 24PC lens or a 800mm telephoto you don't care if the A900 is half the price of a Niknon D3x, it simply will not do.
Thus N & C enjoy greater flexibility in pricing their wares. Of course, how they will maintain pricing given current economic conditions remains to be seen.

You'll be seeing some leaked advert copy no doubt very soon in other web pages, not here of course, do some searches for Nikon D3X and it's bound to happen tonight or over the weekend. You will also learn the price. Alpha 900 owners will be cracking open a case a champagne and dancing on the rooftops. Honest!

David

The only obvious hole/s I can see in the Sony lens strategy at the moment is the lack of a good 600mm for wildlife, as the pixel density of a 24.5MP FF sensor is about the same as a 12MP APS-C sensor, why would anyone want too lug a FF camera and 800mm lens around instead?
The others are of course the lack of a tilt/shift lens or two and maybe some updated wide primes and perhaps the micro lenses for the nonexistant bellows and ringflash.
Greg

[Greg Beetham]

So why throw oil on the fire by posting about "Flaming liberals ''" earlier in this thread? IME, these OT sub-threads dies out very quickly on their own.

BTW, who appointed you moderator, editor or censor on this board?

Thanks for asking...I was so surprised to see a Don Rumsfeld quote from an Aussie on a D3X thread in the a100-a900 forum that I decided to appoint my own self moderator. I then posted the FL comment equalize the political speaks on this thread.

-Sonolta

HA! I managed too surprise Sonolta
Greg

[Javelin]

Oh.. I read the link as the 800mm mirror thats on there too and never followed the link

I linked an 800mm Sigma for sale in my previous post. It's on Buy it Now for $7399.00.

-Sonolta

[Philip]

You can even put down a deposit for a D3x ....

http://www.cameraworld.co.uk/ViewProdDe ... &Cat_Code=" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Philip

[Dr. Harout]

Is there any real innovation on the D3X

[alphaomega]

I am frankly surprised that nobody has addressed the issue of who could be the supplier of the D3X sensor. The dimensions are identical to the Sony Exmoor but the pixel size differs by .1 Mp. It has the same frame rate but can do 14 bits as opposed to A900's 12 bits processing. Any views?

[picman]

Is there any real innovation on the D3X

Unbelievable that they haven't incorporated an antidust system, they have got it on the D700.

[alphaomega]

Sonolta replied to my sensor question

Many have speculated that it is a Sony sensor...

It is indeed an intriguing question. As I recall it, DK had some views on a possible supplier of the Nikon D3 sensor. I think he eventually concluded that it was unlikely to be Sony but som other Japanese fabricator with some links to Nikon. Nevertheless the firmware update for the D3 released some time ago inadvertently also contained information on a 24 Mp sensor. Now if the 12 Mp sensor was not made by Sony why would it potentially contain information on a Sony fabricated 24 Mp sensor? It could also be that Nikon had another sensor in mind at that time and then switched to Sony for whatever reason such as performance, cost, delivery or what have you? It is, of course also possible that Sony is not the sensor supplier.
If Sony really is the supplier of the basic Exmoor sensor in the D3X then I would not be surprised to see a re-run of the D300/A700 noise debate. The D3X will have better high ISO performance in RAW and even more so in Jpeg. Then after 6-12 months Sony will issue a Firmware upgrade like V4 for the A700 bringing the A900 high ISO performance up to D3X standard and A900 owners will be happy.
I any event the photographic magazines will now have a field day comparing the A900 with Canon's 5DII and Nikon's D3X.
There was and interesting thread in DPReview a couple of days ago referring to a Polish comparison of the A900 with Hasselblad & Mamiya medium format cameras:
http://www.swiatobrazu.pl/.." onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;. ...d_h3_mamiya_afdiii_sony_alpha_900_821.html,1
Interesting conclusion in favour of the A900. I see from the Nikon thread that there is already dissatisfaction with the D3X (lack of video among other things).
I am pretty convinced that the three FF DSLR suppliers have medium format users very much in their sight and in the long term more and more current medium format users will shift to CNA FF cameras. It will be interesting to see how the fight will pan out and if the A900 with a smaller selection of superior lenses can hold its own against NIKCAN.

[KevinBarrett]

If the sensor is static (not moving) then it probably has more effective pixels than an (almost) identical Sony sensor. Sony and other sensor-moving cameras, either for anti-dust or anti-shake, take a slight crop out of the middle, do they not?

[David Kilpatrick]

If the sensor is static (not moving) then it probably has more effective pixels than an (almost) identical Sony sensor. Sony and other sensor-moving cameras, either for anti-dust or anti-shake, take a slight crop out of the middle, do they not?

No, there is no loss of pixels. The film gate has been made extra large on the Alpha 900 with an oversize shutter, and the sensor is the same full size as any other. Differences in pixel counts between implementations of the same basic sensor are due to different values of AA filter needing a larger or smaller radius of pixels to spare round each 'mapped' pixel location, for the deBayer process; and some pixels round the edge of the sensor are always left out of the final count for this and other reasons, in all sensors.

David

[bakubo]

Whew! $8k for the D3x.

http://press.nikonusa.com/2008/11/nikon ... master.php

"The Nikon D3X will be available at Nikon Authorized Professional Dealers starting December 2008, and will be available for an estimated selling price of $7999.95."

[PhotoTraveler]

What a joke on the price.

And now we can basically confirm it's the same sensor.

25.72MP Total is the spec for the nikon and the Sony.

The image of the nikon sensor shows it looking exactly like the Sony sensor and nothing like the D3 sensor.

Nikon isn't claiming they designed it.

[bakubo]

What a joke on the price.

Yeah, for about $8k you can get (prices from Sony website):

A900 $3,000
CZ 16-35mm f2.8 $1,800
CZ 24-70mm f2.8 $1,750
70-200mm f2.8 G $1,700

or:

A900 $3,000
35mm f1.4 G $1,200
50mm f1.4 $350
CZ 85mm f1.4 $1,200
CZ 135mm f1.8 $1,300

or:

A900 $3,000
CZ 24-70mm f2.8 $1,750
70-300mm f4.5-5.6 G $750
50mm f1.4 $350
100mm f2.8 macro $590
135mm f2.8-4.5 STF $1,200
HVL-F58AM $450
VG-C90AM $280

or ????