Nikon D3X on the way

[bakubo]

Reichmann at LL has canceled his D3x order:

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/whatsnew/

[NealS]

Have a look at this link:

http://www.bythom.com/nikond3xcomments.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Seems even Nikon loyalists are concerned about the price and specs.

[Yagil Henkin]

The Pics at 6400 lack details, and seem slightly OOF. I'd guess NR was applied, for the lack of Chroma Noise. Not very impressive - But it seems that almost ALL first-out-of-the-camera pics tend to be horrible, regardless of maker.

[Yagil Henkin]

However, I can't find a full-size pic of 3200/6400 ISO in them. even the zoom for the 1600 isn't full-size. But as I've already said, I believe Nikon has no intention to make this camera a high-ISO machine.

[Yagil Henkin]

1/[email protected], 50mm, flash on, and if I understand correctly - 2/3 stop exposure balance. That Is pretty impressive for a NR off, Noise-Wise. The detail isn't amazing, but ISO 6400. However, something looks strange to me - the 6400 noise pattern looks, on my screen, more "natural" than the 3200. and I find it hard to believe that it has almost no NR - I profiled both with Noise Ninja and got 6 Chroma Index, lower than several D3 pics @3200 ISO taken under better lighting (for example, this one at 1/400@f4 http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read. ... e=24564526" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;) - that is pretty much impossible. Despite the EXIF, there must be some kind of NR going on. We'll wait for the portrait shots to reveal what's really happening.

The Low ISO shot you've posted is impressive, as expected.

[Yagil Henkin]

Not because I ever intend to shoot one, but because they have so much fine detail, it's easy to spot the differences. This shot from A900@6400 Isn't all that bad. Is the sample from the Nikon light years ahead? hard of course to compare, but I don't think so.

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read. ... e=30177508" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
and 3200 too:
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read. ... e=30181614" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The Nikon has exceptional quality, don't get me wrong, but:
A. It's not a high ISO machine, nor intended to be (not that there's anything wrong with that),
B. I would be hard pressed at the moment (based on the samples I've saw) to identify an A900 pic from a D3x one - the portrait is amazing, as is a portrait I've seen taken with the sony.

[David Kilpatrick]

I've put a few thoughts on dPhotoexpert:

http://www.dphotoexpert.com/2008/12/01/ ... till-sell/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Much of this also applies to the A900. I've now complained to Canon about the softness of the 24-105mm, and they are to speak to me tomorrow. Today, we had a GAS CUT. Had power cuts before, but this time, we were told all our gas mains would be cut off for several days. Fortunately, this place has three boilers and two of them were on an unaffected main they reconnected just now - not before I had bought an extra emergency halogen heater. But the panic earlier on meant I had to ask Canon to call back tomorrow to tell me what the score with the soft imaging is.

I don't think the D3X looks any better than the A900 at low ISO, and even at 6400, the A900 from raw with chroma NR and minimal luminance NR (plus the right processor) is not too far removed on neutral, low saturation, relatively well-lit subjects such as Nikon show.

David

[David Kilpatrick]

Don, I have been looking at more of my A900 shots and I'm wondering now if the cRAW format is influencing the sky noise. I intend to shoot uneconomically and try RAW instead, generally I have been using the compressed format and it may not ultimately be such a good idea.

New shot here at ISO 100 has good sky, but of course still showing a quantization pattern. Actually, I think my iMac screen produces 'noise' in gradations like this whether I like it or not - and I know for sure that any calibrated monitor will apparently show more noise than an uncalibrated one set to its native linear response.



http://www.pbase.com/davidkilpatrick/im ... 1947/large

Not bad for a £106 15 year old 28-105mm at 35mm and f10 (in such high wind, by the way, that I was blown over on to my back after shooting this pic - you would never realise it from the shot - people were holding their arms out at the spot I was standing to 'lean' against the wind).

David

[Yagil Henkin]

The corners seem a bit soft to me. Is this a question of focus, or are they soft on the A900 even at f/10?

[Dr. Harout]

I agree with Don, this is a superb shot.
But why are those lovers jumping?

[David Kilpatrick]

The corners seem a bit soft to me. Is this a question of focus, or are they soft on the A900 even at f/10?

Partly depth of field and the blowing movement of the grass. If you look in the distance it's a bit sharper. The point of focus was the couple. Even so, the corners are softer on the A900 with all lenses, including the 70-300mm SSM G - and it is already known that even the 24-70mm f2.8 (which I do not have) is slightly softer in the corners on full frame. But this example is mainly depth of field, especially the bottom left corner. I would have had slightly sharper results by taking the 28-75mm f2.8 on this trip, but the extra range of the 28-105mm was useful. The 28-105mm is softer overall.

David

[David Kilpatrick]

I agree with Don, this is a superb shot.
But why are those lovers jumping?

They had just asked me to take a shot of them with their own camera. They were Scandinavian. Just luck that they linked arms as they walked over the crest of the pathway.

David

[aster]

A nice composition and a spectacular coastline!
Takes on different meaning depending on being with or without the couple. 100% full-size is very clean with uniform colour qualities also.

Yildiz

[NealS]

Actually, I arrived at Thom Hogan's remarks via links on one of the Nikon sites. Not that it matters.

Have a look at this link:

http://www.bythom.com/nikond3xcomments.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Seems even Nikon loyalists are concerned about the price and specs.

If you read Henry's LL link then you have alread seen the Thom Hogan page.

-Sonolta

[bakubo]

David, that image is very appealing. Nice work! When I saw it I was reminded of this 1987 photo I made of my brother at Pt. Lobos, California: