Damned if it's not going to rain again today, if the gray sky is any indication. I don't mean to complain, because I know a lot of people have gotten far worse in recent days, weeks, and months—in other parts of this country as well as in England—but, man, have we ever gotten hammered lately. It's been raining for six days. We haven't had a chance to get the grass cut in between downpours. Every day I think, well, it can't rain again today. I should stop thinking that.
A few more thoughts about the new Nikons:
Oren pointed out that Rob Galbraith says of the D3, "Nikon promises a dynamic range bump of 300%." Carl responded that that seems to be a claim about JPEGs, implemented in software, rather than any property of the sensor itself that will show up in RAW files. This has got to be the next big push in sensor development, so it's encouraging—well, a little—even if it is mostly marketingspeak for now. Rob also says "the D3 easily has the best viewfinder to grace a Nikon digital SLR."
Speaking of which, Kent points out an interesting spec on the D300's sheet: its viewfinder is more or less identical to the excellent ones in the D200 and D80, except that it offers 100% coverage instead of 95%. This is a first in a mid-tier DSLR and shouldn't go untrumpeted.
Also, fast though the D3 will doubtless be, a couple of specs at least leave the D300 looking mighty good in comparison: D3 turn-on time, 12o milliseconds; D300, 130 ms. D3 shutter lag, 37 ms; D300, 45 ms. Mirror blackout on the D3 is 74 ms., D300, 100 ms. There are many other measures of speed and responsiveness, but for the D300 to be this close to the D3 in these three measurements bodes well.
Elsewhere on the web, Diglloyd has posted some thoughts about the D3 on his blog, and Matjaz from e-Photographia has posted a report, with pictures, from the giant press rollout in Tokyo. (Why don't I get invited to these things? Oh, well.)
And about that rain? I can't find any outright claims in the Nikon literature, but the press release does say, "the D3’s comprehensive array of rubber gaskets and seals protect vulnerable entry points from dust and moisture." Good thing, if you live where I do.
________________
Mike
According to dpreview.com the mirror blackout time for the D300 is 100ms compared to 74 for the D3.
"...power-up 13 ms, shutter lag 45 ms, black-out 100 ms."
Posted by: Dennis Mook | Thursday, 23 August 2007 at 08:03 PM
About weather sealing of D3,
on thread:
http://fourthirdsphoto.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=16322
OzRay is asking - what is the purpose of having weather sealed body if the lenses are not.
I don't know much about modern Nikon lenses - but are they weather sealed? At least the expensive "professional" ones?
Otherwise I have to agree with Ray that it doesn't really make much sense of making weather sealed body without proper "attachments" - lenses :)
Yours Bojan
Posted by: Bojan Volcansek | Friday, 24 August 2007 at 08:18 AM