dSLR Dad

Professional Sports Photographer Dave Black has published part 2 of his review on the FX Full-Frame Nikon D3x:

Hi and welcome to this packed edition of Workshop at the Ranch featuring Part II of the NEW Nikon D3X review. I felt the readers of Workshop at the Ranch might want some additional images and commentary on this remarkable piece of equipment. This month’s images are a wide variety ranging from the studio, to climbing along the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains, to indoor sports using the D3X with arena strobe lighting and remote camera work. With Nikon D3X Part I somewhat behind us, let’s review a few things I mentioned last month and then move on to some new pictures.

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Michael Reichmann, creator of the The Luminous Landscape, has published his review of the 24.5-Megapixel Nikon D3x after using it during a January Expedition to the Antarctic:

I am convinced that by just about any measure (except price) this is the most outstanding 35mm format DSLR yet. Build quality, image quality – you name it. No, it’s not the fastest shooting, and no it doesn’t have cleanest high ISO capability of any Nikon – its sister the D3 wears that crown. But other than with these specialized capabilities there’s hardly a camera on the market that can touch the Nikon D3x in overall goodness – except when it comes to price.

Did I mention price? At US $8,000, and a lot more in many other countries, the D3x is the most expensive DSLR on the market by far, and is only exceeded in price by medium format cameras and backs. I’ll have more to say about the price issue shortly, as well as my field experience with the D3x in Antarctica, but first let’s digress into a discussion of digital camera size.

You can read the entire review at The Luminous Landscape. You can also find more dSLR Dad articles about the Nikon D3x here.  For those dSLR Dads who read Chris Sanderson’s struggles in using the Canon 5D Mark II while also down in the Antartic, you can now see where complete weather sealing has it’s benefits.

LetsGoDigital has published their review of the Nikon D700 12.1MP dSLR Camera:

At the time I called the D300 a smaller version of the D3, but the Nikon D700 is really worthy of that name. This is an honor indeed because the professional Nikon D3 is a fabulous DSLR camera. In any case, until the D3x was introduced, it was Canon’s top model ever. The Nikon D700 easily fits in this line of superb DSLR cameras. I wasn’t able to find a lot of disadvantages of this camera, it’s like looking for a needle in a haystack…

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Digital Photography Review has been pretty busy.  After releasing their abbreviated 41-page review of Canon EOS 5D Mark II, they have now turned their sights on the $7,999 FX Full-Frame Nikon D3x:

When we reviewed the Nikon D3 in April last year we said that it was ‘possibly the most compelling, capable and well-rounded professional digital SLR ever made’ and that an (at the time non-existent) D3X ‘would have quite a job to do to better the D3′. The D3x eventually became reality in December. We’ve had one for just over a month now and after thousands of sample shots both in the studio and out in the wild you would think we should be able to confidently answer the question if the ‘X’ variant is capable of bettering the original D3.

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Professional Photographer Dave Black has published part 1 of his review of the FX Full-Frame Nikon D3x:

Okay, let’s get started on a new year of Workshops at the Ranch and what better topic to discuss than the NEW Nikon D3x. Yes, I bought one and it is amazing! This may not be the camera for everyone, but it is definitely the camera for those who’s work revolves around the studio portrait, but, I believe the D3x has much more to offer than just the ultimate in portrait quality. For those who shoot landscapes, or macro details, or anything that is lit with strobes or Speedlights, or if the commercial/advertising market is your goal, then the Nikon D3x may be the camera for you. During the past 10 years I have pushed myself to increase my photographic skill level and subject matter, thus broaden my client base. While my first 20 years of business was dominated by sports photojournalism imagery alone I now have clients where my photography outside of athletics is generating income. And while fine studio portraiture is not a direction I want to pursue, subjects that involve location lighting, landscapes, and Lightpainting, and the commercial/advertising market place is clearly something I see as both exciting and beneficial, and I believe the Nikon D3X is the megapixel camera to further my career and carry my work to a higher level of excellence.

You can read the entire article at Dave Black Photography.

Thom Hogan has published his detailed review of Nikon’s latest 24.5-Megapixel D3x:

This is the DSLR with the best image quality available at the moment. That says a lot. But that leaves two things for you to evaluate: (1) whether the price you pay for that quality is worth the boost; and (2) whether things like diffraction, high ISO noise, and other limiters will come into play in your work. I can’t answer those questions for you, though I’ve tried to give you both the information you’ll need to make that decision and some of my own comments on these. Further, as you move up the ladder in camera quality, your support system and shot discipline have to go up, too, at least if you want to extract all that you can from this camera.

You can read his entire review here.

Photographer: Frank P. Wartenberg

Nikon USA has published sample images from their new 24.5-Megapixel, FX-format D3x. You too can pixel-peep to your hearts content over at NikonUSA.com. All photographs courtesy of Nikon USA: (more…)

Amazon.com has the new Nikon D3x in stock and shipping (as of 5 pm eastern time).  The best part, unlike most recent releases, is the price is still at it’s recommended retail price of $7,999,95. Hey, I didn’t say it was cheap, but if you want 24.5-Megapixels of Nikon FX goodness, a dSLR Dad is going to have to pay.

Of course, this particular camera does not come as a kit with lens – surprise, surprise.  May I suggest that a dSLR Dad may want to choose:

• Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8G ED AF-S Nikkor Wide Angle Zoom Lens
• Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8G ED AF-S Nikkor Zoom Lens
• Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G ED-IF AF-S VR Nikkor Zoom Lens
• Nikon 85mm f/1.4D AF Nikkor Lens
• Nikon 105mm f/2.8G ED-IF AF-S VR Micro-Nikkor Lens

Welcome to the Party, Pal

Nikon Corporation has finally released their Full-frame, big megapixel monster. The 24.5-Megapixel Nikon D3x is aimed squarely at professional landscape and portrait photographers, or dSLR Dads who happen to have a few initials after their names.  For just $7,999.95, you too can capture 138-MegaByte images of your little rug rats frolicking about the meadow with Nikon’s flagship dSLR.  Some of the many nitty-gritty details include: (more…)

Popular Photography Magazine has published their review of the Nikon D700 12.1MP dSLR Camera .  Oddly enough, they really liked it:

Does the D700 obviate the more expensive D3? Not for high-end pros: Hardcore types who find themselves shooting in the Arctic one month and the desert the next will prefer the D3’s extraordinarily tight level of weathersealing. For paparazzi, who shoot lots of vertical images and so prefer a built-in vertical grip to a bolt-on battery grip, the D3’s better. And pro sports shooters blasting off frame after frame need the faster native burst and extra CF card slot of the D3.

Meanwhile, the rest of us will be more than happy with the D700 fulfilling our full-frame fantasies.

Of course, if all your Lenses carry the DX moniker of Nikon’s APS-sized format, you should stick with the D300. After all, it basically mirrors the image quality and performance of the D700, and your DX Lenses will yield only 5.1MP images on the Nikon D700. In other words, those digital-only lenses will fit this full-frame camera, but at a cost of massive cropping — a sacrifice that hardly seems worth making on a regular basis.

But if you have some full-frame lenses or want to move toward Nikon’s FX glass, the D700 is money well spent.

You can read the entire review of the Nikon D700 over at PopPhoto.com.