Nikon D3 Thoughts

Four years ago when I found myself searching for film cameras to learn about exposure and shooting manual focus film I came across a 20 year old Canon AE-1 Program. From that point on I had exclusively used Canon gear, with the exception of a free Nikon D1 that I used for a remote for a few weeks. I have always been very pleased with the performance of the Canon digital 1d series of cameras, so when I heard about the release of the Mark III a few years back was eagerly awaiting to have it be my main body, and use the Mark II as the backup/remote body. However when I got to test the camera out last October after it had been out for a few months and had a firmware update I was extremely disappointed with is auto-focus performance. My burst rate was around 40% in focus and I was shooting in conditions that Canon proclaimed that the camera would excel. The file sizes and the ISO performance were better than I had expected, but that is really a side not if the camera cannot get a frame in focus. Therefore I shelved the idea of getting a Mark III until either a newer better camera was released or they could fix the problem.

Nikon D3, 28-70mm F2.8, 1/2000 @ f6 ISO640

Almost a year later in New York I am given 2 Nikon D3 bodies and access to essentially the entire Nikkor collection of glass. My first reaction was, thanks but ill continue shooting my canon gear, but I needed a full frame body for a shot so I reluctantly took out the D3. At first it was difficult to get used to, for me shooting Nikon is like driving a car with the steering wheel on the passenger side. After the race is over I take the files back to the room and immediately download the card and start browsing in Photo Mechanic. Literally 93 % of the frames from the D3 were tack sharp. The color, which I have believed was a little off on the previous Nikon bodies was more accurate and vibrant, and the clarity of and image shot at 800 ISO blew my mind. So for the remainder of the week I shot stock photos using the D3 and was continuously impressed. The real selling point for me was when I was forced to shoot the camera in nearly dark condition with a beam at the finish using a 600mm F4 at 4000 ISO. I produced a crisp image with extremely low noise. Another nice feature was the quality of the screen on the back of the camera. The Canon Mark III seemed to lack contrast and was muddy looking, where the D3 was sharp and vibrant.

Nikon D3, 600mm F4, 1/640 @ f4 ISO4000

The only problems I had with the camera were in really low light the camera seemed to hunt around and not want to lock focus on subjects. This happed one burst out of 100 that I shot. Also the crop mode which lessens what is exposed on the sensor to give the appearance of a longer lens was laughable at best. The camera would not focus at all on moving objects, but was considerably better shooting a still subject.

The bottom line is that Nikon stepped up to the plate and hit a home run with the D3 leapfrogging Canon to have the most powerful Professional DSLR on the market. The question remaining is what will Canon come out with next? I think it will be a 15.1 mega pixel body with a tremendous buffer and a screen equivalent to Nikon with ISO performance in the same range as the Nikon. Lets just hope this one focuses well.