Interesting feature: dust shake in a Nikon. I guess this is good because the Nikon D3 has grease from the manufacture in the sensor well which causes streaking if you use a brush (I use a bulb blower to avoid this).
A—: What’s the target market?
A—: Amateurs with money?
Me: People who aren’t buying Nikon because of the 5D
Me: Canon 5D owners
Me: So wedding photography will be the big one
Me: I wonder what the frame rate will be?
Me: If it’s 5 fps, Canon is fucked.
A—: I’m keeping my D3
Me: I’m keeping my D3
Me: It rocks!
Me: Once I got used to the weight.
Me: 7 fps, lock button alone
A—: just work out a little more
Me: Though I want to figure out the audio notes now, just to justify blowing $5k 😀
Yeah, Canon is pwned all right. Suits them right for resting on their 5D laurels. Competition is good for consumers, as always.
If this had come out 6 months ago, I would have bought it over the D3, but the weight savings are not significant enough to justify downgrading (unlike Canon 10D vs. Rebel XT a few years ago). I just wish it had come out a month ago, before I bought my dad a D300 for Father’s Day (he’s 72, so the D3 is too heavy for him).
I’m sure Canon has something planned, but since the D700 is expected to ship in a month’s time, i.e. before Photokina, they may have to move their announcement forward.
Looking forward, I don’t know how much more room Canon/Nikon have to keep the upgrade treadmill running. Apart from in-body IS/VR and in-body GPS, I can’t really think of features the D700 doesn’t have already.
Speaking of which, I received my Geopic II GPS. It’s a full-fledged GPS (not a serial dongle or serial-Bluetooth adapter) that plugs into the Nikon serial port (and draws power from it), and weighs almost nothing. Really nifty gadget for a D3, and presumably a D700 as well. B&H sells them in the US. I was originally thinking of getting a Red Hen Blue2CAN, but the Geopic is just $20 more for a complete solution. It has impressive time to first fix as well.
@Fazal
Yeah, I’ve been predicting a leapfrog for a while. The trend was there ever since the Nikon D70. It did happen over a full year before I expected. Canon will catch up, once they figure a way around Nikon’s Active-D lighting patents (the rest of the stuff like nanocrystal is a nice to have but not deal killer).
One thing to consider is the D300 + 18-200mm is a much lighter kit. That and the $1200 price difference ensures the D300 is the better adventure and travel photography camera where weight is a consideration.
Yeah, I use a bluetooth receiver for GPS (Foolography, not Blue2Can). The big problem is that bluetooth GPS sometimes stops transmitting. It’s times like that (and when I’m in the city), that I wish they’d supplement it with the Skyhook Wireless WiFi (a la the new Eye-Fi card).
Time to fix is much improved, but I got used to it since my Garmin GPS 60 csX has the same SIRFstar III chipset. (There is an alternate chipset but it won’t work configure due to a firmware bug on the Nikons).
I think Canon still has the mid value line locked up (the 40D and XSi), at least until Nikon does something about the D80. They also have the high-end SLR with the 1DS Mk III for fashion photography (if you can’t afford medium format digital) and some tripod-based landscape photographers who might want the megapixels.
I agree, that I don’t see anywhere the vendors can go. The cameras now have every feature I could want. Some minor improvements other than in-camera sensor shift VR: I’d like to see ISO in a dial (not a menu), I’d like to see much better performance on the live view, I’d like to see a swivel LCD on live view, etc.
Ryan mentions the SB-900 flash. I own two SB-800’s. They’re not as powerful as the top of the line Canons (but more than make up for it a non-broken flash metering system), so from the size you’d think it’s all about the guide number more in line with the Canon’s—it’s hard to compare GN’s so I could be off.
But no, the guide number is actually weaker on the SB-900 (which is okay because the D700 and D3 shoot clean high ISO shots), the reason for the larger head is the zooming head covers a huge range from ultrawide to telephoto.
The big advantage (to me), is automatic filter detection. I shoot using a incandescent EV+1 gel constantly and it’s a pain to have to leave auto white balance.
To serious strobists, I think the big thing will be the improvement in the UI in the back. Anyone who shoots a strobe knows how difficult the modern ones are to use and set. 🙁
To the rest of the Nikon world, this flash now recognizes that you have a DX camera attached and will use the correct zoom setting. 🙂
By the way, if you own a Nikon D3 or D300, there is a new firmware update. (This will save my a**. I lose shots all the time because my Nikon D3 sometimes thinks my batteries are “empty.”)
Does anyone really believe that with the release of the D700 retailers will drop the price of the D300?
I’m about to make that purchase and will wait 60 days if the price will come down.
DPReview has a preview up.
I was spot on right about the price.
Interesting feature: dust shake in a Nikon. I guess this is good because the Nikon D3 has grease from the manufacture in the sensor well which causes streaking if you use a brush (I use a bulb blower to avoid this).
Via IM:
A—: So it’s a D300 with full sensor?
Me: Yes.
A—: Price?
Me: My guess? $3000
A—: What’s the target market?
A—: Amateurs with money?
Me: People who aren’t buying Nikon because of the 5D
Me: Canon 5D owners
Me: So wedding photography will be the big one
Me: I wonder what the frame rate will be?
Me: If it’s 5 fps, Canon is fucked.
A—: I’m keeping my D3
Me: I’m keeping my D3
Me: It rocks!
Me: Once I got used to the weight.
Me: 7 fps, lock button alone
A—: just work out a little more
Me: Though I want to figure out the audio notes now, just to justify blowing $5k 😀
A—: Heh
Yeah, Canon is pwned all right. Suits them right for resting on their 5D laurels. Competition is good for consumers, as always.
If this had come out 6 months ago, I would have bought it over the D3, but the weight savings are not significant enough to justify downgrading (unlike Canon 10D vs. Rebel XT a few years ago). I just wish it had come out a month ago, before I bought my dad a D300 for Father’s Day (he’s 72, so the D3 is too heavy for him).
I’m sure Canon has something planned, but since the D700 is expected to ship in a month’s time, i.e. before Photokina, they may have to move their announcement forward.
Looking forward, I don’t know how much more room Canon/Nikon have to keep the upgrade treadmill running. Apart from in-body IS/VR and in-body GPS, I can’t really think of features the D700 doesn’t have already.
Speaking of which, I received my Geopic II GPS. It’s a full-fledged GPS (not a serial dongle or serial-Bluetooth adapter) that plugs into the Nikon serial port (and draws power from it), and weighs almost nothing. Really nifty gadget for a D3, and presumably a D700 as well. B&H sells them in the US. I was originally thinking of getting a Red Hen Blue2CAN, but the Geopic is just $20 more for a complete solution. It has impressive time to first fix as well.
@Fazal
Yeah, I’ve been predicting a leapfrog for a while. The trend was there ever since the Nikon D70. It did happen over a full year before I expected. Canon will catch up, once they figure a way around Nikon’s Active-D lighting patents (the rest of the stuff like nanocrystal is a nice to have but not deal killer).
One thing to consider is the D300 + 18-200mm is a much lighter kit. That and the $1200 price difference ensures the D300 is the better adventure and travel photography camera where weight is a consideration.
Yeah, I use a bluetooth receiver for GPS (Foolography, not Blue2Can). The big problem is that bluetooth GPS sometimes stops transmitting. It’s times like that (and when I’m in the city), that I wish they’d supplement it with the Skyhook Wireless WiFi (a la the new Eye-Fi card).
Time to fix is much improved, but I got used to it since my Garmin GPS 60 csX has the same SIRFstar III chipset. (There is an alternate chipset but it won’t work configure due to a firmware bug on the Nikons).
I think Canon still has the mid value line locked up (the 40D and XSi), at least until Nikon does something about the D80. They also have the high-end SLR with the 1DS Mk III for fashion photography (if you can’t afford medium format digital) and some tripod-based landscape photographers who might want the megapixels.
I agree, that I don’t see anywhere the vendors can go. The cameras now have every feature I could want. Some minor improvements other than in-camera sensor shift VR: I’d like to see ISO in a dial (not a menu), I’d like to see much better performance on the live view, I’d like to see a swivel LCD on live view, etc.
Ryan mentions the SB-900 flash. I own two SB-800’s. They’re not as powerful as the top of the line Canons (but more than make up for it a non-broken flash metering system), so from the size you’d think it’s all about the guide number more in line with the Canon’s—it’s hard to compare GN’s so I could be off.
But no, the guide number is actually weaker on the SB-900 (which is okay because the D700 and D3 shoot clean high ISO shots), the reason for the larger head is the zooming head covers a huge range from ultrawide to telephoto.
The big advantage (to me), is automatic filter detection. I shoot using a incandescent EV+1 gel constantly and it’s a pain to have to leave auto white balance.
To serious strobists, I think the big thing will be the improvement in the UI in the back. Anyone who shoots a strobe knows how difficult the modern ones are to use and set. 🙁
To the rest of the Nikon world, this flash now recognizes that you have a DX camera attached and will use the correct zoom setting. 🙂
SB 900 press release on dpreview.
By the way, if you own a Nikon D3 or D300, there is a new firmware update. (This will save my a**. I lose shots all the time because my Nikon D3 sometimes thinks my batteries are “empty.”)
Does anyone really believe that with the release of the D700 retailers will drop the price of the D300?
I’m about to make that purchase and will wait 60 days if the price will come down.
Thanks