Happy Birthday to me

Another year has shot by and today i am another year older-and feel it as i am still under the weather but we have a big BBQ today to celebrate so will have lots of medicine (drink) to make me feel better, So you know that i now have a kayak (still unused) as the weather has been either crap or i have been ill but what you dont know is that i now have a Nikon D3s on order, It should have been here yesterday but Amazon messed me around abit and it missed the shipping date and as its a holiday weekend here in the USA it wont be with me until Wednesday, Now i have ummed and arred over a D3s ever since they came out and nearly got one about 3 months ago but couldn't really justify getting one over the D3 that i already have, But i do hate not having a sensor cleaner and the D3 is a dust magnet, I used live view alot when i had Canon as i set the exposure using the live histogram, With the D3 is not the one touch that it was on the Canon so i went back to my old ways but the D3s has a dedicated live view button so i can once again set the exposure without having to take a test shot, Another feature i loved on the Canon 1D3 was the silent mode and this was a big advantage when shooting foxes and other shy animals, The D3s now has this excellent and i am sure under used feature and of course it now has 720p video, Not that i can see myself using it much but may take the old bit of video when shooting the Manatees again early next year, I will sell the D3 more or less straight away but will do some side to side shots to see how the grain stacks up at various ISO settings, From what i have read its about the same up to ISO 1600 and then the D3s steps up a gear and is in a class of its own, I dont really shoot above ISO 1600 on the D3 as i see that as the limit that i feel agencies will accept but if i can shoot at 1 stop higher and get the same IQ it will be great and a real benefit, So there you are i have justified it well at least to myself, The D3 has been fantastic and i will miss it-certainly THE best camera i have ever owned, What a great birthday its turned out to be

Dave

Nikon D3s review on Dpreview

Dpreview put their review up yesterday on Nikons D3s, Their reviews are always worth a read as they go in great detail all the features as well as IQ etc, The D3s does seem to have a bug in the AF that needs sorting as a few people are finding in certain circumstances the AF can be very slow to initialise, Apart from that it seems a dream camera, I have considered upgrading not for the higher ISO capabilities but for the sensor cleaning, Quiet mode and easy Live view access, I like to hit the LV button and use the live histogram feature to set my exposure, On the Canon this was quick and easy, On the D3 i have now its not a quick method and hence i now dont bother, I am going to hold off for the time being as the D4 will be out sometime next year, For me to upgrade would cost around $2000 so i have just put this towards a couple of weeks in Florida in April, Going back to the review it compares the D3s to the D3,D300 and Canons 1D4, What it does show is that the ID4 is about the same as the D3 when comparing ISO an thats something Canon users will be very pleased with, Being able to shoot grain free at ISO 1600 is very liberating, Dpreview will publish the Canon 1D4 review soon so keep your eyes out for that
Review on the D3s here

Nikon D3s in the field

Check out Vincent Murniers images taken whilst testing the new D3s-Yes ISO 12800 is grainy but probably no more than ISO 800 film/slide-incredible

see here

Dave

Nikon announces the New D3s

Its been talked about for weeks but today Nikon announced the new revised D3-The D3s, Nikon sometimes adds an 'S' model to extend the life of a current model for another year or so, But i feel this is slightly different, Instead of just adding video like the D300 and a couple of small tweeks the new D3s has a new sensor which takes the ISO range up to a whopping and incredible 102 400-making flash all but redundant, I recently read that Sony who makes the sensor as new technology that help increase ISO but moving wires to the back of the sensor instead of in the layers of its make up and i guess this is the first of what i guess will be a new wave of higher ISO models, The D3Xs will certainly be a worth contender for it as it will add at least 1 or more stops so now we could have 24mp cameras able to shoot at 800 or 1600 and give good quality low grain images, Finally Nikon have added a sensor cleaner to the D3s which it really needs as the D3 is a magnet for dust, I have said that i would love a dedicated live view button and this model has that as well as a silent shutter mode which i found extremely useful on the Canon 1D mk3, By Nikon releasing this model and keeping the MP to 12 it shows the different philosophy's now between Nikon and Canon and i as i said previously it shows how much Nikon listen to their customers and don't want to get involved in the MP war, One other feature worthy of note is a 1.2 crop mode, This enables the camera to shoot faster and given the crop it gets a 8MP images making the camera very similar to Canons much loved 1D2n this should keep the sports togs very happy-all in all this has evolved from a great camera into a dream camera for me and ticks just about every box that i can think of, Once it has been in use for a couple of months to test for any bugs i may make the jump from 12mp to 12 mp
More details here

Dave