What do you mean by D800? A D300s successor? It would make sense for Nikon to call that the D400, but their numbering/naming conventions at the moment are pretty confusing. About 6 months ago, when people talked about the D800, they were assuming it would be the D700 with the 24mp D3X sensor in it, but now that looks pretty unlikely.
This new camera from Nikon is a bit of a new thing for them....I believe it's the first time they have introduced a completely new sensor in a camera that's not either in the flagship (D1/2/3/ range or the semi-pro D100/200/300 range. In the past, the sensors have appeared in those cameras and then migrated down the range over time to the cheaper models. Nikon have always tried to maximise the potential of their sensors by using them in as many different cameras as possible, so this new sensor in what is essentially a mid-level dSLR is a new thing, and makes me wonder what Nikon are going to do with the D400 (or whatever the D300 replacement is called). I doubt they can justify putting the same sensor in a tougher body, and then tweaking the fps, high iso, AF performance.
Because of this, it makes me more convinced that the D300 replacement will be launched along with the D4 next summer (in the same way that the D3 and D300 came together) and they'll have very similar 4th generation Nikon specs in terms of AF unit, processor, menu features etc, but obviously one will be FX and one DX.
Personally, I think it's more likely that Nikon will release a D700s soon. The D3S sensor has only been used in the one camera, and that's a sensor that Nikon invested heavily in in terms of R&D, as it wasn't bought from Sony like the sensors in the D3X and D300 (and various others). It makes sense for Nikon to prolong the life and get more revenue out of what is, by all accounts, the best low light performance sensor out there and out it in a D700s clearing the tables for the next generation next year with the D4/D400, and then the D800/D4X the year after.
But who knows.....there are whole forums of people debating this stuff on dpreview, and in the meantime, I'm still scratching my head as to what could possibly make me want to upgrade my D3 (OK, the AF focus points are a little too congregated in the center of the VF, and I'd like them to be a little more spread across the entire frame, but I can live with it
)Anyways, this weekend I finally got my camera out to the coast again and shot the first landscapes I've shot since April. The skies here are really flat in summer, very few clouds, which leads to pretty un-photogenic sunsets, so I didn't get anything special...it was just nice to be out again with the camera on a tripod getting it's feet wet.
This is a first version, it needs work on the shadows in the corners (a side effect of using a 9 stop filter for a long exposure...there's considerable light fall off in the corners of the frame). I think I can probably work on some local contrast to make things like the rock pop out a little more too.
West coast of Algarve. 30 seconds.
Last edited:
