The Nikon D3 camera - my full review part 2

A few more recent comments about the D3

My mini-review

• Sports - Basketball - AF system
• Ultra wide angle - 14-24 2.8
• The new firmware upgrade
• Things to improve
• The conclusions

Basketball

I had to shoot basketball recently and I have been happy with the results I got from the D3. First of all, something evident, the high ISO and the auto-ISO capabilities are amazing. I shot in auto-ISO (max 6400), manual mode 1/400-1/500 sec oscillating between f2.8 and f5.6 (2.8 is too limiting wrt DOF on the D3, you need some DOF to see the players correctly, f4 being a good compromise). Second comment: I still find the AF a bit counter-intuitive but I found a way to handle it... I used continuous mode, CH (9fps), 9, 21, and 51 3D points and I ended up with 21 points (I still would like to see them in the viewfinder). I put the delay on long to keep my subject in focus and this helped. I also used the AF-ON button a lot to reactivate the AF on any other subject while moving (you need to be fast, it was a difficult exercise, basketball players move pretty fast). This gave me a reliable system to do what I wanted to do, because the full 3D system is working but is still a bit unpredictable. Last but not least, I shot everything with the 70-200VR, most of the shots in DX mode... I was in fact using my D3H :D just a few random examples, no PP other than resizing the jpegs, no time to process the RAW files until now. a slideshow with a selection is available here:
The slideshow




a special effect, somebody shot with flash at the exact moment I took a picture

strange way to hold a video camera (this was the local TV)

Ultrawide - the Nikkor 14-24 2.8

This lens is just amazing... supersharp even fully open, a new legend. The D3 allows in combination with that lens to get the extreme wide angle perspective back: a real 14mm full frame is just amazing !

See also my more detailed review here.

A few example shots:

The new firmware upgrade

Nikon listened to their users and released a new firmware for the D3.

They first published an upgraded firmware with a bug in it (corrupted pictures under relatively special circumstances, 9 fps, RAW 14 bits, fast UDMA cards...). They removed that firmware from their site and published a revised version a few weeks later. Even if there was a glitch, this has been handled very professionally by Nikon. The new upgrade is highly recommended, it addresses a few interesting points:

- vignette control (to be selected manually)
- focus point illumination is now programmable
- auto ISO sensitivity control improved (selectable ISO and shutter speed)

The firmware can be downloaded on Nikon's website

The potential improvements.

• I still find the AF system very fast and sophisticated but a bit counter-intuitive. I still have difficulties to understand what the system is doing. I didn't have that impression with the previous Nikon cameras. Another thing, and that problem seems to be common on all full frame cameras (this is visible even on the F5, but also the Canon 5d, the 1d range...), the AF sensors are concentrated in the middle of the frame, meaning for action that the subject can be lost on the sides. This will not happen with the D300. A workaround is to use the DX mode, but then you lose resolution.
• Sensor dust is really an issue if you don't work with limited DOF (in other words, if you close down your lenses to f9 or more, be prepared to do a wet cleaning very often).
• Nikon seems to have listened to the critics, they did something to address the vignetting issue... nice job !
• It would be very nice to be able to use AA batteries as a backup (cf D200 and D300 grips, the F5 camera etc...)
• Nikon could try to standardize the user interfaces a bit more (for instance, the way you zoom on the D3 is similar to the D200, while the D300 is copied from the D40/D80 way - there is a button in the middle of the pad while the D200 and D300 don't have one etc...).

Conclusions

Highly recommended !!!

The D3 is just the best allround camera there is at the moment.

Pros

• wonderful body design
• reasonably priced/positioned for such a package
• extremely fast
• incredible ISO performance - sets a new standard
• excellent display
• a joy to use (very important)
• interesting new firmware

Cons

• sensor dust is an issue (problem more or less invisible to people shooting fully open)
• AF sensors in the center
• no grid lines (cf D200-D300)
• Nikon could be a bit more consistent between bodies (small differences in user interface with D300 for instance) - this is only a problem if you use multiple bodies/backups