Nikon Rumors has a very interesting post this week speculating on 3 new Nikon pro models in the development pipeline. The rumors were stimulated by a purported release of a book about a Nikon D800 that is to be published in March of 2011. The D800 is to be a replacement for the D700 and is to come with a new 24mp sensor, 1080p vid, new autofocus system and the same noise performance as the D700. If true, the latter would be a notable technical achievement, as to date we haven't seen that type of performance from a 24 mp sensor. The camera is slotted to compete with the Canon 5D Mark II.
The second camera is the replacement for the D3s. The new D4, or so the rumor goes, will come in with a 16mp sensor, 11 fps, and full 1080p HD. I imagine they will tack on a few more bells and whistles, as the upgrade here works out to 4 additional megapixels and full HD over the 720p in the D3s. The D3 series and below though has always targeted faster shooting speed over resolution, so this continues that trend.
The replacement for the D3x will come much later, and it is rumored that it will have a 36mp sensor, which will allow Nikon to maintain this line's position in the market as an entry-level medium format camera. I must say that I get brilliantly detailed images from my D3X when I make enlargements as big as 40 x 60, so I will have to be really convinced that the additional megapixels will give me a real benefit in terms of image quality before I would trade in the D3x on a successor. If the rumored 36mp sensor is true, then that will trigger the filtering down of higher resolution sensors to the rest of the Nikon camera lineup.
All of this is simple speculation, and great fun to chat about. The most intriguing camera of the 3 is the D800, as it marries the best features from the current D3s (high ISO) with a 24mp sensor, resolution that is currently only offered in the D3x. It will be very interesting to see how Nikon prices this camera. B&H has the Canon 5D Mark II at $2,499. If we are in that range this camera would likely become the top seller in the Nikon pro lineup. A similarly priced D800 would also trigger some pricing battles, so this could be a lot of fun. I guess we'll all have to stay tuned and see how this shakes out.
as of 11-26-10 amazon.com uk still has the d800 book listed but they have moved the date of release to may 4 2011
Posted by: david distefano | November 26, 2010 at 06:50 PM