When Nikon introduced it's flagship D3 many (including myself) wondered when the other shoe was going to drop. Historically, Nikon would introduce a pro body at a resolution that was comparable to other devices in the class and later bring out an "X" model that ups the ante without having to introduce a whole new model level (most notably the D1 -> D1x, then the D2 -> D2x). In this case the "H" variant has been merged into the base model with the introduction of a DX-crop mode that raises the shooting rate at the expense of image size. So with the introduction of the D3 last year (August 23, 2007 to be exact) everyone started the countdown to the inevitable release of a "X" model and the photoblogosphere (my term) was rampant with speculation as to the specs of expected model.
Rumor sites, like Nikonrumors.com, were expecting announcements on Dec 1, 2008 and had been seeing hints here and there popping up on closely monitored Nikon websites around the world. Oddly enough, confirmation arrived in Nikon's own Nikon Pro magazine which included a multi-page article covering the features of the up-till-now rumored camera.
From Nikon Pro Magazine (courtesy of Nikonrumors.com):
The X factor
Ultra-high definition 24.5-megapixel flagship takes DSLR into medium-format terrain
The professional SLR world has been transformed in just 12 months by the introduction of no less than four new Nikon pro SLR bodies. First we saw the D3 and D300. Then there was the D700. Now, with the launch of the D3x, Nikon offers more FX format pro cameras than any other manufacturer. At 24.5MP, the D3x has the highest resolution seen in a Nikon SLR to date.
The new camera shares all of the D3’s features, including Live View (making it the world’s highest resolution SLR with viewscreen shooting); the 51-point MultiCAM3500FX autofocus system; Scene Recognition System; Expeed 16-bit processing; 3-inch high-resolution 922.000-dot viewing screen; and the tough, weather-resistant magnesium body.
The D3x was designed with medium format photographic applications in mind. The ISO range covers 100-1600 with a Lo1 (equivalent to ISO 50) as well as boost settings up to the equivalent of ISO 6400.
But it’s also fast. The D3x can record its high-resolution 24.5MP files at up to 5fps. As with the D3, it has two alternative crop modes: 5:4 and DX In DX crop mode the camera captures 10MP files at up to 7fps.
The MultiCAM3500FX AF system is the same as the D3, and has the largest number of individually selectable focus points available, making this a very effective system for isolating fine details in the scene. The widely acclaimed Autofocus Tracking capabilities are, as you would expect, the same as the D3.
Pixel numbers alone do not guarantee good quality pictures. The D3x Expeed image-processing system is custom-designed to render this detail with levels of tonal gradation never before seen in a DSLR. Its 75MB files are ideally suited for stock photography and extremely high levels of enlargement.
And being a Nikon SLR, its body is much faster, intuitive to handle and ergonomically advanced than heavy and complex medium-format systems.
You’ll have guessed by now that the D3x is aimed at photographers whose work requires the ultimate in detail and output quality Where skin tones, fabric textures, crisp edges, and foliage are paramount - in the fashion, commercial and landscape area - the D3x excels.
Beyond the confines of the studio lighting environment, the onboard exposure metenng and AWB systems make the D3x equally at home in less controlled lighting situations where the aim is to capture the atmosphere of ambient lighting.
FEATURES
THE SENSOR
The D3x has an exclusive 35.9 x 24mm (FX format) 24.5MP image sensor with unique OLPF (optical low pas filter) and high-speed channel readout. ISO range covers the equivalent of 50-6400.
IN FOCUS
The widely acclaimed speed and accuracy of the MultiCAM3500 AF system with 51-AF points. Individual selection assumes a new importance in combination with the high resolution: it’s easy to isolate and focus on small details in the scene.
SPEED AND RESPONSE
At full 24.5MP resolution, the D3x shoots at 5fps, 7fps is possible in DX Crop mode. The camera is as responsive as the superfast D3. 12ms start up with a shutter release lag time of just 41 ms (CIPA standard). It writes files to the dual CF slots at about 35MB per second.
IMAGE PROCESSING
The D3x’s 16-bit EXPEED engine is specially tuned to deliver detail-rich, colourful files with low levels of noise and high detail. It is also tuned to minimise the effects of colour fringing with older F-mount Nikkor lenses, and to minimise the effect of unnatural-looking (digital) noise patterns. Vignette (peripheral fall-off) can also be controlled for creative effect.
ACTIVE D-LIGHTING
The D3x features a new Extra High Active D-Lighting setting, designed to better manage extremely high-contrast scenes, especially tonal gradation in highlights.
SCENE RECOGNITION SYSTEM
Information from the 1005-pixel RGB sensor with diffraction grating is used to recognise the subject position and colour prior to capture. The results are then used by autofocus, auto exposure and auto white balance.
LIVE VIEW
The D3x is the highest resolution digital SLR yet to offer Live View. Allowing photographers to compose and shoot via the 3in monitor instead of the viewfinder brings a variety of practical advantages both in the studio and on location. Two modes are offered: Handheld and Tripod. Contrast-detect autofocus is available in Tripod mode.
MONITOR
3-inch wide-angle (170deg) rear viewing screen, with 922,000 dots, is ultra-high definition, and proven to exhibit extraordinary levels of damage resistance.
THE INTERFACES
USB 2.0 downloads images off the camera fast when tethered, and flexibly when connected with the WT-4 wireless transmitter. With both HDMI and AV/Out ports GPS data can be captured into the EXIF as before. The new, compact Nikon GP-1 GPS unit can also be attached via the 10-pin terminal and mounted in the hotshoe, or clip on the camera strap.
POWER MANAGEMENT
The D3x uses the same high performance lithium-ion battery (EN-EL4a) as the D3. Thanks to efficiencies in the camera’s onboard EXPEED image-processing system, battery performance is comparable with the D3.
THE BODY
Extremely durable magnesium construction with economically optimised and weather-sealed buttons, dials and LCD displays. Extensive use of high-grade rubber grips means the body is comfortable to handle for long periods of time, and in a wide range of temperatures.
So here we have the 4th 35mm camera maker (Canon, Sony and Leica being the other three) to push the top-end of their product lines into the medium format space. Is this claim justified? That remains to be seen, but lets look at the data we do know.
Feature
Medium Format Digital
Nikon D3x
Image Size
20-60 megapixels
24.5 megapixels
Bit Depth
16 bits per channel
Unclear. The article states that the Expeed processor works in 16-bits but whether this means 16-bit color or 16-bit instruction words remains to be seen.
ISO Range
100-800 (typical)
50-6400
Frame rate
1.2s/frame - 1.1fps
5 (FX mode) - 7 (DX crop mode) fps
Weather Sealing
No
Yes
Dynamic Range
12 Stops
Untested, but DXOMark testing of the rest of the current crop of Nikon Pro bodies (D3, D300, & D700) rate them at 12+ stops of DR so it is expected that the D3x will meet or exceed this.
Lens Crop Factor
1-1.3x (varies by model of digital back - but are all 645 format and much larger than 35mm)
1.0x (FX Format sensor - 35mm)
Anti-Aliasing (AA) Filter
No
Unclear. The article mentions that the sensor has a unique OLPF (Optical Low Pass Filter).
Unannounced. Rumored to be under $8000 USD - body only.
As a landscape/architecture photographer, I am quite excited by this announcement, but will reserve judgement until I can get some sample photos (or better yet, a sample camera - nudge, nudge) in house to review. I shall update this article as new information comes to light on Monday.
The folks at RedRock Micro have a neat idea on their hands: create a frame that turns a HD video capable DSLR into a full fledged cinema camera. Kits are priced between $1,995 - $2,445 and are available on their website. Here you have ingenuity at its finest. An utterly brilliant idea: completely modular design that allows for flexible configurations to meet the customer's needs. Works with both the Canon 5D Mk II and the Nikon D90.
RPG Keys:
Here is a niche product that has potential: an accelerator control pad for Lightroom 2. Basically this keyboard has all of the sortcuts and controls in Lightroom 2 mapped onto individual keys, thus greatly reducing the hand contortions one has to commit in order to activate a control. This is especially important in busy studio environments that have to cull and process thousands of photos from any particular shoot.
The RPGKeys come in two sizes: the original full-sized version and the new, wireless MiniRPG. Both are show in the photo to the left. Both products are extremely well made and able to withstand thousands of keystrokes. They can be purchased at the manufacturer's website.
Sigma:
Sigma was present showing off their latest and greatest including their recently announced Sigma DP2 compact camera. Similar to the DP1 in sensor size and technology, the DP2 sports faster, slightly longer fixed lens than the DP1 (24.4mm f/2.8 vs. 16.6mm f/4). Also present was every lens in the Sigma arsenal including the monstrous APO 200-500mm F2.8/400-1000mm EX DG which has an MSRP of $34,000 USD! This lens is so big that not only does it sport its own mounting system, it even has its own motors and power supply. And you thought Leica lenses were expensive...
Tamron:
Tamron showed their newly released
AF18-270mm F/3.5-6.3 Di II VC (Vibration Compensation) LD Aspherical (IF) Macro and their previously unreleased SP AF10-24mm F/3.5-4.5 Di-II LD Aspherical [IF] - two excellent alternative lenses for Canon, Nikon, Sony and Pentax. I was able to take a test shot with both lenses and both seem to have been good samples. The 10-24 was a prototype though and reported itself as a 5mm lens to my D300. Nothing major though. Please note that as these are Di-II lenses, they are designed for DX sized sensors (so they are not going to work properly with full frame sensors - Canon 5D Mk I & II, Canon 1Ds Mk II & III, Nikon D3, D3x, & D700).
Think Tank:
Camera bag maker extraordinaire, Think Tank Photo had its entire line of photographic transport units (my term) on display. Prominent was their Airport Roller line - a set of three rollaboard bags that meet international travel standards. Also shown was an unreleased backpack called The Shapeshifter, an intriguing convertible bag that can carry camera equipment or be converted to regular luggage duties.
Well, that about does it for this year's PhotoPlus Expo. I will be publishing further in depth articles covering some the equipment shown here as well as many others. My complete PhotoPlus gallery can be found here.
After the initial sweep of Day One, Days Two & Three afforded me the opportunity to calmly peruse the smaller booths to see what gems I could uncover. Here are some of the highlights:
Animoto: Animoto is a web product that converts your images into a professional video slideshow complete with music. Free accounts are available but are restricted to making 30 second clips. Professional and Business accounts are available for a fee and allow the creation of longer clips and downloadable DVD quality video.
I was able to create the clip below with images that I uploaded to my Flickr account. Many other online galleries are supported or you can upload images directly to Animoto. Animoto offers a large library of music to use as soundtracks or you can upload your own. The software on their site then analyzes the video and the music and creates a professional looking slideshow in minutes. The video can then be emailed, embedded, downloaded, posted to YouTube, mailed to your iPhone or (for a fee) upgraded to hi-res for DVD playback. Very slick. I plan on using this a lot. Click on the "Get Animoto" link to the right and get a $5 discount on an All Access Pass (normally $30/yr).
Arca Swiss: Makers of view cameras used by legendary photographers like Ansel Adams, Arca Swiss was on hand demonstrating their R-series technical cameras. Arca Swiss also makes ballheads and mounting clamp systems for view cameras. High quality stuff.
Interestingly enough, the R3 (pictured above) is really just a high precision metal plate with a gearing system that allows the photographer to tilt/shift the camera’s lens to correct for distortion. The R3 can mount any medium format film or digital back and is a scale focused rangefinder.
Bibble: Eric and his team from Bibble Labs were on hand demonstrating the as yet unreleased Bibble 5. Bibble started out as a very fast RAW file converter, but with version 5 adds more speed (up to 40x faster than version 4 – and version 4 was the fastest converter on the market already), digital asset management, and a host of adjustment tools. Based on my own workflows, I will rarely have to leave B5 to produce finished images. Even more amazing is the level of multi-threading. Eric demonstrated B5 running on a 16-core machine, submitting a batch of 116 images for conversion and completing the job in a shade over 19 seconds. Unbelievable.
BRNO: Jim over at BRNO LLC always hated to have to carry around a gray card, white balancing gadget or have to hunt down something or someone wearing white at his photo shoots. One day he forgot his white balance card at a wedding where the bride wore red. It was while he was in the midst of preparation for seppuku when he hit upon the idea of combining a white balancing device with a lens cap. Thus the baLens (pronounced "bah-lenz") was born. Seriously, this is one ingenious idea. Just keep the lens cap on, point your camera at the light source, snap a pic and DING! you have a proper custom white balance shot. Unlike similar products, the baLens replaces your existing lens cap a thus does not become an extra widget to have to drag around. The white bit in the center is replaceable and there are warm and neutral versions included with each baLens. Jim expects the baLens to become available around early December. HP Marketing will be distributing in the States, Amplis Foto in Canada, and Etsumi Co. Ltd. in Japan. The product will be retailed by the usual suspects: B&H, Adorama, Calumet, Samy's and other specialty stores.
Canon Printing Systems: Canon had their ImagePROGRAF printers on hand and they were truly a site to behold. Ranging from the diminutive iPF5100 (17" wide) to the monstrous iPF9100 (60" wide), Canon ImagePROGRAF printers operate using a 12-ink system (Cyan, Photo Cyan, Magenta, Photo Magenta, Yellow, Black, Matte Black, Red, Green. Blue, Gray, Photo Gray) including regular and Matte black inks with auto-switching between the two. Like other printers in this class, Canon's Lucia inks are rated at over 200 years of lightfastness. Prices start around $1995 USD for the iPF5100. The iPF5100's ink tanks are 130ml each which is good because the whole set costs around $840 USD.
Needless to say these are large format printers so don't expect to be printing 4x6 snapshots on them. The iPF5100 is actually capable of printing 17" wide by 59 feet! That's one hell of a panorama.
Dymo: King of the label printer, Dymo was present to show off it's DiscPainter. This is a dedicated USB inkjet printer for printable CD's and DVD's. The DiscPainter uses RadialPrint Technology, imaging the disc label on the spinning disc from the hub out. Remember SpinArt? This is the same thing except it's computer controlled. It's very fast, imaging a whole disc in a couple of minutes.
The unit uses a single tricolor ink cartridge so when you run out of one color you have to replace the whole thing. The DiscPainter is PC/Mac compatible and can print on matte, glossy and silver printable discs.
Gary Fong: Mr. Fong is a specialist in diffusion. He makes various inexpensive gadgets for you to strap on to your flashes is order to soften their effect and cut out harsh shadows and "red eye". "Red eye" is caused when a high speed electronic flash is fired close to the focal axis of the lens and directly in the face of the subject who is standing in dim light. The dim light causes the subject's pupils to dilate and the flash's extremely short duration (as little as 1/20,000th of a second) and high intensity light is then reflect off the retinas. This is the source of the "red eye" effect in humans ("green eye" effect in animals). By diffusing the light and softening it, Gary Fong's devices help eliminate this. They also remove the harsh shadows and color draining effects of direct flash.
The device shown in the photo is The Puffer. This retails for under $20 and works with any built-in pop up flash unit. While it does greatly reduce the effective distance of this flash, it transforms the nearly useless built-in flash into a light source eminently suitable for parties and intimate occasions where a larger flash gun would be awkward to manipulate. You can purchase these and other flash diffusers from Gary Fong's website and from dealers like Ritz and Wolf Camera.
Hasselblad: Founded in 1948 by Victor Hasselblad, the camera that bears his name is one of the most prestigious names in photography. A long time champion of medium format cameras, Hasselblad has kept pace with the digital revolution and is currently on its 4th generation digital medium format camera.
Unlike other players in this market, Hasselblad has opted for a systemic approach to digital medium format with its H-System. The H3D-II cameras are only capable of accepting Hasselblad made lenses, viewfinders, adaptors, accessories, teleconverters, and digital backs. While this practically eliminates third-party lenses and components, it does allow Hasselblad to tightly control the integration of all of the parts that make up this system. Think of them as the Apple of medium format.
One new component added to the mix is the HTS 1.5 Tilt/Shift Adaptor. Tilt/Shift lenses are not a new idea. Practically every major camera manufacturer has two or three models in their harem of lenses. The problem lies in the focal plane shutter mechanism used by those cameras. The tilt/shift mechanism must, by design, physically separate the front half of the lens from rear half. This decoupling of the halves of the lens prevents the use of autofocus motors. Hasselblad, by electing to use a central shutter mechanism (where the shutter is housed in the lens along with the electronically controlled aperture and autofocus motors), Hasselblad's HTS 1.5 adaptor allows the use of up to 5 different lenses as tilt/shift lenses and the transmission of control signals to the lens' aperture and shutter via pass-through contacts and still retain autofocus capabilities. Look for a future review of this camera system.
Hoodman: Hoodman manufactures accessories for digital cameras including right-angle viewfinder adapters (shown), memory cards, and viewing loupes. This last product is an interesting departure from their original product: a popup shade for digital SLR LCD screens. Hoodman has discarded this design in favor of the hooded loupe they now make. I personally use a Delkin PopUp Shade on the rear LCD of my D300 and I am quite pleased with it. In defense of the hooded loupe approach, Hoodman's version can magnify the image up to 3x without zooming on the cameras' display. Many photographers prefer the hooded loupe approach, I myself don’t need more things hanging off of my neck.
M-Rock Camera Bags: Newcomer on the camera bag scene is M-Rock. Stylishly designed and affordable, M-Rock bags securely carry your gear and look good doing it too. Bags range for tiny belt pouches for your point-and-shoot camera all the way up to ergonomic rolling backpacks capable of carrying up to two pro DSLR bodies and a stash of lenses + gear.
That's the end of Part One. Part Two will be up shortly.
This blog is here as an outlet for me to discuss topics and technologies outside the scope of my other websites. Photography will be a focus as well as current events in the world of tech. Tune in frequently.
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