Nikon D3s Overview

by Shawn Barnett
Posted: 10/14/09

You know there was already something excellent about a camera when it gets only a minor upgrade after almost two years of service, something Nikon confirms with its introduction of the Nikon D3s professional digital SLR. You might disagree on whether the upgrade is major or minor, but some will cling to the resolution to say that there's little new about the Nikon D3s: "It's still 12.1 megapixels."

But a camera is more than resolution. Nikon more than any other camera company has taught us that a digital camera can perform better in low light than we've ever allowed ourselves to expect--seeing more like our eyes see, so that we can get better pictures without flash. They taught us this with the Nikon D3, whose expanded ISO setting was an astonishing 25,600. Journalists rely on the D3's high ISO settings, making images that would have been impossible just a few years ago.

The Nikon D3s, however, is more sensitive. Its base ISO range is 200 to 12,800. And its expanded ISO settings go up to 102,400. The possibilities just multiplied.

In addition to greater sensitivity, the Nikon D3s offers the new essential feature of video capture. As on other Nikons, D-Movie captures 1,280 x 720 progressive scan at 24 frames per second. Files are saved in Motion JPEG AVI format, which allows easy on-camera editing, as well as extracting a still image from the video stream, all without affecting the original file. A monaural microphone is built into the front of the Nikon D3s, and a stereo mic input allows attachment of a hot-shoe-mounted or wireless mic. Aperture control while in D-Movie ranges from f/1.4 to f/16, and an optional High-Sensitivity Movie Mode opens up ISO 6,400 to 102,400 for recording movies in very low light conditions.

Functionally, most of what was great remains. The nine-frames-per-second burst, or 11 fps in the DX-crop mode continues delivering what users expect. The buffer has been doubled, though, and a new crop mode supports 1.2x image sizes, turning out 8.4 megapixel files. The 51-point AF system remains the same, thankfully.

A new Quiet Shutter Release mode makes shooting in low-noise environments easier, and a few controls have been shifted to make using the Nikon D3s a little more intuitive.

The Nikon D3s is expected to ship in late November 2009 for $5,199.95, about $200 more than the Nikon D3 when it shipped in 2007.

Nikon D3s Preview

by Mike Tomkins and Shawn Barnett

The Nikon D3S single-lens reflex digital camera updates the company's previous D3 model to include an even wider sensitivity range, high-definition movie capture, dust reduction, and quite a few other new features besides.

Though it's largely the same size and weight, with dimensions of 6.3 x 6.2 x 3.4 inches (160 x 157 x 88 mm) and a body-only weight of two pounds, twelve ounces (1,414g), the Nikon D3s has a few external refinements to talk about; but perhaps the best news for pros is that the Nikon D3s is familiar, so upgrading or adding a D3s to their arsenal isn't going to require a lot of retraining.

Look and feel. As with the D3, the D3s looks and feels quite sturdy, with excellent grip surfaces for both horizontal and vertical shooting, and canted dials for smoother human interaction.

New on the front of the Nikon D3s are three holes for the monaural microphone, appearing in the upper right in this picture, floating between the self-timer lamp and the Flash sync / Remote terminal cover.

There's essentially no noticeable difference on top, except that there's no longer a Live view position on the Drive mode dial, whose former position you can't really see in this image. Live view is now accessed on the back.

Nikon added an "info" button to the left button array, including a feature that was heretofore not found on their pro series cameras. The button calls up a rear status display that is also new to the pro line. With the recording mic now on the front of the Nikon D3s, the small Rear Control Panel LCD shifts left, allowing room for the addition of a Live view button (marked Lv), just right of the Microphone button. And that pretty well sums up the major physical differences on the Nikon D3s.

Sensor. Announced a little over two years ago, the D3 was an extremely important camera for Nikon, being its first offering to include a full 35mm-frame sized image sensor. In the company's parlance, the sensor format is designated "Nikon FX," to avoid the impression that its DX-format (or APS-C) sensors are somehow "sub-frame." In comparison to a Nikon DX camera of the same resolution (like the Nikon D300s), an FX-format model offers greatly-increased light gathering capability, which translates to better high ISO, or low-light performance. It also allows near-identical framing with that of a 35mm film camera when using the same focal length, and makes truly wide-angle photography more feasible given that there's no focal length multiplier in FX mode.

There's no such thing as a free lunch, though, and there are two main disadvantages for full-frame digital SLRs -- the first of which is that the cost to manufacture such a sensor is significantly higher than that of an APS-C camera. At the same time, taking full advantage of the larger sensor requires the use of larger, heavier FX-format lenses if the entire imager is to fit inside the image circle produced by the optics.

Unlike Canon, whose sub-frame lenses cannot mount on full-frame cameras, Nikon allows the use of DX-format lenses by simply cropping the active area of the FX-format sensor to match that of a DX-format camera, with a corresponding decrease in total resolution.

Inside, the Nikon D3S sports both a newly-developed image sensor and EXPEED image processor, which together have enabled the new video mode and increased sensitivity. Sensor resolution is unchanged from that of the D3, at 12.1 effective megapixels, and the new FX-format CMOS chip in the Nikon D3S also retains the same 36.0 x 23.9mm dimensions and 8.45µm cell size of its predecessor.

Maximum image resolution in the native 3:2 aspect ratio is 4,256 x 2,832 pixels, and there's also a 5:4 aspect ratio mode which allows image capture at up to 3,552 x 2,832 pixels, excellent for helping photographers frame in the popular 8x10-inch format. In addition, the Nikon D3S can record images in DX crop mode at up to 2,784 x 1,848 pixel resolution, and there's a new 1.2x crop mode which trades off a little resolution in favor of a slightly increased 35mm-equivalent focal length, avoids the very corners of the image (which tend to be the problem areas for lens-derived image defects), and yields slightly more manageable file sizes.

The Nikon D3S is based around a 16-bit imaging pipeline, and offers the choice of either 14-bit or 12-bit A/D conversion. Startup time is said to be 0.12 seconds, with shutter lag of 0.04 seconds, according to Nikon specifications.

Buffer increase. As you'd expect, the Nikon D3S retains the impressive burst shooting capability of the D3, with a maximum of nine frames per second possible in FX-format shooting, and as much as eleven frames per second when set to DX-format. Thanks to a doubling of its buffer memory size, the Nikon D3s offers greatly increased burst depth as compared to the stock Nikon D3, however. (The upgraded buffer memory was made available as a paid option for D3 owners about a year after the camera first launched, so the native buffer memory of the D3S -- and hence its burst depth -- are identical to that of an upgraded D3).

For full-resolution FX-mode shooting depending on the compression type in use, burst depth should be in the region of 35 to 44 frames in Raw or TIFF formats, according to Nikon, while JPEG bursts of 119 to 130 shots should be possible. DX-mode full-res bursts meanwhile should reach 54 to 87 Raw or TIFF frames, and 130 JPEG frames.

Dust Reduction. One of the most significant changes in the Nikon D3S outside the imaging pipeline is the inclusion of Nikon's Dust Reduction system -- the first time the company has offered the technology in a full-frame camera with 100% viewfinder coverage. The system functions by vibrating the optical low-pass filter over the CMOS sensor at four distinct frequencies to shake free any dust particles that are adhering to the filter. This process can be initiated at the user's command, or automatically either when the camera is first switched on, or right before it powers off.

Lens mount. The Nikon D3S provides a Nikon F-mount with autofocus coupling and contacts. Like the D3 before it, the Nikon D3S is compatible with almost every F-mount lens made since 1977, although some lens types will have a few limitations.

LCD. On the rear panel of the Nikon D3S is a 3.0-inch diagonal low-temperature polysilicon LCD with a total resolution of 921,600 dots, which equates to 307,200 pixels in a 640 x 480 (VGA) array. The panel is identical to that used on the original D3, and offers a wide 170-degree viewing angle both horizontally and vertically, as well as 100% frame coverage. Those paying close attention will notice that the number of pixels claimed for the LCD has changed from 920,000 to 921,600, but they assure us that they were rounding down when they announced the D3, and this is a more accurate number.

Viewfinder. There's also an eye-level pentaprism viewfinder whose coverage is 100% when used in uncropped FX 4:3 or 5:4 aspect ratio modes, and 97% when in the 1.2x or DX cropped modes. When shooting in modes other than the native FX-format 3:2 aspect ratio, a translucent LCD in the viewfinder of Nikon's D3S partially masks the inactive portions of the frame. The viewfinder has 0.7x magnification at 50mm and -1 diopter, an 18mm eyepoint, a diopter adjustment range of -3 to +1, and ships by default with a Type B BriteView Clear Matte VI screen with AF area brackets installed.

Live view. Also retained from the Nikon D3 is that camera's Live View mode, although it now has its own dedicated button on the camera's rear panel rather than occupying a position on the Release Mode Dial. (Its space is taken over by the Quiet Shutter function previously seen on the Nikon D300s and D5000 models, which noticeably reduces noise levels by separating cocking and release of the shutter mechanism.)

The Live view mode in the Nikon D3S is similar to that of its predecessor, offering both hand-held and tripod modes. Hand-held mode uses phase-detection autofocusing, which includes a brief interruption to the live view display while the camera checks focus, and the Triopd mode uses contrast-detection autofocusing. Thanks to the new EXPEED image processor, contrast detection AF performance is said to be around 30 to 40 percent faster than the D3. There's also a new flicker reduction function in Live View mode, which can be set to either 50 or 60Hz, preventing a common issue under incandescent lighting.

High ISO. One of the more impressive changes in the Nikon D3S enabled by its new image sensor and processor is the incredibly wide sensitivity range. Where the Nikon D3 already offered a useful standard range from ISO 200 to 6,400 equivalents, the D3S boosts the upper end of the range to ISO 12,800 equivalent. As with the D3, the lower end of the range can be expanded to include ISO 100, but the really significant changes are in the expanded upper range. The Nikon D3 allowed Hi-1 and Hi-2 positions with equivalent ISO sensitivities of 12,800 and 25,600 respectively. The Nikon D3S replaces these with Hi-1, -2 and -3 settings, which equate to ISO 25,600, ISO 51,200 and incredibly to a maximum of ISO 102,400!

Autofocus and metering. The Nikon D3S retains the same Multi-CAM 3500FX phase detection autofocus sensor as seen in the D3, which offers 51 focusing points, of which 15 are cross types. The Nikon D3S includes AF tracking capability, and allows fine-tuning of individual lenses to correct for front- or back-focus issues. Exposure modes include Program, Aperture- and Shutter-priority, and Manual.

Metering is performed with a 1,005 pixel RGB sensor, and shutter speeds range from 1/8,000 to 30 seconds. The shutter mechanism is retained from the Nikon D3, and is still rated at a lifetime of around 300,000 cycles. White balance options include Auto, twelve presets (including fully seven Fluorescent presets), as well as five Manual white balance positions, and the ability to directly specify a color temperature from 2,500 to 10,000 Kelvin. In addition, all white balance modes allow fine-tuning. +/- 5.0EV of exposure compensation is available in 1/3, 1/2 or 1EV steps. The Nikon D3S also includes a hot shoe and flash sync terminal, with iTTL flash metering, an X-sync of 1/250 second, and compatibility with the company's Creative Lighting System.

D-Movie. The Nikon D3S offers a high-definition movie capture function, as have quite a few other recent digital SLRs. Unlike many, however, Nikon has allowed both the ability to perform contrast detection autofocusing during movie capture, as well as to specify the shutter speed and aperture, and to change the latter during movie recording (although it should be noted that the aperture change will be noticeable in both the audio and video captured).

The Nikon D3S' video mode allows use of the camera's unusually high ISO sensitivities, although the exact sensitivity selected remains under the camera's control. Instead of manual control of sensitivity, the photographer selects from one of two ISO ranges -- either 200 to 12,800 equivalents, or 6,400 to 102,400 equivalents. This latter mode is called High Sensitivity Movie Mode.

The maximum movie resolution offered in the Nikon D3S is 1,280 x 720 pixels (720p), with 640 x 424 and 320 x 216 pixel modes also available. All movies are captured at 24 frames per second, and audio can be recorded either with the camera's internal monaural microphone, or an external stereo mic using a 3.5mm jack. Audio sensitivity can be manually adjusted, with three settings plus an off position. It's also possible to trim both the start and end of movies in-camera, and to extract a still frame. Finally, Nikon has apparently worked on the jello-like rolling shutter artifacts which are commonplace in DSLR videos due to the manner in which they're captured, and the company is describing the effect as being about half as noticeable as in its past models.

The Nikon D3S stores images via dual CompactFlash card slots like its predecessor, although Type-II CompactFlash cards and Microdrives can no longer be accepted in either slot. The Nikon D3S is UDMA compatible, and can store still images in several formats. Choices include .NEF Raw (Uncompressed, lossless compression, or lossy compression), TIFF, or JPEG, as well as both Raw and JPEG simultaneously.

Connectivity includes USB 2.0 High-Speed, as well as both standard definition NTSC/PAL and high-definition HDMI video output. The HDMI connector used is now a Type-C, rather than the Type-A found in the Nikon D3. There's also a 10-pin remote connection that also doubles as a connector for an optional GPS receiver, and a 3.5mm stereo microphone jack. Power comes from an EN-EL4a or EN-EL4 battery, with the former included in the product bundle.

The Nikon D3S goes on sale from late November 2009, priced at about $5,200 body-only, just a couple of hundred dollars above the launch price of its predecessor.