Nikon D3 Firmware Update

Nikon have released a firmware upgrade for the D3. there are no major bug fixes other than one for a dead battery issue that some people have been experiencing with both the D3 and D300. There are however a a few additions worthy of consideration. Modifications enabled with upgrade of A and B firmware to v.2.00 Images captured with “Rotate tall”, in the playback menu, set to “On”, are not automatically rotated for display immediately after capture (image review). The following changes and additions have been made to “f4: Assign FUNC.Button > FUNC. Button + dials” ; “f5: Assign preview button > Preview + command dials”, and “f6: Assign AE-L / AF-L button > AE-L / AF-L + command dials” menus in Custom Settings: The “Choose image area” option has been separated into two options, “Choose image area (FX / DX / 5:4)” and “Choose image area (FX / DX)” A new “Shooting menu bank” option has been added. When “Choose image area (FX / DX / 5:4)” or “Choose image area (FX/DX)” is selected and the function button (Fn) is pressed, the image area setting is displayed in the top control panel, in the shooting information display, and at the bottom of the viewfinder. A “Copyright information” item has been added to the setup menu. When “Copyright information” is enabled, the copyright symbol ( © ) is shown in the shooting info display. “Recent settings” can now be displayed in place of “My Menu”. The virtual horizon can now be displayed with shooting in LiveView mode. The “Vignette control” setting can now be confimed in shooting information. The “Vignette control” item in the shooting menu now supports all types of G- and D-type lenses, except DX and PC lenses. The “Vignette control” compensation value has been optimized for shooting with “Active D-Lighting” the shooting menu. Electronic analog exposure displays are now shown in the control panel and shooting info display while the exposure compensation setting is being applied. The degree of the “High ISO NR” setting can now be confirmed in the shooting info display while the “High ISO NR” setting item, in the shooting menu, is being applied. Design of the FX-format icon in the “Choose image area” setting has been modified. Ankara, Riyadh, Kuwait, and Manamah have been added to the “Time zone” options for the “World Time” item in the setup menu. When a GPS device is used and no heading information is available, –.–° is now displayed for the “Position > Heading” option in the “GPS” item in the setup menu. When shooting in LiveView mode using Camera Control Pro 2 (ver. 2.2.0) or later with a PC-E lens, the aperture setting can now be adjusted from the computer. Autofocus performance has been improved. Auto White Balance performance has been improved. An issue that, in some rare circumstances, caused the battery indicator to blink, regardless of actual battery charge, has been resolved. Errors in the German help displays have been corrected. US customers can download the Nikon D3 Firmware 2.0 here.

Nikon Unveil Full Frame D3 & new D300

After what has to be one of the longest waits Nikon released a Full Frame D-SLR, featuring a CMOS based 12.1 megapixel sensor. D3. The D3 is centred around speed and sensitivity, with a base sensitivity of ISO 200 to 6400 and an additional two stop range above that (up to ISO 25600). The D3 can shoot at nine frames per second with AF tracking, and up to eleven frames per second without. The D3 should be available in November, at around US$5000. Other capabilities included their new EXPEED image processor, a new 51-point AF sensor, color AF tracking, dual CF compartments featuring UDMA support, an amazing 3.0" Live View Display, HDMI video output, and even a virtual horizon function which can tell you when you're holding the D3 level. The D300 also features a 12 megapixel CMOS sensor, albeit a 1.5x FCF, 14-bit A/D conversion, EXPEED image processor, sensitivity up to ISO 6400, HDMI video output, UDMA CF support and the 3.0" Live View Display. The D300 should be available in November, at around US$1800. Visit DPReview for more info...