Nikon D3 vs Nikon D2Xs
 | Several months ago I purchased Nikon D3 and while I haven't yet sold the Nikon D2Xs, I wrote a small comparison about how full-frame differs from crop sensor. |
Let's Start
Nikon recently released their revolutionary first full-frame (full frame sensor) camera Nikon D3 with 12 megapixels, which makes this camera ideal for photojournalism, sports, weddings. This review is not about how good D3 is, but a review about how full-frame cameras differ from crop sensor cameras. Full frame camera sensor is 36 x 24 mm, but crop sensor is 23.7 x 15.7 mm (Nikon DX). Partially this comparison also applies to Canon 5D or Canon 6D (will appear soon) comparison with Canon 40D or Canon 400D cameras, because their sensor properties and sizes are similar. Instead of Nikon D2x, you can safely substitute Nikon D200 or Nikon D300, because they are very similar in noise and sensor levels.ISO
The biggest difference and why it's worth getting a full-frame camera is the noise (digital noise) level, which compared to crop sensor cameras is better by 3 times. During testing, all noise reducers were turned off on the cameras. I didn't compare photos at the same ISO settings, because it's obvious that Nikon D3 has less noise, but I wanted to find out at which ISO settings the noise levels are similar.
A Mamiya camera was shot and a cropped part where details are more visible in dark areas was used, because noise appears most in dark shadows. For the test, I used Nikon D2Xs with Nikon 28mm f/1.4 and Nikon D3 with Nikon 50mm f/1.4. No tripod was used, so sharpness may differ.
The first photo shows Nikon D2Xs ISO400 compared with Nikon D3 ISO 1600. Photo is 100% crops. (hover your mouse cursor over the photo)
The next photo shows Nikon D2Xs ISO1600 compared with Nikon D3 ISO 12800. Photo is 100% crops. (hover your mouse cursor over the photo)
You can safely say that Nikon D3 exceeds Nikon D2Xs three times in noise cleanliness and all other Nikon cameras with DX sensor.
Screen
Another wonderful thing that Nikon D3 impressed with is the 3.0" screen with 922,000 pixels, where Nikon D2Xs has a 2.5" screen with 235,000 pixels. LCD screens were photographed and 100% crop areas of photos were compared.
Here is the crop comparison. Pay attention to details. (hover your mouse cursor over it)
Improvements
- Good quality at high ISO thanks to the full frame sensor.
- Excellent LCD screen with Live View mode
- Smaller depth of field than DX sensor.
- ISO 25600 capability
- Supports DX lenses, but image is at 5 megapixel resolution.
- 14-bit A/D conversion, 12 channel readout
- New generation shutter with 300,000 cycle rating
- New Multi-CAM3500FX autofocus sensor with 51 points. When working with both cameras, you can notice that D3 focuses better and more precisely.
- возможность калибровки автофокуса объектива
- Two Compact Flash card slots that can work as backup, continue recording photos in the second card slot, or record RAW on one card and JPG on the other. UDMA supports.
- HDMI HD video output.
- Ability to edit and crop photos in camera.
- Comes with a charger that can charge 2 batteries.
Conclusions
Nikon D3 is an excellent reportage camera that thanks to the full frame allows shooting at higher ISO and getting quality images. However for studio work nowadays 12 megapixels is too little, but Nikon is currently developing and testing the new camera Nikon D3x, which promises to be specifically a studio camera with approximately 22 megapixels, but it will no longer be as fast in frames per second. So if you want to switch to Nikon D3 but shoot more in the studio, then it's worth waiting until this autumn. It will be a competitor to Canon Mark III 1Ds camera. Also for now Nikon D3 is not worth comparing with Canon 5D, because Canon 5D is more than 2 years old model and this year it's planned to replace it with Canon 6D.
Additional Links
Nikon D3 vs Canon Mark III 1Ds link
Nikon D3 vs Canon 5D link
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