Ejecutive

There’s been a flurry of activity in the Nikon camp about it’s answer to Canon’s new EOS-1D Mark III, the rumoured D3. Over on the Nikonians forum, jrp posted his new prediction:

Reports of a full frame (1.1X sensor) prototype being tested were getting stale; however, with apologies for the delay, our intelligence sources in the heart of Japan have confirmed it:

New Model denomination: D3, most likely D3H Sensor Manufacturer: Either Sony (most likely) or Nikon Megapixel rating: in the 18MP to 20MP range Expected announcement date: March 2007, at PMA Likely availability in store shelves around the world: October 2007 Surprise Feature: DX format high FPS rate High Speed Crop Mode

Which strangely enough matches what jeff-c on the DPReview forums said a year ago about 1.1x crop factor sensors.

It does seem likely we’ll be getting full-frame or near full-frame sensors with the D3, otherwise a lot of people will be dissapointed and Nikon would risk having people jump ship to Canon and their rumoured update to the EOS-1Ds.

Personally I’m quite happy with DX size (1.5x crop-factor), especially as I’ve invested in a reasonable amount of DX lenses and the extra reach it gives me with my longer lenses.

This seems like it’s going to be one hell of a PMA convention, Nikon, Canon and Olympus are updating their professional line-up with new cameras and lenses expected by all.