Well, it is official.

Nikon releases the D3s. This is the new top of the line DSLR from Nikon.

The big news is that the camera reaches new levels in ISO performance and this is a big one for me because I shoot in low light situations all the time. The question now becomes, are the ISO improvements a huge improvement over the D3 and D700? I am not sure. Time will tell.

D3s

So here is the list of new features. The ones I care about are in RED. They are the features that makes this camera appealing to me.Things like video don’t matter to me since I don’t shoot video now and don’t plan on shooting video in the future.

  • Nikon FX-format CMOS image sensor with 12.1 effective megapixels
  • ISO 12800 as standard, expandable to ISO equivalent of 102400 (Hi 3)
  • D-Movie function including High-Sensitivity Movie mode and flicker reduction
  • Dust Reduction System including Image Sensor Cleaning
  • Nikon’s original EXPEED digital image processing
  • Active D-Lighting with bracketing for up to 5 frames
  • 9-frames-per-second shooting rate in FX format, 11 fps in DX crop
  • Nikon’s original Scene Recognition System, utilizing 1,005-pixel RGB sensor, for more accurate autofocus, auto exposure, i-TTL flash control and auto white balance
  • Multi-CAM 3500FX AF sensor 51 AF points
  • Viewfinder with approx. 100% frame coverage and approx. 0.7x magnification in FX format
  • Shutter unit – 300,000 cycles of testing on fully assembled camera
  • Intelligent power management that lets you shoot up to approx. 4,200 frames per charge
  • Live View modes with dedicated button
  • Quiet Shutter-release mode for nonintrusive shooting

for more on the camera from the Nikon site click HERE for the PDF.