Hands on with the 24-megapixel Nikon D3X

As you can see from our pictures, we've had some hands-on time with a stunning new model. We pushed all the right buttons to see if we could -- oh, we can't keep this up, if you're still reading you're probably a serious dSLR fan and would only complain about our lame jokes anyway. News of the Nikon D3X leaked over the weekend and we took it for a spin first thing this morning, giddy with the power of a 24.5 megapixel full-frame CMOS sensor.

The new camera is Nikon's third full-frame format dSLR -- although they call it FX format round Nikon way -- alongside the D700 and D3. It shoots 5 frames per second in FX format or 5:4, and 7fps in DX format.

One innovation is that the components talk to each other so that the white balance and metering help each other out, with colour information then helping out the autofocus. This means that the camera can focus on colour as well as brightness in the frame.

Unlike the D90, there's no video option, but that isn't a huge shock given the time the D3X will have been in production. Nikon is keen to stress that the D3X is all about the high resolution, with other considerations given a back seat. There's no sensor-cleaning system either, due to the loss of viewfinder coverage that would result.

We fired off a few shots with a the D3X and were impressed. The magnesium alloy body is darn heavy, but that's the price you pay for gobsmacking resolution and features like picture control system, an accelerometer and dual CompactFlash card slots. This last feature allows you to back up as you shoot, shoot Raw and JPEG on separate cards, and copy data from one card to another.

Hit continue to check out the rear -- sorry, sometimes we can't help ourselves (complain in the comments section if you must).

• Previous
• Continue

• Share:
• 
• 
• 

• Tags:
• nikon,
• frame,
• colour,
• dslr