In exciting photography news, Nikon has released their high resolution professional dSLR, the D3x after months of speculation and following “a leak” (you can also read a D3x and 1Ds Mark III comparison with that same link). This new Nikon competes with Canon’s EOS 1Ds Mark III and Sony’s Alpha A900.

Some notable features of the D3x are: 24.5 megapixel FX-format CMOS sensor with the 51-point auto focus system (same auto focus as the D300, D700, and D3), ISO sensitivity of 100 to 1600 with 50, 3200, and 6400 as options, new EXPEED image processor, and 5 fps in FX-format and 7 fps in DX-format. Most other features remain the same as the D3 such as the 3.0 inch 922,000 pixel LCD and the body design.

Nikon’s MSRP is $7,999, the price of the Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III when released. A lot of people, including myself, was hoping Nikon would price the D3x at a much lower price point such as ~$5,000 because $8,000 is a bit high for a 35mm dSLR. When the D3x actually ships, hopefully the price will come down as the Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III can be had for ~$5,000 or less now (used). One thing that I’ve always liked about Nikon dSLRs is the high-speed crop mode. The D3x is capable of 5 frames-per-second (considering that it is moving A LOT of data, that is very impressive) in the full-frame FX-format, but when you need faster frame rates, you can activate a high-speed crop mode which allows you to go to 7 frames-per-second at a reduced resolution of 10 megapixels. This is also a similar feature of the D3, 9 frames-per-second in FX-format and 11 frames-per-second but with only 6 megapixel.

You can read more at:

• Nikon USA
• Nikon USA Press Release
• DPReview (with lots of pictures)
• Rob Galbraith