Halleh-Bloody-Lujah-
The Nikon D3. Full Frame Sensor. As God Intended.
That is all. (And enough).
(Well, no, it isn't: sneak a peek HERE)
Well, OK, here's a bit more:
There's absolutely nothing wrong with Nikon's DX sensors, as used in the D1/D1x/D1h/D2x/D2h/D100/D200/D40/D50/D70/D80 as well as the Fuji S-series. But at the end of the day, the sensor is only part of the story: the glass in front of the sensor matters as much, if not more.
And there's the problem. Over the past 40+ years, Nikon has been producing lenses for 35mm film. And there are some gems out there, notably the AF 85mm f/1.4D. Now, that lens will work fine with the DX cameras, but you have to stand further away for the same composition ('cos the sensor is smaller) and if you stand further away, the perspective changes. So Nikon produced some new lenses that were designed for the DX sensor, providing wider angles. But wider angles change the perspective in a different way. In short, there's nothing you couldn't do with a DX that you could with 35mm film, but the lenses that were perfectly designed as (say) portrait lenses didn't behave the same way on a DX as on a 35mm.
So Kodak made a couple of full-frame cameras, namely the DCS Pro 14n and the DCS SLR/n, which were fine optically, but they were based on a not-top-of-the-line Nikon body. So you got the optical goodness, but not the mechanical and flash and other great systems from the brand leader.
Until, well, today. The D3. It will be mine. Sometime...
That is all. (And enough).
(Well, no, it isn't: sneak a peek HERE)
Well, OK, here's a bit more:
There's absolutely nothing wrong with Nikon's DX sensors, as used in the D1/D1x/D1h/D2x/D2h/D100/D200/D40/D50/D70/D80 as well as the Fuji S-series. But at the end of the day, the sensor is only part of the story: the glass in front of the sensor matters as much, if not more.
And there's the problem. Over the past 40+ years, Nikon has been producing lenses for 35mm film. And there are some gems out there, notably the AF 85mm f/1.4D. Now, that lens will work fine with the DX cameras, but you have to stand further away for the same composition ('cos the sensor is smaller) and if you stand further away, the perspective changes. So Nikon produced some new lenses that were designed for the DX sensor, providing wider angles. But wider angles change the perspective in a different way. In short, there's nothing you couldn't do with a DX that you could with 35mm film, but the lenses that were perfectly designed as (say) portrait lenses didn't behave the same way on a DX as on a 35mm.
So Kodak made a couple of full-frame cameras, namely the DCS Pro 14n and the DCS SLR/n, which were fine optically, but they were based on a not-top-of-the-line Nikon body. So you got the optical goodness, but not the mechanical and flash and other great systems from the brand leader.
Until, well, today. The D3. It will be mine. Sometime...