New cameras...

[mann]

2012 is going to be a great year. The D4 came out and is a D3s on steroids with 16 mgpx. The D800 is now out with 36 megapixels. With slightly better efficiency then the d7000 and slightly larger pixel pitch that means it ought to have the same DR/ISO as the D700 but with, again, 36 megapixels. That is nuts. Oh yeah, yes I did pre-order one

Next up is cannon with their line up. The mark III ought to be interesting. Seems canon and nikon reversed their tact. Canon is now with bigger pixels and nikon has gone with the fine pixel pitch (whereas the d700/5dm2 were opposite). Hopefully canon can make the most of those photons and get a handle on the noise.

And while all those specs are great, I think what is revolutionary is the face detection with phase detect autofocus. For wedding, portrait, and heck even family snapshots, that will be a killer when using large apertures. Considering it also meters on that face detection, that means you can say goodbye to spot metering/center focal point and recomposing, in 90% of situations where that was the only option. In other words, I might put it on matrix meter and use al the AF points again. But we will see how that translates in practice (though I doubt it will be anything but as advertised since face detection works so well in other areas).

For those without the budget this means the next set of crop cams due out later in the year will have a good deal of these features, and even better ISO performance.

D800/E samples
http://imaging.nikon.com/lineup/dslr/d800/sample01.htm
http://imaging.nikon.com/lineup/dslr/d800/sample02.htm

D800 movie:
http://vimeo.com/36305675

Start saving!

[jspek]

d800 is a waste for me. its slower and is 36mp. it would be a d4 for me.

[Ender81]

Rumor is a 7dII in the fall also. I couldn't wait I picked up a 7d a few weeks back.

[PAFirefighter11]

Originally Posted by jspek

d800 is a waste for me. its slower and is 36mp. it would be a d4 for me.

It is only $2999, though. Saves ya a couple grand. But 4 FPS? That's uber slow. My outdated D2x shoots at 5 fps with an 8 fps high speed crop mode. It's only 12.4 megapixel, but I'm not shooting billboards.

[mann]

Originally Posted by PAFirefighter11

It is only $2999, though. Saves ya a couple grand. But 4 FPS? That's uber slow. My outdated D2x shoots at 5 fps with an 8 fps high speed crop mode. It's only 12.4 megapixel, but I'm not shooting billboards.

if the d4 were 3k I'd rather take that as well--but as long as the DR will be up to at least d7000 standards, downsampling will take care of any issues of being at 36 mgpx. You can always get a D3s now for a heck of a lot less (or d3, d700...) if FPS is an issue.

Now if only the glass capable of that resolution was cheaper...

[gtsiawd96]

Looks like there will possibly be some D700's for sale now. Now to sell the D7000 or not too.

[RichK]

I have a pre-order in on D4. Thinking of selling both the D2x and D3 to make the impact on my wallet less painful

[Renegade_]

Nikon is making some nice moves. D800 will be a studio camera, as will 5DIII whenever it comes out.

Canon did do a nice move with the 1DX I think, but since Nikon doesn't have to protect a video division, they are giving clean, 4:2:2 8-bit HDMI out on all their cams which is huge for the video market...

Interested to see what this year has in store. Im sticking with my 7D for at least another year though.

[Bsaint]

Originally Posted by gtsiawd96

Looks like there will possibly be some D700's for sale now. Now to sell the D7000 or not too.

Even though the D700 is Full frame I'd still rather have the D7k.

[04BlueSRT4]

I think I'll stick with my d300 for the time being