The Nikon D3 is a 12.0-

megapixel In digital imaging, a pixel (abbreviated px), pel, or picture element is the smallest addressable element in a raster image, or the smallest point in an all points addressable display device. In most digital display devices, pixels are the ...

professional-grade full frame (35 mm)

digital single lens reflex camera A digital single-lens reflex camera (digital SLR or DSLR) is a digital camera that combines the optics and the mechanisms of a single-lens reflex camera with a digital imaging sensor. The reflex design scheme is the primary difference between a ...

(

DSLR A digital single-lens reflex camera (digital SLR or DSLR) is a digital camera that combines the optics and the mechanisms of a single-lens reflex camera with a digital imaging sensor. The reflex design scheme is the primary difference between a ...

) announced by the

Nikon Corporation (, ; ), also known just as Nikon, is a Japanese multinational corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, specializing in optics and imaging products. The companies held by Nikon form the Nikon Group. Nikon's products include cameras, cam ...

on 23 August 2007 along with the

Nikon D300 The Nikon D300 is a 12.3-megapixel semi-professional DX format digital single-lens reflex camera that Nikon Corporation announced on 23 August 2007 along with the Nikon D3 FX format camera. The D300 was discontinued by Nikon on September 11, ...

DX format The Nikon DX format is an alternative name used by Nikon corporation for APS-C image sensor format being approximately 24x16 mm. Its dimensions are about (29 mm vs 43 mm diagonal, approx.) those of the 35mm format. The format was ...

camera. It was Nikon's first full-frame DSLR. The D3, along with the

Nikon D3X The Nikon D3X is a 24.4-megapixel professional-grade full-frame digital single-lens reflex camera (DSLR) announced by the Nikon Corporation on 1 December 2008. The D3X is the third camera in Nikon's line to offer a full-frame sensor, following t ...

, was a flagship model in Nikon's line of

s, superseding the D2Hs and D2Xs. It was replaced by the

D3S The Nikon D3S is a 12.1-megapixel professional-grade Full frame digital SLR, full frame (135 film, 35mm) digital single-lens reflex camera (DSLR) announced by Nikon Corporation on 14 October 2009. The D3S is the fourth camera in Nikon's line to ...

as Nikon's flagship DSLR. The D3, D3X, D3S, D4, D4s, D5, D6, D700, D800, D800Е and Df are the only Nikon FX format DSLRs manufactured in Japan. The D3S was replaced by the D4 in 2012.

Technology

The D3 features a full-frame 35 mm equivalent

CMOS Complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS, pronounced "sea-moss", ) is a type of metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) fabrication process that uses complementary and symmetrical pairs of p-type and n-type MOSF ...

image sensor measuring 23.9 mm × 36.0 mm. This sensor is larger than the

sensors of all previous Nikon

s, and Nikon has coined the term " FX format" to describe it. While the D3's sensor has larger pixels than some previous DX sensors, some previous DX sensors have larger pixels. The design of the D3's CMOS sensor allows for greater light sensitivity than previous DX CCD sensors. This allows the camera to reach higher equivalent

film speed Film speed is the measure of a photographic film's sensitivity to light, determined by sensitometry and measured on various numerical scales, the most recent being the ISO system. A closely related ISO system is used to describe the relation ...

s and produce images with less noise in low light situations. Low light situations include times when the camera is operated at high

shutter speed In photography, shutter speed or exposure time is the length of time that the film or digital sensor inside the camera is exposed to light (that is, when the camera's shutter is open) when taking a photograph. The amount of light that rea ...

or high

f number In optics, the f-number of an optical system such as a camera lens is the ratio of the system's focal length to the diameter of the entrance pupil ("clear aperture").Smith, Warren ''Modern Optical Engineering'', 4th Ed., 2007 McGraw-Hill Pro ...

, where the lens' aperture is reduced to improve

depth of field The depth of field (DOF) is the distance between the nearest and the furthest objects that are in acceptably sharp focus in an image captured with a camera. Factors affecting depth of field For cameras that can only focus on one object dis ...

and

sharpness Sharpness ( ) is an English port in Gloucestershire, one of the most inland in Britain, and eighth largest in the South West. It is on the River Severn at , at a point where the tidal range, though less than at Avonmouth downstream ( typical s ...

. The sensor captures image data at 14 bits per color channel through 12-channel parallel readout, which ensures 9 frame/s continuous shooting with higher bit depth than that on previous 12-bit sensors. Processed with the new Nikon

EXPEED The Nikon Expeed image/ video processors (often styled ''EXPEED'') are media processors for Nikon's digital cameras. They perform a large number of tasks: Bayer filtering, demosaicing, image sensor corrections/dark-frame subtraction, image noise ...

engine, the Live View mode in D3, along with D300, was Nikon's first implementation in its DSLR line-up. D3 also uses a

stepper motor A stepper motor, also known as step motor or stepping motor, is a brushless DC electric motor that divides a full rotation into a number of equal steps. The motor's position can be commanded to move and hold at one of these steps without any posi ...

in aperture coupling mechanism for the first time,Nikon D-Technology
D3 Series Aperture Coupling. allowing real time depth of field control in Live View with exposure preview and live

histogram A histogram is an approximate representation of the frequency distribution, distribution of numerical data. The term was first introduced by Karl Pearson. To construct a histogram, the first step is to "Data binning, bin" (or "Data binning, buck ...

functions. Additionally, D3 provides a

lossless Lossless compression is a class of data compression that allows the original data to be perfectly reconstructed from the compressed data with no loss of information. Lossless compression is possible because most real-world data exhibits statistic ...

algorithm applied to RAW file along with uncompressed and lossy-compressed format. The camera grip and body style were designed by

Giorgetto Giugiaro Giorgetto Giugiaro (; born 7 August 1938) is an Italian automotive designer. He has worked on supercars and popular everyday vehicles. He was born in Garessio, Cuneo, Piedmont. Giugiaro was named Car Designer of the Century in 1999 and inducted ...

's Italdesign. The camera body uses the

Nikon F mount The Nikon F-mount is a type of interchangeable lens mount developed by Nikon for its 35mm format single-lens reflex cameras. The F-mount was first introduced on the Nikon F camera in 1959, and features a three-lug bayonet mount with a 44mm thro ...

, making it compatible with older Nikon lenses. Other features include 9 frames per second in FX and 11 frames in DX and a large and bright LCD screen. Three firmware updates have been released for the D3. The latest firmware version is 2.02. In this firmware version, the maximum

ISO sensitivity Film speed is the measure of a photographic film's sensitivity to light, determined by sensitometry and measured on various numerical scales, the most recent being the ISO system. A closely related ISO system is used to describe the relations ...

allowed under Automatic ISO can be modified in increments the same as the manual ISO settings can, and automatic

White balance In photography and image processing, color balance is the global adjustment of the intensities of the colors (typically red, green, and blue primary colors). An important goal of this adjustment is to render specific colors – particularly neu ...

and focus tracking are improved. In the 2.01 firmware update, automatic correction of lateral

chromatic aberration In optics, chromatic aberration (CA), also called chromatic distortion and spherochromatism, is a failure of a lens to focus all colors to the same point. It is caused by dispersion: the refractive index of the lens elements varies with the w ...

is standardized, and

Vignetting In photography and optics, vignetting is a reduction of an image's brightness or saturation toward the periphery compared to the image center. The word '' vignette'', from the same root as ''vine'', originally referred to a decorative bord ...

("Vignette control"), lens distortion ("Distortion") correction, as well as image rotation ("Straighten") via playback ("Retouch") menu, are made possible. The Nikon D3 has a hardware interface for direct geotagging with

Nikon GP-1 The Nikon GP-1 is a Global Positioning System (GPS) accessory receiver manufactured by Nikon that collects geographic coordinate data and places it into the Exif data of a picture. It connects to the camera via a proprietary cable and can be moun ...

GPS The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of the global navigation satellite sy ...

Audience

The D3 is Nikon's first full frame

. Full frame can either offer greater resolution or larger pixels for improved sensitivity; in the D3 Nikon opted for a lower resolution, higher sensitivity solution. For additional resolution, the D3x was introduced. Full frame sensors also maintain the traditional focal lengths and depth of field associated with 35mm camera systems. Because it is Nikon's first such camera, it does not succeed or replace another camera model. Other professional-grade Nikon models included the D2Xs and D2Hs. The camera has a vertical grip in addition to the standard horizontal grip. When Nikon announced the D3, it was priced at US$4999, but present prices are much lower. In July 2008 the D3x's larger buffer memory was offered as an upgrade to D3 owners, doubling its continuous shooting capacity. This modification represents approximately 10% of the original cost of the camera. New D3 bodies still ship with the original buffer memory; upgraded models can be identified with a "2x" label in the storage card door. As many other Nikon film SLR (various modified

Nikon F The Nikon F camera, introduced in April 1959, was Nikon's first SLR camera. It was one of the most advanced cameras of its day. Although many of the concepts had already been introduced elsewhere, it was revolutionary in that it was the first ...

, F3, F4, F5) and digital

cameras like the

Nikon NASA F4 The Nikon NASA F4 Electronic Still Camera was one of the first and rarest fully digital cameras with development started in 1987. While Nikon delivered a modified Nikon F4 body, most of the electronics for the digital camera and housings were d ...

, Nikon based

Kodak DCS 460 The Eastman Kodak Company (referred to simply as Kodak ) is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in analogue photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorpor ...

, DCS 660 and DCS 760,

Nikon D1 The Nikon D1 is a digital single-lens reflex camera (DSLR) made by Nikon Corporation introduced on June 15, 1999. It featured a 2.7-megapixel image sensor, 4.5-frames-per-second continuous shooting, and accepted the full range of Nikon F-mount ...

, D2X and D2Xs, the D3 is used by

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeedin ...

, for example in

Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program n ...

missions to the

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest Modular design, modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos ( ...

Reception

Popular Photography magazine determined that the Nikon D3 camera has excellent control of noise and can shoot in very low light at high ISO speeds with very usable results. The DxOMark Sensor rankings issued by DxO Labs placed the Nikon D3 at fourth place behind two medium-format cameras from Phase One and the subsequent

. The Nikon D3 was also tested by many independent reviewers.

Nikon D3X

The D3X is a higher resolution version of the D3 which was announced in December 2008. It features a 24.5 megapixel sensor, an ISO range of 50–6400, and a new image processing system.

Nikon D3s

The D3S was announced in October 2009. It features a redesigned 12.1 megapixel sensor, raises the maximum ISO up to 102,400 (equivalent), image sensor cleaning and adds a 720p video mode.

References

External links

Nikon D3 – Nikon global websiteNikon D3 Review
review at

Digital Photography Review ''Digital Photography Review'', also known as ''DPReview,'' is a website about digital cameras and digital photography, established in November 1998. The website provides comprehensive reviews of digital cameras, lenses and accessories, buying ...

{{Full-frame DSLR cameras D3 D3 Live-preview digital cameras Full-frame DSLR cameras