The price of most digital cameras trend downwards over time, and the same should reductions occur in the case of the Nikon D3S digital SLR camera.

I'm not planning for any scheduled updates, but do check back here from time to time for the latest prices and availability information on the D3S.

Click on the links to access the latest in-stock and availability information.

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Nikon D3S 12.1 MP CMOS Digital SLR Camera with 3-Inch LCD and 24fps 720p HD Video Capability (Body Only): $5,199.95 (no change in price since the last update).

Battery options and other accessories for the D3S
Nikon EN-EL4 Rechargeable Lithium Ion battery. This is an older model which offers a rated capacity of 11.1 volts / 1,900 mAh: $99.95.

The newer Nikon EN-EL4a Rechargeable Li-Ion battery has a higher rated capacity (by 30%) of 11.1 volts / 2,500 mAh: $105.89.

Bill has some advice on why it's best not to get third-party / knock-off batteries for Nikon's professional cameras, and the amazing number of shots he gets from a single charge.

Bob Elkind weighs in one why it's a better idea to purchase the EN-EL4A battery instead of the EN-EL4. Also, it's best to buy batteries from stores with high turnover of stock.

Nikon BL-4 Battery Chamber Cover for EN-EL4 / EN-EL4a and D3S (makes it a easy and quick to swap batteries): $19.95.

For storage, UDMA CF / CompactFlash memory cards generally give the fastest write speeds and performance.

Refer to Rob Galbraith's card write speed tests (done on a Nikon D3X) to get an idea of the relative write and read speeds of the various brands of cards available on the market.

At the time of writing, the four fastest CF cards are SanDisk Extreme Ducati 4GB, SanDisk Extreme IV 2GB, SanDisk Extreme Ducati 8GB and SanDisk Extreme IV 45MB/s Edition 16GB.

Newer, faster and higher-capacity UDMA CF cards are now available. Some examples are Lexar Professional Series UDMA 16 GB 300x, SanDisk 60MB/s Extreme and 90 MB/s Extreme Pro series cards.

Consider the use of RF (radio-frequency) wireless remote shutter control / triggers / release units such as the Phottix Cleon II or Plato.

Good luck shopping for your D3S!

Price History Archive / Trend

Monday, May 17, 2010
Nikon D3S 12.1 MP CMOS Digital SLR Camera with 3-Inch LCD and 24fps 720p HD Video Capability (Body Only): $5,199.95

Wednesday, April 07, 2010
Nikon D3S 12.1 MP CMOS Digital SLR Camera with 3-Inch LCD and 24fps 720p HD Video Capability (Body Only): $5,199.95

Monday, December 07, 2009
Nikon D3S 12.1 MP CMOS Digital SLR Camera with 3-Inch LCD and 24fps 720p HD Video Capability (Body Only): $5,499.00

Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Nikon D3S 12.1 MP CMOS Digital SLR Camera with 3-Inch LCD and 24fps 720p HD Video Capability (Body Only): $5,199.95 – Pre-Order Now.

The press release for the Nikon D3S has the following statement on the availability and price:

The Nikon D3S digital SLR is scheduled to be available at Nikon Authorized dealers beginning in late November 2009 at an estimated selling price of $5,199.95**. For more information, please visit www.nikonusa.com. Users can see the new D3S, along with Nikon’s entire line of photographic, optical and digital imaging solutions, including the recently announced new AF-S DX Micro NIKKOR 85mm f/3.5G ED VR lens, on display at the Nikon booth (#501) at the PhotoPlus Expo in New York, from Oct. 22 to Oct. 24, 2009.

**Estimated selling price listed is only an estimate. Actual prices are set by dealers and are subject to change at any time.

Related Posts

1. Nikon D3S Samples
2. Nikon D3S Reviews

This post is a compilation of Nikon D3S digital SLR camera professional and user reviews, owner opinions and experiences, tests, conclusions, ratings and feedback.

Full attribution is given by linking to the source and where available, the author's homepage or photo gallery.

Nothing but praise for the D3S: – Thom Hogan says:

D3s. Wow. If six months ago Nikon had said to me that they could improve the high ISO output of the D3, I would have said maybe. But if they had said they could do it by a stop or more, I'd have called them nuts. Well, the joke's on me. I've been shooting in my gym at ISO 12,800 and liking the results. Yes, liking. The D3s is a game changer (pardon the pun). We sports guys always used to have to shoot at maximum aperture and find faster lenses. For the first time we can actually think about using a smaller aperture for a bit of depth of field. That's new. And useful. And welcome. Nice job, Nikon. And the little changes also improve the D3 experience, too. If there's a category above Highly Recommended you'll find that I give that to this camera when I review it.

And later, here's Thom's review of the D3S (note that he gives the camera a full, 5-star rating for every category), where he concludes:

So the incredible has happened. Nikon took the best low-light sensor yet made and pushed it another stop further. There's no excuse for bad results in poorly lit venues any more. It isn't the camera's fault (at least if you've got a D3s). Funny thing is, only 15 years ago I remember being impressed by ISO 1600 film in a dim arena. Impressed that I could get any usable image at all, that is. The D3s is like having a boundary lifted: low light is just low light now. Low light doesn't automatically mean bad pictures.

Lloyd Chambers expresses great enthusiasm for the D3S – Lloyd has the following comments at his blog post Nikon D3s ISO 3200 examples posted:

I reiterate my enthusiastic recommendation to get the D3s — in my view it’s by far the world’s best low light camera, combining noise and color rendition to stunning effect. In fact, I like it so much that I might just have to buy the loaner camera I’m testing (even though I have a D3x). See yesterday’s comments below, as well.

[...]

This is ISO 3200! It’s not just noise, there is something exceptional about the Nikon D3s images, highly unusual and stunning in its luminosity and depth. This example and all the others in the review have noise reduction OFF.

Thom Hogan speculates on the possible origin and manufacture of the D3S FX sensor

DPReview forum post #1:

The two top theories are Renesas or leasing the new Sony fab that's underutilized. The markings on the sensor itself seem consistent with some other Renesas chips I've seen. But it doesn't matter. As far as anyone should be concerned, the D3, D700, and D3S sensor are "Nikon designed and manufactured." Nikon did the design, there's no disputing that. Even if they use a fab elsewhere, from what I hear Nikon is in charge of the process pretty much from start to stop. The toppings (Bayer, microlenses) is clearly a Nikon manufacturing process, too.

DPReview forum post #2:

Actually, the sensor change is one of the most significant aspects of the D3s upgrade. We haven't seen Nikon do significant sensor design changes this fast before. They've obviously put more resources into the sensor side.

Related Posts

1. Nikon D3S Samples
2. Nikon D3S Price Watch and Availability

This should help in determining if the image quality of the D3S meets your expectations.

Bear in mind that the majority of these photos are re-sized, and may have gone through post-processing, retouching or other edits. I just thought that it would be interesting to see, at a glance, what Nikon D3S DSLR owners and users are shooting with their camera.

Full-sized images, where available, will assist with judging the image quality.

Attribution is given by linking to the source and where available, the author's homepage or photo gallery.

Latest Updates

Ryan Brenizer is extremely impressed with his new Nikon 24mm f/1.4G ED AF-S RF (Rear Focus) SWM Prime Wide Angle Nikkor lens, and offers up three RAW sample photos, all full-sized originals straight from the D3S, in his blog post.

Read Rob Galbraith's review of the new Nikon 70-200mm VR II lens on the D3S, and download full-resolution photos (shot at a dress rehearsal for the Big Apple Circus – thumbnails for the full-sized images can be found at the end of the article).

Full-resolution Nikon D3S high-ISO test photos at Imaging Resource

Dave Etchells' announcement on these images:

The samples were captured just a few hours ago during a Nikon press event set at a circus dress rehearsal.

Imaging Resource was generous enough to host a couple of RAW / NEF files in the gallery, and Iliah Borg put up an interesting comparison of the ISO 102400 image, showing the huge difference in amount of retained detail in the out-of-the-camera JPEG and the equivalent RAW / NEF file converted in Raw Photo Processor (RPP) (Mac only).

In my opinion, detail is much better in the converted RAW file, although you'd need to tweak the color settings in the RPP program to match the out-of-camera JPG. The RAW conversion had also managed to bring back detail and tonality in the highlights area of the photographer's forehead.

teodorian2 posted the following opinion on the images:

I have RAW-processed the ISO 102,400 D3s NEF available from Imaging Resource. My conclusion:
1) The JPG with NR Normal suffer from noticeable loss of detail, large ugly color speckles and blurring.
2) The RAW-processed file from NX is a little better than the JPG with more detail intact and less problem with color speckles.
3) Best of three versions is the one from Raw Therapee (RAWTherapee / RT). The output from RT has a different look without the processed "NR-surface" over it like 1) and 2) above. There is much more detail left and both color noise and luminance noise are more fine grained.
4) RAW and selective NR and sharpening with the best plugins available (Topaz DeNoise, Topaz Detail etc) can give usable images even at IS0 102400. JPGs at high ISOs would better be shot with no NR on since the NR does more harm than good.

A primary conclusion, as a longtime D3 owner: The D3s can capture images at ISO 102400 in line with IS0 25600 from D3.

Related Posts

1. Nikon D3S Reviews
2. Nikon D3S Price Watch and Availability