Nikon leaks something juicy, maybe? June 18, 2008
Posted by tcbp in : News & Rumors , add a commentIn writing this I think I should first reference my post about the mid-range full format battle that is heating up. I’d usually ignore a speculative rumor like this instead preferring to comment on the interesting situation we’re in with regard to this market segment; but with the details about it available in possibly-real-looking gloss print here and here it seems perhaps Nikon is closer to announcing a new product than originally expected. Not only that, but with a name that further serves to make me wonder if Nikon’s naming system isn’t some version of alcohol enhanced pin the numeric tail on the letter D.
With a new name in the mix, the D700 seems to be stealing bites right off the D3’s plate with the same or a similar “FX” sensor as Nikon calls it and ISO up to an identical 25600. With the proven performance of the D3 this could be a sweet item indeed.
It leaves me wondering how Canon will combat it. Certainly I don’t think ISO up to 25600 is necessary, because at that point on the D3 the image quality starts to make you wonder if you don’t have a camera phone hidden in the there somewhere. I do think that while a moderate bump in resolution over the existing 5D is likely, I doubt it will crawl too high. Hopefully that means they can shoot to mimic the noise performance of the D3 and 1D Mark III to ISO 3200 at least.
The great wheel of alphanumeric names will just have to continue spinning until some official announcements are made.