Digital Camera News and Reviews

Nikon D3 DSLR

Nikon has updated the firmware for their Nikon D3 Full Frame DSLR to version 2.01. The new firmware includes a lot of different fixes including focus issues, black dots in some rare cases and issues with connection to some lenses.

You can download the firmware version 2.01 for the Nikon D3 DSLR camera here.

Information from Nikon:
About this firmware update
This service provides software for upgrading D3 firmware to v2.01. When performing this firmware upgrade, be sure to upgrade both A and B firmware. Be aware that operation of your D3 is not guaranteed if either A or B firmware is upgraded while the other firmware is not upgraded.

The following improvements have been made in version 2.01

– Geodetic information is now displayed in ViewNX Ver. 1.2.0 or later and Capture NX 2 Ver. 2.1.0 or later for images captured with the GPS Unit GP-1 mounted on the camera.
– Autofocus-response performance in focus mode C (Continuous-servo AF mode) with relatively dark subjects has been increased.
– When the AF-ON button is pressed, the monitor turns off and a focus point can now be selected using the multi selector.

– Photo information displayed in full-frame playback has been modified as follows:
HI-, LO- has been changed to Hi, Lo
WARM TONE has been changed to WARM FILTER
COLOR CUSTOM has been changed to COLOR BALANCE

– Manamah, displayed in the Time zone options for the World time item in the setup menu, has been changed to Manama.
– An issue that, in extremely rare cases, resulted in noticeable black dots in images captured with Long exp. NR in the shooting menu set to On has been resolved.
– When the Speedlight SB-800 was mounted on the camera with flash mode set to Distance-priority manual (GN) mode, and then the exposure meters were reactivated or the camera was turned on, the distance information displayed on the SB-800 changed. This issue has been resolved.
– An issue that, in some rare cases, caused images captured with the following lenses to be under-exposed, has been resolved.
AF-S VR Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED
AF VR Zoom-Nikkor 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6D ED (5.0x)

Nikon 200mm f/2G

DIWA Labs has tested the Nikon 200mm f/2G ED-IF AF-S VR Nikkor lens on a Nikon D3 camera body. This lens has very impressive specifications with 200mm at f/2, but you need a pretty high price for the lens at about $4,299.

DIWA Labs are praising the 200mm f/2G ED-IF AF-S VR Nikkor lens as it is giving them some impressive test results with very good sharpness at all apertures and little geometric distortion. Seems like an excellent telelens for everyone that can afford it.
Read all the tests of the Nikon 200mm f/2G ED-IF AF-S VR Nikkor lens here.
The tests done by DIWA Labs are very technical so you need to read their test guide to understand the test results.

Nikon D3 DSLR

Nikon has updated the firmware for their professional DSLR, the Nikon D3, to version 1.10. Among all the updates are:
-New vignette control for most G and D type lenses
-Faster minimum shutter speeds to trigger Auto ISO


What Nikon had to say about the firmware update:
The following improvements have been made in version 1.10:
– A Vignette control item has been added to the shooting menu. For information regarding supported lenses, see the supplemental manual.
– A Focus point brightness item has been added to the a6: Focus point illumination setting in the Autofocus category of Custom Settings.
– The Highlights playback display option has been moved from Display mode>Basic photo info>Highlights in the playback menu to Display mode>Detailed photo info>Highlights.
– When shutter speed and/or aperture are locked with shooting in live view mode, using the “L” (command lock) button, an “L” icon is now displayed in the camera monitor.
– The size and colour of “Demo” displayed in the monitor with playback, when No memory card? in the Custom Settings is set to Enable release, have been modified.
– The range of settings available for ISO sensitivity settings>ISO sensitivity auto control>Minimum shutter speed in the shooting menu has been increased from 1/250–1 s to 1/4000–1 s.
– When a compatible Speedlight or Wireless Speedlight Commander is used, the AF assist illuminator now lights regardless of the focal length.
– When shooting in hand-held live view mode and the frame is magnified prior to autofocusing, the display now returns to the magnified display rather than full-frame display.
– In some rare cases, the image area visible through the viewfinder and the image area actually recorded differed when Image area>Choose image area in the shooting menu was set to DX format (24×16). This issue has been resolved.
– In some rare cases, white balance was not accurately calculated for images captured at a shutter speed of around 1/4 s in P and A exposure modes. This issue has been resolved.
– When attempting to crop images at an aspect ratio of 4:3 using the Trim option in the retouch menu, the cropped image did not have an accurate 4:3 aspect ratio. This issue has been resolved.

Please visit the links below to access the firmware updates:
PC users can download here.
Mac users can download here.

In this shocking video you can see a guy with a bit too much cash dropping his Nikon D3 DSLR camera from 15 feet on a solid brick floor. Why anyone want to do this with a $5,000 camera is beyond me, but the guy claims that the camera works perfectly.
I don’t think I would buy anything second hand from this photographer 😉