Nikon's D4 Officially Official

[niccyboy]

Nothing really that groundbreaking or game changing between the two models. I don't think any of the features of either camera will make people change brands. Except those that need the extra 1 FPS or 3 (with lock up).

Does it have Ethernet out? because is something that makes me choose the 1dx now over our current collection of d3xs for one of my projects. I'm glad the d4 didn't have it so i can finally shift ALL of our work purely to canon now.

I think 1Dx will be much better than D4. Higher resolution, better AF, and of course higher FPS --  those are exactly what we need.

That depends on what you are using it for. I have no need for high FPS. We don't know the AF is better as we haven't used both cameras. They are both still unreleased.

I am suspecting the quality of Nikons after the disasters.

The article mentioned it is not made in Thailand.

[Akhiel]

It's seems like Nikon is going to claim its position back, what it had at the time of the legendary analog Nikon F4 Body. Good to keep Canon awake !

[wickidwombat]

I cant wait to see a detailed head to head review of the 2 new AF systems between the 2

Neither camera is really likely to cause people to jump ship with the exception of the f8 thing might cause wildlife photogs to finally snap and get themselves a D4 and 200-400 f4 and a x2 TC since nikon actually have the 200-400 not just an IOU

[dilbert]

Ethernet output, no mention of gigabit.
Next Gen CF card slot and 1 ordinary Cf slot - why? Canon were always guilty of multi card format annoyances - Nikon had it nailed with 2 CF slots...

Maybe Nikon expects the life time of this camera to be such that it'll be around well after the next gen CF cards are around.

And when they do come out, who isn't going to want twice the speed of compact flash for writing?

[cpsico]

What it doesnt say is can it do the high frame rate at 14 bit like the canons can and do. If i remember correctly the d3 and the d700 took a hit performance wise when using 14 bit files instead of 12. Looks like a great camera for sure, just not sure it would be worth jumping ship to buy. I might leap at a 4000 dollar d3s  , 12 megapixals is more than enough for reception candids.

[JR]

Just popped over to Nikon Rumours and they have updated the ISO to show 200-12800 as native, expandable to 50 L and 204k H.

Something just doesn't add up with this camera as 'outed'.

Ethernet output, no mention of gigabit.
Next Gen CF card slot and 1 ordinary Cf slot - why? Canon were always guilty of multi card format annoyances - Nikon had it nailed with 2 CF slots...

$6000 seems a bit much for those specs listed, which in turn means Canon could easily ask for and demand $6800 for a 1DX!

I just went to the NR site and I still see the 100-102k as the standard ISO range.  If I clic on the "read more" link on their site, this is the correct ISO range I think.  Is it possible you clicked on the old link from his previous post where he said the range was 12800? 

I think NIkon will try to hang on the ISO battle so it would make sense they are 102k standard irregardless of the IQ - at least from a Marketing aspect...I think!?!

[JR]

I'm not the only one to express surprise re the weight of the 1DX, Nikon have made a very smart move here putting the D4 on a diet.

Paul Wright

It is very interesting to see how Nikon is banking on a few specific aspect of the 1DX in their leaked spec like its weight and the AF system working at f8.  This is resally a Marketing battle at this point.  I am curious to know if any of this will make Canon reconsider some small aspect of the 1DX before launch (like the weight) if this is even at all possible...

I cant wait to see a detailed head to head review of the 2 new AF systems between the 2

Neither camera is really likely to cause people to jump ship with the exception of the f8 thing might cause wildlife photogs to finally snap and get themselves a D4 and 200-400 f4 and a x2 TC since nikon actually have the 200-400 not just an IOU

+1.  I agree with you.  Both Camera I am sure will be very good with minor (hoping) differences.  I certainly dont plan on selling my "L" lenses so the 1DX will be the choice for me.  I still color rendition of the Canon plus we have 2MP more than the D4 - lol 

[Picsfor]

Just popped over to Nikon Rumours and they have updated the ISO to show 200-12800 as native, expandable to 50 L and 204k H.

Something just doesn't add up with this camera as 'outed'.

Ethernet output, no mention of gigabit.
Next Gen CF card slot and 1 ordinary Cf slot - why? Canon were always guilty of multi card format annoyances - Nikon had it nailed with 2 CF slots...

$6000 seems a bit much for those specs listed, which in turn means Canon could easily ask for and demand $6800 for a 1DX!

I just went to the NR site and I still see the 100-102k as the standard ISO range.  If I clic on the "read more" link on their site, this is the correct ISO range I think.  Is it possible you clicked on the old link from his previous post where he said the range was 12800? 

I think NIkon will try to hang on the ISO battle so it would make sense they are 102k standard irregardless of the IQ - at least from a Marketing aspect...I think!?!

You could well be right, it did puzzle me that they would take a hit on ISO.

TBH, i see this as a rather insignificant release compared with the 1DX which, when i had a play, really did have a few "WOW" factors. The AF, ISO and control duplication in portrait mode were very much 'i want one'...

[yuuko]

What it doesnt say is can it do the high frame rate at 14 bit like the canons can and do. If i remember correctly the d3 and the d700 took a hit performance wise when using 14 bit files instead of 12. Looks like a great camera for sure, just not sure it would be worth jumping ship to buy. I might leap at a 4000 dollar d3s  , 12 megapixals is more than enough for reception candids.

I'm pretty sure the D700 and D3 didn't have any performance hit with 14-bit RAW files.  It was the D300 that got hit hard with 14-bit RAW files.  And if anything, I would think the difference wouldn't be the shooting speed but the time it takes to clear the buffer of the 14-bit RAW files.  Correct me if I'm wrong.  Exciting times in the DSLR world with the flagship cameras on the horizon.

[TexPhoto]

"Officially" means something very different today than it used to.  Come to think of it so does "outed".

[Mark D5 TEAM II]

ZZZ...  1Dx beats it on all spec sheet numbers bar the last native high ISO stop (how useful for the real-world is that anyway?). And where does it say that the previous Noink fanb0i rumor of "9 cross-type f/8-sensitive AF points"? Here is the actual quote from the leaked praise release:

The unit takes the AF mode select switch from the D7000 and uses improved 51-point AF points with 9 cross-type sensor and a beefed up AF module allowing focus with an f/8 lens and faster (up from f/5.6). The AF detection range is now down to EV-2.0.

Either somebody has poor reading comprehension or the PR writer wrote that paragraph badly. But if we take the above literally, it didn't say how many AF points can AF down to f/8 or even if it is cross-type. My best guess based on previous Canon explanations about AF sensor design is it would be just in the center and it won't be cross-type. I like the 1Dx AF sensor compromise more.

The rest of the D4 specs are just catch-up specs at best, nothing groundbreaking. Ho-hum.

12-14 FPS > 10 FPS

61 pt. w/ 41 cross-type + 5 dual-cross type > 51 pt. AF w/ 9 cross-type

100,000 pixel RGB sensor > 91,000 pixel RGB sensor

18MP > 16MP

[blarygake]

I'm expecting great high iso performance
Beyond that, when noise does show up I suspect it will be very film-like noise
One area where I wish Canon would improve

[dr croubie]

Honestly, I'll take either. They are both better than anything any of us is using now.

well... im sure some here would not trade their mamyia or hasselblad for it...   

I'll buy you a D4 then trade you for a Mamiya and iq180 back...


Is it me, or are the two key specs of Megapixels and Frames/Second missing from that NR-page...?

(ok, so as I was typing, I noticed NR has a new post which links to here where it says 16MP at 10fps.

OK, so it's competing against the 1Dmk4 now?
Also, f/8 and ethernet is mentioned, but with no mention of how many f/8 points, and "ethernet" by definition is only 100Mbps, if it's gigabit then they should make a definite point to say 'ethernet'.

[gmrza]

Does it have Ethernet out? because is something that makes me choose the 1dx now over our current collection of d3xs for one of my projects. I'm glad the d4 didn't have it so i can finally shift ALL of our work purely to canon now.

The article just says "ethernet", which these days I would assume is gigabit ethernet - I am sure that both Canon and Nikon will source existing Ethernet controllers from one of the bigger networking vendors.

It is looking like gigabit Ethernet is going to be a "must have" for the Olympics. - I would guess that neither Canon nor Nikon can afford to go to the Olympics with a camera without that feature.

[jrista]

Am I alone in finding it a bit suspicious that Nikon magically found a way to jump from their previous highest native ISO of 12800 to this stunning 104k ISO in an "overnight" response to Canon's 1DX and its native 51200 ISO? If Nikon announced a D4 with the same ISO as the 1D X for release some 6-8 months from now, I would have a much easier time believing it...but this really smells of fresh fish.

I would also expect competition on all fronts, not just the ISO front. FPS, AF capabilities and performance, etc. It seems a bit odd that Nikon would release competition to the 1DX before they even have a chance to get their hands on one and make sure their next flagship really is competition...