Nikon D3x

	Color Summary
• Good color accuracy, especially with greens, blues and oranges • Less accurate with olive, skin tones, and reds • Limited color modes, but high degree of control • Decent long exposure performance
	Product Tour	Page 3 of 18	Noise

Color Accuracy (13.51)

The first of our tests is for color accuracy, and the D3x did well here. We measure how closely the camera captured by the camera matches the known values of the X-Rite color chart we use for testing purposes. The D3x is comparable in accuracy to the D700 and 5D Mark II, slightly worse than the Nikon D90 and performed rather better than the Sony A900.

For this test we illuminate the X-Rite ColorChecker chart to an even 3000 lux, photograph it across all the color modes the camera offers, and then analyze the resulting images using Imatest software, which tells us how accurately the camera captured the colors. The D3x has three color modes (normal, neutral and vivid), with different saturation and contrast settings for each. The most accurate of these was neutral, so this is the mode we tested with throughout the review. We base our score for this section on color accuracy results in the most accurate color mode, with a penalty for substantial under- or over-exposure. Click here for more on how we test color.

Color Chart Comparisons
Nikon D3x	Nikon D700	Canon 5D Mark II	Sony A900	Nikon D90
Neutral Mode	Neutral Mode	Neutral Mode	Neutral Mode	Neutral Mode

Below you can see the samples of the individual color patches of the X-Rite color chart (the ideal) and those captured by each of our comparison cameras in their highest scoring mode. The names in the left column are those used by X-Rite for each patch.

	Camera Color Comparisons
	Ideal	Nikon D3x	Nikon D700	Canon 5D Mark II	Sony A900	Nikon D90
Dark Skin
Light Skin
Blue Sky
	Ideal	Nikon D3x	Nikon D700	Canon 5D Mark II	Sony A900	Nikon D90
Foliage
Blue Flower
Bluish Green
	Ideal	Nikon D3x	Nikon D700	Canon 5D Mark II	Sony A900	Nikon D90
Orange
Purplish Blue
Moderate Red
	Ideal	Nikon D3x	Nikon D700	Canon 5D Mark II	Sony A900	Nikon D90
Purple
Yellow Green
Orange Yellow
	Ideal	Nikon D3x	Nikon D700	Canon 5D Mark II	Sony A900	Nikon D90
Blue
Green
Red
	Ideal	Nikon D3x	Nikon D700	Canon 5D Mark II	Sony A900	Nikon D90
Yellow
Magenta
Cyan

NOTE: Because of the way computer monitors reproduce colors, the images above do not exactly match the originals found on the chart or in the captured images. The chart should be used to judge the relative color shift, not the absolute captured colors. 

Color Score Comparisons

The D3x produced particularly accurate color results with blues, pinks, yellows and light greens. It struggled more with olive, skin tones, and reds. It slightly over-saturated, even in neutral mode. As you can see from the chart above, the D3x performs on par with two of the other full frame cameras, and better than the Sony A900 while a little worse than the D90.

Color Modes (3.00)

The D3x has three color modes (called Picture Controls by Nikon): Standard, Neutral and Vivid. Monochrome is also available, but not shown below. There are substantial customization controls for each mode, so finicky photographers won’t feel constrained by these choices. All of the color modes can be have their sharpening and contrast shifted. The non-monochrome modes also let you change saturation and hue, and monochrome can add filters (yellow, orange, red and green) and tones (sepia, cyanotype, red, yellow, green, blue-green, blue, purple-blue and red-purple). If you have Active D-lighting (dynamic range optimization) switched on, contrast and brightness adjustments are ignored. Once you've made these adjustments, you can either use this as the new version of that preset, or set it up as a custom mode in one of nine slots, which can be renamed. You can also save your Picture Controls to a CF card, use these same settings with your other Nikon SLRs and upload and share them with others. Up to 99 controls can be stored on a card, and transferred to the camera when needed.

Of the modes shown below, Neutral is the most accurate, then Standard and Vivid

	Color Mode Comparisons
	Ideal	Standard	Neutral	Vivid
Dark Skin
Light Skin
Blue Sky
	Ideal	Standard	Neutral	Vivid
Foliage
Blue Flower
Bluish Green
	Ideal	Standard	Neutral	Vivid
Orange
Purplish Blue
Moderate Red
	Ideal	Standard	Neutral	Vivid
Purple
Yellow Green
Orange Yellow
	Ideal	Standard	Neutral	Vivid
Blue
Green
Red
	Ideal	Standard	Neutral	Vivid
Yellow
Magenta
Cyan

NOTE: Because of the way computer monitors reproduce colors, the images above do not exactly match the originals found on the chart or in the captured images. The chart should be used to judge the relative color shift, not the absolute captured colors.

Long Exposure (11.51)

The long exposure test looks at how the camera performs at shutter speeds ranging from one to 30 seconds, and the D3x handled the challenge admirably, scoring better than any other camera except its full frame sibling, the D700. For this test, we shoot at 20 lux illumination, and test color error and noise at one, five, 10, 15 and 30 seconds, with long exposure noise reduction on and off. Click here for more on how we test long exposure.

Nikon D3x Long Exposure Color Error

The first graph shows the color error across the five shutter speeds we test at, with a smaller line representing a better performance. You can see that the color error stays pretty even across the test, but jumps at 30 seconds, due to over-exposure with the really long shutter speed.

Nikon D3x Long Exposure Noise

With these long exposures, the noise levels stay around 0.7%, and fall off with the longer exposures. You'll notice that long exposure noise reduction doesn't improve the situation, which is something that we've seen across a large number of cameras. Long exposure noise reduction functions by taking a second exposure the same length as the first, but with the shutter closed. The theory is that you can subtract the noise of the latter from the former, but since image noise is inherently random, it isn’t an effective solution, and sometimes actually makes matters worse. 

Long Exposure Score Comparison

Compared with the other cameras, the D3x does better than any bar the D700. It maintains good color accuracy and low noise across the entire test

Product Tour	Page 3 of 18		Noise
Nikon D3x Digital Camera Review Navigation
Intro	Product Tour	Color	Noise
Resolution	White Balance	Sample Photos	Playback
Hardware	Controls	Design & Handling	Speed & Timing
Nikon D700 Comparison	Canon 5D Mark II Comp	Sony A900 Comparison	Nikon D90 Comparison
Conclusion	Specs & Ratings