Nikon D3x

Reviewing the Nikon D3x is a difficult task, as the camera is designed with a very specific type of user in mind. With a body that costs $8000 paired with a $2000 24-70mm f/2.8 lens, this camera is a substantial investment, a business expense rather than a personal purchase. In terms of image quality performance, the D3x did well, but scored slightly lower overall than the far less expensive Nikon D700. Where the D3x shines is in the breadth and depth of its control and customization options.

If you’re working in a studio, with a consistent, known setup, this amount of customization is invaluable. The ability to tailor the camera to ideally fit your situation means less time is spent tweaking controls on the fly, and more time spent getting the shot you need, knowing that it’ll turn out properly. Over the course of a days shooting, let alone weeks or months, this turns into a serious saving in time and energy. Keep in mind though, if you don’t need all 24-megapixels, you can pick up the D3 for $5000 which has an identical body, faster continuous shutter speed of 9 frames per second, a higher maximum ISO, and offers similar levels of control.

Performance

Overall, the D3x performed well in all our lab tests, though white balance and dynamic range were slightly lower than expected. It excelled on the resolution test, especially in terms of image sharpness. Apart from this last test, it consistently scored slightly lower than the Nikon D700, probably due to additional pixels packed into the same-sized sensor, or possibly that the D3x processes the data less as Nikon expects professional users to do more tweaking themselves. If all you’re worried about is pure performance, the price excess on the D3x doesn’t seem worth it, as you can getter similar or better results with a much less expensive camera.

Hardware

The D3x hardware is top notch universally. The color LCD is crystal clear and sharp with 920,000-dots, and the two monochrome displays do an excellent job providing ready access to pertinent information. The viewfinder is a little uncomfortable with the default eyecup, but offers 100% field of view, and has a built in shutter to prevent light leaks. The D3x can take two CF cards at a time, and has very lengthy battery life. All the buttons, ports and padding feel exceedingly tough, like they will take years of heavy use.

Controls

The level of control the camera gives you is what separates the D3x from the other cameras we compared it to. Functions include changing the size of the center-weighted metering zone; in-depth battery status information; seven different fluorescent white balance presets; multiple self-timers; four stored sets of shooting settings; and a high degree of customization of button functionality. The D3x allows you to set your camera up just the way you like it to fit your particular needs and preferences.

Sample Photos

In the following sample images, clicking on the larger image will download the full resolution original. Each photo is accompanied by four actual-size crops.

Landscape Example
				Focal length: 24mm Aperture: f/7.1 Shutter: 1/200 ISO: 100 A shot of bustling Davis Square, shot in program mode, with automatic white balance and center-weighted metering. The pillar on the left shows some distortion on the lens.
				The excellent sharpness of the D3x combined with its high megapixel count means that text is clearly legible.

Macro Example
				Focal length: 70mm Aperture: f/4.5 Shutter: 1/60 ISO: 100 Shot on a cloudy day, using spot metering, and the appropriate white balance. The vibrant color setting does a great deal to emphasize the first signs of spring.
				You can see how the vibrant color mode makes the red, blues and purples really jump out.

Long Exposure Example
				Focal length: 66mm Aperture: f/22 Shutter: 4 seconds ISO: 400 An extended shot of passing cars shows the camera’s aptitude with long exposure, though the automatic white balance struggled to deal with the extremely orange light of Somerville street lamps.
				Unsurprisingly the camera did blow out some of the highlights from the street lamp, but did an excellent job of capturing detail.

Low Light Example
				Focal length: 55mm Aperture: f/2.8 Shutter: 1/50 ISO: 6400 There are few things creepier than a playground after dark. Shot with center-weighted metering, aperture priority in monochrome mode. The D3x isn’t designed specifically low-light situations, and struggled a little in focusing in these less than optimal conditions.
				As much as we rail against image noise, it can sometimes be provide an interesting atmospheric effect, as in these shots.

Wildlife Example
				Focal length: 14mm Aperture: f/2.8 Shutter: 1/30 ISO: 800 The lovable Fester was kind enough to stand still for this shot, taken with a 14-24 f/2.8 lens. Taken using full-frame metering in aperture priority.
				The D3x's ability to capture detail is wonderfully displayed here, with the reflections in Fester's eyes and the detail in his coat coming out clearly.`

				Focal length: 70mm Aperture: f/9 Shutter: 1/320 ISO: 100 A brief moment of sun on a cloudy day allowed us to take a photo showing off the D3x’s abilities in objects with lots of fine detail. Manual white balance and center-weighted metering.
				The crop of the tree's bark really shows off the D3x sharpness, particularly considering that this shot was taken handheld, under mediocre lighting conditions.

Nikon D3x Specs
Type	Professional SLR
Focal Length Minimum	24.0 mm
Focal Length Maximum	70.0 mm
Still Pixel Count (gross)	25.72 megapixels
Still Pixel Count (effective)	24.5 megapixels
Sensor Size	35mm full-frame
Sensor Type - New	CMOS
Aspect Ratios	3:2, 4:3
Original Price	7999.95 $
Height	157.0 mm
Width	159.5 mm
Depth	87.5 mm
Weight	1,220.0 g
Model Colors	black
Display Type	LCD
Display Size	3.0 in.
Display Resolution	921,000 pixels
Viewfinder Type	optical
Viewfinder Magnification	0.7 x
Viewfinder Coverage	100.0 % coverage
Diopter Adjustment - New	-3.0 to +1.0m^-1
Media New	CF
Connectivity Options	USB, A/V, miniHDMI, wired remote, hot accessory shoe
Battery Type	removable lithium-ion
Battery Model Number	EN-EL4a
Mirror Technology (Interchangeable Lens)	DSLR
Waterproof	Water Resistant
Manual Controls	manual focus, aperture priority mode, shutter priority mode, full manual exposure, custom white balance, ISO control
ISO Options	200, 400, 800, 1600, 50, 100, 3200, 6400, Extended ISO
Minimum ISO	50
Maximum ISO	6400

Nikon D3x Scores
Rating	Score	Weighting
Color Score	13.51	9.0
Color Modes Score	3.0	1.0
Long Exposure Score	11.51	4.0
Noise Score	6.51	9.0
ISO Options Score	8.0	1.5
Sharpness Score	13.91	6.0
Chromatic Aberration Score	7.39	3.0
Picture Options Score	18.25	0.5
Dynamic Range Score	7.07	6.0
Stabilization Score	0.0	5.0
Auto White Balance Score	9.39	4.0
Custom White Balance Score	11.96	2.0
White Balance Features Score	12.5	0.5
Playback Mode Score	8.0	1.5
In-Camera Editing Score	4.5	0.5
Software Score	5.0	0.5
Direct Print Features Score	3.5	0.5
Sensor Score	3.0	1.0
Viewfinder Score	7.0	1.5
LCD Score	10.1	2.5
Flash Score	4.0	1.0
Lens Mount Score	9.5	1.5
Battery Score	10.0	1.0
Memory Score	4.0	1.0
Connectivity Score	6.5	1.0
Other Hardware Score	1.0	0.5
Shooting Modes Scores	11.5	1.0
Live View Score	3.0	2.0
Scene Modes Score	0.0	0.5
Picture Effects Score	1.5	0.5
Focus Score	19.0	1.5
Exposure Score	7.0	1.0
DOF Preview Score	2.0	0.5
Metering Score	9.5	1.0
Shutter Speed Score	11.0	1.0
Self-Timer Score	8.0	1.0
Other Controls Score	2.0	0.5
Handling Score	7.0	2.5
Controls Score	10.5	2.5
Menu Score	8.0	2.0
Manual Score	6.0	1.0
Shot to Shot Score	4.59	3.0
Drive and Burst Modes Score	13.0	1.0
Video Color Score	0.0	1.25
Video Sharpness Score	0.0	1.25
Video Motion Score	0.0	0.63
Video Noise Score	0.0	0.63
Video Controls Score	0.0	1.2
Video Low Light Sensitivity Score	0.0	0.95
Video Low Light Color Score	0.0	0.78
Video Low Light Noise Score	0.0	0.78
Video Compression Score	0.0	0.95
Video Audio Score	0.0	0.3
Video Handling Score	0.0	0.73
Color Other Features Rating	0.0	0.5
Noise Other Features Rating	0.0	0.5
Playback Other Features Rating	0.0	0.5
Resolution Other Features Rating	0.0	0.5
Design & Handling Other Rating	0.0	0.5
Total:	739