Nikon D3 Review

The D3 is not a new body. Nikon has taken what wasn't broken about the D2xs and simply morphed it forward into the D3. That's not to say that the bodies are identical. They aren't. Specifically, you'll need new Arca-style plates because the shape of the camera is slightly different. That means you need new doors for your EN-EL4 batteries, too (though if you don't mind an edge sticking out, you can use the old doors in a pinch). Other minor changes abound, as well: the hand position on the right side of the camera has been tweaked slightly, the ENTER button is now OK, the Direction pad has a real button in the middle now (yes!), the white balance detector on the front of the prism is gone, and a few of the buttons and controls have moved a bit (more separation between AF-ON and AE-L/AF-L for example. The autofocus method switch on the bank is missing a position (Group Dynamic), the larger color LCD now dominates the back, and under the rubber cover on the left side of the camera (from the back) is a surprise or two. The prism is wider and taller, too, but the net result is still the same any way you slice it: if you've handled a D2 series body, the D3 will immediately be so familiar that you'll at first think that nothing has changed.

Indeed, even disassembly of the D2xs and D3 is similar, and reveals just as many unchanging things internally as externally (yes, unlike some reviewers, I'm not afraid to pull out my screwdrivers and torq wrenches, though I'll admit I haven't dissected far into my D3 yet, as I prefer using it to operating on it).

As I noted with my D300 review, looking inside the D3 is a bit like observing the work of a bunch of nano-bots let loose on a D2xs to improve it. Everywhere you peek you find small changes, but overall, the result is so familiar as to be uncanny. So, suffice it to say, if you liked the body design of the D2 series, you'll like the body design of the D3.

The optional wireless function is now handled by the WT-4, which is not an older wireless transmitter worked on by nano-bots. No, the big bots took a whack at this option, coming up with a much different design (hip mount, not camera mount), and throwing in lots of bells and whistles (wired Internet should you want it). The WT-4 requires an EN-EL3e to operate, and draws less power from the camera than the older WT's did. The WT-4 is also shared with the D300, meaning you only need one wireless accessory if you use both bodies. I'll come back to that thought later.

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