D3 and D3s is their a great difference ?

TG.

TG.

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I have been looking at used D3 and a D3s, cameras, there seems to be a hell of a price hike in the second hand market i.e. D3 £1000ish D3s £2000ish now I'm aware the D3s is outstanding for high ISO shots but is it really that much better to warrant another grand ? I did speak to someone recently who owns a D3 and he said it was a brilliant camera and also great at high ISO,s, so what else does really separate both of these cameras in terms of ISO and spec. Many thanks in advance.
 
Massive difference in in the last few years genuinely the only "upgrade" from either camp worth paying the extra money for.
 
I use a Nikon D3, Its great for what I do and need it for, if you don't require shooting above ISO 4000 a lot then you mite aswell safe your money and go for the D3, I have shot tons of wildlife at ISO 2500/3200/4000 and got clean images from them with a bit of Noise Reduction CLICK HERE for a shot at ISO 4000, Check out my Flickr if you want to see some high ISO shots from it, The D3s will give you crystal clean images upto 12800 ISO, Apart from that everything is the same apart from the D3s has 720p Movie which I doubt anyone hardly uses...The D3s also has a deeper buffer but your still get a great burst rate out of the D3 at 9fps or 11fps in DX mode IMHO, The D3s also has sensor cleaning in camera which the D3 doesn't, I personally use a rocket blower everytime I switch bodies so that doesn't bother me to much, According to Snapsort the D3 beats the D3 on having slightly better battery life and 0.2EV better dynamic range and shutter lag only being 88ms compared to the D3s 197ms, All in all if you don't need high ISO capabilities then just get a D3 and put that extra £1000 towards glass IMHO
 
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The d3 does not have an easy to operate live view button. There are not many cameras, other than medium frame ie phase 1, etc, that can take shots of bats in a dark cave, without flash or other lighting, both heavy if you put on a 100-500mm or 300mm Tair, but lean on a tree helps.
 
The D3s is so good that the jump from D3s to D4 is minimal.

100% worth the extra over the D3.
 
Joeturner11 said:
I use a Nikon D3, Its great for what I do and need it for, if you don't require shooting above ISO 4000 a lot then you mite aswell safe your money and go for the D3, I have shot tons of wildlife at ISO 2500/3200/4000 and got clean images from them with a bit of Noise Reduction CLICK HERE for a shot at ISO 4000, Check out my Flickr if you want to see some high ISO shots from it, The D3s will give you crystal clean images upto 12800 ISO, Apart from that everything is the same apart from the D3s has 720p Movie which I doubt anyone hardly uses...The D3s also has a deeper buffer but your still get a great burst rate out of the D3 at 9fps or 11fps in DX mode IMHO, The D3s also has sensor cleaning in camera which the D3 doesn't, I personally use a rocket blower everytime I switch bodies so that doesn't bother me to much, According to Snapsort the D3 beats the D3 on having slightly better battery life and 0.2EV better dynamic range and shutter lag only being 88ms compared to the D3s 197ms, All in all if you don't need high ISO capabilities then just get a D3 and put that extra £1000 towards glass IMHO
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Joe, do you actually own or have used a D3S, the difference between the 2 models is night and day, i actually sold my 2 D3S's and bought a D4, big mistake if im honest, so much so im looking for a low mileage D3S or someone who wants to trade one for a D4
 
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On paper the difference between the two seems minimal, but in real life usage those small things add up to a big difference. Worth every extra penny and then some
 
Gary Coyle said:
Joe, do you actually own or have used a D3S, the difference between the 2 models is night and day, i actually sold my 2 D3S's and bought a D4, big mistake if im honest, so much so im looking for a low mileage D3S or someone who wants to trade one for a D4
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I have used a D3s Gary with my mates 500mm, The D3s is a far superior to the D3 in regards to the ISO and produces a lot better shots when using high ISO's aswell the colours are better high ISO's, Personally I don't find myself needing high ISO and such features so the D3 does fine for me now, interesting to hear your views on the D4 as that was the Camera I was looking at switching too in a year or so going from D3 to D4 a model leap but will have to start to second guess that idea now...
 
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Dont get me wrong Joe, the D4's AF is a major upgrade to the D3S which in itslef is a massive improvement over the D3 but i just dont need it now ive quit shooting sports, i might even wait for a D810 at a reasonable price, the big mistake wasnt in buying a D4, it was in spending £3300 at a time when i didnt need to so i now have a mint 2000 click D4 i dont need or use
 
Gary Coyle said:
Dont get me wrong Joe, the D4's AF is a major upgrade to the D3S which in itslef is a massive improvement over the D3 but i just dont need it now ive quit shooting sports, i might even wait for a D810 at a reasonable price, the big mistake wasnt in buying a D4, it was in spending £3300 at a time when i didnt need to so i now have a mint 2000 click D4 i dont need or use
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Gary what do you do with all this gear you keep buying?

Maybe the answer is to get a D4S……...?!@£
 
Thanks for the replies, I actually subscribed to this thread but as usual since the change over no updates, I thought it strange no replies, so I came back to the thread, seems like I may have to hold out for another year to go for a D3s then, lol, although by that time they may drop in SH prices again. Just to throw something else into the mix, how does the D3s compare to the D3X in ISO quality ?
 
TG. said:
Thanks for the replies, I actually subscribed to this thread but as usual since the change over no updates, I thought it strange no replies, so I came back to the thread, seems like I may have to hold out for another year to go for a D3s then, lol, although by that time they may drop in SH prices again. Just to throw something else into the mix, how does the D3s compare to the D3X in ISO quality ?
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D3x ISO is pants over ISO 800, According to DXO, the D3 beats the D3x by a fair amount, You mite also want to consider this new D750 when it comes out on the 11th Sept which is rumoured...
 
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Joeturner11 said:
You mite also want to consider this new D750 when it comes out on the 11th Sept which is rumoured...
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Yes I'm quite looking forward to this Joe, sounds great, so here's hoping :)
 
Never owned a d3 but loved my d3s. I am perplexed by those who buy secondhand d3x bodies though. While the d3s is still very capable, even my current d610 is better than my old d3x in almost every way. A new d610 or secondhand d800 will cost less than a secondhand d3x.
 
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