Let’s round up what we’ve got so far:

Engadget

1. “18.7-megapixels, a nearly full frame sensor, and an uncanny ability to cope with low-light conditions. Summer release maybe”
2. From the comments:
   1. “Sony and Nikon have made a lot of progress on noise, but a 19MP sensor with a 1.1x crop…”
   2. “D3h is 18.7mp and D3x is 24Mp. this isnt rumour. a friend of mine is a beta tester of nikon and he has physically handled the D3x.”
   3. “I was at a workshop this past Fall with the head of NPS and the West Coast Nikon rep. They laid out their strategy for future chips for their cameras, and it wasn’t Sony. It’s based on their LBCAST sensors, which are CMOS with a twist. They showed images shot at ISO 6400 that were amazing noise-wise.”
3. June 26th: Supposed to be a ‘big announcement’- nothing.
4. OLD Rumors from 2004:
   The D3, a new 15 megapixel digital SLR.
   The D200, an 8.25 megapixel upgrade to the D100.
   The D2HS, a new version of their D2H digital SLR (which is pictured at right) with an improved 4.1 megapixel sensor.
   The DSX, an 8.2 megapixel version of the D2HS that doubles the number of horizontal pixels.

InfoDigitalCamera

1. Camera Model: Nikon D3
   Effective Pixels: 12 mega pixels +
   Date Of Release: 05 Jul 2007 ****THE RELEASE DATE ABOVE IS AN ESTIMATE ONLY **** (based on dealings within the distributor network)
   Body Make: Magnesium Alloy
   Image Size: 4288 x 2848
   Frames Per Second: 8 – 10 FPS
2. Modular body (interchangeable finder, back, and storage modules); the body is the host camera brains and control system, power source, lens mount, mirror box, shutter, and support system while everything else gets added on…
3. French Magazine: They inform us that it will be a 18,7 Mpix with a 1.1 frame ( near full frame) and it allows to maintain the Nikon F mount. As the D2X this DSRL has 8 im/sec with a DX frame and 5 im/sec with the 1.1 frame.

PhotographyBay

1. Full Frame (no 1.1 crap) – DX mode at 1.5x – High Speed Crop – VERY fast motor drive (can’t remember the number he quoted, but when he fired it, it sounded at least as fast as my F5 on CH. – 18.7 MP – MSRP $7999
2. 50mm 1.2G AF-S lens
3. 24-120 2.8G AF-S.
4. Post PMA Rumors:
   Modular body (interchangeable finder, back, and storage modules); the body is the host camera brains and control system, power source, lens mount, mirror box, shutter, and support system while everything else gets added on:
   10-12mp APS High Speed Back (8 fps DX crop, 12 fps HS crop)
   24mm FF Low Speed Back (3 fps FF, 5 fps DX crop)
   12mp Black and White Back
   Prism finder with real time displays (e.g. histograms)
   Waist finder
   Card storage module (2x CompactFlash or 2x SecureDigital)
   Drive storage module (40, 80, 120GB hard drive)
   Wireless module (1x CompactFlash for backup, WiFi)
5. History of the D3

Lightstalkers

1. “Nikon rep told me, he was expecting the camera to be released in the fall, but the big news would be lots of new glass. Of course if the reps actually knew anything, they wouldn’t tell. The first sign would be, big rebates on the D2Xs.”
2. “Hi Guys …….. August is IT! Don’t know what the IT is …. but IT will be announced in August and it is supposed to be something else …….. or so I have been told by a Nikon person!!!”
3. “At the G8 summit, Nikon had a NPS booth at the press center, … [the rep] told me there will be an almost full frame camera out later that year and some new glass as well. I asked, will it rival Canons L line, 35/1.4 for example and he answered I will be surprised.
4. etc- click the link for more

The Photography Website

1. “news of the professional range new model nikon D3 range will be announced on the 25th July ! Why the 25th of July we hear you ask ? Well at the end of this month Nikon will celebrate its 90th anniversary”
2. 40-80gb internal hard-drive (HDD).
3. NO full-frame (FF) sensor.
4. “we believe the only other jaw dropper would be frames per second so we are going for 12FPS on high speed at 6MP“

Speculation byThom

D3h

• 10-12mp APS
• Full DX at 8 fps, HS Crop at 10-12 fps
• Direct hard drive connection, built-in wireless
• Real time histograms in viewfinder
• Improved AF system

D3x

• 24mp FF
• FF at 3 fps, HS DX Crop at 5 fps
• Direct hard drive connection
• Real time histograms in viewfinder
• Improved AF system

This entry was posted on Saturday, July 7th, 2007 at 13:14 and is filed under Rumors. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.