Nikon D3S 12.1 MP CMOS Digital SLR Camera with 3.0-Inch LCD and 24fps 720p HD Video Capability (Body Only) Review

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(More customer reviews)Update: Images up to ISO 51,200 have very acceptable levels of noise (very little). Worst case, I touched up with Dfine 2.0 (noise reduction software) and they look nearly perfect. I experimented with the movie mode. The camera took some very nice looking videos in extremely low light. I don't know what ISO it used, but it must be hitting ISO 102,400 at times. The video and sound using the internal microphone are really good. I may add an external stereo mic in the future if I shoot video. I should have known, you can't shoot movies in vertical format -- of course -- but I did take some that way before I realized that format doesn't work when you play back on a TV.
I've now got a growing collection of images in various conditions and remain extremely pleased with this camera.
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I received my new Nikon D3S only a couple of days ago, and my early testing of this camera has already proven it to be much more than I expected. I took a few dozen test shots in nearly complete darkness and with relatively little noise the shots look like they were taken in fairly bright lighting. I am very impressed. In fact, I would even say they are unbelievable.
I love the new "info" button. I passed over the written material before the camera arrived thinking: who cares. Well, I find it to be an extremely helpful feature. When you press the "info" button, it shows not only the exposure settings, but gives you immediate access to several of the relevant menu options that you can then immediately access and make changes. I find this to be very quick and useful.
The D3S seems a bit bigger than my Nikon D2Xs and other professional bodies I use, but it feels like it's built absolutely solid. Of course, since the D3S is an FX (full frame) sensor, I have heavier lenses attached and in my bag too. I love the D3S ergonomics and the programmable function and other buttons (programmable AE/AL and Preview button). I hate to fumble with menus in the field (sorry Canon 1ds Mark III and 5D Mark IV and others, but Nikon has you beat here), and the Nikon gives fast access to all the key settings.
I haven't done extensive image tests yet, but my first impression is the images are superb, color is very accurate and auto focus is very fast and accurate, even in what I'd call "no light." I have usable images at ISO 102,400 (an amazing seven full stops better than other pro-bodies I use). At this point, I still can't believe how good images look at ISO 102,400, and images at ISO 51,200 and 25,600 look nearly perfect with either no high ISO NR (noise reduction) or standard NR.
Looking at my images at high magnification and they appear much clearer than even higher megapixel resolution bodies I use. I am now finally convinced beyond any doubt that megapixel is more of a marketing ploy than meaningful for professional photographers and other factors are more important.
As a pro who uses high end digital bodies, this is my first choice (maybe my only choice) for most assignments. I do a fair amount of studio work and thought I might opt for the Nikon D3X or even a Canon body since high ISO is not important, but this camera is so good I may use it for all my photography work in all conditions. If I really need high-end studio shots, I'll perhaps use my Mamiya with a digital back or even rent a Hasselblad.

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The D3S is uniquely qualified to meet the changing needs of photographers whose assignments demand 100% from them and their equipment. Leading with uncompromising FX-format multimedia versatility and engineered for demanding professional use at up to 9 fps, the D3S' rugged magnesium alloy construction, comprehensively sealed against dust and moisture, delivers on its promises of superiority. Exacting moments in time are captured to an expanded buffer, allowing continuous capture of up to 82 JPEG (fine) or 36 14-bit NEF (RAW) images. Nikon's newly engineered, original 12.1-megapixel CMOS sensor, teamed with exclusive technologies such as EXPEED image processing, Nikon's Scene Recognition System and a fast, accurate 51-area AF system, work together to assure that both still and smooth 24 fps HD video files exhibit incredible edge-to-edge sharpness, rich color depth and broad tonal range, while barrier-breaking performance enables low-noise ISO sensitivity to 12,800. Expanded ISO sensitivities of 25,600, 51,200 and an astounding 102,400, shatter many long-standing rules of photography. Audio to accompany HD video is preserved with a built-in microphone, while high fidelity stereo sound is recorded through the external Mic input using an optional microphone. More proven technologies include Nikon's renowned 1,005-pixel RGB 3D Color Matrix Metering II, assuring exacting exposure evaluation and white balance detection. Precise image review and menu access comes to life with the D3S' tempered glass-protected and individually factory-calibrated 3-inch, 921,000-dot Live View monitor.A self-diagnostic shutter, tested to beyond 300,000 cycles, and a myriad of inherent benefits stemming from decades of Nikon design experience, round out the D3S' qualifications to meet the needs of professional photographers.

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Sony DSC-TX7 10.2MP CMOS Digital Camera with 4x Zoom with Optical Steady Shot Image Stabilization and 3.5 inch Touch Screen LCD (Blue) Review

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(More customer reviews)I've got my Sony DSC-TX7 from Amazon just a few days ago. First impression - it's very small and thin. Feels very solid and a dark blue color looks pretty good. A wrist strap has been already attached at the factory; otherwise it can easily slip out of your hands. It is pretty good for a party - you can put it into your pocket and do whatever you want, even dance, and this camera will not bother you with its presence.
PROS:
- Very attractive stylish and solid design, especially in dark-blue color
- Ultra-slim body fits any small pocket
- Dust-free optics since the lens is not retractable
- Big high-resolution 920K colorful display looks like a small TV
- Pretty short startup time, no shutter lag, up to 10 frames per sec in burst mode
- Accepts SD/SDHC memory cards as well as Sony's proprietary memory-stick cards
- Wide 25mm (equiv.) lens - good for indoors and parties
- High-precision auto focus and effective image stabilization
- Sophisticated noise reduction algorithm greatly improves high-ISO pictures quality
- Advanced Hand-held Twilight mode for low-light pictures
- Special Backlight Correction HDR mode for high-contrast scenes
- Wide auto-stitch panorama mode
- High-quality front-side stereo microphones
- Smooth and silent zoom, auto focus, and optical image stabilization
- Very nice Full High-Definition 1080 60i video
- Unusually good video quality and high sensitivity in VGA mode
- Intuitive well-thought-out menu with the easy to use touch-screen
CONS:
- New "Exmor R" sensor seems much faster but more noisy than CCD ones
- Aggressive noise reduction is prone to obliterate small picture details
- Relatively short battery life and slow charger
BUILD: The build quality is very good and I generally like its construction. The only issue is the shifting of the lens cover to turn camera on and off - that mechanism is pretty tight but the lens cover does not have any kind of prominence you could grasp to move that resisting shield up and down.
STARTUP: The startup time is pretty short - about 1 sec. The time of recording of a single picture into the memory card might vary from 1 to 2 sec without flash and about 2 sec with flash. In the burst mode you can take 10 shots for just 1 sec but then you should wait for about 10 sec while they're being writing to the memory. The menu provides a friendly interface to manage those groups of shots.
DISPLAY: TX7 has a big 3.5" bright high-resolution display with 920K pixels and a wide angle of view which is easily visible even in a direct sunlight. With its vivid colors and clarity it looks like a small TV with a 16:9 wide-screen.
MENU: Most of the camera's functionality is accessible via that touch-screen display. TX7 has a very intuitive menu which is visually divided into 3 parts - narrow left and right vertical bars and a big central area. On the top of the right bar you can see the remaining battery charge indicator, available number of pictures, current shooting format and resolution. In the lower part there are the two buttons: Shooting Mode and Playback. If you touch the mode button a list of the available modes will appear in the central part: Intelligent Auto, Program Auto, iSweep Panorama, Movie, Anti Motion Blur, Hand-held Twilight, Backlight Correction HDR, and Scenes.
The left navigation bar has a "Menu" button on the top with 4 predefined icons below. It you touch that "Menu" button the central area will display icons of the parameters which in conjunction with the left-bar ones represent all the available shooting attributes for the currently selected shooting mode.
The most interesting is that if you touch the gearwheel icon on the top, then you can drag with your finger any of 4 icons from the left bar toward the center of the central screen area and drop it there. And then you can touch any other available icon from the central area and the similar way move it to the empty slot on the left bar. By doing this you can customize that quick-access menu separately for each shooting mode the way you need (make sure you touch firmly and drag slowly). And the same way you can choose those quick-access icons for the playback mode as well.
ADVANCED FEATURES: TX7 has a number of advanced modes which could be helpful in the difficult light conditions.
THH: "Twilight Hand-Held" mode can help either to improve a low-light picture quality when the using of flash is prohibited, or to get a picture in so challenging light conditions where otherwise you could not get one at all. In that mode the camera automatically sets the lowest possible ISO and shutter speed, takes 6 consecutive shots within about 1 sec and then combines them into one picture with much less noise. It can be very useful for shooting landscapes in the dusk, the indoors interiors, or museum pieces. If you're going to take pictures of people in that mode then it might be better to tell them "freeze!" instead of "cheers!" :-)
AMB: "Anti Motion Blur" is another low-light mode which also takes a number of consecutive shots and then composes their superposition. Unlike the THH-mode this one sets high ISO and fast shutter speed to catch the subjects which might be slightly moving like pets or kids. For example, if for the certain indoors conditions in THH mode a camera can set ISO-200 and the shutter speed 1/30, then in AMB it might set ISO-3200 and 1/200. BTW in a number of cases I noticed the pictures in THH mode were a kind of underexposed and oversaturated with some red or blue tint, so I had to apply some exposure compensation when shooting - about +1.0 - +1.3 and also to do some post-work to adjust the white-balance. Actually both modes use a noise reduction mechanism based on the data averaging. The cornerstone of that mechanism is the fact that the useful data is constant - does not change from one consecutive shot to another, while the noise is fluctuating. So that algorithm when doing the pictures superposition amplifies the constant aspects and reduces the random ones.
The processing task in THH-mode is relatively simple: the algorithm should recognize the displacement of each consecutive shot caused by unstable hands and then compensate it while doing the pictures superposition. However in AMB-mode in addition to that shaking hands instability the camera should also identify the subjects which are moving by themselves (like kids or pets). For the static areas the AMB-algorithm can apply as the same averaging noise reduction as in THH-mode, but for the moving subjects the AMB-algorithm should try to identify their trajectory and overlay them separately to reduce their noise. If the AMB-algorithm can not dynamically align them then it takes an image of that moving subject from one of the consecutive shots and just presents it without any noise reduction (the worst-case-scenario). That might happen if the subject is moving too much or if its shape is changing, for example - a jumping dog. I did some testing and found - the less subject moves the better AMB-algorithm can perform its job and so the less noise is visible on the final picture.
HDR: "Backlight Correction HDR" - One more useful mode. It is not only about backlight conditions but it also might be very helpful in any case when your picture consists of the fragments with very different brightness. Camera does the two shots in a quick succession, each of which is optimized for the lightest and the darkest areas and then combines both of them into one shot. That mode is only effective when there is a huge difference in the areas' luminance. The good news is that even in the earlier models (like my old DSC-T100) and even for the regular shots Sony has been doing a pretty good job of extending the dynamic range. I did not know that until about two years ago I purchased an advanced Kodak's P&S camera and found that on the same subjects where the Kodak's camera completely washed out some most illuminated areas, the Sony's T100 happened to handle them pretty well! The same is true for TX7 as well.
PANORAMA: Another interesting feature is the iSweep Panorama mode. You can shoot either a horizontal or vertical panorama, and there are the two modes: standard and wide. A standard horizontal panorama can cover up to 180 degrees (or less), while with the wide one you could shoot almost the entire circle. Just remember: you should take your horizontal panorama within 10 sec. A standard vertical panorama covers about 130 degrees and the wide one - about 180 degrees, and you should complete it within about 8 sec. Be aware that zoom does not work in that mode and the recording is done at the most wide angle (25 mm equivalent focal length). The resulting horizontal panorama is not of a high quality - it has just 1080 pixels of the vertical resolution. If your subject does not fit the frame or if you want the better resolution you can do this trick: 1) switch to the vertical up-to-down panorama, 2) choose the wide one, 3) turn you camera 90 degree counter-clockwise and shoot your panorama from left-to-right within 8 sec. In this case you will have 1920 pixels vertically. One more hint: Before starting panorama point your camera to any object which is at the average distance and half press the shutter button to catch the right focus. Then holding the button half pressed, turn to the most left position, press the button all the way down and start shooting. It is important because if in your starting direction there is any object which is much closer than most of the objects in you panorama then you would catch a wrong focus and most of the panorama would be out-of-focus.
LENS: The TX7 model, unlike many...Read more›

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