Nikon D3s Review

I clearly remember the day I ordered the D3s. For a while we were quite happy with our two cameras – the Nikon D700 and the D300. I would normally shoot with the D700 and Lola was doing most of her work, including food photography, with the D300. As Lola started to shoot more weddings and events, I was often left with the D300. After a short while, neither Lola nor I wanted the D300 anymore. Yup, we both got spoiled by the full-frame sensor. Realizing that we would eventually fully move to full-frame, I got rid of all DX lenses by then and using lenses like the Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8G or the standard Nikon 50mm f/1.4G on DX just did not feel right. By then, Lola was already in love with the Nikon D700 + 50mm f/1.4 combo and she would simply refuse to use the D300 with the 50mm lens. With her wedding work and my passion for nature photography, it was clear that we did not need another DX camera. That’s when Nikon announced the D3s. After seeing image samples and camera specifications, it did not take long before both of us realized that we needed it for our work.

As you might have already seen on “Our Gear” page, I call the Nikon D3s “a serious camera for serious photographers”. Ever since the Nikon D3s was announced back in 2009, it has been dominating the camera world with its impressive high ISO performance. It has been numerously called “the low-light king” by many well-known photographers and reviewers, because it delivers outstanding image quality with an unmatched high ISO performance. For over two years now, there has not been any camera on the market that can do what the D3s can. A serious camera indeed! But the Nikon D3s is not for everyone. With its high price tag, bulky body and heavy weight, it is often hard to justify it. Lola does not like the D3s, because of its large size and heavy weight, especially after long and tiring wedding events. In this review, I will talk about my overall experience with the D3s and provide feedback on its strengths and weaknesses.

Click here to download the above photograph in a large wallpaper format (1920×1200).

1) Nikon D3s Specifications

Main Features:

1. Nikon-original FX-format CMOS Sensor: Newly engineered for striking image fidelity and low-noise, optimizing pixel size and count in a 12.1-megapixel sensor to produce extraordinarily rich files.
2. Continuous Shooting Up to 9 FPS: Secure exacting moments in time with an expanded buffer, allowing continuous capture of up to 82 JPEG (fine) or 36 14-bit NEF (RAW) images.
3. One-button Live View with Two Shooting Modes: Two modes for studio or remote shooting—Tripod Mode offers 27x magnification for precise focus confirmation.
4. Dynamic Integrated Dust Reduction System: Ultrasonic process combats the accumulation of dust on the optical low-pass filter, safeguarding image quality.
5. Fast, Accurate 51-Point AF System: 4 Dynamic modes and 15 cross-type sensors deliver AF precision and razor sharpness.
6. Scene Recognition System: Referencing an onboard image database, teamed with RGB metering, SRS enhances exposure and white balance evaluation and improves AF speed and accuracy.
7. Nikon Picture Control: Four preset options and 9 customizable settings provide personalized style control.
8. Dual CF Card Slots with Overflow, Backup and Copy Options.
9. Approx. 4,200 Images per Battery Charge.
10. Low Noise ISO Sensitivity from 200 to 12,800: Renowned low-noise performance at 12,800, plus expanded settings to an astounding ISO 102,400 (equivalent) and ISO 100 (equivalent).
11. HD Video Capture: Record smooth 24 fps HD video, leveraging low-noise D3S image quality along with high fidelity stereo sound capability.
12. 3-Inch Super-density 921,000-dot VGA LCD Monitor: D3S monitors are individually calibrated during assembly to assure accuracy.
13. Nikon EXPEED Image Processing: Drives breathtakingly rich image fidelity, low-noise and fast image processing.
14. 1,005-Pixel 3D Color Matrix Metering II: Nikon-pioneered RGB metering includes color information to intelligently determine more accurate exposures.
15. Rugged and Precise Magnesium Alloy Construction: Effectively protected from invasive dust, moisture and electromagnetic interference with a self-diagnostic shutter mechanism tested to exceed 300,000 cycles.
16. 100% Viewfinder Coverage
17. Virtual Horizon Graphic Indicator

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Detailed camera specifications can be found on Nikon USA.

2) Camera construction and handling

The one area where one would expect to have no complaints whatsoever on the D3s is camera construction. With its magnesium-alloy camera frame and fully weather-sealed body, the Nikon D3s is designed to be abused. Like many other pros, I heavily rely on these features, whether I am shooting landscapes in extremely cold, hot, humid or dusty conditions, or photographing wildlife in rain and snow. My Nikon D700 took a lot of beating, but my D3s took even more. And I expect it to live for many more years to come. The phrase “build like a tank” easily applies to the D3s, enough said.

Click here to download the above photograph in a large wallpaper format (1920×1200).

Handling-wise, the D3s is superb, with the exception of two issues. The first one is its heavy weight and bulk. As I have already pointed out, Lola does not like the D3s because of this reason alone. At over 1.2 kilos without a battery, the camera is very heavy, approximately 20% heavier than the D700. While 20% might not sound like a lot, once you add a pro lens and a flash, it all adds up. This difference is even greater with batteries, because the EN-EL4a is twice the size and weight of the EN-EL3e. Size-wise, the Nikon D3s is also much taller than the D700 and is almost as big as the D700 with a battery pack. On the positive note, the Nikon D3s is slightly smaller and lighter than the D700 with a battery grip and two batteries. So if you already have a Nikon D700 and you are comfortable using it with the MB-D10 grip + batteries, then you will find the Nikon D3s to be overall easier and lighter to handle. The second issue has to do with button placement on the back and the top of the camera. While I absolutely love the extra display with three buttons on the rear of the camera, the “QUAL” button (stands for “Quality”, changes image format) right next to the ISO button is a very bad design mistake in my opinion. I had a few accidents, when I found myself shooting TIFF or JPEG, just because I accidentally changed my image format while attempting to change ISO in low light, with my gloves on. On one occasion, my whole day of photography went to waste because I managed to set the camera to “JPEG BASIC” without knowing it. Nikon should make these buttons programmable, or at least allow us to turn them on and off, so that this does not happen. Sure, I could have taken my gloves off and could have used a flashlight, but it was -10F at night! I did not want to use a flashlight, because my friend was standing right next to me and taking a long exposure. I really wish this “QUAL” button went on the top left dial of the camera, just like on the D700, and replaced the useless “L” (Function Lock) button that I have not been using at all. Other than these annoyances, I find the rest of the camera layout to be great. I often use the rear buttons without even looking at them, which speaks for the superb ergonomics of the professional Nikon D3s camera. By the way, Nikon has been paying Italian designers to design every pro camera since 1980, including the original Nikon D3; Nikon D3s has the same camera body design and very similar button layout as the D3.

Click here to download the above photograph in a large wallpaper format (1920×1200).

The Nikon D3s balances very well with all heavy professional Nikkor lenses like Nikon 14-24mm, Nikon 24-70mm and Nikon 70-200mm – you just grab the lens with the left hand and the camera with the right. When using smaller lenses like the Nikon 50mm f/1.8G, holding the camera can be a little awkward, because the lens is too light. In those situations, I use my left thumb, index and middle fingers to hold the lens, while resting other fingers on the camera body and using my left palm to support the camera. My right hand goes on the grip, with my thumb holding the “AF-ON” button that I use for focusing and my index finger on the shutter. The grip is superb and very comfortable.

Click here to download the above photograph in a large wallpaper format (1920×1200).

The dual card slots on the D3s are extremely useful. When shooting important events, I just use two identical CF cards and configure the camera to write photos to both cards simultaneously. This way I know that the photos are protected against potential failure and it also helps to keep my clients confident that their photos won’t be lost due to card failure. Dual card slots used to be considered a “pro-only” feature in the past – even the Nikon D700 does not have dual card slots (which I believe is a huge disadvantage). However, Nikon has been adding dual card slots to all new semi-pro and pro cameras lately (even the Nikon D7000 has dual card slots), so we should be seeing this feature on most Nikon cameras in the future. When shooting wildlife and landscapes, I typically use the “overflow” method, which writes to one card and then switches to the next one when it gets full.

Click here to download the above photograph in a large wallpaper format (1920×1200).

Just like all other top-of-the-line Nikon DSLRs, the Nikon D3s does not have a built-in camera flash. While this is done primarily for better weather-sealing, it is a definite disadvantage if you have been using a built-in flash in emergency situations or perhaps as a master to trigger an off-camera speedlight. It does not come with an AF assist lamp either, so focusing in extremely dark environments can be more problematic.

3) Camera Sensor

The Nikon D3s has a modified full-frame sensor from the legendary Nikon D3 camera. While the size and the number of pixels remained the same, Nikon found a way to push high ISO performance to new limits with the D3s. As can be seen from the next page of the review, it is roughly 1-1.5 stops better at high ISOs, which is incredible. Shooting at ISO 6400 on the Nikon D3s gives better results than shooting at ISO 3200 on the original Nikon D3 and Nikon D700 cameras! As I have already pointed out, the Nikon D3s has been the king of low-light photography since it was announced in 2009. However, this incredible high ISO performance comes at a cost – the Nikon D3s still has the same 12 Megapixel sensor as the original Nikon D3. Considering that most new cameras from other manufacturers now have at least 16-18 MP, 12 Megapixels is definitely on the low side (the new Sony A77/A65/NEX 7 cameras have a 1.5x crop factor sensor with a whopping 24 MP!), so Nikon needs to start catching up with a higher resolution sensor. Sure, many of us rarely need more than 12 MP, but for photographers like me that shoot nature and events it would be nice to have one camera that sort of sits in the middle, having a good balance of resolution and high ISO performance.

Click here to download the above photograph in a large wallpaper format (1920×1200).

4) Autofocus Performance

Just like the Nikon D3 and D700 DSLRs, the Nikon D3s sports the industry-leading Multi-CAM 3500FX 51-point AF system with 15 cross-type sensors. AF is incredibly quick and accurate, even in low-light situations. Both Lola and I have shot many different events with the D3s in mixed light environments and the AF system just never disappoints. You can customize AF behavior through the camera custom settings menu and the Nikon D3s provides lots of options to control and tweak the AF system. You can choose between Single and Continuous Servo modes and use continuous mode in combination with four different AF driving modes: single point, dynamic-area, 3D tracking and Area AF. You can choose from 9 to 51 AF points and you can even set focus tracking delay, which holds focus for a specific amount of time when the subject moves out of the focus area. Speaking of which, I use the Nikon D3s for bird photography and I am amazed by how well subject tracking works. I can set my camera one way for perched and slow birds, while for quick action and birds in flight I modify my AF and subject tracking settings and I end up with a lot more in-focus images. Overall, this AF system is so good, that many Canon sports and wildlife pros that got sick of the plagued AF system on their Canon 1D ended up switching to the Nikon D3 and D3s cameras.

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The 100% FX viewfinder coverage is very nice, because I know that I get exactly what I am looking at, whereas with the D700, I have to plan for the extra space that the viewfinder does not show. While this is not a critical feature, it is always nice to know that “what you see is what you get”. The large FX viewfinder on the Nikon D3s simply cannot be compared to DX viewfinders, making it much easier to see if your subjects are out of focus – yes, it is that much bigger in size.

All in all, and I know most pros will agree with me on this, Nikon’s 51-point AF system is still the best on the market today.

Click here to download the above photograph in a large wallpaper format (1920×1200).

5) Metering and Exposure

What about metering and exposure accuracy? While the Nikon D3s features the older 1,005 pixel RGB metering sensor (the Nikon D7000 has a 2,016-pixel RGB sensor), I personally like it better than the new one. As I have described in my Nikon D7000 review, the new 2,016-pixel RGB sensor can be tricky to work with, especially if you are used to the 1,005 pixel RGB sensor. The new face recognition patterns, along with the new complex sensor system seem to prioritize skin tones more, often resulting in over-exposure. I mainly shoot in 3D Matrix metering mode (about 90+% of the time) and occasionally in spot and center-weighted metering modes. All three have given me great exposures on the D3s in normal lighting conditions. When the light is tricky, I usually use exposure compensation to get the result I need. There are times when I dial +1 EV and shoot like that for a while and there are times when I dial -1 to -2 for the best exposure. But that does not happen very often – the metering sensor on the D3s is usually very accurate.

Click here to download the above photograph in a large wallpaper format (1920×1200).

6) Shooting Speed (FPS) and Battery Life

The Nikon D3s is Nikon’s flagship sports and wildlife camera, which is why it has the fastest speed Nikon can deliver on a pro body. At 9 fps you can capture action and when using DX lenses, you can get up to 11 fps (I can’t imagine anyone would shoot with a DX lens on a full-frame body, because resolution is halved). In comparison, the Nikon D300s and the Nikon D700 can shoot 6 and 5 fps, respectively (without a grip; up to 8 fps with the MB-D10 grip). The battery lasts up to 4,200 shots on a single charge, which is more than 4 times what the D700/D300s batteries can do. I also found the EN-EL4a battery to perform very well in extremely cold conditions, whereas the EN-EL3e battery used by the D700/D300s does not last very long in temperatures below 32F.

Click here to download the above photograph in a large wallpaper format (1920×1200).

7) Movie Recording

I remember when Nikon announced the D3s, the videography community was rather disappointed with its maximum 720p video mode. Canon was leading the game by putting 1080p in all of its new cameras, including many of the entry-level models, while Nikon was stuck with the same puny 720p 24fps AVI that it pioneered on the Nikon D90 DSLR. Granted you can shoot 720p with really high ISO levels and get incredible videos at night, the 720p limit just does not cut it anymore. If you are looking for a good video camera, you will be disappointed – even the new mirrorless Nikon 1 V1 camera beats the D3s in video capabilities. The reason why Nikon could not deliver high resolution videos was related to the older EXPEED processor that it used on the Nikon D3s – the processor just could not handle that kind of bandwidth. Nikon finally delivered 1080p with the EXPEED 2 processor and we will surely be seeing 1080p on the upcoming Nikon D4 as well, which will feature Nikon’s latest EXPEED 3 processor.

Click here to download the above photograph in a large wallpaper format (1920×1200).

8) Dynamic Range

The dynamic range on the D3s is excellent, but not quite as good as some of the newer sensors from Nikon, including the Nikon D7000 DX sensor. While you can surely recover plenty of details from base ISO images if your scene is exposed correctly, some of the great dynamic range capabilities are lost because the Nikon D3s does not have a native ISO 100 capability (dynamic range is largest at base ISO and is reduced as ISO is increased). For this reason, DxOMark rated Nikon D3s only 38th in its “dynamic range” rating chart, with Pentax K-5 topping the list and Nikon D7000 coming second. In contrast, the Nikon D3x (which is considered to be a landscape camera) is rated #3, because it offers much greater dynamic range at native ISO 100. But again, take all this with a grain of salt – you can still recover lots of data from D3s 14-bit RAW NEF files. Nikon found a way to go back to ISO 100 without compromising ISO performance, so all new cameras are manufactured with ISO 100 as base ISO. The new Nikon D4 will also feature native ISO 100, so its rating in the DxOMark charts should be very impressive once the results are published. Don’t be disappointed with this D3s dynamic range score though – the overall score from DxOMark still puts D3s 6th on the list, right along medium format cameras from Pentax and Phase One. That’s because by losing on dynamic range, it regains its ground on low-light ISO charts, where it ranks #1.

Click here to download the above photograph in a large wallpaper format (1920×1200).

My field tests have proven that shooting between ISO 200 and 800 is quite acceptable without much loss of dynamic range. Anything beyond ISO 800 will decrease dynamic range dramatically, especially beyond ISO 1600. So when I shoot landscapes (often hand-held), I try to stay below ISO 800-1600. When photographing people and wildlife, on the other hand, I do not hesitate to crank up ISO all the way to 6400 and sometimes even to 12,800. There is some loss of detail at ISO 12,800 though.

Click here to download the above photograph in a large wallpaper format (1920×1200).

See the next page to see more examples of D3s’ ISO performance, along with comparisons against Nikon D700 and D300.

9) ISO Performance at low ISOs (ISO 200-800)

Some technical junk:

1. White Balance: Auto
2. EXIF information is preserved in the images
3. Focusing was performed through Live-View Contrast Detect
4. Long exposure NR: Off
5. Image Format: RAW/NEF
6. Imported images into Lightroom and cropped to 100% – no resizing was performed in Photoshop
7. Lightroom export: sRGB JPEG Quality 80

Here is the full image, showing which area of the image I cropped below:

Let’s take a look at how the Nikon D3s performs at low ISOs. Here are some crops at ISO 200, 400 and 800:

As I have pointed out before, the Nikon D3s produces noise-free images at low ISOs. If you compare the above crops, you will barely notice any difference, even between ISO 200 and ISO 800.

10) High ISO Performance (ISO 1600-12800)

High ISO performance is a very important measure of DSLR sensor quality for low-light photography. Here is how the Nikon D3s performs at high ISO levels between ISO 1600 and 6400:

ISO 1600 looks almost as good as ISO 800, while ISO 3200 adds a slight amount of visible grain. I would not hesitate to use ISO 3200 on the D3s and if noise bugs me, Lightroom’s built-in noise reduction would get rid of it. At ISO 6400 we are seeing a noticeable amount of grain, especially in the shadows, but the image is still quite usable with plenty of details. The last “native” ISO range of 12,800 is about twice noisier than ISO 6400 and the grain size is also bigger. Getting rid of noise at these ISO levels would require a more selective noise reduction algorithm, so software like Noise Ninja or Nik Software Dfine would have to be used for best results. See my “Photo Noise Reduction Tutorial” for examples of selective noise reduction.

11) High ISO Performance “Boost” (ISO 25600-102400)

Nikon D3s gives us three “bonus” ISO levels to be used in extreme low-light situations – ISO 25,600, ISO 51,200 and ISO 102,400. Let’s take a look at these in more detail:

As expected, there is plenty of noise all over the image at ISO 25,600 and even more loss of small details. ISO 51,200 worsens the situation by introducing large grain and lots of detail is lost all over the image. At ISO 102,400 we see loss of most detail and colors, which in my opinion is downright unusable. Forget about noise reduction software at these ISO levels. If you shoot at anything above ISO 25,600, I would down-sample the image to much smaller resolution to get anything usable. Still, it is pretty darn impressive that we even have the option to shoot at these ISO levels today!

12) ISO Performance Summary

Now that you have seen image samples, you understand why this camera has been getting so much hype over its high ISO performance and you now know why it is dubbed the “low-light king”. Its low-ISO performance below ISO 800 is practically noise-free and it retains lots of details and colors all the way to ISO 12,800. When I photograph wildlife and I need the highest quality, I set my Auto ISO maximum to ISO 3200 and I get plenty of details of birds, their features and feathers. ISO 6400 adds more visible grain, but I still use it in very low light situations. I would rather have a sharp, but noisy image, rather than a blurry noise-free image. Noise can be cleaned up in post-production, while blur and lack of details destroy photographs. As for other ISO levels higher than 6400, I occasionally use ISO 12,800 when shooting events in low light, but avoid using anything above that. Overall, the low and high ISO performance of the D3s sensor is incredible.

It is hard to judge the performance of the Nikon D3s without direct comparison against other cameras, which is why you should definitely check out the next pages of this review. Let’s see what kind of a difference there is between the Nikon D700 (FX), Nikon D300s (DX) and the new Nikon D7000 (DX). Click the next page below to see the comparison.

Compared to Nikon D300s

There is no such thing as a fair comparison when you put an FX sensor against a DX sensor. A larger sensor means larger pixels, which translates to cleaner images. I know FX vs DX is always a heated debate, with plenty of people defending each side, but for me – the low ISO performance of a full-frame sensor was something that made me permanently switch to FX. I was simply never happy with noise showing up even at base ISO on DX sensors. Everybody talks about high ISO performance difference between FX and DX, but people rarely show examples of low noise of the FX sensor at low ISOs. Below you will find comparisons at both low and high ISO levels between D3s and D300s. Please note that ISO 200 is the base ISO for both D3s and D300s.

13) Nikon D3s vs D300s ISO Comparison at low ISOs

Let’s see how the D3s FX sensor compares to the D300s DX sensor – take a look at the below crops at ISO 200, 400 and 800:

At base ISO 200, the Nikon D3s has very smooth and clean shadows, whereas the Nikon D300s has a little bit of noise that is particularly visible in the shadows.

At ISO 400, the D3s still has a clean and noise-free image, while D300s is already showing plenty of noise in the shadows.

Even at ISO 800 the D3s looks very clean, while the D300s has plenty of noise.

14) Nikon D3s vs D300s High ISO Comparison

What about high ISO levels above ISO 800? Let’s take a look:

ISO 1600 is very grainy on the D300s, while the image from the D3s adds just a little bit of noise in the shadows. We are starting to see loss of details on the D300s.

The D300s image at ISO 3200 looks unusable to me, while D3s still looks very good with much less noise in comparison. D300s lost a lot of colors and dynamic range too.

At ISO 6400 the amount of detail loss on the D300s is significant. Colors are off and lots of dynamic range is lost. The Nikon D3s looks better at ISO 6400 than Nikon D300s at ISO 800.

15) Nikon D3s vs D300s Summary

It is hard to explain the difference between FX and DX until you see image samples at different ISOs, including base ISO. While D3s’ full frame sensor produces very clean images from ISO 200 to 1600 even in the shadows, D300′s crop sensor already shows some amount of noise at ISO 200. The difference between the sensors increases even more as ISO levels are increased. The ISO 6400 crop from the D3s looks slightly better than the ISO 800 crop from the D300s, so there is more than 3 stops of difference between the two. I was never happy with the image quality of D300/D300s above ISO 800, while I do not hesitate to use ISO 6400 and even ISO 12800 on the D3s. Obviously, the difference between FX and DX sensors is much more than noise levels. There is a significant different in field of view, dynamic range, colors, etc. Again, see my Nikon FX vs DX article for more details on differences.

Compared to Nikon D700

What about comparing the D3s to my favorite Nikon D700? Let’s take a look.

16) Nikon D3s vs D700 ISO Comparison at Low ISOs

Both cameras produce noise-free images between ISO 200 and 800. Here is a head to head comparison between D3s and D700 at ISO 200:

I cannot see any difference between the two. What about ISO 400:

Still the same story, the images look almost identical.

The same goes for ISO 800 – again, both cameras are excellent between ISO 200 and 800. Finally, here is ISO 1600:

At ISO 1600, both still look great, but the Nikon D3s image looks a tad cleaner in the shadows.

17) Nikon D700 vs D3s High ISO Comparison

The battle begins at ISO levels above ISO 1600. Here is ISO 3200:

Now the difference is clear – the Nikon D3s has less noise at ISO 3200, especially in the shadows:

At ISO 6400, the difference is significant – take a look at the shadows and the figurine on the right side. If my maximum workable ISO level on the D700 is ISO 3200, on the D3s it is raised to ISO 6400.

ISO 12800 is unusable on the D700 due to the significant amount of noise and loss of colors, while it still looks OK on the D3s.

And the difference is even more significant at ISO 25600 – look at the figurine on the right side and note how much detail is lost on the D700, while D3s still preserves most of it.

Nikon D700 is maxed out at ISO 25600, while D3s can push it all the way to ISO 102400. I never shoot at ISO levels above 25600 on the D3s, so the performance at these ISO levels is not important for me.

18) Nikon D3s vs D700 Summary

As you can see from the above image crops, both cameras are comparable at low ISOs between ISO 200 and ISO 800. Starting from ISO 1600, the Nikon D3s shows better handling of noise in the shadows. The difference grows as ISO levels are increased. At ISO 6400 and above, the Nikon D3s shows roughly a stop of difference and this difference slightly increases at ISO 12800 and above. Take a look at ISO 51200 on the D3s and compare it to ISO 25600 on the D700 – the D3s looks better and retains colors. Obviously these kinds of extreme ISO comparisons are not very useful for most photography needs and I personally avoid shooting at ISO above 6400, but it is nice to know that the D3s could save a picture if the lighting conditions are extremely poor.

19) Summary and Image Samples

With its excellent image quality, extreme low-light sensitivity capabilities, reliable metering, fast speed, quick and accurate AF, weather-sealed magnesium alloy body, dual card slots and a boatload of customization options, the Nikon D3s can satisfy even the most demanding sports, news and wildlife photography needs today. Whether you are shooting events in low-light situations or photograph nature in extreme weather conditions, the Nikon D3s delivers. However, as I have already pointed out, all this comes at a price – with its bulky size, heavy weight, a steep $5K price tag, the Nikon D3s can be classified as a very “specialized tool”. Its low-resolution (by today’s standards) 12 MP sensor is more than enough for event photography and portraiture, but rather low for landscapes and fashion. Its lack of built-in flash and AF assist lamp means that you will have to plan ahead of time and most likely carry a speedlight or at least a bright flashlight with you, especially when shooting in dark environments. And if you are into street photography, the size and the bulk of the camera can easily intimidate people around you. And if you suffer from back pain, neck pain or have carpal tunnel, you might want to think again before even considering it. My wife Lola shot a couple of weddings with the D3s and she was not happy with it. She was very happy with the images she was getting, but carrying the D3s with a couple of lenses all day long was too painful for her. Towards the end of the day, she just could not take any pictures anymore. I have seen a couple of cases when photographers sold their high-end DSLRs to get something smaller and lighter. So before you commit to a camera like the D3s, prioritize your needs and ask yourself if it is worth the investment. If you are into sports and wildlife photography, with your camera and very heavy/long lenses mounted on a tripod, then the Nikon D3s is a no-brainer.

20) Where to buy and availability

B&H is currently selling the Nikon D3s body only for $5,199 (as of 01/02/2011).

21) More image samples

Many more image examples from the Nikon D3s are available in the Wallpapers section of the website.

Click here to download the above photograph in a large wallpaper format (1920×1200).

Click here to download the above photograph in a large wallpaper format (1920×1200).

Click here to download the above photograph in a large wallpaper format (1920×1200).

Click here to download the above photograph in a large wallpaper format (1920×1200).

Click here to download the above photograph in a large wallpaper format (1920×1200).

Click here to download the above photograph in a large wallpaper format (1920×1200).

Click here to download the above photograph in a large wallpaper format (1920×1200).

Click here to download the above photograph in a large wallpaper format (1920×1200).

Click here to download the above photograph in a large wallpaper format (1920×1200).

Click here to download the above photograph in a large wallpaper format (1920×1200).

Click here to download the above photograph in a large wallpaper format (1920×1200).

Click here to download the above photograph in a large wallpaper format (1920×1200).

Click here to download the above photograph in a large wallpaper format (1920×1200).

Click here to download the above photograph in a large wallpaper format (1920×1200).

Click here to download the above photograph in a large wallpaper format (1920×1200).

Click here to download the above photograph in a large wallpaper format (1920×1200).