Nikon D3x vs Canon 1Ds Mark III

 

Few days ago, thanks to Michele (www.passionenatura.com), I have had the occasion to compare my Canon 1DsIII with new Nikon flaghship, the 24 megapixels Nikon D3x. When it has been announced, the D3x has been heavily criticized for its high price: a $ 8000 SLR has still a market today, when $ 2500 SLRs offers similar performances at 1/3 the price?  
 
Yes and no. Yes, because in some aspects the D3x and the 1DsIII are better than their cheaper alternatives (more rugged, 100% viewfinder, state of art autofocus), and the photographers that value these aspect will accept to pay the premium price to have "the best". No, because if I had to choose now I'd no longer buy the 1DsIII or another $ 8K camera: cheaper cameras does the 95% of what you can do with 8 K cameras, and that's enough for me, even for professional work. With the money I'd save I'd make a couple of nice trips, or I'd buy a new lens or a RED Scarlet :-)  
 
Anyway, the D3x is an amazing camera; it is on par with the Canon 1DsIII, and in some aspects it is even slightly better! I have made a detailed comparison at every ISO sensitivity and I have tested the camera on the field photographing birds.
 
 

Image quality comparison

I have photographed the same scene with the Nikon D3x and with the 1DsIII; both photos had been taken at 70mm f/11, with tripod and mirror lock up. The images had been taken in RAW and converted with RawTherapee (I prefer Adobe Camera RAW, but currently it does not support the Nikon D3x). All the parameters where on the same values; I have disabled sharpening and noise reduction.

 

The image above is the test target, and the area highlighted in red, in the center of the image, is the area shown in the following crops. In terms of dynamic range the two cameras are identical, and the resolution is similar (the D3x has a slight advante, but it is a minor difference), so I have focussed my attention on noise. Usually I show 100% crops, but since here the differences are minimal here I show 200% crops.

I think that these crops speack by themselves: the image quality of the Nikon D3x and 1DsIII is identical, at every ISO sensitivity! Moreover, remember that looking at 200% crops from these cameras is like looking at wall-sized prints; if you don't see any difference here, you will never see it on the web or in print.
 
 

Image quality, 100% crops

Since I have received many request, I have added some 100% crops from the same image. Here it is even more difficult to see any difference - they produce very similar image quality!

 
 

In the field: White Heron with Nikon D3X and Nikkor 600 f/4 AF-S VR

Nikon D3X, Nikkor 600mm f/4 AF-S VR, Nikon 1.4x TC, 1/1250 f/8, iso 800, tripod. Click here for the 1200px version!
 
I have tried the Nikon D3X for bird photography, together with the Nikkor 600mm f/4 AF-S VR and teleconverters. I think you need to spend months with a camera before giving a judgement, so consider my words just a preview!  
 
I am used to the Canon 1DsIII, and with the D3X I feel...at home. The layout of the controls is slightly different, but overall they are very similar cameras: the image quality is similar, the speed is similar, both have a large body and bright, clear viewfinder, and fast autofocus. I have used the camera at every ISO sensitivity and I think it is usable up to 3200; only 6400 looks a bit "over the top", even though in some situations it may still be usable. For sure it is noisier than the Nikon D3, but it is on par with the 1DsIII, and it is much better than the previous Nikon D2X!

 

100% crop from the previous photo.
 
The image above shows a detail from the previous photo. I think that the D3X can do even better - the subject was far away and it was moving quickly, and in these situations it is difficult to get the best sharpness. Nevertheless, in my opinion the image quality is already excellent - it has good detail and very low noise (keep in mind it is taken at ISO 800!).  
 
Overall, it is difficult to find something to complain into the D3X - the only real cons is the price!