Is Nikon Prepping A 24 Megapixel D3 Replacement?
AxelR, a member of the Excellent DP Review forums, has snuck a look inside the code of Nikon’s new firmware update for its flagship D3 camera. What did he find? References to a future D3-X model with a whopping 24.4 megapixels. He searched the v1.10 code for the string “D3X” and came up with the following:
6048×4032 24.4 MThe most interesting post in the forum thread comes from Thom Hogan, the author of several books on Nikon DSLRs and general Nikon authority. While a common code base for firmware is the likely reason that snippets for future models are showing up in the update, Thom reckons that there could already be D3 cameras in the wild sporting the bigger sensors:
4544×3024 13.7 M
3024×2016 6.1 M
5056×4032 20.4 M
3792×3024 11.5 M
2528×2016 5.1 M
3968×2640 10.5 M
2976×1976 5.9 M
1984×1320 2.6 M
Sure. But the real reason is almost certainly that there are some D3 bodies out there with the new sensor being tested.If this is true, then opening up those extra pixels is just a hack away. Remember, manufacturers cripple their cameras in software to differentiate the product line. The Wired How-To Wiki has detailed instructions for adding RAW support and higher ISO settings to cheapo Canon point-and-shoots. Why not Nikon, too?
UPDATE: Several commenters have pointed out the unlikelihood of Nikon sneaking new sensors into existing cameras. This email from Gadget Lab reader Brian puts it best:
I think you misunderstood Thom. By “out there being tested” he’s referring to the common practice of seeding cameras to pros under NDA for testing/feedback. They’d not be putting upgraded sensors into retail D3s to test them.
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