Hello, I’m Phil Hall, technical editor of Digital Photo Magazine and I’m gonna be giving you a hands on review of the camera everyone’s been talking about, the prospect Nikon D3. Replacing the D2XS for its high res capability is also replacing the D2HS as well. So you’re getting two cameras for one. The D3 is clearly aimed at taking on Cannons popular EOS 1Dmac3. So there’s a 51 point AF system which is nearly developed, along with live view in the rear that we found in the D300 as well. But I suppose the big news is, this is Nikon’s first four frame DSLR. We’ve been waiting a long time for this. As you expect from a prospector’s slot the D3 is built like a tank, see that, this is thanks to its magnesium alloy chassis and environmental weather sealing. And it needs this because it can find itself in a variety of situation that the pros go out and take pictures in. So anything from a wet Rugby pitch to a war zone. Its gonna have to deliver the goods day in and day out. And I think it will do that. In the hand, your grip is nice and solid, and this is thanks to its rubberize finish, which gives the D3 a really quality feel. There’s also a vertical shutter, so if you shoot a lot of portraits it’s a lot more comfortable to shoot like this. In my opinion the Nikon D3 is the best in hand DSLR around. It’s a combination of everything come together just right, it’s a joy to use. If you ever flown a jet fighter like myself, then the D3’s virtual horizon will look familiar. As you can see, as I move the camera, the horizon always stays level, and I need to banish those lanky shots for good, and shows good thinking by Nikon. If using the back of the screen is too much hassle, you can set the function button at the front of the camera. So you press it and you get a displayed on your top plate there, so moving the camera around, holding down the function button, and it will usually expose your slider to tell you if you got the shot level as well. And it also appears in the viewfinder too. Thanks to the newly develop X speed image processor, the D3 can actually throw a phenomenal 9 frame a second. But if you’re worried about running out of card space, then don’t, as this one takes two. I shoot a lot of gigs where the lighting can be awful and I have to shoot around 1,600 to 3,200 ISO. And that’s always been a compromise. This all changes with the D3, results to 6,400 are excellent. It’s better than some cameras, it’s 1,600 ISO but it doesn’t stop there though, it can be crank up to staggering ISO improvement of 25,600. You’ll be perfect use of the results, they’re noisy, but it makes the difference between getting the shot and hitting deletes. Some people might be expecting more pixels from the D3, but that’s missing the point. Performance is excellent and the result from the 12 megapixel sensor are pin sharp. So phenomenal piece of kit, probably one of the most complete all around DSLR we’ve seen. It’s gonna go down a storm with professionals, especially those who find themselves in low light conditions, where other cameras don’t even come close. It’s a great camera and I would love to see it cheaper, it deserves the asking price.