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Why is the Nikon D3 SO EXPENSIVE?
What makes this camera so expensive? I own a Nikon D80, are the D3′s photos THAT much better that it should cost 5,000 dollars? What features make it so expensive and is it really worth the price? What makes this camera “professional” vs any other camera and could any person who has decent knowledge of DSLR cameras pick one up and know how to use it?
Well, since you’re asking this question – it’s not worth it to you.
The differences in a nutshell are these:
D80 – 1.5x crop factor, D3 – full frame sensor.
D80 – max native ISO=1600 or 3200 with boost; D3 native=6400 or 25600 with boost. (plus better noise performance at any ISO level due to larger sensor)
D80 – 3 frames per second, D3= 9 to 11 frames per second.
All other differences are negligible.
The bigger more sensitive sensor is very expensive addition. The rest not so much expensive, but other small bells and whistles to add up to some degree…
Sounds unimpressive? That’s almost same as D80 at fraction of a cost!!! Is it really worth extra few grand?
Wrong question – the right question is: Is it worth extra few grand to enough people to be feasible to sell at that price.
Answer is definitely yes.
There is a category of people, who do photography for living and who have allocated serious budgets for equipment they need (or sometimes they’re on their publisher/editor/promoter’s budget). Their thinking when buying equipment is this: “I need a camera that has features A,B,C”, and they get it no matter the price tag. Amateurs like myself are thinking “I need a camera that fits #xxx budget”. So I have to evaluate whether extra frames per second are worth extra dollars for me.
A serious pro, especially sports photographers, or journalists who need to shoot in any conditions and flash is not always available MUST have that high ISO ability, and they don’t care if it alone with all others being equal will cost them 3 more grand to get. Because that perfect goal shot, they otherwise wouldn’t have captured will pay for that alone.
And since there’s demand, marketing laws suggest there will be supply. So each serious camera manufacturer has at least one model in their lineup that is made to be absolutely the highest performance – and if they have to invest heavily in technology and make it ultra expensive, they don’t care, because they know the camera will sell. Not to you or me, but to those who need it.
That’s how $30,000 cameras and $10,000+ lenses (that are just a stop or two faster than similar $1,500 lenses) come to exist… They are for those people who must have them, period.
LEM.
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