Some German photography message board claims that the Nikon D3 will be replaced—that’s key, replaced, and not sold side-by-side—by either the D3x or D4 as early as February, 2009. The original post even has two stats for us: 24 megapixels and 6-7 photos per second in burst mode.

The only reason we’re even acknowledging this rumor is because it does sync up with that expected BIG announcement or press conference Nikon is planning for November 20.

In any event the make-believe photographers here are looking forward to see what, if anything, Nikon has in store.

via Nikon Rumors

Will Nikon do the obvious and release a D3x? Will it release the camera this December for $6,499? Will the camera have a 24.4-megapixel image sensor? Will it have the same body as its progenitor, the D3? Will it be able to shoot at a rate of 9 frames per second?

We don’t know, but we wouldn’t mind playing around with such a camera.

Nikon says their digital SLR D3 has been chosen as Europe’s Camera of the Year 2008-2009 by the European Imaging and Sound Association.

The camera has already won the Camera Grand Prix 2008 award in Japan and the Technical Image Press Association’s Best Professional Digital SLR Camera 2008 award in Europe.

Nikon is actually a late entrant to the market for professional digital SLRs, with the D3 being the company’s first full-frame model. 

We’re led to believe this scan of a German photography magazine article about the D700 is real. Having “been had” last week, I reserve the right to remain suspicious.

These are the specs that appear in the article. Maybe.

D700: D3-Sensor, AF-Module but no phone/speaker, only 95% viewer, 200-6400ISO, 5FPS (8 with MB-D10), pop-up-flash (power 11), dust-removal on sensor, EN-EL3e, 1076g, fsync 1/250, 1/8000-30s, one CF-Slot, grid in viewer optional, virtual horizon, little less fast to D3. Compatible to WT-4.

So, no 100 percent viewer? Did we lose a war?

Oh, and the all-important price: €2,599, or $4,094.

If you’re in the mood for a new Nikon body, you might want to wait a month or so, according to the rumor mongers at Photography Bay. The D3x is expected sometime soon as Nikon’s challenger to the Canon 1D mkIII crown. More interesting to me is the mysterious D90/D80x, which is expected to undercut Canon’s 40D pricing but compete on features.

All these D’s and numbers are getting confusing to me, we’ll have to do a DSLR roundup soon just so I can get my head straight. In the meantime, PB has some handy rumor pages put up for the D3x and “D90.”

Those of you special enough to have a D3 may want to know that Nikon has released firmware version 1.10 for the behemoth of a DSLR. That’s fine and dandy but some chaps over at DPReview did a little digging into the firmware and found some lines of code that have led some to believe that the elusive D3X, a 24.4-megapixel, could be on its way. Keep reading for more details.
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So that super-duper, top secret reason why I’m here in Japan—the Nikon D3 and D300, two digital SLRs that should help the Japanese company reclaim some lost ground in its Tolkienian battle against Canon. The D3, which is aimed at professional photographers, is Nikon’s first to make use of the FX format, a fancy term for what amounts to a full 35mm sensing area. (Photographers know what that means, I’ve been told.) The new top of the line camera’s 12.1-megapixel CMOS sensor may sorta have you scratching your head—only 12? Well, just like the megahertz myth, there’s a hell of a lot more involved in taking pictures than just how many pixels make up an image.

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