I bought a D3 today and it doesn't have a monitor cover. One is not listed in included accessories. A monitor cover, BM-8 is the only thing I could find on the Nikon site and it is only compatible with the D200 and D300. I think it's the one that came with my D200. I can see slots on the camera body for a cover to snap into, but which cover would that be? I'm not interested in using a cover while shooting, but would like some protection when not shooting. I never had a cover on my D1X LCD and it sure is a mess. Scratches all over it.

Scotti

LCD Screen Protectors. www.promaster.com

More specifically: http://www.promaster.com/products/products.asp?CatName=Digital%20Accessories&CatSM=C_DigitalAccessories&SubCatName=LCD%20Cleaning%20and%20Protection&Page=SubCat&CatID=120&SubCatID= 2&sm=sm2_1202

Maybe not what you had in mind, but I use them with my D2X bodies. Better than nothing.

Scotti,

did you or are you getting the stellar 14-24?

John,

I didn't get any glass. I felt like I spent enough for one day. Sure would love to have the 14-24 though. It's on my wish list.

Scotti

Marshal,

I'll give them try. Haven't found anything else yet. Thanks.

Scotti

Taken it with a grain of salt, there is a test report on the 70-200 2.8 at DPReview.
One of my favorites on a DX body, it did not fare so well on the D3 in full-frame mode.

Although the ongoing hair splitting over canon vs. nikon optics will persist, this may cause me to stick with a DX body such as the D300 for this lens and consider others, perhaps among the wide zooms such as 14-24 mentioned by John, for the D3.

I am curious how well a lens such as an older MF 50 1.4 or 1.8 would perform on a D3.

You probably won't need a monitor cover on the D3 to protect it. It is made of a different material than on previous Nikon's and very scratch resistant. Got my D3 with the first shipment and the LCD still looks brand new. Worst problem I have is wiping off nose grease.

RD3F...old lenses work just fine on the D3. I have a 105mm and a 55 micro from the 60's, and a 24 and 35mm from the 70's that produce image quality as good as any of the current lenses I own.

quote:

You probably won't need a monitor cover on the D3 to protect it. It is made of a different material than on previous Nikon's and very scratch resistant.

Craig,

Don't worry, I'll find a way to scratch it!

Nice camera! Just when you think they are sleeping over at Nikon, they come up with something like this. Charged the battery for two hours and then used it on a shoot. Was dying to read the manual, but didn't think that would instill confidence in the client.

All I have is old Nikkors, except for a 17-55 2.8 DX, which I use with the D200. They work great . Do you have a PC-E NIKKOR
24mm f/3.5D ED? I'm wondering how that lens would work with the full frame sensor of the D3? I'm thinking 24mm again, either the 14-24 or the PC (if it works). The only one I have is a 24mm Nikkor f2.8. Thanks.

Scotti

Scotti

Craig -

I've been occasionally using the MF 105 f2.5 and 35 f2 on DX bodies and it's nice to hear you're getting good results from older lenses on the D3.

O:

In the past three months, my D3 has traveled to the arctic and to a Windsor (south of Detroit) factory, seen dog mushing, blizzards, offices, golf courses and even fell down a flight of stairs (and sadly, I was sober). And it's shot way too many men in suits.

The glass on the display looks like new. The D3 body has a tiny scratch. My body is still bruised.

And my 17-35, 85 1.8 and 80-200 are making sweet images on it. And stuff on a NPS 200 f2 was amazing.

Nicest camera I've ever used. Kinda feel like Chuck Heston and his gun. "...my cold dead hands..."

quote:

even fell down a flight of stairs (and sadly, I was sober).

David,

Sounds like I got the right camera for me (see my post on dropping cameras).

Having had other Nikon DSLRs, the D3 proved very intuitive for me. I haven't had a chance to fool around with the new features yet, such as Active D-Lighting, and AF Fine Tuning, etc.

Nikon has come a long way since the D1X!

Scotti

FYI, Hoodman has a LCD hood cap for a Nikon D3.
Adorama is selling it for $22.95 free shipping, no tax (outside of NY). I just ordered it online, so have not seen it yet.

Scotti

FWIW I have the 70-200 and used it on a rented D3 (what a camera!) a few weeks ago. It's the sharpest lens I've ever used before. The only thing accurate about that dpreview is the flare pattern, I saw none of the other stuff the guy mentioned, not even falloff. My guess is they got one from the lower end of the quality control pool, or they were last in line for media reviews and the previous users used it as a hammer or something.

Anyway, it works great on a D3. As for old Nikon primes I only tried one on that body, the 55mm f4 Micro AIS which was excellent, as always. I sold all my other MF primes a long time ago because the zooms outperformed them all, except for the 55mm. The worst lens I have is the 12-24DX, which isn't much use on a D3, but is still sharper than the 24mm and 28mm AIS primes it replaced. I'm saving my pennies for the new 14-24 which I rented too, and is probably the best lens Nikon ever made.

In any case, as good as the old Nikon glass is or was, their new zooms are significantly better. IMHO, of course, your mileage may vary.

I've got the 14-24 and it is awesome on the D3. It's quite a handful though and hard to fit in a camera bag pocket. But oh is it ever sharp! When I first got it was fooling around and took a picture of my wife's face from very close up at 14mm. Needless to say she would kill me if I posted it as it was very distorted, but was amazed at the detail of every pore and wrinkle.

I love the AF-S DX Zoom- NIKKOR 17-55mm f/2.8G IF-ED with my D200, but again not good with the D3. The 14-24 is still on my wish list, and most likely will remain there for awhile.

Craig,

If your wife sees your post with the word wrinkle in it, you're a dead man.

Scotti