D3 in 2023?

Hi,
I have only shot on APS-C or smaller formats so far, with my main camera being a D7500 for the last year. I own quite a few FX lenses (50mm 1.4D, 85mm 1.8D, 105mm VR, 70-200 f/4, 28-105D) and I kind of want to try having a full-frame camera as well, if only to use the whole area of my lenses, or have a shallow DOF. My local used gear website lists a working D3 for €250 + shipping, and I was wondering if it is worth it at this point in time? Otherwise I believe I will wait until I can get a good deal on a D750/780 or D810, or even Z6/Z7 II (although having a FTZ to manage will be less fun no doubt), which are more more modern.

I am not expecting it to be my main camera as it is a bit of a brick, but is the shooting experience enjoyable enough to be worth the money?

Of the equipment you mention, I would choose the D750 as the best blend of image quality and weight - depending on your age and preferred type of photography, of course.

Nikon announced the D3 way back on 23 August, 2007. It is Nikon's first FX-format DSLR and at the time it was a breakthrough for high-ISO results. I am sure it is still a good enough DSLR today. It is up to the OP to decide whether the weight is an issue or not and 12MP is sufficient. The D3's EN-EL4 battery, shared between the D2 and D3 families, is no longer current, as Nikon replaced that with the EN-EL18 family when they introduced the D4 in 2012, which in itself was 11 years ago. Also the CF (compact flash, not CF Express) type memory cards are now out of favor, and I don't like those vulnerable pins. IMO, it is a bit of a pain to deal with semi-obsolete memory cards and batteries.

I tend to agree that a D750 or D800/D810 maybe a better buy. The D800/D810 have dual CF and SD slots, such that you may still need to deal with CF. However, the EN-EL15 batteries are still currently used in the Z5, Z6, and Z7. Speaking of mirrorless, at this point I would rather op for a Z body if the OP wants to go FX. However, there is no AF with those screwdriver AF/AF-D lenses via the FTZ.

If this interests you
I have here a comparison between a D3s (the little brother of the D3) and my D500 APS-C
www.flickr.com/photos/maoby/albums/72157719208295623
250€ seems a very reasonable price to me.

Nikon D3s (2009) / Nikon D500 (2016) by Marc Aubry, sur Flickr

All of the single and three digit Nikon DLSRs are "bricks", just some are more brick-y than others in my experience.

Have you thought about a D610? They tend to be a lot less expensive compared to the D750, and have the same sensor. Differences being the rear screen on the D610 is fixed, a slightly shorter battery life and 12 fewer focus points (39 vs 51).

That being said, the D7500 is an excellent camera, and has more modern specs compared to the D750. Granted, it has fewer MP, but it offers faster autofocus, better FPS and the touchscreen with autofocus..

I read somewhere that the D610 does not have a focusing motor, which is a bit of an issue for my old lenses.

With the exception of AF-P, the D610 supports the same lenses as the D750:
www.nikonusa.com/images/learn-explore/photography-techniques/2011/which-nikkor-is-right-for-you/media/nikkor-lens-compatibility-chart.pdf

For the full list of supported lenses, you can download Nikon's official Excel file and check the compatibility of your lens with the D610: www.nikonimgsupport.com/na/NSG_article?articleNo=000026574&configured=1&lang=en_SG

The D3 is still a perfectly capable camera and a cheap way to experience a full sized camera body. At €250, I say go for it.

The D3`s 12Mp resolution may have started to look tired 10 years ago but in this new age of social media and phone sharing pics , massive files are if anything a hinderence so In theory the D3 is the perfect Pro camera for 2023 if social media plays a big part of your photography ..

there are endless cheap sharp lenses for it as people move to mirrorless , it's tough , doesn't die prematurely with the mirror stuck up like the D700 does so expect hundreds of thousands of shots (mine has done well over 200K and looks like a Mad Max set prop but is as sweet as a nut) , battery lasts forever and the RAW files deliver the most gorgeous deep colour which IMO is only matched by the D4 or the old 2003 Olympus E1 ........ BTW the D3S only has an advantage at ISO3200 and above so a half price D3 is the better bet unless you`re up there all the time

Downers are - these cameras cannot be repaired as nikon has no spares (but they do go on forever) - decent 3rd batteries are pretty nonexistant , only chinese no names unless you're in the USA and can get wasabi so scrounging around for low usage used nikon ones is where its at .. the camera weighs a ton compared to modern mirrorless toys (but it's got the toughness to match ) - there's not any crop space if you're after printing large or "extending" your zoom range .. AF is superb and accurate and focusses in light which the likes of the Z6 and Z7 can only dream but its no D850/D5/D500 for AF ..

so I'd say yeah - given the price the D3S is holding let alone the D4 - the D3 is a bargain thesedays especially as the main target for photography thesedays outside various professional fields is Social media were even 4Mp is overkill and if you're going to get a camera which cannot be repaired, get a bulletptoof one with a crazy long lifespan

I still find my D700 to be perfectly fine for prints out to 16x24. Same sensor as D3. With the latest upsizing software, even 20x30” prints will be superb.

I'm still rather fond of my D3s, and find it to be quite a capable camera in 2023.

I'm a somewhat recent(within the last month) owner of a D5, and the D5 absolute smokes it in every metric but it's also an order of magnitude more expensive.

12mp isn't as terrible as some would have you think, although it definitely shows its age compared to high resolution bodies(I have the full D8xx series, and now primarily use a D850). Still, though, getting the most out of the high-res bodies basically requires cutting edge glass and excellent technique, and in practice I find that I'm often pushed to get appreciably more detail when handheld out of my D850 than my D5. A tripod, good technique, and modern high end glass changes things(my 24-70 f/2.8E is the best to show the difference and also my newest lens, but I can see it on my older 70-200 f/2.8 VR1 and 300 f/2.8 VR1). Noise and DR are still respectable. The D3s is a big improvement in noise(or at least based on the D700 I had-I've never owned a regular D3) but I realize you're asking about the original D3. Increasingly newer single digit bodies do give big improvements in noise, but again they also jump up in price quite a bit(The Df is excellent also, but these days the D4 is a lot less expensive with the same sensor). You do get more DR out of the D8xx bodies, but again the D3 is still respectable.

AF is still quite respectable. It does have 3D tracking, but will need a bit more help to pick the initial focus point than newer systems(especially the D5/D850/D500 system). It's also easy to "trick" into jumping if something goes in front of your tracked subject(newer cameras have a delay for this). Judicious use of AF lock can help this, although if using back button focus I find lenses with focus lock buttons to be very helpful. It doesn't have anywhere near as many focus points as newer cameras. I'd say overall AF performance is comparable to my D800. The ONE place where it does beat the D800 is when using screwdriver lenses, but that's a general rule for the single digit bodies as they tend to have bigger motors.

I've generally had good luck with original EN-EL4 batteries continuing to work well, although I have a few aftermarkets that are fine also.

There's no getting around the D3 being big. Although I started my(serious) digital journey with a D2X, and still have the D3s and now D5, there's a reason why the D850 and other D8xx cameras have become my main ones. Higher resolution aside, they just weigh a lot less and are smaller.

I had the D700, the D3's little brother. The 12MP had a lovely colour rendering, and I regret selling it in some ways. But for the photography I do, the D810 was a better fit for my photography.

I'm just now getting back into photography after taking a few years off. I sold everything off(mistake) last using the D810, D500, and the DF(wonderful camera). I've been itching to shoot for the last few months and started to look at my options. Not being sold on mirrorless(mainly OVF) I decided on the F mount. I hadn't realize there was a mass exodus going on because of mirrorless with the F mount gear. Good for me lol. Pro F mount gear is pretty cheap right now. I ended up picking up a mint nikon 24-70e and a mint 70-200e, both for $2K(not each, together). A 50 1.4g for $150, 20 1.8g for just under $400, and a mint condition 300 2.8 VRii with all the original stuff(including box) for $2200. But before the lenses I was deciding on a body.
I've never shot a pro body before so I started looking at them. Knowing I was going to spend a mint(even at deep used discounts) on lenses the body had a budget. The D6 was out of budget for sure. Same with the D5 although there was some super high mileage beat up ones for $1500. Next was the D4(s). Well for the time I was looking I couldn't find any decent D4s that were cheap enough. The S still adds a bit of a tax and if they did have low shutter counts and were in great shape they pull decent coin. So the D4. Yep, ended up finding a mint D4. It had a little more shutter clicks(74K) then I wanted but is was clean with all the original contents and packaging(I have OCD for this lol). I love the camera. Of course it's heavy but I like that. It's built like a tank and fits in the hand like a glove. It just balances so well. Button placement, ergos, all of it near perfect. IQ, having used the DF for a couple of years, I had experience with that beautiful 16mp sensor. I personally love it and I think it has the best output of any camera I've used(the above mentioned, Canon 6d, 7dmkii, Fujis, etc).
I guess were I'm going at with this is the older D cameras are just brilliant and although the D3 and D4 are over 10 years old I still think they run with modern cameras.

According to this list the D610 supports AF-P lenses?

www.nikonimgsupport.com/eu/BV_article?articleNo=000035705&configured=1&lang=en_GB

At least on my D600, which I no longer have, I had to update the firmware but was able to get AF-P support. I know that for a fact as I have a bunch of photos from a trip that I took with my D600 and 10-20mm DX AF-P(which is a passable FX 14-20mm lens and weighs nothing).

I'm not sure if there's any actual real world difference between the D600 and D610 other than the D610 coming from the factory with the repaired shutter that Nikon had a replacement program for on the D600s.

IIRC, both manual and auto focus was fully functional. What the firmware did NOT add was the ability to turn off VR on the lens. The VR AF-P lenses I'm familiar with don't have a physical switch on the lens, but rather it's turned on/off through the camera menus.

I seem to remember my D800 working also with a firmware update but having that same restriction. These lenses default to VR ON if the camera won't turn it off. I can try to check on my D800.

The D3 got bought before I could get it, but I found a good deal on a D750 & grip, which is also quite a brick together, and I am having a good time.

From my (short) experience, while the 10-20 AF-P DX does not have black corners used in the 14-20 range on FX, there is still quite a lot of vignetting going on here, much more than for example the 35mm DX.

Bummer about the D3. I have fond memories of the entire "3" series, having previously owned all of them (D3, D3s, D3x), and always get a little excited for anyone considering their first 3 series FX Nikon knowing they'll absolutely love it. But nothing wrong with a D750. It's a nice, somewhat compact full frame Nikon with image quality being a small step up over the D3.

Shot yesterday on a D3

There is also this compatibility list for AFP Lenses There is a difference in compatibility between full frame and DX lenses. www.nikonimgsupport.com/eu/BV_article?articleNo=000035705&configured=1&lang=en_GB

Hi,

A D3 will still do a decent enough job. And it doesn't fit my definition of a brick. You
ought to see a Nikon E series. The size and weight of a 645 film camera yet it is
only 1.3 MP.

Or my digital F5 - a film body with a digital back. And I still use it even though it is only
6 MP APS-H - alongside my Df. Sometimes I need dual bodies when both are small
format. Usually, I have the Df alongside medium format, but sometimes not. So the old
camera comes out to play.

I really ought to get a D4, I suppose. ;)

Stan

I got one about month ago for $300 and happy I got it. A lot of camera for a little money

IMHO D4s has slightly better AF and a tad less noise.

For that price…it’s a steal. I still use a D700 a lot and it is more than enough for most needs.