Update #3: On this image, the label clearly looks like a D3, on the next few frames it looks like a D4 (see other pictures below). Here is a hi-res version.
Update #2: I am not that far in the video yet, but a reader already took this screenshot from the 29:21 mark - hard to tell if this is D4 or D3:
Same image sharpened in PS:
click on image for larger view
Thanks Nick, Daniel and everybody else.
Update #1: here is the link to the video online (you will need to install Silverlight in order to watch it):
A dpreview reader writes:
"There was a documentary about the Australian photographer of architecture John Gollings who was working in the field with a Nikon D4. I only saw it for a short moment but there was clearly a 4 on it instead of a 3. The only significant thing I saw was the bigger top of the camera. I mean the prism on top of the camera."
Has anyone seen this?
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212 Comments
Most likely it was an F4–not a D4. Any beta testing of unreleased cameras are usually unbranded or covered up.
The F4 looks nothing like the D3.
small body, sharp angles on prism, and the logo is on the other side of the prism as the d3 logo.
It is curious though that nikon would have printed “D4″ on a beta camera.
it is D4. the FX mark is on the camera.
Yeah, made that comment before I saw the pics. :X oops.
Het gaat maar snel bij Nikon. De D3 serie net compleet en zie ik de opvolger al op tv zelfs. Afgelopen zondag kon je er even een glimp van zien. In de close-up documentaire over de Australische architectuurfotograaf John Gollings zag je hem heel even aan het werk met een D4. Waarschijnlijk een testexemplaar in opdracht van Nikon.
Opvallend was het formaat van het prismahuis. Deze was wat groter dan die van de D3 types. Misschien vanwege het nieuwe autofocus systeem zoals de geruchten beweren.
Afwachten maar.
Dutch to English translation
It goes fast at Nikon. The D3 just complete series and I see on TV even though the successor. Last Sunday you could just see a glimpse of. In the close-up documentary about the Australian architectural photographer John Golling saw him briefly to work with a D4. Probably a test sample on behalf of Nikon.
Most remarkable was the size of the prism house. This was larger than that of the D3 type. Perhaps because of the new autofocus system as the rumors say.
But wait.
I’m calling bs
This is the documentary on the dutch television via uitzendinggemist.nl… watch it closely!! http://player.omroep.nl/?aflID=10736883
You never know with the Dutch
I mean, on Sunday afternoon they can smoke all kinds of weird stuff. Ok just kidding, but seriously it is almost impossible that Nikon would let this happen.
Has anyone recorded that? Somebody should contact the TV station
and check the show
http://player.omroep.nl/?aflID=10736883
What part of the show is it? Can somebody enlarge it?
Enhance.
Bigger prism because of the 3 sensors (RGB).
When will you guys believe me about that 3 sensors (who will be use for the D4s3 and D900s3) ?
The movie was released in mid 2009 and John Gollings is a bit of film shooter. So, not possible!
It has begun!
(sorry, just kidding).
just a good trick to make all of you try to install microsoft players to play that old video
Try clicking the lower icon, it has a tv. It lets you download or stream the video.
VLC player works for me. audio and video.
In the video @ 29:21 the camera clearly reads D4, and it has a distinctive Nikon top, but I don’t know about the supposedly larger prism head. Think it’s about the same size as the D3.
Yes it is very clear and obvious.
it’s a D3
Sorry on my screen at (fullcreen) it’s a D3
Screenshot:
http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/3758/d4rumor.jpg
If just someone had the video in higher resolution….
link to the image in question:
http://img181.imageshack.us/img181/3813/picture1fl.png
I’ll try to use an image tag (but I’m not sure if this site allows it)
It’s downloading, I can have it as a Quicktime movie in about 20 Minutes.
2:15 is a good front shot of it and it has no markings on the front other than Nikon.
Certainly does. D a number and a small letter. Not clearly visible. Seems different than the marking at 29:20.
Wishful thinking
@2:15 the camera reads D3x left of the lens, so this is either another body, or the photographer is pulling our legs with some home made modifications.
Okay check out the image!
I sharpened it in photoshop – it CLEARLY says D4!
http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/83/picture2eh.jpg
If I stick D400 sticker over the D300 logo on my cam and go and shoot something in central London maybe I will make it to front page on NR too. Good idea.
if by “shoot something” you mean get people to invest in a 50 min. documentary about your work, then yes, it could make it on NR.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4063/4439063751_1ae03f9ff9_o.jpg
I sharpened with photoshop techniques.
It is pretty obviously a 4.
Yeah, that image version shows the most details, and it’s easily not a 3.
Just hoping for a capture from a higher resolution, like the quicktime version some guy was downloading.
It is a ’3′… a ’4′ will leave a horizontal line in the middle.
seems unlikely
to me a toss-up between 3 or 4 on the screenshoots
Check the larger sharpened version and tell me how you would connect that number to become a 3 instead of a 4….
also, who holds their cameras like that
Agree, but I bet the camera is on a tripod.
There is nothing wrong with holding a a camera like that. It all depends on the size and type of the lens.
Start watching around 29.15 and stop at the very first moment when it is big full picture. It is clear it is D3
Sure
ENHANCE!
Ha ha
What is the name of the country/continent where number 3 looks like Euroamerican number 4? take it as a joke.
hope to see iso6400 in d4 same as d3s iso200
OMG Nikon people must be laughing at us !
We are ridiculous.
are you guys blinds? can’t you see the FX mark on the camera? it is D4.
The D3 is DX ?
D3
looks like a D4 to me, but where is the FX mark on the camera?
The enlarged picture would seem to show a D4. This wouldn’t be so shocking; we know most likely a D4 is coming next year, we know that Nikon would need to have some pro’s test the new D4.
And would it really spoil anything for a pro to get caught with a D4? That would only confirm what is already known.
Now if someone interviewed the pro and got details of the camera, that would be a breakthrough.
thank you. Even if it is a D4 so what? Is it a shock to anyone that nikon would update the d3 which came out in ’07 3 years later? The only thing this says if its a d4 proto is that the ergonomics haven’t been radically altered.
hmm whatever it is, a D4 will sure come true. When ? well only the gods at Nikon know this.
Good post though NR Admin. Enuff to keep us bees buzzing.
Probably a D3 body that was altered to read D4. A test camera would have been the opposite: A D4 body altered to read D3.
Right.. Nikon throws us all the switcharoo..some unknown photog is popping off shots with the real prototype concealed in a brown paper bag somewhere in the world while we all bicker about 50 white pixels in a somewhat mainstream feature.
calm down people, the camera clearly says D4 , this doesent mean its an actual D4 or a production sample of a D4 , it could be a big joke by this guy, the studio, or even nikon but i doubt that one.
Given how tight lipped nikon has been recently about, well, everything, i seriously doubt they would let a branded D4 appear in a documentary with a full frontal zoomed in view like this, if so someones has been fired already and this guy is not getting any beta nikon gear anymore.
EVEN IF it is a D4, the very model they will be producing, exactly as is, this doesent mean we will have the camera this year even. Nikon will take there sweet time and release it when they think they will profit the most, not when its done.
Fake
I want to believe
Same.
Do you trust your gut or your head, when you read the info. from Nikon Rumors? I prefer to trust my gut because my gut does not lie. Half to three quarter of the info. from Nikon Rumors is usually false.
OMG, when you play the video backwards, it says, “Paul is dead, Ringo has a D4″
too funny!
Best post!
Find it very hard to believe that Nikon would release a new model high end camera so close after the D3s (4-5 months).
Why don’t you just call him on +613 9537 0733 and ask?
http://www.gollings.com.au/
Do you expect him to confirm to NikonRumors that he has a pre-production version of D4?
If he’s prepared to flaunt it on a documentary, potentially viewed however many thousands or hundreds of thousands of people, then why would he not be willing enough to confirm it to one little lonley sole who calls him up?
The video was shot and edited probably by someone else and the photog. did not notice the D4 – even we are not sure if it is 4 or 3. You can see that he changes several different cameras during this video. Just a guess.
btw, the above post was written by the Admin, my login expired
That would be a hoot…call the photographer, tell him your from a website called Nikon Rumors, and that you’d like to ask him a few questions regarding his new camera!
Maybe you could even ask him if you could borrow it for a few hours?
has someone mailed him or phoned?
the d3s along with the d300s are sweeteners for what is too come from nikon
the d700 wasn’t all far behind the d3 was it , if you look at nikons pro & semi camera range which is D3x D3s D300s , big upgrades coming we’ll see an update of the D3x to a D3xs 2010 and the D4 D400 2011
The D4 is on the wrong side. LOL. Not on the shutter side.
It is CLEARLY a D900x. I’m not seeing a D3 or D4. At 21:54.253 you can CLEARLY see D900x reflected in her left eyeball.
hahahaha
I love you
nah, you pro tech know it all bruvs got it all wrong, its not the d4, its actually the d6, nikon skipped a few to f*ck with your heads. apparently this new body mimics the quality of large format, has iso 102,000 that is like ISO 100 on a d3, and can shoot at 24 fps, and it’ll retail for only $1500! wowzers!
LSD
weed
It is clearly a D5. No doubt about it.
I thought it said D5 when i first saw the debated pic. But repeated looks at it makes me err on the side of ‘Its D3x with the x and 3 partly obscured by the lens.’
its actually a canon 30d
when you look at the video, he is aparently SWITCHING SENSOR , opening a trail at the opposite side of the memory card one & taking out A HUGE black plastic-metal piece & putting back another one instead !!!
The D4 is the Nikon Pendora Box :
It has begun
Clearly its a ’3′.. maybe a D3, D3X or D3s…
http://img14.imageshack.us/img14/9914/81832822.jpg
Great, except that’s not even from the same part of the movie.
Like we’ve already said – he uses a D3x in the opening sequence and then apparently switches body to the presumable D4. Either a real D4 or a trick one, but the numbers no more show D3x, that’s for sure.
BS, if you make the picture of this D3 a lot smaller and sharpen it, it becomes that D4 picture. You people only see what you want to see! Argh!
Not at all, since we noticed it before we started screen grabbing and enhancing to prove it.
It was easier to see the D4 in the running video.
The dutch guy saw it on TV, and I hope someone has a higher resolution source to explore for you nutcases that still don’t see it in ordinary resolution.
seriously this guy is a pro why would he feel the need to discredit his reputation as a pro photographer by trying to trick the world with a fake nikon D4 ?
if nikon didnt want anyone to see it just yet then they and most of all the pro photographer wouldn’t have had it in the ducumentary full stop ! its a spark
a spark leads to a flame until it becomes a roaring blaze ! D?
Somehow I’m missing the left hand on the camera, maybe u forgot to touch it when you took the picture of your d3?
)))))))
As an aside, I’ve always wondered why tech companies don’t take advantage of leaks and viral marketing more. It wouldn’t hurt Nikon at all to generate a little buzz about a new product like the D4. Everyone knows it’s coming next year…it’s not like the target market for this product is going to delay necessary purchases this year because they know a D4 is coming next year.
If I were Nikon, I’d have an intentional program to introduce leaks at the right times.
Because if people knew that a D4 was that much closer, they hold off from buying the current model (the D3s)
Hitler’s gonna be mad, AGAIN!
It’s definitely not the rumored D40s, unfortunately. Sigh.
how funny would that be pmsl
LOLOL. D40s,,,with rumored 8 MPs. and auto-focus on non AF-S lenses!
Actually, 6 MP.
It’s the right amount of Buzz for something spectacular!
Come on guys ! The D3s just came out !
They’ll never replace it before two years from now.
d3s just a minor update.
What a great doc!!!!! In one frame it looks like a D4 but then the pixel change and it look like a D3 due to his work I would think he would use a higher MP camera then just the D3 his work yells D3x so a D4 would make sense if they (NIKON) have upping the MP…theirs a lot of varibles in this one..but one big fact would be when was the footage shots..that would explain alot, if the footage is more the say 6 months old then we would really have to come up with reasons why has it so early….but thanks for posting the link to the doc ….great docs are hard to come by…I’m heading to one of the location he shot at right now…the photo of the building thats shaped as a camera …lets see if I can make it pop!!!!
Watch the videoaround 29:21, that whole sequence shows D4, not just a single frame.
Watch the video before you start making things up.
hmmm ok Daniel thanks for the info ..I’ll be sure to go to your website for news on nikon info from now on..lol..