I wouldn't expect d90 replacement by the end of holidays - second part of September.
from all the rumored bodies I would love to see d700 style camera with d3x sensor - with a price tag of app.$3500 and a d700 replacement with d3s sensor. as for other models, I wouldn't expect d300s replacement this year, as d300s is still too hot.

heartyfisher said:
I must say I was tempted and envious of the sony offerings.. till I had a play with one.

I had a Sony a350 prior to my D90.

The IQ was poor, especially with the kit lens. I replaced the kit lens with a Tamron 18-200 which helped a bit, but still not exactly impressive. The crunch point came when I noticed my daughter's sub £100 (<150 USD) compact - chosen primarily on the grounds that it was a nice pink colour - was producing better IQ.

The Sony's control layout struck me as odd when I got it, but it was easy enough to get used to.

yeah, but if you use that custom firmware (i'm drawing a blank to what its called right now, it's usually just put on ps cameras) you can use that direct print button as a function button instead and allow you full control over the iso in like increments of 50.

That most likely explains why the direct print button is now a second function of the Q button the T2i.

NSXType-R said:
Yeah, it took me a while to get used to my cousin's Canon XSi. I'm sure it's a capable camera, but I just can't figure it out.

I've been using canon for a long time and I still hate their layout. The direct print button especially annoys me! It's just wasted space.

swame_sp said:
Any speculation on the release dates for the above cameras in question....?????

The last week of April might have some kind of Nikon announcement but it's starting to seem more like a lens announcement only. If that's true then expect at least one camera announcement by June. Then one or two more models will probably be announced at or before Photokina in September. And then one model in the fall (October or late November).

But those are just best guesses based on past Nikon announcement schedules.

kyoshinikon said:
I will say the Nikon setup is very easy. When I first picked up the D90 I was using many of the commands immediately (I had never even touched or watched someone use a nikon prior to that). When I tried the D700 and D3 almost the same thing happened.

The A900 took a few minutes as did the Leica M9

Canon on the other hand...
I once spent a whole hour trying to figure out how to set the ISO on a 30D

Yeah, it took me a while to get used to my cousin's Canon XSi. I'm sure it's a capable camera, but I just can't figure it out.

Any speculation on the release dates for the above cameras in question....?????

But a lot better.

Competitor to 50D.

It's between D90 & D300.

NikoDoby said:
Badpig Nikon is still slaughtering canon with ISO and image quality so I'm not worried about canon's "better" specs on paper.

Yeah but I was in a shop the other day and some noobs were checking out some cameras on display and saying "oh this d700 and D90 ONLY has 12 mp and that has 14 and that has 18 etc etc ... wow....." and totally ignored the Nikons after that.. :-) sigh..

You know what ? .. maybe nikon should add a special interpolated jpg that goes to 30MP in their next batch of cameras ! just to hold the attention span of those noobs! LOL

NSXType-R said:
I dunno, I picked up a Sony DSLR and I was completely baffled. I couldn't figure it out. With a D300 though, I was shooting within minutes. And I normally shoot with a D40.

I will say the Nikon setup is very easy. When I first picked up the D90 I was using many of the commands immediately (I had never even touched or watched someone use a nikon prior to that). When I tried the D700 and D3 almost the same thing happened.

The A900 took a few minutes as did the Leica M9

Canon on the other hand...
I once spent a whole hour trying to figure out how to set the ISO on a 30D

Badpig Nikon is still slaughtering canon with ISO and image quality so I'm not worried about canon's "better" specs on paper.

heartyfisher said:
I must say I was tempted and envious of the sony offerings.. till I had a play with one.

I dunno, I picked up a Sony DSLR and I was completely baffled. I couldn't figure it out. With a D300 though, I was shooting within minutes. And I normally shoot with a D40.

I would take an A900 over a 5D mII anyday!

I must say I was tempted and envious of the sony offerings.. till I had a play with one.

If you look at how cannon slaughtering Nikon with pixels for dollars and if you look at how many nikon owners out there with lenses for full frame cameras logicaly It has to be a D700x with the same ccd now found in the D3x. The F3x is too expensive to have two of and lots of pros need to have two bodies. So what they should do if they want to stop losing ground to Canon is make a D700x with a 24 megapixel sensor. And price it about the same as a D3s. The people who want the wanky video gimick can get a D3s and pros who want tow study workhorse bodies will buy D700xs. Unfortunately what I fear is the gimick mongers win out and the new camera is a D700s with a wanky video facility. If that happens I am going down the Sony/Ziess Rd at least for my underwater work. Underwater housing for a D700 would fit a D700x both aquatica and Subal (and Ikelite if you like plastic) have them and they are much cheaper than D3/D3x housings. Sony Alpha 9000 gives you a 24 megapixel full frame camera with VR built in to the body $2600 Us and you can get adaptors for the old ziess contax lenses as well as the superb ziess lenses made for the sony itself. And underwater you don't need a lot of lenses just a 50mm macro that does 1:1 and a good 17 to 35 wide angle zoom or even just a fisheye. Try one out then take the memory card home and be amazed.

???

I will be consistent, D5100!

The new models are apparently going to be a D3000 "replacement" (D4000?), the D90 replacement (D7000?), D700 replacement (D800/D750?), and a D3XS.

The D3000 is apparently on a one year replacement cycle. I still think a "D4000" might just be an additional model and not really a replacement for the D3000. The D90/D700 are on schedule to be replaced (2year) and the D3XS adds HD video.

So now, which comes first?

+1, mb. Besides, there's more pressure on the low-end models to keep up in the numbers game, so it makes sense to release more frequently even if the changes are more incremental. If the D5000 replacement out-MPs the higher-end bodies the pros will yawn and the consumers will take out their wallets.

solid_liq said:
It doesn't make sense that it might be a D3000 or D5000 replacement.

Who says Nikon makes sense?

wasn't there talk of a 1.25 or 1.2 crop nikon some time ago? I would be keen on that. as I could use most of my DX lenses on it :-)

It doesn't make sense that it might be a D3000 or D5000 replacement. Those cameras are too new. With the ISO 6400 spec, I think it must be a D90 replacement. The D700 replacement would be inheriting the ISO 12,800 performance from the D3s, not continuing on with the same performance it already has. What incentive would there be to upgrade from the D700? "Oh, you get the same ISO performance but with some more pixels! (big deal)... Okay, well you also get FEWER AF points! (uh... that's supposed to make me want to buy it?)" Come on, get real. The only problem is that the new specs would make it better spec'd than the D300s, but that's too new to be replaced as well. Maybe the D90 will be replaced and a new model line introduced as well, like the D300x perhaps? It's hard to say, but I can't see it being a new full frame... maybe it's a DX-FX in-betweener... like, a 1.25X crop or something...

Hmmm...

In any case, I don't buy it as a D700 replacement.