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The extraordinary Nikon D3s has done nothing but impress me since being placed in my hands.

Without a doubt or a hiccup, this camera is built for the professional, whether its news, sports, events or studio shooting, this camera has an incredible class that delivers superb results. The great your knowledge of photography, the great your appreciating for the Nikon D3s will be.

The Nikon D3s has a mind of its own when it comes to taking your perfect pictures. Better colour, better shadow and highlight and incredible clarity when shooting handheld.

Offering shooting at 11 frames per second in continuous shooting mode and DX mode and with an ISO range of between 200 and 12,800 and in boost mode the ISO is 100 – 102,400! (That remarkable ISO was only possible after completely re-modelling the 12.1 megapixel image processor) The D3s is clearly equipped to handle more challenging shooting circumstances.

This camera offers so much, yet still Nikon decided to include a movie mode (not seen on the mode preceding this one, the D3) you are able to capture video at 720p / 24 frames per second and the ISO of 102,400 makes shooting in darker situations a breeze. This is a brilliant feature to include in a top of the range DSLR as many situations a photojournalist might find themselves in are most likely ideal situations to have a video camera handy! Stereo sound is available through the option of an external stereo microphone.

You are able to use dual compact flash cards with one set to take up the overflow or to be a backup for your images. You also have the option of setting the first card to store Jpegs, the second to store Movies, or the first to be RAW and backup while the second captures Jpeg etc.

The Nikon D3s has a Full Frame (36 X 24mm) 12.1 megapixel sensor and an auto focus system that blows the boat out of the water. The Multi-CAM3500FX Auto Focus sensor grants the user a whopping 51 Auto Focus, 15 cross-type and a lot more vertical coverage. As mentioned before, this camera is a brilliant choice for photojournalists, sporting and action photographers alike.

The 3 inch (922,000 pixel) LCD displays crisp, clear, colour correct images.100% View Finder Coverage and automatic sensor cleaning at four different vibration frequencies.

The Nikon D3s boasts an incredible power up speed of 12ms! and the Nikon EXPEED image processor ensure smooth, fast operation during image capture.

The Nikon D3s’ shutter is made of a Kevlar and Carbon-fibre composite guaranteeing durability. All of the buttons on the body of the camera are sealed against moisture and this adds a generalised protection from other elements as well.

The Nikon D3s has in-camera RAW processing and the large buffer allows for the capturing of 48 RAW frames in one burst.
Other features include Scene Recognition which makes use of the AE and AF sensors, Auto Focus tracking by colour which uses the information from the AE sensor as well and Auto Focus fine tuning.

In Live View you have the option of using phase detect or switching to the thirty percent faster contrast detect Auto Focus. When using DX lenses, which your Nikon D3s supports, the view finder will automatically mask and your megapixels will be 5.1.

Your LCD has a very detailed control panel displayed for ease of reference and should you move from a well lit area to a darker area the LCD will automatically change colour to ensure you are able to view it clearly at all times.

A fantastic feature displayed on the LCD is the Virtual Horizon, assisting you to ensure taht you camera is always level during your recording.

The Nikon D3s has Active D-lighting. With minimal in-camera editing taking place there is no loss of image quality and the Nikon D3s’ ability to function with ease in low lighting gives the photographer a lot more freedom to expand his environment and to extend his working day.

The Nikon D3s is clearly, entirely aimed at meeting the demanding needs of a professional photographer with the focused result being image quality instead of pixel count. An all round brilliant camera.