Wow, what a week in camera news!!! I was impressed on Monday when Canon announced the new Canon 1Ds Mark III and the Canon 40D… well today (tonight — another sleepless night for me) Nikon volleyed with the new full-frame 12.1 MP / 9 fps Nikon D3 and 12.3 MP / 6 fps Nikon D300. A lot of people argue and debate the qualities, pureness, and overall superiority of Canon vs Nikon; my take is that they both offer incredible feature sets and you can’t really go wrong. The cool thing for consumers is that Canon and Nikon are most definitely in a battle, and competition between them brings more and more new technologies out to market. Very nice! Here’s a quick feature list of Nikon’s latest offerings:

Nikon D3, available Nov. at $5000 USD::
- 12.1 MP full-frame sensor (CMOS)
- 9 fps (11 fps w/o AF tracking)
- ISO 200-6400 (expandable to 25600! or down to 100)
- New 51-point AF system (15 cross-type sensors)
- 3.0-inch (922K pixel!) LCD + Live-View, HDMI out
- 14-bit A/D conversion, dual CF compartments, virtual horizon, and more!

Nikon D300, available Nov. at $1800 USD:
- 12.3 MP DX sensor (1.5x FOV crop, CMOS)
- 6 fps (8 fps w/ optional battery pack)
- ISO 200-3200 (100 & 6400 w/ boost)
- New 51 point AF system (15 cross-type sensors)
- 3.0-inch (922K pixel!) LCD + Live-View, HDMI out
- Integrated self-cleaning sensor system, 14-bit A/D conversion, and more!

Read more about the Nikon D3 and Nikon D300 at DPreview. Oh yeah, they announced some pretty cool lenses too. Be sure to check them out.