So Nikon just announced the D3100.

Yawn, so who cares?

Nikon D3100 setiing the stage for things to come?

I do, even though I don’t care about the D3100 by itself. I care about the features of this camera, which no doubt will percolate upwards to the slowly due upgrade of Nikon’s Dxxx and Dxx series.

So what do I see?

• An upgrade to a 14MP sensor
• 1080p instead of 720p video
• Permanent Video AF (sorely needed feature)
• (I hope it will finally be possible use manual settings with video)
• SDXC Memory supported (Dxx), makes sense for Video
• I hope there are no more limits to video shooting time which sure is a PITA with the D90.

They left the mono sound! Yuck!!!

It’s not really THAT much goodness, so I hope there will me more goodies underneath the hood which are not apparent from the spec-sheet.

Now that Sony has their VG10 Camcorder, the uniqueness of DSLR Video is dead in the water, because you finally have a REAL camcorder with the DOF-capability of a DSLR.

The upgrade to 14MP IS a big deal, because the goodness of Nikon’s uniform 12MP DX and FX sensor resolution will be shattered, which will translate into an upgrade to a D90+, the D300+ and the D700+.

So what about the Nikon D4?

Strategically, I’ll guess they’ll omit the low-resolution (12-14MP range) sensors altogether and stick to the higher sensor-density models, bumping up their ISO-capability to current D3-levels.