Specifications#
- Brand
- Nikon
- Model
- D3S
- Camera type
- DSLR
- Released
- 2009-10-14
- Lens mount
- Nikon F
- Sensor size
- 36.0 × 23.9 mm (Full frame (35 mm))
- Crop factor
- 1.00×
- Resolution
- 12.1 MP (4,256 × 2,832 px)
- Continuous shooting
- 9 fps
- Weight
- 1,240 g (43.7 oz)
- Sensor
- 36.0 mm × 23.9 mm CMOS, Nikon FX formatDX format
- Storage
- Two CompactFlash (Type I) card slots
- Viewfinder
- Optical-type fixed eye level pentaprism
- AF points / area
- 51-area Nikon Multi-CAM 3500FX
- Metering
- TTL full aperture exposure metering system
- Exposure modes
- Programmed Auto [P], Shutter-Priority Auto [S], Aperture-Priority Auto [A], Manual [M]
- Shutter
- Electronically controlled vertical-travel focal-plane shutter
- Flash
- n/a
- Battery
- Li-ion EN-EL4a
- Lens
- Interchangeable
- Predecessor
- Nikon D3
- Successor
- Nikon D4
- Made in
- Japan
- Drive
- 9 frame/s (11 frame/s in DX crop mode)
Specifications merged from Wikipedia, Wikidata, Lensfun and openMVG. Spot an error? Tell us.
Sensor size compared#
Focal length equivalents & field of view#
Multiply any focal length by 1.00 to get the full-frame field of view. Angles are for a rectilinear lens focused at infinity.
| Lens on this camera | Full-frame equivalent | Horizontal | Vertical | Diagonal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 mm | 10 mm | 121.9° | 100.2° | 130.3° |
| 12 mm | 12 mm | 112.6° | 89.8° | 121.9° |
| 14 mm | 14 mm | 104.3° | 81.0° | 114.1° |
| 16 mm | 16 mm | 96.7° | 73.5° | 107.0° |
| 18 mm | 18 mm | 90.0° | 67.2° | 100.4° |
| 20 mm | 20 mm | 84.0° | 61.7° | 94.4° |
| 24 mm | 24 mm | 73.7° | 52.9° | 84.0° |
| 28 mm | 28 mm | 65.5° | 46.2° | 75.3° |
| 35 mm | 35 mm | 54.4° | 37.7° | 63.4° |
| 40 mm | 40 mm | 48.5° | 33.3° | 56.8° |
| 50 mm | 50 mm | 39.6° | 26.9° | 46.7° |
| 56 mm | 56 mm | 35.6° | 24.1° | 42.2° |
| 70 mm | 70 mm | 28.8° | 19.4° | 34.3° |
| 85 mm | 85 mm | 23.9° | 16.0° | 28.5° |
| 100 mm | 100 mm | 20.4° | 13.6° | 24.4° |
| 135 mm | 135 mm | 15.2° | 10.1° | 18.2° |
| 200 mm | 200 mm | 10.3° | 6.8° | 12.3° |
| 300 mm | 300 mm | 6.9° | 4.6° | 8.2° |
| 400 mm | 401 mm | 5.2° | 3.4° | 6.2° |
| 600 mm | 601 mm | 3.4° | 2.3° | 4.1° |
| 800 mm | 801 mm | 2.6° | 1.7° | 3.1° |
Depth of field table#
Total depth of field at each subject distance, using a circle of confusion of 30.0 µm (the 0.030 mm full-frame standard scaled by the crop factor). Detailed tables: 24 mm f/1.8, 24 mm f/2.8, 35 mm f/1.8, 35 mm f/2.8, 50 mm f/1.8, 50 mm f/2.8.
| Focal | Aperture | 50.0 cm | 1.00 m | 2.00 m | 3.00 m | 5.00 m | 10.0 m | Hyperfocal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22 mm | f/1.8 | 5.3 cm | 22.1 cm | 92.7 cm | 2.24 m | 8.01 m | ∞ | 9.00 m |
| 22 mm | f/2.8 | 8.3 cm | 34.9 cm | 1.55 m | 4.22 m | 33.8 m | ∞ | 5.79 m |
| 22 mm | f/4 | 12.0 cm | 51.5 cm | 2.58 m | 9.70 m | ∞ | ∞ | 4.06 m |
| 22 mm | f/8 | 25.1 cm | 1.27 m | 96.9 m | ∞ | ∞ | ∞ | 2.04 m |
| 43 mm | f/1.8 | 1.3 cm | 5.6 cm | 22.9 cm | 52.1 cm | 1.48 m | 6.34 m | 34.3 m |
| 43 mm | f/2.8 | 2.1 cm | 8.7 cm | 35.8 cm | 82.0 cm | 2.37 m | 11.4 m | 22.1 m |
| 43 mm | f/4 | 3.0 cm | 12.5 cm | 51.6 cm | 1.19 m | 3.58 m | 22.1 m | 15.5 m |
| 43 mm | f/8 | 5.9 cm | 25.2 cm | 1.08 m | 2.70 m | 10.9 m | ∞ | 7.76 m |
| 73 mm | f/1.8 | 0.4 cm | 1.9 cm | 7.8 cm | 17.8 cm | 50.0 cm | 2.03 m | 98.9 m |
| 73 mm | f/2.8 | 0.7 cm | 2.9 cm | 12.1 cm | 27.7 cm | 78.0 cm | 3.20 m | 63.6 m |
| 73 mm | f/4 | 1.0 cm | 4.2 cm | 17.4 cm | 39.7 cm | 1.12 m | 4.70 m | 44.5 m |
| 73 mm | f/8 | 1.9 cm | 8.4 cm | 34.9 cm | 80.4 cm | 2.33 m | 11.2 m | 22.3 m |
| 120 mm | f/1.8 | 0.1 cm | 0.7 cm | 2.8 cm | 6.5 cm | 18.3 cm | 74.1 cm | 267 m |
| 120 mm | f/2.8 | 0.2 cm | 1.0 cm | 4.4 cm | 10.1 cm | 28.5 cm | 1.16 m | 172 m |
| 120 mm | f/4 | 0.3 cm | 1.5 cm | 6.3 cm | 14.4 cm | 40.7 cm | 1.66 m | 120 m |
| 120 mm | f/8 | 0.6 cm | 2.9 cm | 12.5 cm | 28.8 cm | 81.8 cm | 3.38 m | 60.2 m |
Equivalent aperture#
Exposure is identical at the same f-number on any format; equivalence only describes depth of field and total light.
Diffraction & pixel pitch#
With 8.46 µm pixels, diffraction starts to soften pixel-level detail around f/12.6. For maximum sharpness keep landscapes between f/6.9 and f/13; stopping down further trades detail for depth of field.
| Aperture | Airy disk diameter | Spread over | At 100% view |
|---|---|---|---|
| f/2.8 | 3.8 µm | 0.4 px | sharp |
| f/4 | 5.4 µm | 0.6 px | sharp |
| f/5.6 | 7.5 µm | 0.9 px | sharp |
| f/8 | 10.7 µm | 1.3 px | sharp |
| f/11 | 14.8 µm | 1.7 px | sharp |
| f/16 | 21.5 µm | 2.5 px | slight softening |
| f/22 | 29.5 µm | 3.5 px | visibly soft |
Maximum print sizes#
At 12.1 MP the Nikon D3S produces 4,256 × 2,832 pixel images. See the 12 megapixel guide or the print size calculator.
| Resolution | Typical use | Inches | Centimetres |
|---|---|---|---|
| 300 DPI | Photo-lab quality | 14.2 × 9.4 in | 36 × 24 cm |
| 240 DPI | Fine-art inkjet | 17.7 × 11.8 in | 45 × 30 cm |
| 200 DPI | Wall print | 21.3 × 14.2 in | 54 × 36 cm |
| 150 DPI | Poster, viewed from 1 m+ | 28.4 × 18.9 in | 72 × 48 cm |
Night-sky exposure limits#
Longest exposure before stars trail. The NPF rule accounts for pixel pitch and is stricter than the classic 500 rule — use it for pin-sharp stars on high-resolution sensors.
| Focal length | 500 rule | NPF f/1.8 | NPF f/2.8 | NPF f/4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 mm (14 mm eq.) | 35.7 s | 22.6 s | 25.1 s | 28.1 s |
| 20 mm (20 mm eq.) | 25.0 s | 15.8 s | 17.6 s | 19.7 s |
| 24 mm (24 mm eq.) | 20.8 s | 13.2 s | 14.7 s | 16.4 s |
| 35 mm (35 mm eq.) | 14.3 s | 9.1 s | 10.1 s | 11.3 s |
| 50 mm (50 mm eq.) | 10.0 s | 6.3 s | 7.0 s | 7.9 s |
Handheld shutter speed guide#
The reciprocal rule uses the equivalent focal length. High-resolution sensors may need one stop faster than this for pixel-sharp results.
| Focal length | No stabilisation (1/equiv. focal) | With 3-stop IS | With 5-stop IBIS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 24 mm | 1/25 s | 0.3 s | 1.3 s |
| 50 mm | 1/50 s | 1/6 s | 0.6 s |
| 100 mm | 1/100 s | 1/13 s | 0.3 s |
| 200 mm | 1/200 s | 1/25 s | 1/6 s |
Lenses for the Nikon D3S#
Native Nikon F lenses in our database (319 total). Also adaptable: T-mount (T2), M42 screw mount, Deckel (DKL), Tamron Adaptall, M39 / LTM (Leica thread).
- Samyang 8mm f/3.5 Fish-Eye CS 8 mm
- Samyang 10mm f/2.8 ED AS NCS CS 10 mm
- Laowa 12mm f/2.8 Zero-D 12 mm
- Samyang 12mm f/2.8 Fish-Eye ED AS NCS 12 mm
- Samyang 14mm f/2.8 AE ED AS IF UMC 14 mm
- Samyang AF 14mm f/2.8 14 mm
- Sigma 14mm f/1.8 DG HSM | A 14 mm
- Laowa 15mm F/4 Wide Angle Macro 15 mm
- Samyang 16mm f/2.0 ED AS UMC CS 16 mm
- Samyang 20mm f/1.8 ED AS UMC 20 mm
- Samyang 24mm f/1.4 ED AS IF UMC 24 mm
- Samyang T-S 24mm f/3.5 ED AS UMC 24 mm
- Sigma 24mm f/1.4 DG HSM | A 24 mm
- Sigma 28mm F1.4 DG HSM | Art 28 mm
- Sigma 40mm F1.4 DG HSM | Art 40 mm
- Laowa 60mm f/2.8 2X Ultra-Macro 60 mm
- Sigma 70-200mm F2.8 DG OS HSM | S 70–200 mm
- Samyang 85mm f/1.4 IF UMC Aspherical 85 mm
- Sigma 100-400mm F5-6.3 DG OS HSM | C 100–400 mm
- Sigma 100-400mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM | C +1.4x ext. 100–400 mm
- Sigma 105 mm F1.4 DG HSM Art 105 mm
- Samyang 135mm f/2 ED UMC 135 mm
- Sigma 4.5mm f/2.8 EX DC HSM circular fisheye 4.5 mm
- Nikon Nikkor AI-S 6mm f/2.8 Fisheye 6 mm
- Sigma 8-16mm f/4.5-5.6 DC HSM 8–16 mm
- Sigma 8mm f/3.5 EX DG circular fisheye 8 mm
- Nikon Nikkor AF-P 10-20mm f/4.5-5.6G DX VR 10–20 mm
- Nikon Nikkor AF-S 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5G DX ED 10–24 mm
- Sigma 10-20mm f/3.5 EX DC HSM 10–20 mm
- Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 EX DC 10–20 mm
- Sigma 10mm f/2.8 EX DC Fisheye HSM 10 mm
- Tamron 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5 Di II VC HLD 10–24 mm
- Tamron SP AF 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5 Di II LD Aspherical (IF) 10–24 mm
- Nikon Nikkor AF 10.5mm f/2.8G DX ED Fisheye 10.5 mm
- Tamron SP AF 11-18mm f/4.5-5.6 Di-II LD Aspherical (IF) 11–18 mm
- Tokina AF 11-16mm f/2.8 AT-X Pro DX 11–16 mm
Similar cameras#
Other Full frame (35 mm) cameras from around the same time.
Frequently asked questions#
What is the crop factor of the Nikon D3S?
The Nikon D3S has a crop factor of 1.00× relative to 35 mm full frame (diagonal 43.2 mm vs 43.3 mm).
What size is the Nikon D3S sensor?
36.0 × 23.9 mm (Full frame (35 mm)), an area of 860 mm² — 100% of full frame.
Is the Nikon D3S full frame?
Yes — its sensor is the same 36 × 24 mm size as 35 mm film.
How many megapixels does the Nikon D3S have?
12.1 megapixels (4,256 × 2,832 pixels), enough for a 14 × 9 inch print at 300 DPI.
What lens mount does the Nikon D3S use?
The Nikon D3S uses the Nikon F (flange distance 46.50 mm).
How long can I expose the night sky with the Nikon D3S?
With a 20 mm lens (20 mm equivalent) the 500 rule gives 25 s and the stricter NPF rule at f/2.8 gives 18 s.
Sources & licences#
- Wikipedia: Nikon D3S — CC BY-SA 4.0
- Wikidata Q1351406 — CC0
- Lensfun camera database — CC BY-SA 3.0
- openMVG sensor width database — MPL-2.0
Last updated October 03, 2026 · How we calculate · Sources