Update: Images up to ISO 51,200 have very acceptable levels of noise (very little). Worst case, I touched up with Dfine 2.0 (noise reduction software) and they look nearly perfect. I experimented with the movie mode. The camera took some very nice looking videos in extremely low light. I don't know what ISO it used, but it must be hitting ISO 102,400 at times. The video and sound using the internal microphone are really good. I may add an external stereo mic in the future if I shoot video. I should have known, you can't shoot movies in vertical format -- of course -- but I did take some that way before I realized that format doesn't work when you play back on a TV.

I've now got a growing collection of images in various conditions and remain extremely pleased with this camera.
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I received my new Nikon D3S only a couple of days ago, and my early testing of this camera has already proven it to be much more than I expected. I took a few... Read more

The Nikon D3s is an amazing camera and I love it. The vast majority of people looking at buying this camera are talking about it's ISO and low light abilities. Even though there is alot more to this camera than it's amazing new ISO abilities, lets start with it's most unique feature and major selling point.

How good does it's ISO get? How about 12,800! The ISO can be pushed up to 102,400 using the Hi ISO settings.

My tests - Nikon D3s combined with the Nikkor 24-70 2.8 Lens.
I tested the camera at 400 ISO, 800 ISO, 1,600 ISO, 3,200 ISO, 6,400 ISO, and 12,800 ISO both inside in low light and outside at night. I have also tested the Hi 3 or 102,400 ISO setting

The ISO settings look really great up through the 3,200 mark. After that one can a little notice grain/noise up to the 12,800 ISO point. I would not hesitate at all running this camera at 1,600 or 3,200 ISO. BTW - Pictures taken at 12,800 are usable. They look really good. But there is a... Read more

I initially started this comment as a reply to someone who asked why anyone would need a camera that goes higher than 12,000 ISO unless you wanted to take pictures in a closet, especially since you can get a much less expensive consumer-level DSLR with more mega pixels and higher resolution video. I decided to post my response here with the hope than someone else might find it to be useful:

For the past couple of years, I have been using a Nikon D80, which from all the reviews I have read competes fairly well with other cameras in this class. I am not a professional photographer, but I enjoy photography enough that the limitations this consumer-level DSLR seems to have became a source of frustration to me.

I recently upgraded to a D3S, and I am absolutely amazed at the difference between the two cameras. The D3S is ten times the camera--and not because of the marginal difference in mega pixels.

It's not all about being able to take pictures in near... Read more