Nikon E3 (1998–2000)

The Nikon E3 has an identity problem. Nikon released a rangefinder film camera called the E3 in 1960, sharing the body of the Nikon S3 and fitted with a Copal shutter. That camera is essentially undocumented in the sources available to us - no specs, no production figures, no lens details survive in the record we have. A second, completely different Nikon E3 is well documented: the professional digital SLR introduced on June 24, 1998, and built through 2000. This page covers that digital model.

The digital E3 was Nikon’s first professional digital SLR. It was built on the F5 film body with a ruggedized magnesium alloy shell, and it was the first Nikon digital SLR with a built-in vertical grip. The sensor was a 1.3-megapixel CCD producing 1280 × 1000 pixel images with 36-bit color depth (12 bits per channel). Sources disagree on the sensor size. Some list a 1/2-inch chip, others 2/3-inch, so this page won’t pick one. The camera accepted interchangeable Nikon F-mount lenses, used CompactFlash Type I/II storage, and connected via IEEE 1394 (FireWire). It weighed about 1.3 kg without battery and measured roughly 162 × 152 × 85 mm.

A few other specs float around with less authority. One source claims a fixed 28mm lens and an ISO 800-3200 range, but that conflicts directly with the F-mount professional DSLR description, so treat those with suspicion. What is consistent: the camera shot at up to 3 fps for bursts of three frames, with shutter speeds from 1/2000 to 2 seconds. Power came from a rechargeable Ni-MH pack. Its competitors at the time were the Kodak DCS 520 and Canon EOS D2000. A successor, the E3s, arrived in 1999 as a minor update adding a live preview mode.

Modern commentary on the E3 is thin but consistent. Reviewers praise the rugged build and the image quality for its era. Known issues are dead pixels on the CCD, poor battery life by modern standards, and a camera that is large and heavy. The proprietary battery and charger are becoming scarce, and spare parts availability is very limited.