Nikon has released firmware 1.1 for the D3. Included in update is one thing I've been harping about since the release announcement: Auto ISO can now be set to have a minimum shutter speed above 1/250 (specifically, now up to 1/4000). On a camera like the D3, but even on the D300, sports users working in low light were flummoxed to find that they couldn't use Auto ISO in any meaningful way (most low light sports require a shutter speed of 1/500, so a max of 1/250 in the setting essentially rendered it useless). Meanwhile, the minimum shutter speed setting extended to 1 second! I've yet to find anyone who wants or uses that. In essence, someone guessed at what a useful range for that setting would be, and now their guess has been corrected to something useful. Message to Nikon: Please do the same for the D300.
Other changes in the firmware include a new, crude vignette control. Since it applies only to recent lenses (D and G, with a number of exceptions, including all DX lenses!), you'd think that Nikon could have just built a table and done automatic correction, based upon aperture. Instead, we get Off, Low, Normal, and High settings, with Normal being the default. I'm not sure who asked for imprecise vignetting control, but we've got it now, at least for some lenses while capturing JPEG and TIFF (and NEF if you're using ViewNX or Capture NX for conversion). Message to Nikon: Put the resources on a project to do automatic, lens, focal length, and aperture-specific vignette correction.
Focus point illumination has some new options, and a number of minor issues have been addressed, including making the "Demo" more visible on a reviewed image when you don't have a card in the camera. The change that has me scratching my head is the moving of Highlights from the Basic to the Detailed photo info section in Display mode. Say what? First of all, why do we even have divisions there for only four items? And one could make arguments that highlight display on a professional camera is indeed a basic option. Ever since the F100 came out I've been accusing Nikon of too much meaningless menu name changes and movements. Quick: the Custom Setting number for changing Self Timer on a Nikon camera is? Well, it varies from camera to camera, guaranteed to drive those of us with multiple bodies absolutely bonkers. Names keep changing (sometimes for the better, but sometimes for no good reason). Items move in location. Items come and go. And we still have a SHOOTING menu on the D3 that takes at least 12 key presses just to get to the Set Picture Control item (yes, I know you can add it to My Menu, and in my upcoming book I suggest you do, but there are 21 items on the SHOOTING menu now; combine those with the 40+ Custom Settings and 24 items on the SETUP menu and your My Menu is going to get overburdened, too). Message to Nikon: The D3 menus, like those of the D300, are out of control. Moving something trivial that wasn't really in the wrong place isn't the fix. In some ways, the D40/D40x/D60 alternative select-from-Info-screen approach is better than what's on your professional cameras. Address this, and soon.
The updates are available separate Mac and Windows files on the Nikon worldwide support sites.