Was there supposed to be a major Nikon announcement today, or was it just a rumor?

Looks like it got knocked back to 12/1.

That could only be a good sign right? Seems like everyone is adjusting to the competition and re-shuffling things a bit near the announcements.

Here it is:
Nikon unveils 24.5MP D3x digital SLR: Digital Photography Review (http://www.dpreview.com/news/0812/081201nikond3x.asp)

D3x, 24.5mp still camera, no video. Oh well.

Wait, it's $8,000? Can a photo guy tell me why it's so expensive? From my quick, uniformed glance at the specs it seems similar to the 5D photo spec wise. Someone enlighten me cause I'm not all that well versed in photo gear.

(I was hoping for a 5D priced and spec'd Nikon)

Wait, it's $8,000?

Yeah, I know... From a layman's point of view, it doesn't look like much more than a 5D level camera.

However, it's a flagship camera for Nikon, and Canon's 1Ds mkIII flagship is $8000...

It is also a higher lever camera than the D3 (except for fps and ISO... which boggles my mind) so it has to be more expensive.

If you take the 5D mkII out of the equation, the price makes much more sense.

As someone who's about to go through the hassle of switching away from Nikon towards the 5D2... The price point makes no sense (IMO). The video function in the D90 is not up to par with the 5D2 and while I'll spend the extra 2 grand there I don't see another FIVE for 3 megapixels. It's an iterative upgrade and not any sort of leap at all.

and as tech catches up the "flagship" designation seems to mean vertical grip. To be frank I've been shooting digital still since the D1 days and I'm looking forward to not only a lighter camera but Canon's color space as well.

I also am in puppy-love with the Lumix LX3... (having enjoyed the LX for a long time now).

Here are the specs on the D3X
24.5 MP Sensor
16 Bit Processing <----------replaces 14bit
5 fps FX
7 fps DX <----------------that's nice (but the D3 does 9-11fps (granted it's half the size (roughly))
Iso 50 to 6400 <---------- D3 - 200-6400

Sure there are other pluses but in any case while it's a nice bump from the D3, Canon eats their lunch (or drinks their milkshake!)

But remember Canon also has the 1Ds Mark III for 8K and I ain't buying that either.
This isn't a format war it's simply how awesome that 5D2 is.