Well folks - got my hands on one at last,
To all who are used to the D2 series weight, heft, ergonomics - very much the same. Controls are in the expected places so swop over has no nasty surprises bar one that annoys me. I always carry a spare battery - EN-EL4a with compartment cover fixed on. Batteries are interchangeable - great - compartment covers - which look identical are NOT. Very small fractional difference but D2 series compartment covers do not fit D3.
Rear LCD now a great 3" and superb view BUT - it does not come with any protection so only time will tell if it scratches!! Menu similar to D300 with several new additions.
You no longer have a grid you can superimpose - instead you have an artificial horizon to tell you the camera is level - I like the grid so time will tell - I hope I can rely on you all to tell me if my horizons start to wander out of true!!
Viewfinder is brilliant - no other description full 100% - bright and a joy to look through.
One problem is a load of DX lenses although it automatically detects them. But it chops itself down to DX format and reduces itself to 5.1mp - mind you it does then accelerate from 9fps to 11fps - still we'll see - it certainly makes my D70; D200; D2H redundant so I'll be offering some bargains shortly. D2X - I'm not too sure because I like it so much
Have loaded the latest firmware updates and tomorrow I start shooting - Please watch for the posts and let me know what you think. I'll continue to report back on this thread over the near future to keep you up to date.