Nikon's highest-end digital SLR cameras just got a new big brother, and his name is D3X. There's no fancy HD video shooting here — just raw, unadulterated power with 24.5 megapixels under the hood of this hefty, $8000 behemoth. And that steep price is just for the body, lenses not included.

Aimed squarely at pros whose haunts usually include tricked-out photo studios and major press events, the camera's flagship features give pros that super-high resolution in the full-frame FX format they crave. It can snap off five of those big frames per second at ISO speeds of 100-1600, expandable to 50-6400. And get this: if you shoot in RAW format, one pic will take up 138MB.

Why should we care? Expect the Nikon D3X's super features and ultimate quality to trickle down to cameras within the range of normal people, and look for those cameras to someday include coveted features such as the D3X's EXPEED image processing system. Up next: Nikon's much-rumored D400, which might even have 1080p video shooting in addition to its enhanced still capabilities.