According to a post on Nikon Rumors, Nikon will be holding a product presentation in Marrakech, Morocco on October 24-26, 2011. Marrakech is an important historical center, with both a mixture of old and new world, as well as boasting one of the largest public markets in the world, Jamaa el Fna. Such a destination would provide a colorful, vibrant place to introduce a new camera such as the D800.

The D800 is rumored to be introduced on October 26, 2011. Its high resolution and low-light capabilities could easily be demonstrated in Marrakech where exotic costumes, snake charmers, magicians, gardens, cafes, and nightlife are nearly endless.

Sony makes the sensors in several of Nikon’s DSLR cameras, including the Nikon D7000, D5100, D300 and D90. We speculate that Sony may also be involved in the D800’s 36MP sensor.

The next Sony full-frame camera, the Alpha (A99 possibly) should be announced by early 2012. We expect it to also use the same 36 megapixel sensor developed for Nikon for use in the D800. The main difference will be that Sony will use SLT with an electronic viewfinder, while Nikon will keep the traditional SLR design and an optical viewfinder.

We expect the Nikon D800 to be announced in just a few weeks. The Nikon D800 Specifications continue to trickle in the form of rumors that paint the picture of a very desirable camera. Many of the previous gripes with the D700 are being addressed, including a new 100% viewfinder (the D700 only had 95% coverage).

The auto focus system will also be improved. Hopefully it will have a wider spread of points, and not just an increased number. The previous points were clustered in the center, creating frustration when trying to compose with the subject off center. One novel feature that is rumored to be added is face recognition.

Nikon Rumors mentions that Nikon has been acquiring USB 3.0 chips. These could allow fast in-camera transfers for those with the latest hardware.

Nikon Patent 7,138,663 describes a microlens placed over three photoreceptors. By using dichroic mirrors, each wavelength of light (red, blue, green) is directed to a specific color receptor. This reduces the gap between photoreceptors, eliminates the need for an anti-aliasing filter.

According to Nikon Rumors, the D800 will come in two flavors. We can only guess that they may be optimized along the lines of the D3x and D3s. That is, one will pack as many pixels as possible (36.3 megapixels) and be the choice for studio and lanscape, while the other will give superior low light capabilities (50-25,600 ISO) and outstanding dynamic range for amazing sports and wildlife photography.

One possibility is a model without an anti-aliasing filter. Most consumer digital cameras feature an optical filter in front of the image sensor. Anti-aliasing filters reduce sharpness, but remove color artifacts (jagged edges) and Morie patterns. Some image sensors, such as the Sigma Foveon 3X, have three separate layers (one for each color) and eliminate the need for an anti-aliasing filter.