Apparently, if you go hunting around in the new Nikon D3 1.10 firmware for interesting text strings, you’ll find a few mentions of a D3X, and resolutions listed in the firmware that are higher than what existing Nikons can reach (for example, 6048×4032, which gives you 24.4 megapixels.)

The natural assumption is that a 24 megapixel Nikon D3X will be released in the near future, and use a similar firmware base, which would explain how those strings wound up in the D3 firmware. Another theory is that the 24 megapixel sensor has been put into D3 bodies for testing purposes, and those testers are using the stock Nikon D3 firmware. I would think you could just build a special firmware for those test cameras in that case, and not leak the D3X info in the D3′s firmware. Who knows.

Definitely far from definite, but it’s a quasi-official — if unintended — mention of a Nikon D3X, so it seems worth mentioning.

UPDATE, December 1, 2008: And today, more than half a year later, Nikon officially announced the D3x, although they somehow claim that it’s 24.5 megapixels, when really you have to round up to get to 24.4. That extra 0.1 megapixel will surely make all the difference in sales.