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Nikon Plans `New Concept' SLR Camera as Early as This Year


mike_stemberg

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<p>Kyle Evans wrote "parralex errors" with Rangefinders and Twin-Lens.In case of my Leica M3, the frame finder far more accurate than Nikkormats and Pentaxes(SLR). Mamiya and Rollei showed the slight difference between the seeing and taking lens. The difference unless close-up, was minimal.<br>

The "EVIL" viewfinder is really needed with smaller sensors. The viewfinders suck on all the DSLR's using less than regular "35mm full frame format".</p>

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<p>Incorporate that into a digital S-series rangefinder, preferably with an optical rangefinder as at least an adjunct to the EVIL, and I might never pick up a dSLR again. Especially with the FX sensor, there's a niche in an increasingly popular market segment - so far dominated by Micro 4/3 - that Nikon could exploit.</p>

<p>If absolutely necessary I could adapt to an electronic finder, but I'd prefer an option for an optical finder if only as a composition aid. There are lots of little things I'm not thrilled with in the current crop of Micro 4/3 cameras. There's a niche where Nikon could excel if they commit to it.</p>

<p>An affordable DX compact camera competitor to the Olympus Digital PEN's could be interesting too. The tricky bit would be compatibility with existing lenses, since Nikon seems to get little respect for their non-interchangeable lens Coolpix series in a very demanding and somewhat fickle market.</p>

 

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<p>"The viewfinders suck on all the DSLR's using less than regular "35mm full frame format"."</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Nope, they don't. Not all of 'em. But that seems to be a popular sentiment.</p>

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<p>I absolutely believe that the mirror in a camera will go bye-bye in 10 years or less due to new display technology. It's all about speed, pros want 10+FPS now. And it's all about size. The FF mirror box on digital SLR cameras is huge. The D700 was a whale of a camera for me. Didn't like that part. The new OLED displays are far higher resolution than HD displays are today. We're talking putting a 1080p display in the viewfinder of a camera with a high power cpu powering it - it will look as good as reality, and perhaps even better. So I am sure Nikon knows that it's doing and look forward to a small full frame SLR-type camera, even if it doesn't have a mirror and has an OLED display instead. Something the size of a Leica X1 with 24mp and the image quality of the Nikon D3x is what I'm hoping for in the next 5 years. "And I'll buy it" - Tonio K.</p>
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<p>As Shun Cheung points out, one of the major reasons for going to a mirrorless design is the opportunity for smaller and lighter lenses. Going mirrorless won't make sense in the market without providing these smaller lenses, even though adapters may be provided for existing lenses as with the micro 4/3 cameras.</p>

<p>I can't see Nikon (or other manufacturers) maintaining and updating *three* different lens formats for any extended period. As it is Nikon has trouble keeping up their lens lineup; for instance, where are the 85/1.4 and 180/2.8 AF-S lenses? </p>

<p>My prediction is that *if* Nikon is successful with a mirrorless system, then they will phase out the DX format over time. The next step up from a fixed-lens camera will be a mirrorless camera with interchangeable lenses smaller than the DX lenses, and then at the top of the lineup will be full-frame dSLRs and their lenses. That outcome may still be years away, as Nikon might choose to put its toes in the water for a while with a fairly minimal mirrorless system (e.g. one or two cameras and three or four lenses) before really committing to a full line of mirrorless cameras and their lenses.</p>

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<p>Look carefully at the Bloomberg story: clearly, first of all, the reporter has no clue about camera categories. He/she is just the body on site in Tokyo or whereever this interview took place. IOW, the phrase DSLR means next to nothing. Second, much bigger news: stock price is finally starting a comeback probably based on rumors of this new product line. Nikon has announced intentions to VASTLY increase its camera sales over the next three years. Do you think they're going to do this with technologically groundbreaking expensive equipment appealing to serious amateurs and pros? Only slightly. Most of it has to be junk of one kind or another. </p>

<p>On the other hand.... Nikon already has the highest rated non-full frame sensor on the market and if they could put that or something slightly higher level (like 14 or 18 megapixels) into a mirrorless camera with a built in EVF with live view equalling or bettering the new EVFs from Panasonic and Olympus (which are supposed to be way better than the last generation), they'd have a winner. But they cannot make the mistake of Samsung and SONY and create a mount that allows only their own (likely new) lenses. A big part of the success of MFT Lumix and PEN cameras has been in allowing people to use a very wide array of lenses. This hasn't stopped Panasonic at least from making money on their own lenses: first of all you can't buy the camera w/o one and second their 7-14mm and 14-45mm zooms, and their 20mm f/1.7 prime, are simply world class for that category, better than almost anything you can put on the camera to replace them. Surely Nikon still knows how to make superb lenses that cost under $500. Right?</p>

<div>00WqYb-259145584.jpg.3200e2673dc490eb44e6fdaf686a89d7.jpg</div>

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<p>So, nobody cares for the delay in the image you see through an electronic VF? With a mirror and a pentaprism you see what's going on in real time, the speed is that of the light. No electronic VF will ever match that performance. bye, Marco</p>
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<p>"So, nobody cares for the delay in the image you see through an electronic VF? With a mirror and a pentaprism you see what's going on in real time, the speed is that of the light. No electronic VF will ever match that performance. bye, Marco"<br>

This may have been the case a few years ago but looking at more recent cameras EVFs are improving. I'll agree that they are inferior now; as are the ones on point and shoots; but the mass consumer is more impressed with style and numbers of pixels than picture quality alone. At the high end; the viewfinder lag will soon be less of an issue than resolution which is dictated by physics and the size of the pixels in the screen. </p>

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<blockquote>

<p>[[i'd miss that unique shutter sound that has been a part of the romance of photography since it was invented.]]<br>

This nearly made me spit my morning coffee out. Thanks for the laugh.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Have you ever used some of those mobile phone cameras? Some of them can optionally play the sound of a traditional mechanical shutter when you are capturing an image. In modern electronics, there are a lot of those silly features. The only limitation is your imagination.</p>

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<p>1. Speed of light: Our eyes and brains have a limited speed. Of course old movies like Chaplin's movies are jerking but have you complaint recently that our movies dont have fast enough refreshing rate?</p>

<p>2. Shutter sound: many P&S have features that can make a similar sound to an SLR everytime you take a shot</p>

<p>3. It's true that many people care more about how the camera looks and how they look holding the camera much more than how the picture comes out. Many would never take the pictures out of the camera and never print them either, just look at the pictures on the camera LCD and then delete them after some time</p>

<p>4. Honestly, most of us dont mind carrying 2-3 lbs, only sometimes we dont think it's "cool" to do that. One would carry just a few things with a heavy brief case instead of a very light plastic bag</p>

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<p>Does anyone have nostalgia for the sound of a motor drive?<br>

In 5 to 10 years time we might be laughing about the digital cameras that had shutters!!<br>

BTW the comments about P &S reminded me of one of my elderly hotel guests who had a camera problem and could I help him fix it! He lost the "tweety bird sound on his digcam! Of course "Basil Fawlty" tore his remaining hair out searching through the menus to find it. I was made to look totally inept as a camera expert after not being able solve the problem!</p>

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<p>Had a response much earlier, but I guess the post didn't go through.</p>

<p>My guess is an announcement of some sort of EVIL camera similar to Sony's NEX5 / NEX3 that just came out (with mixed reviews). Probably nothing groundbreaking though.</p>

<p>A <em>real</em> "new concept" would be a D700x (with the sensor from the D3x), the sony/olympus live view system (i.e. very fast live view autofocus and shooting), in-camera stabilization / VR with the ability to auto-detect VR lenses and turn it off, 30fps 1080i HD video, a four-inch touchscreen with Wi-Fi and the ability to switch between the Nikon camera operating system and Google Android for web-browsing, email, and posting / texting / emailing pictures straight out of the camera.</p>

<p>As Vince noted above, pro cameras aren't where the money is. We'll probably just see a whole grip of cheap consumer point and shoots with some new features.</p>

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<p>Had a response much earlier, but I guess the post didn't go through.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Left, I deleted your earlier post since you quoted an outside source extensively; that is a violation of their copyright. You also provided no URL link to your source (assuming that one is available). Please check your e-mail since I sent you an explanation.</p>

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<p>Maybe Nikon will do the ILC right. Small body, large sensor, new small lenses, adapter for automatic use of all the Nikon F glass out there.<br>

Something for everyone. Those with too much money can buy all new glass. Those of us with too little, can reuse our humble collections.<br>

Maybe not necessarily too small a body, a large display is nice. One you can see in the sunshine.<br>

How about a touch screen, where you tell the camera where to focus!<br>

Paul</p>

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<p>Hi Shun. I doubt that Nikon would make this compatible with the F mount. I think that all major camera makers are trying to avoid, or at least delay the "comeditization"of their products, similar to what happened to the PC market. The name on the box is meaningless, they all come off the same off shore contracted assembly lines. (Except to their credit, Panasonic.)</p>

<p>Surely this will be marketed to the masses that have never even heard of an F mount lens.</p>

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<p>I think I will save my pennies for a Leica M2 and a banjo. I have a built in light meter that runs on pancakes and coffee so I would not need a battery. I don't need a video camera because somebody already did Predator vs Golden girls.</p>
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<blockquote>

<p>Hi Shun. I doubt that Nikon would make this compatible with the F mount. I think that all major camera makers are trying to avoid</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Again, the main selling point for those "mirrorless" cameras is their small size, and they are no longer limited by a mirror box. It makes absolutely no sense to slap an F-mount lens onto it by default; doing so will totally defeat the small-size advantage.</p>

<p>If you take a look at Sony's solution, while they have a set of lenses (so far 3 of them) for their NEX cameras, they also have a crumsy adapter to mount the Minolta/Sony SLR Alpha lenses onto the NEX's E mount. The adapter has a little motor to control the aperture in the Alpha lenses but still cannot maintain AF: <a href="http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/SonyNex5Nex3/">http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/SonyNex5Nex3/</a></p>

<p>Since the traditional F mount lenses also have a mechanical aperture diaphragm, Nikon will likely face similar difficulties if they want to provide the option to mount F lenses onto any mirrorless camera.</p>

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<p>"I'd miss that unique shutter sound that has been a part of the romance of photography since it was invented."</p>

<p>I hate to be non-romantic but when photography was invented cameras didn't have mechanical shutters. You exposed the plate by removing and replacing the lens cap.</p>

 

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<p>I suspect that the reason autofocus might not work using traditional SLR autofocus lenses is that these are not geared for very fine movements which might be needed to determine which direction the focus is off. Olympus' adapter for their four thirds lenses on their micro four thirds cameras does maintain AF, or so I read, but apparently not as well as with native micro four thirds lenses.</p>
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<p>EVIL concept as a "bridge" between SLR and Rangefinder? May be....<br />F Mount on EVIL camera? Can you imagine a Nikon Evil 1 with the 70-200 VR on?<br>

Might be useful to adapt some "unic" lenses like the 35/1,4 AiS....</p>

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