D100 upgrades coming? Rumors?

Has anyone heard of any possibilities of a D100 firmware

upgrade to improve the shutter lag and buffer frame rate to come

in line with the new D70? Those are my only two beefs with my

D100, otherwise I am a happy camper. It sure would be nice if

those two problems could be addressed with a firmware

upgrade. Also, a higher flash sync speed would be nice, but hey,

I'm a realist.

Dayton,

 

I vaguely remember reading that the measured shutter lag of the D70 is 120ms, whereas that of the D100 is 100ms.

 

The D1x is 70ms, and the D2H is 35, I believe.

Nikon is not going to provide the capability of a D1X or D2H in a $1500 D100, or who is going to pay over $3000 for a D1 or D2? If you want the capability of a D2, you have to pay for a D2.

 

In any case, I have had a D100 since it was first introduced and I never notice any shutter lag problem. AF speed and frame rate are different stories. But when I bought the D100, I knew very well that I was getting a consumer-grade camera. At that time a $2000 DSLR was a cheap one.

I'm wondering if Nikon will reduce the price of the D100 (if they haven't already) now that the D70 will be here soon?

Dayton, I'd look for a replacement model rather than a firmware upgrade to the D100. I know that is not what current owners of D100 bodies would prefer! From Nikon's business perspective, however, the creation of a new model makes more sense.

 

Shun said...

 

<<Nikon is not going to provide the capability of a D1X or D2H in a $1500 D100, or who is going to pay over $3000 for a D1 or D2?>>

 

Well, before the D70 specs came to light you might just as logically have said, "Nikon is not going to provide the capability of a D100 in a $999 D70, or who is going to pay $1,500 for a D100?"

 

And yet Nikon did introduce a D70 that has such rich features it makes the price of a new D100 hard to justify for many (not all) prospective customers.

 

I think we'll see the D2x first, then a new digital body selling for $2,000 or less that folks with D70 or D100 bodies can lust after.

 

Someone else here on photo.net has wished for a new Nikon digital SLR with vibration reduction built into the body. That would be a stunner, if Nikon offered it.

 

Have fun,

I am not sure that Nikon will even keep the D100 in production. Clearly in many ways, the $999 D70 is a superior camera, and used D100s have to be at least $200 to $300 below the price of a new D70 to be compatitive. I doubt that people will pay $900 for a used D100 when you can get a new D70 for $1000.

 

Unless people discover some major bug in the D70, in the next few months, its main problem is that Nikon will have a hard time keeping up with the demand.

 

I agree Nikon's priority will be a D2X to compete against the Canon EOS 1Dii-class DSLRs. Most of its features are already in the D2H; Nikon simply needs a higher resolution sensor and faster electronics to move and store the additional bits.

Nikon rep to dealer, no more D100's. A large order has taken all

in pipeline and the input tap is closed.

 

Why would they continue to produce, by specs, inferior camera at

a higher price (D70 v. D100). My 30 seconds with a D70 were

impressive. The specs beat the my D100 and the images are

according to those who have shot or seen images superior.

 

IMHO no more D100's and no D2X but some new camera fitting

that price point and demand.

 

Happy snaps,

Steven

Nikon has a history of introducing non-pro bodies that exceed the performance of current

pro models. The FG had Program mode and better flash than the F3, the N90 had better

AF than the F4, etc. I'm sure the D100 will get rev'd, I'm betting on 8MP, 1/500 sync, and

still a cheesy, dim finder. I also expect some DX tele-zooms before too long.

Dan, the big difference between the digital era and the film era you mentioned is that product cycles are much shorter for DSLRs. As in your example, the F4 was introduced in 1988; four years later by 1992, AF technology had improved quite a bit so that the F90/N90 had better AF than the F4, but the F5 didn't come along until another four years in 1996. Back then, the F series cameras were in 8 to 10-year product cycles. Today, a two-year-old DSLR is generally considered out of date. Therefore, you are not going to see an amateur DSLR having better features than pro DSLRs for long. Any pro DSLR that gets in that situation won't sell and is due to be replaced.

Mani, Shun,

The D100's shutter lag is suppose to be longer than the D70

and in my opinion the shutter lag on the D100 is quite

noticeable. I hope to buy a D70 when they become available but

to my eyes they look kind of cheap compared to the D100 which

has turned out to be a pretty rugged camera. I would spend the

three grand for a D2H if they can resolve the "perceived" noise

problems (and would also like to see at least a 6mp sensor,

too).

D2H? Noise problems? I thought it produced the cleanest images in the business. -- Notice that noise performance using gray targets should not be evaluated independently from the ability of the camera to render clean detail. Give me any digital image of a gray card, and I'll process it to have NO noise. But put some newspaper text in the same image and you'll see that detail is compromised. Now, how do you know that the D2H (which produces excellent monochromatic rendition of black text) and 10D (which produced coloured artifacts in images of monochromatic text) use the same algorithms to reduce noise? You don't, they don't. It's all a tradeoff.

I was on a Nikon training day today in the UK. It was all there, D70, D100, D1, D1h, D1x, D2H and all the lenses you could ever hope to meet.

 

The D70 which I was lucky enough to play with for the day is pretty good. Its fast and I like it,

 

BUT

 

the eyepoint is about as good as the F80(N80)

then, I played with the D2H, now this camera was a dream. Fast and so easy to use. And for people who wear glasses like me, the eyepoint is like sitting in a big sofa.

 

the 17-70 AF-S G. Metal mount, good build, looks like its going to be a good lens.

 

Anyway,

 

The D100 is still in production and from what I was told today, there is no intention to stop production or drop price. They are not the same camera so there is no need to stop making it.

 

rob

 

ps. the 10.5 af fisheye, now that is a lens worth saving up for.

The D70 specs and price are quite impressive, but I wouldn't call it superior. I guess it

depends upon what matters most to you.

 

Metal Body and a better Finder were more important than Matrix Metering and more Image

modes. (You should have sharpness and hue etc...disabled anyway).

 

My personal dream come true would be a Digital back for my F2!!

 

The Image Buffer and decreased shutter lag of the D70 are tempting, but my experience

with the Canon Digital Rebel negates that. I just hate Plastic cameras.

 

jmp

I was at a local shop today and was asking to see a D100. The salesperson said that they sold the last one and will NOT be restocking any more D100.

This is Wolf Camera, a branch of Ritz camera stores. He said that the D70 is the replacement.

well....we'll see.