Is that it? -- Photokina Announcements

[roman_thorn1]

Ok, I don't know about the rest of you? But, was anyone else expecting more from Nikon at Photokina? I don't mean

to be pushy, I know they just recently announced the D90 and the 50 1.4 Afs but.....is that it. How about some other

primes to follow up? Anything? What happend to the mysterious 70-200 upgrade that everyone was so anticipating?

Anyone?

[johnw63]

I think that CoolPix S60 was a rather interesting introduction.

[Rene11664880918]

I was hoping for some more AF-S primes but I didn't expect them. I think Nikon did a lot in the past 12 months already. The

70-200 upgrade, just people hoping for new toys. I think there are other lenses that need an upgrade more than the 70-200.

Primes to follow just Nikon knows.

[bmm]

Hmmm... I dont think one can accuse Nikon of not being busy with new gear over the last 12-18 months! And if the rumours of Santa bringing a D3X / D4 with him at Christmas-time (and, just perhaps, it may be paired with a new lens - I'm hoping for a wider-than-35 AF-S prime) are true then add that to the list as well.

[ShunCheung]

If you (any one of you) do read those rumor sites, may I suggest that you take them with a large grain of salt?

Nikon has introduced a lot of new stuffs in 2008, including three new DSLR bodies and a bunch of lenses such as the 24,

45, and 85mm PC-E lenses, a 16-85 AF-S DX, a 18-105 AF-S DX, and a 50mm/f1.4 AF-S, a new SB-900 flash, etc.

 

Recall that the original D1 was introduced back in 1999. The first D2 in the form of the D2H was announced in the

summer of 2003. The D3 was announced in the summer of 2007. I would expect at least another 2 to 3 years (i.e. 4

years from 2007) before any D4 will appear.

 

The problem with those rumor sites is that they have little real information. I know they post some D90 news before it

was announced, but that was mainly copied from Thom Hogan's information or DPReview forums. In order to drive traffic to their sites to

generate ad revenue, they have to fabricate a lot of news that is simply totally unrealistic. There is no way Nikon can introduce half a dozen new DSLRs or 20 new lenses a year.

If you take those rumors too

seriously, it'll only lead to a lot of disappointment when time after time things don't materialize.

[juanjo_viagran]

I think Nikon is sending a message...

 

stop expecting so much new stuff and go out and take pictures.

[jose_angel]

I don`t believe in casual leakings, like the D700 one. From what I know, this leaks are (almost) impossible to be produced; if so, most of the times deribelately by marketing departments, looking for free advertising or internet consumers. I have been told about a "real" leak that finished with a great stir on the company (not Nikon), including dismissals and procedure changes.

 

I`m a bit dissapointed with Photokina, I expected more news from Nikon, like the long awaited lens updates (e.g. 85/1.4 and 70-200). Now I recall that an important dealer adviced me two months ago not to expect Nikon surprises at Photokina: he was right...

[Ian Rance]

One thing you can be sure of is that Nikon IS working on new lenses right now. What lenses we don't know, and that leads to frustration on behalf of the users.

 

Nikon users are loyal to the brand - they are proud to talk to others about Nikon products and they are prepared to hand their hard-earned money to Nikon for the products they make. However, I do feel that Nikon whilst not revealing specific forthcoming products, should at least give those heavily invested in the system some idea of what their plans for us are.

 

If they said something like "We here at Nikon are at present finalising production on a new series of wide and telephoto prime lenses in the range of 20-150mm which will set the standard in SLR lens quality. We will be rolling these out in the next 18 months and we here at Nikon hope you will join us on our photographic journey in these exciting times" we would at least know they are working on it.

 

Ian

[carl_becker2]

Nikon may not want to tell the world what they are working on. It might help the competition. I am sure Nikon is working on something. It seems they have released a lot of new equipment as it is. I suspect much of the consideration is market driven. I suspect the demand for fast wide to normal primes is not as high.

[ShunCheung]

Consider what Nikon has announced since July 1: that includes the D700 and D90 bodies, four lenses: 45 & 85mm PC-E, 18-105 DX and 50mm/f1.4 AF-S plus SB-900. That is plenty, but somehow the D700 was announced a bit earlier so that it doesn't count towards Photokina. To be blunt, it is all silly.

 

Since I have never owned any 50mm Nikon lens, the announcement of the 50mm/f1.4 AF-S is more symbolic than anything. Merely a few weeks ago there were people claiming that would never be any AF-S primes at 24, 28, 35 and 85mm. Now we are pretty sure some of those will come, but that was essentially what Nikon told Ellis Vener in August 2007 when the D3 was announced.

 

Since now I have two FX bodies around, I went out and retested my 70-200mm/f2.8 AF-S VR and carefully checked the corner results at 200mm. It is soft only at the four extreme corners in small areas. In most cases that is simply not an issue. Incidentally, I also checked my 28-70mm/f2.8 AF-S; it is also soft at the extreme corners on the wide end. IMO, sometimes forum discussions simply exaggerate those issues. It is a problem for maybe a few, but for the majority those lenses should be just fine. I see no compelling reasons why Nikon has to upgrade the 70-200mm/f2.8 in the near future.

 

I am packing for a short trip to New England to photograph the fall foliage. With a loaner D3 and 24-120mm AF-S VR from Nikon, my backpack gets very heavy quickly with four other f2.8 AF-S zooms, and I am not even bringing any lens longer than the 70-200. I have no choice but to leave some lenses at home even though I would very much like to compare them in the field. I am afraid that for the most part, Nikon is already producing far more equipment than most of us really need. Instead of wasting our time on what Nikon will introduce next, we are all better off creating some good images with what we already have. That is exactly what I am planning for next week. I should continue to be on line and I may post some same-day images to the foliage thread in the Nature Forum:

http://www.photo.net/nature-photography-forum/00R0Uu

[ellis_vener_photography]

Don't forget that there is a major show focusing on the market for professional photographers coming up at the end of October: Photo Plus in New York City: http://www.photoplusexpo.com/ppe/index.jsp

[ellis_vener_photography]

One more thing to consider: At these big expositions there are are always back room meetings with selected trusted and credentialed journalists and possibly buyers from very big outfits (B&H, Calumet, etc.,) where things that are not publicly announced are discussed under strict non disclosure agreements. there certain people who are prominent in spreading rumors and leaking information in internet forums and blogs are not invited to these meetings no matter how important they think themselves to be.

[frank_skomial]

"I think Nikon is sending a message... " .. and that message is that they do not necessarily please any photo show,

either in Gernamy, or USA, or elsehere.

 

Instead they do good job on developing and providing ever newer DSLR cameras and pushing the technology limits,

at they come and seem appropriate.

 

The message is that Nikon tries to please users and photographers, and not trying to place unreasonable importance

on any show crowd pleasers.

 

Good job Nikon ! Do where and what it matters most. With fast world wide information spread and the Internet, the

traditional photo shows are loosing importance.

[triode___]

Hi Ellis,

 

"One more thing to consider: At these big expositions there are are always back room meetings with selected trusted and credentialed journalists and possibly buyers from very big outfits (B&H, Calumet, etc.,) where things that are not publicly announced are discussed under strict non disclosure agreements. there certain people who are prominent in spreading rumors and leaking information in internet forums and blogs are not invited to these meetings no matter how important they think themselves to be."

 

Have you been invited to these meetings?