Monday 8 February 2010

What planet are Nikon on?

Nikon announced two lenses today.
A 16-35mm F4 VR Zoom that weighs 680g and will cost $1260.
A 24mm f1.4 that weighs 620g and will cost $2200.

Add those to your D3s and you have the perfect outfit for inconspicuous street photography!!!

As a long-time Nikon user, I'm beginning to despair as to what they are doing. Their products are having less and less relevance to me as time goes on.I should be in their target market -
Full-time photographer, Wedding and event photographer, Stock Photographer, Moving into Video.

So they release more brutally heavy and expensive lenses to fit onto their brutally heavy and expensive cameras.

They recently released a video showing a model stealing a D3s with lens and running around Madrid with it. Running??? She probably had to spend weeks in the gym just to lift it.

Does this mean that Nikon are now only interested in providing cameras and lenses for pro sports and news photographers? It seems very much that they are. Their entry level cameras are pretty nasty and for the mid-range their response was to slightly upgrade the D300. This is now their top of the range APS-C camera. 12MP and 720 HD Video. Its pretty much out performed by a Panasonic GH1 for me.

I have been hanging on to a few Nikon lenses, to use on m4/3, but also in the hope that Nikon might produce a camera that I would want to use. Yes the D3X is a great camera, but does that sensor have to be housed in such a large heavy body?

To Nikon it seems that size is everything. Their attitude seems to be - Lets make it bigger and more expensive.

They have lost me. There is currently not a single camera in their line-up I would consider buying. There's a rumour of a D900, which is presumably the D3X sensor in a D700 body, but that doesn't hold much interest for me either.

Ultimately it doesn't matter. This is a camera company & I don't have sentimental attachments to cameras. I just it find it strange that one of the premier camera manufacturers, who have produced so many classics over the years, have become so one-dimensional and conservative. Maybe they will surprise me yet.

As ever this is a personal commentary and is not intended to influence or criticise others personal preferences.

D