Nikon D800

The PMA in Las Vegas is now arriving fast. After a long time of little rumors, here comes the moment for big rumors, but not the actual revelations yet.

• Nikon has been telling the world that they intended to have a great year 2010. It seems that they will bring a new DSLR (it could be the Nikon D700x, Nikon D700s, or Nikon D800 according to the rumor mill). It would be confirmed according to the banner visible on LetsGoDigital. But this is apparently a fake built from press material from the older Nikon D3 (via NR).
• Yesterday’s press conference did not bring a single SLR though (Coolpix S8000, Coolpix S6000, Coolpix S4000, Coolpix S3000, Coolpix P100, Coolpix L110, Coolpix L22, Coolpix L21, nothing less!)
• Plenty of people expect to see the Canon EOS 60D arriving now, but it’s still uncertain. NL/DPR predicts a set of features: CMOS 18MPs, 6.3fps, HD 24 and 36fps, Digic IV.
• According to CR, Canon is preparing a new Rebel/EOS camera whose name should be Rebel T2i (the European name could be 550D or EOS 600D), with video, fixed LCD of improved resolution.
• At last, Canon would present the very pro Canon EOS 1Ds Mk IV
• Samsung should extend its new NX line, possibly with some lenses (waiting a little more for a new NX camera body).
• Olympus and Fuji should bring only P&S cameras.
• The Sony rumour line is totally silent, which could be indicator that either they are efficient at keeping a lid on the new Alpha 750 or there is nothing in preparation.

So, let’s wait a little more.

Christian Fletcher is a landscape photographer who has grown very attached to his Full Frame Canon equipment (read: Canon EOS 5D MkII). Interestingly, he seems informed of upcoming pro photo camera(s) which will be sufficiently more attractive to push him into Nikon’s arms.

Hot Nikon (Full Frame) news

What will be this super-Nikon camera?

Origin: NR.

We are told that this Fall is a great time for news on the SLR market. I let you judge by yourself:

• Canon: one announcement would be a definite possibility to replace the Canon 1D Mk III with a Canon 1D Mk IV and maybe also a Canon EOS 7D whose top cover and a detail are visible below (August 25?)
• Nikon: D700x (or D800) to offer a 24 MP full frame sensor.
• Sony: Alpha 500, Alpha 550, Alpha 850 (probably on August 28)
• Pentax: an entry-level SLR

We only have to wait (impatiently) for a few days (maybe a few hours) in order to know all about .

Canon 7D ? top

Canon EOS 7D detail

Using Google Trends, I tried to see the impact of what I thought were the most notable rumours in preparation of the next PMA fair in March. Was I in for a surprise! Pentax does not even score on the graph for the Pentax K30D…

Visibly, the Nikon D400 is considered more worth of rumours and comments than any other possible future camera.

Scale is based on the average worldwide traffic of nikon d800 in the last 12 months.

pentax k30d 0  canon 500d 0.75  nikon d800 1.00  nikon d400 1.80

All the details on the Google Trends page comparing pentax k30D, canon 500D, nikon D800, nikon D400.

RYC has dropped a new possible name for one Nikon camera to be announced during or before the next PMA fair: Nikon D700x. I assume that this is yet another different side of the same game.

Keep your eyes peeled for the last days of February.

Crisis, recession, deflation, financial crush, layoffs are all words that we hear about on a daily basis. Whatever you feel/think about them, there is a reality: the consumers are buying less. This is as true for photo hardware and software as for the other markets (maybe it’s worse for cars…)

Made homeless by Bangor fire (Bain News Service, LOC - 1910/15)

Now, this has a clear impact on the decisions in photography-related companies. Who would want to spend millions of dollars on advertisement, press information, etc. if the potential customers are not even listening because their attention is focused on managing their day-to-day life or a foreclosure? Additionally, many camera manufacturers see their prices forced up (at the worst possible time) by unfavorable evolution of exchange rates (everybody is speaking about the world-wide price hike-ups of Nikon, Sigma and a few others). So, many marketing departments of photo companies are reviewing their launch calendar.

It seems that one of the first companies to have made a decision here is Canon. The word is out that the Canon EOS 500D is currently pressured for a delay which would make its launch more in line with a less depressed market. It may be pushed from this Winter to Spring or early Summer 2009 (Northlight Images even say Autumn). Of course, this goes with the possibility for the designers to add new features if it is still possible to use this delay. This could be a good financial and technical strategy.

However, there is a lot of pressure mounting inside Canon in order to close the gap created by Nikon with the launch of the Nikon D90, Nikon D700, Nikon D3x. The Canon 500D with video features would be a good answer.

It is also said that the Pentax K30D may be delayed. Or is it that Pentax is unsure about what to include in the package right now?

Sony has a lot of things to send to the market in 2009. Scheduling the launches in steps could be natural if they need to spread the costs, but I doubt they will adopt such a strategy. Despite the financial issues they recently disclosed, they seem quite able to pursue their usual strategy of “maximum impact” which supports well the simultaneous disclosing of a wealth of products. Nevertheless, it could lead to a step-by-step availability.

Nothing seems to be said of Nikon delays. Is it because they are perceived as having such an impetus that they can’t stop pushing new good products to the market?

Whatever happens, recession is a factor that the marketing department of any major camera company must take into account. There is little doubt that 2009 (and possibly 2010) will be a bad year for all consumer-oriented industries. Since no part of the world will be doing really better than the others, this brings the need to be cautious. Let’s hope that camera brands will not stop showing us good (better?) cameras.

Last minute note: Nikon Watch just announced that both Nikon and Canon were posting decreasing profits.

Today, I was back reading the post I wrote last September about the Nikon D800. Isn’t it interesting to notice that the Nikon D3x appeared about the time I was thinking to see the Nikon D800.

So what? A Nikon D800 in February 2009?

The birth of rumours about a Sony Alpha 800 SLR camera at 15MP started the rumour mill again for a Nikon D800. After years of partnership (Sony manufacturing a camera sensor for SLRs, Sony and Nikon using it in their SLR cameras), no surprise if you try to forecast the next step: Nikon D800.

Of course, Nikon and Sony may be in bed together, but are not married. Quite often, Nikon requests specific features that Sony does not need/want for its own products. This leads to different precise configurations of the sensor (more converters, additional functions) which becomes more customized for each of both brands. The first example coming to mind was the excellent sensor that is hidden inside the near-simultaneous Sony Alpha 700 and Nikon D300. Two market references, even today.

So, as we think we know what Sony is bringing us soon with a nice CMOS 15MP sensor in APS-C size and with quite good sensitivty (inherited from the technology work for the sensor of the Sony Alpha 900), it is quite normal to draw an parallel Nikon camera design. The Nikon D800 then becomes the true follower of the D300, it completes Nikon mid-range to make it very powerful indeed: D700 + D800.

The features of the Nikon D800 so contain:

• 15.2 MP APS-C CMOS sensor
• Sensitivity: 200-6400 ISO (ext. 100-12800 ISO)
• Continuous shooting: 6.5 fps

Probably, count on it for the PMA 2009. Only a few more weeks of patience, then.

During quite some time it had been rumoured that there would be a Nikon D900 (or a Nikon D800) to replace the Nikon D3. Quite obviously, the simultaneous development of the Nikon D700 and Nikon D3x led many observers to misinterpretation of the inside signals they were getting in the Nikon naming game. Who really expected to see two Full Frame 35mm digital SLR cameras from Nikon in a few months only?

Now, people are left wondering what Nikon will be preparing next. The obvious move is to complete the Nikon D300 with some new camera that would allow to grab some more market after the still green D300. This should be the… Nikon D400 (no surprise, eh!)

But the D3x (with its out-of-Earth price) and the D700 with its emphasis toward high ISOs (at the expense of high pixel counts) leave a clearly open path for a new camera that would be a direct contender against the Canon EOS 5D MkII and the Sony Alpha 900. Give Nikon a D300 body to cram a 20+ mega-pixel sensor and you should get a… Nikon D800/D900.

I would expect these two cameras to be arriving around mid-2009, possibly in Fall to leave some time to launch an entry-level camera before Summer.