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Just spoke on the phone to a Melbourne gear dealer - apparently Australian camera gear dealers were told to expect an announcement from Nikon Australia at 18:00 local time tonight for some exciting DLSR news. Whether it is D3 or another version of prosumer D40 remains to be seen.

Alex

Interesting Alex, I wonder what it is?

Something hopefully for the upper range......hello Nikon - remember us???

lol

Dan

Glen wrote:Interesting Alex, I wonder what it is?

I bloody hope it's not another version of D40. I'd say this may be the make or break point for Nikon. Either they stay competitive or lose to Canon forever in PRO market and concentrate on compacts/prosumer SLRs.
Alex

Wow. That's the first time I've heard someone refer to the D40 as "prosumer".

I know it's a loosely-defined term, but still...

DaveB wrote:Wow. That's the first time I've heard someone refer to the D40 as "prosumer".

I know it's a loosely-defined term, but still...

Well, perhaps consumer, or prosumer by Nikon standards

Alex

It's another speedlight! I think regardless of what the announcement is, there's more to life than what Nikon or Canon have to offer

PiroStitch wrote:It's another speedlight! I think regardless of what the announcement is, there's more to life than what Nikon or Canon have to offer

Is that why you've been swapping your gear between the two for the past year?

Alex

Maybe another F3.5-4.2 VR DX consumer lens with no real usable zoom range.

It WILL be the D3 full frame with DX crop mode!
D40x and a 55-200 VR lens...

terminator wrote:It WILL be the D3 full frame with DX crop mode!

Now that is a solid prediction. No hedging your bets there

Glen wrote:

terminator wrote:It WILL be the D3 full frame with DX crop mode!

Now that is a solid prediction. No hedging your bets there

Alex wrote:

Glen wrote:

terminator wrote:It WILL be the D3 full frame with DX crop mode!

Now that is a solid prediction. No hedging your bets there

That is actually what some have suggested, and in fact with two crop modes: you have FF (some are saying a 1.1 crop, actually), with a DX crop, and then an even smaller (as in D2X) high speed crop.

18 odd MP ...

But while the pundits are busy yabbering away, Nikon made a pre-PMA announcement a couple of weeks ago, and some of the pundits suggested Monday March 5, US time.

Which has come.

And gone.

gstark wrote:

Alex wrote:

Glen wrote:

terminator wrote:It WILL be the D3 full frame with DX crop mode!

Now that is a solid prediction. No hedging your bets there

That is actually what some have suggested, and in fact with two crop modes: you have FF (some are saying a 1.1 crop, actually), with a DX crop, and then an even smaller (as in D2X) high speed crop.

18 odd MP ...

But while the pundits are busy yabbering away, Nikon made a pre-PMA announcement a couple of weeks ago, and some of the pundits suggested Monday March 5, US time.

Which has come.

And gone.

So, whatever comes out, is it likely to mean that my current camera won't take good shots anymore, and I should join the mass speculation about what may come out?

I am not in marketing, but I couldn't imagine a company like Nikon would enjoy all this rumour mongering as it can lead to deferred sales (via people deferring a purchase until PMA/Photokina/or some other electronics show just in case a new camera with 10.3mp comes out).

Anyway, felt like having a rant about something.

P

gstark wrote:But while the pundits are busy yabbering away, Nikon made a pre-PMA announcement a couple of weeks ago, and some of the pundits suggested Monday March 5, US time.

Which has come.

And gone.

6 pm Sydney time has been bandied around. We'll see.

Alex wrote:

PiroStitch wrote:It's another speedlight! I think regardless of what the announcement is, there's more to life than what Nikon or Canon have to offer

Is that why you've been swapping your gear between the two for the past year?

Alex

Correction - for the past week

Nikon D40x - 10 MP camera confirmed along with 55-200 VR.

I WANT A NIKON D3 FF CAMERA NOW!!!!!!!!!

Antsl wrote:Nikon D40x - 10 MP camera confirmed along with 55-200 VR.

I thought the dealer said "Exciting DLSR news"????

Alex

hmmm D40x + 18-55DX kit lens + 55-200VR would be a rather tasty entry level combo

Well, I guess the fact that the 55-200 is DX suggests Nikon aren't going full frame anytime soon?

P

Oh well, looks like Canon are going to be the winers from this.

Nikon cannot be so blind as a corporation that they don't see so many Pro's using Canon gear. They are going to have a hard time attracting Pro's back to the Nikon label if they don't roll out a D3 16+ megapixel FF camera out soon. even if they sacrifice FF and offer a 22-24 megapixel sensor they might do okay.

I guess time will tell....

Not necessarily Patrick.

They could very well be taking both routes if or when they announce an FF solution, perhaps going with the thoughts the APX is for consumers, prosumers, and photojournos with FF being for the higher priced players like artists, other photojournos, and studio photogs.

I think DPR nailed it: Nikon was being hurt trying to compete with the EOS 400D with the D40 so they decided to do something about it. Or maybe the D40 was always just a stop-gap product until they got their 10 Mp consumer body ready?

I don't think anyone can pretend that the D40 or D40x is aimed at the "advanced amateur" or professional market. The world will have to just wait and see what Nikon's going to do about that market (and how many people will care by then )...

Nnnnsic wrote:Not necessarily Patrick.

They could very well be taking both routes if or when they announce an FF solution, perhaps going with the thoughts the APX is for consumers, prosumers, and photojournos with FF being for the higher priced players like artists, other photojournos, and studio photogs.

I understand what you are saying, and it doesn't really bother me too much as I am happy with the 'library' of full frame style lenses.

I believe that the D40 upgrade was possibly due to Sony discontinuing the 6M sensor

the D40x is hardly a special announcement, there better be something more substantial... not for me but for the growing tide of people who feel it is needed.

D40X, we can live without it!

But according to a worldwide research group study on trend and sale, the point and shoot cameras are the big money maker and not the DSLR.
So if a company or a corporate is able to join this two products......

They think about market and not custmers.

However
Try to image how a new D40 owner is feeling now.
I think as I felt after they announced the D2Xs
Not happy Nikon.

Fab

sirhc55 wrote:I believe that the D40 upgrade was possibly due to Sony discontinuing the 6M sensor

If this is true, then it highlights a very poor working relationship between Nikon and Sony.
Either Sony didn't bother to give Nikon advance warning or Nikon didn't plan adequately for it.

well 6pm has gone! so no news?

jben_net wrote:well 6pm has gone! so no news?

The news came 3 hours before 6 - D40x.

Alex

That's shit!!! FU Nikon, get with the programme.

So if Sony are allegedly discontinuing the 6Mp sensor, how about Pentax with the K100D?
Won't the D40x muddy the difference between it and the D80? Only the inability by the D40x to use anything except AF-S or AF-I lenses becoming the real big difference between the two.

jben_net wrote:well 6pm has gone! so no news?

I don't believe so. The D40x is described as a sister model to the D40, so it should continue, as will 6MP cameras for a little while yet.

Will the D40 be dropping in price at all, or where will the D40x sit price wise.. just a few friends are fence sitting about buying a 400D or a D40, soon they will have another option.

I'm rather amused by some of the reactions I'm reading here. This whole arms race mentality, the notion that "pros" are being pulled back and forth from one camp to the other...

Both companies (Nikon and Canon) are in the business of making money, and bolstering and expanding their market share. Both are quite successfull at that. How many of you demanding a new killer DSLR from Nikon could actually afford/justify to buy it if it came out tomorrow?

Apart from possible sensor availability issues I think the upgrade D40 -> D40x is a smart move, it gives newcomers to the DSLR game another attractive choice. It's all about finding new customers, there's only so many PJs to go around. Nikon's strategy seems to be recruiting fresh blood from the digital P&S camp (any brand) and making them Nikon DSLR users. Which makes sense, once they've invested in lenses, flashes and accessories they'll likely purchase one of the more expensive bodies at some point in the future.

Being a nerd I'm of course curious what the next Nikon pro DSLR will look like but I'm also certain that I'm not buying one when it comes out. I'm well served with what I've got right now and don't bite my nails waiting for the "big announcement".

Regarding the FF vs DX debate, I can only shake my head. What you gain on one end you'll lose at the other. While Nikon has had some nice wide angle lenses in their line-up their forte have always been the telephoto and super-telephoto lenses. Maybe they see most of their pro shooters using long lenses, and those will certainly approve of the 1.5x no light loss "TC" afforded by the DX sensor.

Also, while bigger photos sites on the sensor are a strategic advantage in battling image noise I believe the game is won with sensor technology and manufacturing abilities. Otherwise the D2x would have much worse noise than the D1. As we've seen, a large digital sensor aggravates the problems with even illumination when using wide lenses (the reason you wanted the 35mm sensor in the first place, right?), a problem only Leica have tackled so far (AFAIK).

Finally, calling the 35mm format "full frame" would have sounded utterly ludicrous just a few years ago...

Alright, I'm off my soap box now

Cheers
Steffen.

Alpha_7 wrote:Will the D40 be dropping in price at all, or where will the D40x sit price wise..

Craig, according to the press release, the RRP of the D40x will be $1399
http://www.nikon.com.au/announcementart ... 24962f0fff

Tim wrote:

Alpha_7 wrote:Will the D40 be dropping in price at all, or where will the D40x sit price wise..

Craig, according to the press release, the RRP of the D40x will be $1399
http://www.nikon.com.au/announcementart ... 24962f0fff

With respect, RRP is largely irrelevant.

Kind of like Nikon Oz, when you think about it.

Steffen,

I'm in the market for a new camera. I just want Nikon to announce the specs for the D3 so i can decide my next camera decision. If it's FF (or 1.1) then i'll wait for it otherwise i will go with the Fuji S5Pro. I just wish they would stop dicking around and announce it.

Surely the announcement is not far away now.

Steffen,

See my answer in the D40x thread. I'm not after D3 as such. I want to see some comittement on Nikon's part to their customer base, in particular the pro market. As at this point in time I cannot be sure whether Nikon is a good system to invest in, if one's plans are to go PRO.

Alex

Alex wrote:I want to see some comittement on Nikon's part to their customer base, in particular the pro market.

Hmm, for me, commitment to the pro market has more to do with making well-designed and dependable bodies that have a long useful life-span plus a well thought-out system around them (lenses, flashes, etc).

It has little to do with one-upping the rival brand.

I think Nikon shows sufficient commitment to the DSLR market (professional and otherwise) that potential D40x customers need not worry about their investment...

Cheers
Steffen.

Steffen wrote:

Alex wrote:I want to see some comittement on Nikon's part to their customer base, in particular the pro market.

Hmm, for me, commitment to the pro market has more to do with making well-designed and dependable bodies that have a long useful life-span plus a well thought-out system around them (lenses, flashes, etc).

It has little to do with one-upping the rival brand.



Cheers
Steffen.

Correct, Steffen, and Nikon does have excellent bodies that is why I have used nothing but my 2.5 yr old D70, but as has been mentioned noise at high ISO is a major issue that Nikon doesn't seem to be worrying about. The other issue for me is what if they don't make any more pro bodies and you will be left with D40, D40x, d40xs, etc. They may just lose the whole pro line - unlikely but possible. Look where Kodak is now.

Alex

Steffen

I agree 100% with what you've said here. I just don't see what all the fuss is about (but I take Steve's point - for the small % of people who are actually looking for a new body it's a small factor in their decision making process)

Maybe Nikon thinks their CLS is a counter to noise problems, who knows.

Noise at high ISO is quite behind compared to Canons, and there are many people going for Canons because of that but afterall, is that one attribute of the camera going to be enough for you to switch?

For some it's practicality in their work but many just switch for the sake of nothing.

I guess you are your own worst enemy...

Some people could make wonderful images using a pinhole camera!

For most of us, our current camera, whatever the megapixies or FF sensor-thingies on the label, is already more camera than we know how to use to maximum capacity.

Tiger Woods would thrash me at golf even if he used my grandmother's clubs.

But, if you want it, and you can afford it ...