New month - new Nikon?

[chrisk]

i rckon by xmas they'll be $2.5k so i can wait.

[gstark]

Official price list for D700 in Hong Kong

http://images.fotop.net/albums/freddyli ... elist1.jpg

D700 - 22800 HKD - works out to just under A$3K.

Actually, using rates as quoted by banks (using the rate that I have to use for Poon), rather than a wholesale rate that most sites seem to quote, the D700 price, based upon that HK$ value, would be closer to PP3200 plus shipping.

I was pretty much on the mark, and especially so in view of the the fact that the Pacific Peso dropped by about US$0.015 today.

On the price list as of now: PP3250 delivered.

A word or two about the exchange rates: please, people, don't rely on sites like xe.com or yahoo for real conversions; it's nowhere near the mark. They're at best a rough guide.

For instance, right now ...

xe : 7.4904
yahoo : 7.4764

Which of those is right? Neither!

Consider:
Commbank: 7.3089
StGeorge: 7.2477
ANZ: 7.3050

The rate that Poon says we use, which is the commercial, published rate on HSBC, is what is used. 7.3333. This is the one that Poon uses to convert your Pacific Pesos into HK$, and that is the only rate that matters for the purposes of this forum. Further, hands up anyone who has actually ever made a transfer using the rates that Yahoo or XE publish? You wont see it on your credit card statements anytime soon, and using your credit cards always attracts another charge because the banks are so kind hearted as to permit you to use your cards!

[Reschsmooth]

The rate that Poon says we use, which is the commercial, published rate on HSBC, is what is used. 7.3333. This is the one that Poon uses to convert your Pacific Pesos into HK$, and that is the only rate that matters for the purposes of this forum. Further, hands up anyone who has actually ever made a transfer using the rates that Yahoo or XE publish? You wont see it on your credit card statements anytime soon, and using your credit cards always attracts another charge because the banks are so kind hearted as to permit you to use your cards!

Just be thankful that Poon doesn't apply the same procedure as a leading Industry Super Fund (I won't mention AustralianSuper's name) use to convert British Pounds to AUD - their Bank (again, I won't mention their name, but their initials are N.A.B.) take 6-8 weeks to convert a British Pound cheque to AUD!

[gstark]

The rate that Poon says we use, which is the commercial, published rate on HSBC, is what is used. 7.3333. This is the one that Poon uses to convert your Pacific Pesos into HK$, and that is the only rate that matters for the purposes of this forum. Further, hands up anyone who has actually ever made a transfer using the rates that Yahoo or XE publish? You wont see it on your credit card statements anytime soon, and using your credit cards always attracts another charge because the banks are so kind hearted as to permit you to use your cards!

Just be thankful that Poon doesn't apply the same procedure as a leading Industry Super Fund (I won't mention AustralianSuper's name) use to convert British Pounds to AUD - their Bank (again, I won't mention their name, but their initials are N.A.B.) take 6-8 weeks to convert a British Pound cheque to AUD!

Part of the problem there - so they will claim - is that the cheque needs to be cleared as well as converted. That probably means that the bank needs to send the physical piece of paper back to England for verification.

Faxes? Banks? Electronic age? Only when it suits them.

[gstark]

The rate that Poon says we use, which is the commercial, published rate on HSBC, is what is used. 7.3333. This is the one that Poon uses to convert your Pacific Pesos into HK$, and that is the only rate that matters for the purposes of this forum. Further, hands up anyone who has actually ever made a transfer using the rates that Yahoo or XE publish? You wont see it on your credit card statements anytime soon, and using your credit cards always attracts another charge because the banks are so kind hearted as to permit you to use your cards!

Did I mention that the rates may change several times daily? No?

I have now.

[Reschsmooth]

Part of the problem there - so they will claim - is that the cheque needs to be cleared as well as converted. That probably means that the bank needs to send the physical piece of paper back to England for verification.

But surely there are faster modes of transport than a bottle in the ocean?

[chrisk]

what hapened to Poon's store on ebay ?
seems to have disapeared ???

[gstark]

Should be back soon.

There was an issue with ebay over-exerting their .... authority? ... power? .....for want of a better word. Poon was quite upset with them when I chatted with him this afternoon, and he was just heading off to rip them a new one. From what I've gathered, they have apologised, and his shop will be back sometime soon.

[chrisk]

that F for that.
that was a little scary i can tell ya. lol

[aim54x]

WOW the poon price for the D700 is tempting!!! too bad there is yet to be a price for the SB-900. I played (looked at and fiddled with, but not fired) with one yesterday the only thing i didnt like about it was the size, it is getting really big.

[Jeko70]

WOW the poon price for the D700 is tempting!!! too bad there is yet to be a price for the SB-900. I played (looked at and fiddled with, but not fired) with one yesterday the only thing i didnt like about it was the size, it is getting really big.

Well,
From Australia our local ECS the price is not that far and not that bad.
So, since 10 am I'm playing with one!


Fab



Think locally f... Globally! Gogol Bordello

[Geoff]

Wow Fab - can't wait for a review.

[Jeko70]

Well I did't have a lot of time to play with it in a proper way so my first impression is:
It's a Nikon Camera
So for those who have already used one Nikon wont have any difficulties to find "everything" in right place.

First: It's Made in Japan and not made in Thailand (nothing against Thailand but it means that they care about quality and not just quantity. ie: D300 made in Thailand highest numbers of production compared to a D3)
Second: the body it's very similar to a D300 with which it shares the Battery Grip as all of us already know.
The top control panel (lcd) is kept relly simple, (it remind me a D70 panel) if you want more details you just press the "info" button and so you will get more information appearing on the back LCD pannel.
The viewfinder display is 95% of the view but definitely bigger/brighter than D300---(it's remaind me a F100 viewfinder.)
CF card slot cover..really bad news compered with previous models...it' a crap thing so easy to open perhaps to easy for a semi pro body. No safe lock so In my opinion it might create "trouble" when you don't want that.

About files....
at to date only ViewNX and Capture NX are able to open NEF files . Capture NX2 trial version for 60 days is included with the camera
I don't like NX, it's not as much friendly as Lightroom. So I/we need an update from Adobe and untill that day I have to use NX...not so happy to do it.
Jpeg files are sweet like sweets.
Noise....? What's noise? 3200 ISO and happy.
But the secret with any camera from a D40 to a D3 is finding the right exposure. Any correction over an underexposed file and you will see noise even on a d3 one.

Yes, it's really close to a D3 file so not so much to say.

Didn't have a lot of time to play with it... no enough to say anything more than:
It's a great performing "small" camera. And with the 24-70 2.8 it's a bloody perfect match.
I'm to busy with other stuff shot with D300..... but I'm posting just this one taken from my sit.

 PS:
I don't think DX is over, for anyone using long lenses is still better have that 1.5x factor so I'll keep my DX one too.

[Jeko70]

I can confirm...
I tested at my way...photojournalism.......
It's a D3 inside a D300 body!

And this one is not the best one but just one for Internet!

"Nelson Mandela s 90th Birthday".
Anthony Mongalo (South Africa High Commissioner to Australia), Bangu Masisi (GM of SA Tourism Australasia), Mandla Mandela


Bloody Nikon!

[radar]

As for processing D700 NEF files, Bibble will now do it as well.

If the Model tag in the EXIF data is changed to D3, the other tools supposedly will process them, ACR or Aperture. Using something like exiftool will do it. You would do something like:
exiftool -Model='NIKON D3' _DSC0001.NEF

Just change the _DSC0001 to the proper name. This will work on a Mac and Linux, not sure about Windows.

Cheers,

André

[chrisk]

strobist have posted their first sb900 review.
http://strobist.blogspot.com/2008/07/re ... light.html

looks to be a great flash, with some reservations. the hotshoe mount issue is very strange...and quite annoying if you have multiple strobes.

do we have a forum price on this yet from poon ?

[Jeko70]

As for processing D700 NEF files, Bibble will now do it as well.

If the Model tag in the EXIF data is changed to D3, the other tools supposedly will process them, ACR or Aperture. Using something like exiftool will do it. You would do something like:
exiftool -Model='NIKON D3' _DSC0001.NEF

Just change the _DSC0001 to the proper name. This will work on a Mac and Linux, not sure about Windows.

Cheers,

André

Thanks, Appreciate it!

I Found this one too.
http://www.nikonians.org/forums/dcboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=226&topic_id=1409&mesg_id=1409&page=

[Jonesy]

Gary,

whats the supply like on the D700. Does Poon have them in stock? or are they hard to get

The Tax man has been very nice!

[gstark]

Gary,

whats the supply like on the D700. Does Poon have them in stock? or are they hard to get

The Tax man has been very nice!

Supplies thus far (when Poon was asked) seem to be ok. The problem I see is that the PP has dropped significantly over the last week, and that has forced our prices up. By all means check the forum prices, but you may find local prices to be competitive, if that stock was garnered at a more favourable exchange rate.

[Reschsmooth]

The problem I see is that the PP has dropped significantly over the last week, and that has forced our prices up. By all means check the forum prices, but you may find local prices to be competitive, if that stock was garnered at a more favourable exchange rate.

Poon's price is only $11 higher than D-D-Photographics and $65 cheaper than ECS. So, the fall in the AUD hasn't had too much of an effect, in relation to competition.

[gstark]

The problem I see is that the PP has dropped significantly over the last week, and that has forced our prices up. By all means check the forum prices, but you may find local prices to be competitive, if that stock was garnered at a more favourable exchange rate.

Poon's price is only $11 higher than D-D-Photographics and $65 cheaper than ECS. So, the fall in the AUD hasn't had too much of an effect, in relation to competition.

Actually, it has, and that's exactly my point: With Poon, we use the prevailing rate at the time that we buy from him. Others (other suppliers) may have already paid for their stock at (what is now) a more favourable rate than today's rate, but a week ago our rate may have been better.

Consider that the rate has dropped by almost US$0.10 in a week, that is quite a change: last week we were several hundred dollars cheaper than either of the sources you refer to, and it's precisely why I made a point of it.

With a forum price differential of just $65 to ECS, if they have stock and can deliver promptly, that would have to now be seen as a viable, practical and reasonable choice.

[kipper]

Personally I'm a bit sick of the number of cameras Nikon releases. There isn't a need for a new one, but Nikon knows they can sucker all of those who have just bought a D300 into buying another camera. I mean is there really a need for seven cameras in Nikons DSLR lineup? Why do they need that many all that is required is three cameras that serve the amatuer, semi-pro and professional market. Yes I know that one professional body might not suit all fields and that is why they had the D2H and the D2X to serve industries such as photojournalism and fashion photography (just some examples). However why not build modes into one body that allow for higher speed at lower image resolution/quality when required. That is just one idea anyway, there is probably plenty of other things they could do to eliminate some of these extra bodies. Another thing I'm sick of is the Nikon naming scheme as it doesn't really show what is a successor to the previous generation. You can work out what type of camera it is (eg. amatuer, semipro, pro) by looking at the number of digits (eg. D40 = amatuer (2 digits), D700 = semi (3 digits), D3 = pro (1 digit)). The D700 isn't a successor to the D300, it seems a totally new camera that is a mishmash of all the good bits from the D300, D3 and anything that Nikon have done over the past few years, and trimmed it to make it better than the D300 but not as good as the D3. Anyway enough of my rant, time to go process some photos.

Darryl

[chrisk]

number of releases ?? havent really seen that much from nikon. certianly nothing out of the ordinary. the d700 was a must have adition to nikon's line up, just like the D3 and just like they need a D3x.

[Glen]

Darryl, the pace is a bit quicker than film days, but I disagree that you could cover the range in 3 models. Where would the bottom be, a $600 D40 6mp? Then maybe a D700 as prosumer at $3k or a D300 at $2k? What about the consumers with $900, $1500, etc in their pocket? Would you only have a D3 or D3X? I say if they have the economies of scale to produce the different models to give choice, with no production price penalty, let them make them. It doesn't worry me how many the produce, I am still only likely to buy a D300 or D700 level camera. Don't worry about the model numbers either, if you are not stuck in the upgrade cycle (as you state) and not perving on other photographers cameras, why bother to look?

[aim54x]

They need to keep the D40/60 (D40 can probably bow out now), D80/90 (D90 to replace D80 with probably a 6month phase out), D300, D700 (need a small FX) and the D3/3x. They cannot drop the D60/80/90 and keep their market share, the D60 covers the bottom consumer (the D40 for those who read Ken Rockwell), the D80/90 for those enthusiasts, the D300/700 for the Semi Pro to Pros (2nd body) and the D3/3x for the Pros.

If you look at Canon their line up is becoming fairly similar, EOS 1000D (D40/60), EOS 400D (D40/60 - but in phase out), EOS 450D (D80/90), EOS 40D (somewhere in between the D80/90 and the D300), EOS 5D/5DII/7D (D700), EOS 1D/1Ds III (D3/D3x).

In affect we are looking at a 6 camera lineup in both camps if you drop the D40 and the EOS 400D all of which are sufficently seperated to have their own target market.

Have a look at Sony A200 (entry entry level), A300 (entry), A350 (adv entry - purely cause of 14MP- STUPID I KNOW), A700 (Semi Pro/Enthusiast) and the A900 (FX PRO - around the corner according to the rumour mill), They probably have too many cameras in the low end, cut the A300 and upspec the A350 to a proper enthusiast camera.

[Glen]

I agree totally Aim, may as well offer the consumer choice. Your point about the D700 is good, not everyone wants to carry a D3 around at all times.

[chrisk]

i think most would agree that the D3 and D700 are actually 2 years late. more to the point...their primes are at LEAST 2 years overdue as is say the 80-400. if anything nikon have been godawful slow and pretty pisspoor in developing/ releasing new gear.

[MATT]

their primes are at LEAST 2 years overdue as is say the 80-400. if anything nikon have been godawful slow and pretty pisspoor in developing/ releasing new gear.

This is a fair statement considering the range canon offer..

MATT

[aim54x]

Bring on the new AF-s primes!!!!

[gstark]

Have a look at Sony

I think I'd rather have my teeth pulled.

[aim54x]

Have a look at Sony

I think I'd rather have my teeth pulled.

 ROFL!!!

[wider]

sigma is stepping up their presence in the primes: http://www.dpreview.com/lensreviews/sigma_50_1p4_c16/ after looking at the charts its sharper than both the nikon and canon 50mm at f1.4

does anyone have links to some speculation about nikon releasing new primes? i want to get my hopes up ^_^