Keith
The best camera is one that still works!
Some lucky sod has just bought a new SP and has posted a pic of it in a thread and I immediately started to think about Leica and their progression with the digital M. The latest incarnation, the M240, currently has a waiting list of twelve months and when they finish their new production plants that will still be three months according to the good doctor K.
I realise the Japanese just don't think this way but why not create a smallish design team and facility to produce a digital version of the SP ... albeit with the necessary changes to bring it into the digital world as Leica did with the traditional M.
Nikon are currently making the best DSLRs on the market but outside of that realm they aren't really doing anything spectacular ... so why not make something that will make everyone take a breath and realise that there is still some 'soul' left in this company?
I realise the Japanese just don't think this way but why not create a smallish design team and facility to produce a digital version of the SP ... albeit with the necessary changes to bring it into the digital world as Leica did with the traditional M.
Nikon are currently making the best DSLRs on the market but outside of that realm they aren't really doing anything spectacular ... so why not make something that will make everyone take a breath and realise that there is still some 'soul' left in this company?
Range-rover
Veteran
It would be great if they did, but their in competition with Canon and I don't know if they would
make enough money selling them.
Tube
make enough money selling them.
Tube
Keith
The best camera is one that still works!
Canon appear to be about as stagnant in their thinking as Nikon at the moment. Fuji are the company constantly breaking new ground while these two behemoths sit and watch!
Respect for Fuji as a camera manufacturer has skyrocketed of late because of their willingness to think outside the square and listen to what their customers want.
CaNikon don't seem the least bit interested in taking any risks ... in fact I read recently that Nikon are thinking of entering the smart phone market ... uuuggghhh!
Respect for Fuji as a camera manufacturer has skyrocketed of late because of their willingness to think outside the square and listen to what their customers want.
CaNikon don't seem the least bit interested in taking any risks ... in fact I read recently that Nikon are thinking of entering the smart phone market ... uuuggghhh!
JSU
-
About three years ago I speculated on the amalgam of a SP and a D700.
Since then Nikon DSLR's have gotten smaller. I can easily visualize a digital SP with the imaging guts of the D600.
I believe they would sell, but Nikon would probably have to partner with Cosina for a full line of RF lenses.
However, I'm not holding my breath.
Since then Nikon DSLR's have gotten smaller. I can easily visualize a digital SP with the imaging guts of the D600.
I believe they would sell, but Nikon would probably have to partner with Cosina for a full line of RF lenses.
However, I'm not holding my breath.
Range-rover
Veteran
Really, Smartphones, I'm glad I sold my Nikon Digital stuff, I went to Pentax purchased
a few lenses and good to go.
Range
a few lenses and good to go.
Range
Keith
The best camera is one that still works!
I also think that Nikon are in the position of being able to price something like this at a premium because of the camera's absolute charisma and its heritage. Not Leica prices obviously but realistically not that far off.
I realise this has been discussed previously at RFF and we generally ultimately dismiss it as pie in the sky ... but times and the camera industry have changed a lot over the last couple years.
Contarama
Well-known
It is called the A...look for new and improved models in the future. None will be RFs is my guess however. Who knows though they redid the old RFs not to along ago?
mansio
Established
just find it interesting that i cannot quite find m43 cameras to be RF cameras and the only few that marginally do are nex6/7 xe1/xp1 really.
i thought eos m and nikon1 are the low cost attempt to rf cameras?
i thought eos m and nikon1 are the low cost attempt to rf cameras?
Frontman
Well-known
A couple of months ago I was walking down a street in central Tokyo, taking photos of the construction work in Nihonbashi. A Japanese man walked up to me and complimented me on my gear. I was shooting an old black plain-prism Nikon F and an even older SP. This gentleman introduced himself by saying "Nikon my company, thank you using our cameras". He examined my old F and SP, and said "classic Nikon camera the best", and then gave me his card, which showed he was an executive sales director at Nikon.
Too bad I couldn't pass along your request to him... But perhaps I'll see him again,
Too bad I couldn't pass along your request to him... But perhaps I'll see him again,
GaryLH
Veteran
I personally do not think that the current Nikon management team is interested in a digital rf camera..but I could be wrong.
I think the closest u may c given the Nikon one and the Coolpix A is a csc version of a Coolpix A w/ a built-in evf. So long as they don't do anything weird, third party lens adapter can open the door to the mf rf lenses.
Gary
I think the closest u may c given the Nikon one and the Coolpix A is a csc version of a Coolpix A w/ a built-in evf. So long as they don't do anything weird, third party lens adapter can open the door to the mf rf lenses.
Gary
Keith
The best camera is one that still works!
That's great! ^
It's not really my personal request as I'm really not in the market for such a camera. I just want to see one of the world's premiere camera manufacturers get off their hands and start making cameras we want instead of what 'they think' we want. Fuji have done it!
Contarama
Well-known
So has Sigma...
Zeiss did it with film not to long ago...albeit more glass oriented...it is just a matter of time...everyone will be onboard soon enough.
The SLR is dead meat just like it beat up on the RF. The aforementioned F is the camera that did it BTW. It crushed the Press Graflex too.
Zeiss did it with film not to long ago...albeit more glass oriented...it is just a matter of time...everyone will be onboard soon enough.
The SLR is dead meat just like it beat up on the RF. The aforementioned F is the camera that did it BTW. It crushed the Press Graflex too.
Jamie Pillers
Skeptic
I'd like to see Nikon build a digital FM3... a lot more reasonable priced lenses available. But of course they won't. They're in love with those big plastic blob cameras. Oh well.
Keith
The best camera is one that still works!
I suppose they have in an odd way ... I hadn't considered that!
GaryLH
Veteran
He got u there
Gary
Gary
GaryLH
Veteran
Btw ... If I remember correctly the original foveon patent expires soon.. Could be as early as next year. I wonder if we will c someone else bring out a foveon type sensor camera.
Gary
Gary
Keith
The best camera is one that still works!
He got u there
Gary
He did.
The DPM series is actually proof that if you make something different based around a premise that the bigger companies don't seem to comprehend, it will ultimately create its own niche if it's good enough!
Contarama
Well-known
You all know what it is about Joe's photographs that are good?
The color.
The color.
Stephen G
Well-known
It's all about scale, scale, scale.
Nikon/Canon are firms setup to ship products in volumes 100-1000x higher than what Leica ships. They ship 5-8MM DSLRs/year, versus Leicas 10-15k Ms/year. Then add in all the compact sales and.. yeah.
This is also reflected in the number of employees (~1k versus 20-200k).
Big companies are just not setup to ship small batch products.
Where we did/do see some of this experimentation, it's from firms which do not have an existing market share advantage.
Epson toying around with the R-D1, Fuji with various sensor designs, the X100, and now the XF/XC mount mirrorless bodies.
Between the two, the one most likely to go out and do something whacky like this is Nikon. However, the appetite of Japanese firms for limited-edition oddball products seems to have died around 2000ish.
Most companies are setup to be high volume & low margin, or low volume & high margin. I cannot think of many examples of firms which sell products in both categories..
Fuji is being held up as a firm doing innovative things, but a manual focus rangefinder body is not going to sell even 1/100th the volume that Fuji is aiming for.
Look at what they have been doing with their X bodies, making them increasingly pedestrian and cheap with each iteration. Adding zoom lenses in bulk, and don't forget - they are AF cameras, and primarily AF cameras.
Remember the AF mirrorless camera market is about 3MM/year. On the low end, if Fuji can capture even 5% of this, that is about 150k/year of volume. This is about 10x the high end of what Leica ships per year.
Would I love someone (anyone really) to make a Leica/Nikon/something mount true RF digital body for under $5k? Yes!
Do I believe it's happening anytime soon.. no.
Maybe in a few years when the golden goose of DSLRs sales truly starts to die, we will see more experimentation from the likes of Nikon and Canon. We will likely see a number of firms go bankrupt or exit the camera market entirely, much like we did when digital sales eclipsed film.
Nikon/Canon are firms setup to ship products in volumes 100-1000x higher than what Leica ships. They ship 5-8MM DSLRs/year, versus Leicas 10-15k Ms/year. Then add in all the compact sales and.. yeah.
This is also reflected in the number of employees (~1k versus 20-200k).
Big companies are just not setup to ship small batch products.
Where we did/do see some of this experimentation, it's from firms which do not have an existing market share advantage.
Epson toying around with the R-D1, Fuji with various sensor designs, the X100, and now the XF/XC mount mirrorless bodies.
Between the two, the one most likely to go out and do something whacky like this is Nikon. However, the appetite of Japanese firms for limited-edition oddball products seems to have died around 2000ish.
Most companies are setup to be high volume & low margin, or low volume & high margin. I cannot think of many examples of firms which sell products in both categories..
Fuji is being held up as a firm doing innovative things, but a manual focus rangefinder body is not going to sell even 1/100th the volume that Fuji is aiming for.
Look at what they have been doing with their X bodies, making them increasingly pedestrian and cheap with each iteration. Adding zoom lenses in bulk, and don't forget - they are AF cameras, and primarily AF cameras.
Remember the AF mirrorless camera market is about 3MM/year. On the low end, if Fuji can capture even 5% of this, that is about 150k/year of volume. This is about 10x the high end of what Leica ships per year.
Would I love someone (anyone really) to make a Leica/Nikon/something mount true RF digital body for under $5k? Yes!
Do I believe it's happening anytime soon.. no.
Maybe in a few years when the golden goose of DSLRs sales truly starts to die, we will see more experimentation from the likes of Nikon and Canon. We will likely see a number of firms go bankrupt or exit the camera market entirely, much like we did when digital sales eclipsed film.
thirtyfivefifty
Noctilust survivor
I don't like it when companies stand alone by themselves. Would really like to see a company come out with an M-mount rangefinder that isn't from Leica. Hurry! Before the cement dries.
I always thought of Nikon as a special edition company, but it's sad to see that they haven't come out with something more... surprising (in a good way). I read recently that Nikon is worried about smartphones taking over, but I say, "Who really cared about CoolPix cameras?" It's as if Canon and Nikon are too busy dancing with themselves just to keep their respective market share.
I always thought of Nikon as a special edition company, but it's sad to see that they haven't come out with something more... surprising (in a good way). I read recently that Nikon is worried about smartphones taking over, but I say, "Who really cared about CoolPix cameras?" It's as if Canon and Nikon are too busy dancing with themselves just to keep their respective market share.