Nikon retro-inspired camera

[jsrockit]

This is going to look real silly with the F adapter and a 70's manual focus lens hanging off the front, so I have to imagine using legacy lenses is not really the intention of this camera.

That's the issue always at RFF. People always want a camera for their legacy lenses. This is clearly not that camera. However, it is still nice to see cameras like this made since almost every other camera on the market follows the same formula. It's clearly not made for RFF folk...

 

[Ko.Fe.]

That's the issue always at RFF. People always want a camera for their legacy lenses. This is clearly not that camera. However, it is still nice to see cameras like this made since almost every other camera on the market follows the same formula. It's clearly not made for RFF folk...

Five pages of mumbling while Nikon DF is available.
I guess it is not enough and they want same dials on EVF camera.
Why not. This is how FujiFilm sells their cameras. Via next to useless analog dials 🙂 .

 

[Larry Cloetta]

<snip> It's clearly not made for RFF folk...

That’s the truth.

Funny thing is that over at the much larger Fred Miranda forum, which is mainly composed of Nikon, and Canon people, with some Sony people on the side, none of the Nikon people over there want it either.

The general feeling among Nikon types, is that it’s either an example of poor or nonexistent market research, or it may have some useful appeal in Asian markets where lifestyle cameras do better than they do elsewhere, being quite popular.
Other than that possibility, it is hard to imagine a scenario where this makes business sense for Nikon, or as a needed photographic tool for that matter. It’s a perplexing gambit for a company with limited resources.

They might have sold a lot of new design crop sensor cameras if they’d had Dieter Rams design it, but this thing looks a bit of a mess. Digital cameras work differently than film cameras. Good design embraces that and aims to perfect it, not pretend it’s something else. That never really works. This is like putting fake hood scoops on a rear engine car.

 

[olakiril]

That's the issue always at RFF. People always want a camera for their legacy lenses. This is clearly not that camera. However, it is still nice to see cameras like this made since almost every other camera on the market follows the same formula. It's clearly not made for RFF folk...

Well coupled with the 7artisans 35 f/1.2 it should be a decent package. It is just lost lens sales for Nikon.

https://www.7artisans.co.uk/7artisans-uk-35mm-f12-nikon-z-mount.html

 

[Archlich]

First of all, it looks really nice from the leaked images...way better than the other Z cameras. In this case I am a fan of the flip screen because it can be left closed (lol). I agree with the argument this camera shouldn't have video, but I respect the counter argument too.

This is going to look real silly with the F adapter and a 70's manual focus lens hanging off the front, so I have to imagine using legacy lenses is not really the intention of this camera. The 28/2.8 and 40/2 will be comfortable, and maybe there are some DX lenses coming to fill the wide gap, but without anything else I'm not sure how they expect to compete with Fujifilm, which has at least half a dozen different APS-C cameras and many excellent lenses at different price points. Nikon's 1.8 Z-mount primes are pretty large and expensive for this sub-$1000 crop-sensor camera.

Anyway, like others here, I have no interest in going back to APS-C. Wake me up when they make a full frame version.

I have my worries about the aesthetics since the Z mount really is enormously sized. The front may look awkward.

I have a feeling that it's not meant to "compete with Fuji". They probably don't have a complete lineup of "retro" lenses and accessories designed for it in mind. More like a one-off project to test the water. The Zfc, or whatever it will be called, may never see a successor if it fails to generate enough profit. Just like the Df.

I expect it to share a lot of features with the Z50, the tried-and-true 2.36 million dot OLED viewfinder included. It would be really nice though...if they can put something more sophisticated into it.

 

[Disappointed_Horse]

Digital cameras work differently than film cameras. Good design embraces that and aims to perfect it, not pretend it’s something else. That never really works. This is like putting fake hood scoops on a rear engine car.

The more I think about this, the more I agree with this statement in general, although I'm willing to wait and see how the actual camera turns out before passing judgment.

I love my FEs. They are wonderful mechanical devices to use (yes, I know the shutters are electronically controlled) and have all the controls necessary to get great results with film.

I like my D7000 as well. It has a lot of controls but once I finally spent some time with it to figure out how everything worked, it's an efficient tool. (Too big and heavy, but that's another matter.) It's more complex—it's really a computer shaped like a camera—but all the complexity is necessary to take advantage of the digital sensor. It works quite well with my manual focus lenses. I may not enjoy using it as much as my film cameras, but it gets the job done.

It's like comparing a classic manual transmission sports car with a Tesla. Both will get you where you want to go and provide an enjoyable drive, but the experience is very different.

 

[JeffS7444]

Wow tough crowd: This is not even a real product and people are already disappointed or resigned to waiting for it's successor. 😀

To me it doesn't look like something created by a camera company, but by an individual with some knowledge of 3D rendering. I think the control layout might not be so comfortable in real life, the left channel microphone is oddly placed, while the right channel is (ahem) missing altogether.

 

[jsrockit]

Well, whatever snide remarks we can have about the camera I know I’d rather use this version than a Z50.

 

[former member]

It looks like a good replacement for my u43 bodies. Adapters for manual focus lenses are cheap. The M8 is APS-H, this one not too much smaller.

 

[jsrockit]

Well coupled with the 7artisans 35 f/1.2 it should be a decent package. It is just lost lens sales for Nikon.

https://www.7artisans.co.uk/7artisans-uk-35mm-f12-nikon-z-mount.html

I’d rather use almost any other lens than that one…. Why? Because I’ve actually tried it and it’s horrible.

 

[Archlich]

Wow tough crowd: This is not even a real product and people are already disappointed or resigned to waiting for it's successor. 😀

To me it doesn't look like something created by a camera company, but by an individual with some knowledge of 3D rendering. I think the control layout might not be so comfortable in real life, the left channel microphone is oddly placed, while the right channel is (ahem) missing altogether.

Well I'm actually quite committed to get one if there is at least one APS-C prime lenses to go with it. Which I assume is almost a certainty.

The "there might not be a successor" thing is in response to the speculation that it's a Fuji competitor. To compete with with the Fuji X system, you need to build a system. It doesn't occur to me that the Zfc is spearheading a comparable "retro" system. That's it.

 

[Spluff]

Wow tough crowd: This is not even a real product and people are already disappointed or resigned to waiting for it's successor. 😀

To me it doesn't look like something created by a camera company, but by an individual with some knowledge of 3D rendering. I think the control layout might not be so comfortable in real life, the left channel microphone is oddly placed, while the right channel is (ahem) missing altogether.

I can't get over the ding in the pentaprism in that picture, and the way the pentaprism is actually moulded around the speed dial - I don't think I have ever seen any camera of any brand where the pentaprism is carved out like that!

 

[jsrockit]

I can't get over the ding in the pentaprism in that picture, and the way the pentaprism is actually moulded around the speed dial - I don't think I have ever seen any camera of any brand where the pentaprism is carved out like that!

Ha, didn't notice that... 😱

 

[olakiril]

I’d rather use almost any other lens than that one…. Why? Because I’ve actually tried it and it’s horrible.

That's unfortunate. Even if stepped down? I know from the nocton 35f\1.4 that wide open is horrible for anything other than portraits but stepped down it is quite usable. I wouldn't call it a sharp lens but a full of character 🙂

 

[jsrockit]

That's unfortunate. Even if stepped down? I know from the nocton 35f\1.4 that wide open is horrible for anything other than portraits but stepped down it is quite usable. I wouldn't call it a sharp lens but a full of character 🙂

Stopped down most lenses work but I use my lenses at many apertures. It has character though… it just wasn’t for me. There’s no comparison to the nokton which I like.

 

[JeffS7444]

I can't get over the ding in the pentaprism in that picture

The distressed look has been all the rage since Leica released a pre-brassed special edition M camera awhile back, and I think it's only a matter of time before we have pre-fogged, separated, and fungus-etched optics to go with it.

https://vimeo.com/123229624

 

[jbhthescots]

The distressed look has been all the rage since Leica released a pre-brassed special edition M camera awhile back, and I think it's only a matter of time before we have pre-fogged, separated, and fungus-etched optics to go with it.

https://vimeo.com/123229624

Where can one buy such optics new?

 

[farlymac]

Where can one buy such optics new?

I've got a distressed Elmar 5cm/2.8 LTM if you're interested. 😀

PF

 

[Pál_K]

All this thread is doing is making me want the Df.

 

[Disappointed_Horse]

Thom Hogan's thoughts:


https://www.zsystemuser.com/nikon-z-system-news-and/retro-to-the-future.html