What kind of cameras do fine art photographers use?
Phil Forrest
Fine art or artists? 😉
What kind of cameras do fine art photographers use?
Phil Forrest
How do you know what are the chances? You don´t.
You don´t know.For all the reasons previously posted in this thread.
😀
Nikon didn´t try this. They released a limited edtion, expensive, for collectors. It had nothing to do w/ the film renaissance.nikon tried this 13 years ago -- but it was as an instant collectable and they lost money on every one .
only 2500 black sp with all black 3,5cm 1.8 were made
many of those are being used now -
art photographers use some really low tech or oddball items
there are so many film cameras for sale used -- that it seems not a good decision to make another from scratch.
The demand was not there.
Clearly?? Are you kidding?
Yes, clearly. They didn't even sell all of the SP 2005s at their original retail price, either.
Clearly?? Are you kidding? Nikon launched a 5 thousand dollar camera w/ no meter to assess the interest in a film revival?
You are joking right?
Nikon was showing off. Nothing else.
If they wanted to measure interest in film they would launch 700 dollar camera, auto focus and 3 auto meter programs.
Actually no, Nikon was not showing off. At least, not initially. And back in the late 1990s, it was a rangefinder renaissance, not a film renaissance.
There used to be an interview style article on the Nikon Japan website about how the reissue Nikon rangefinder project came about. Basically, the marketing guys at Imaging Company (now called Imaging Business Unit) saw the rangefinder renaissance unfolding in the late 1990s and wanted to join the party. The camera they decided to produce was the chrome Nikon S3, because it was the easiest option to put into production, and their initial plan was to sell 10,000 units PER YEAR. Yes, you read that right, the initial plan was to sell 10,000 units per year. Mito Nikon was commissioned with manufacturing the reissue S3 cameras (right next to the F3 production line I heard) and Tochigi Nikon was commissioned with manufacturing the reissue 50mm lenses.
But as we now know, it became apparent very quickly that the camera wouldn't sell very well. Fast forward to late 2001, and the project was folded with approximately only 8,000 units sold. The number is approximate because it was not intended as a limited edition, and Nikon has never released the actual number sold other than "approximately 8,000 units".
Move forward to 2002, and Nikon finally caved to all the Nikon collectors that complained they really wanted a black paint reissue rangefinder, not a chrome reissue rangefinder, and released a black paint version, the Nikon S3 Limited Edition Black, as a limited edition, 2,000 units only. The word on the street here in Japan is that it was a way for Nikon to use up remaining parts at the factories. Two birds with one stone!
Move forward to 2005, and Nikon again caved to all the Nikon collectors who complained that they actually wanted a black paint Nikon SP reissue, not a lowly Nikon S3, which was the budget model to the SP. So after lots of painstaking work figuring out how to manufacture the complicated finder of the Nikon SP (the reason the Imaging Company marketing guys initially went with the S3) Nikon did another limited edition, this time 2,500 units only with a different lens, a 35mm f1.8 instead of a 50mm f1.4.
So there you have it. The limited edition Nikon SP reissue of 2005 was certainly Nikon showing off to say, "yeah we still got it", but the chrome Nikon S3 reissue of 2000 was just a bad marketing decision, and the subsequent black paint Nikon S3 reissue was just Nikon clearing out unused parts.
By the way, most Nikon employees I've met don't have a clue regarding the company's history and past cameras. Especially those under 40 years old. "Did Nikon even make film cameras???". Ahhhh yeah, Nikon did actually.
Nikon didn´t try this. They released a limited edtion, expensive, for collectors. It had nothing to do w/ the film renaissance.
And if you think a non metered 5000 dollar camera is nikon´s try to go along the young crowd who is shooting film.. well... think again.
What would a new camera in 2019 or 2020 cost? Sure, maybe not $5000 but it sure won't be $600 either, not unless Nikon chooses to subsidize the "film renaissance" by bleeding red ink.
By the way, most Nikon employees I've met don't have a clue regarding the company's history and past cameras. Especially those under 40 years old. "Did Nikon even make film cameras???". Ahhhh yeah, Nikon did actually.
By the way, most Nikon employees I've met don't have a clue regarding the company's history and past cameras. Especially those under 40 years old. "Did Nikon even make film cameras???". Ahhhh yeah, Nikon did actually.
Google tells me an FM2 was $364 in 1983. According to an inflation calculator, in 2017 dollars that is about $900.
How many FM2's were made? I can't find that number via a few minutes of Googling. I am sure the economy of scale was vastly higher than today, so my guess is that something like that would have to retail at well north of $1000.
art photographers use some really low tech or oddball items