I'd love to see a 600mm f4 PF too :eek!::eek!:
I want one of those for my Nikon V2 on the FT1 adapter... :t:
Haha
that would be one serious bit of kit ! :t:
Nikon is in a bit of danger of being left in the dust lens-wise by Canon .....
The Canon 200-600 f5.6 is also on the horizon. If this comes in at the 100-400 L II level of IQ with a fluorite objective and weighs 2.27kg (5lb) or less, then it could drag a lot of traffic away from the Tammy/Siggy 150-600 triumvirate and the Niki 200-500. It could blitz them market wise if it meets these criteria and can marry up to a competitive, class leading 7D Mk3 .....
As a minimum I would think Nikon needs to upgrade the 300 f2.8 pronto with Fluorite glass, next gen VR system, and class leading low weight to be competitive with an upgraded Canon IS III series.
A 600 f4 PF would be very nice .....
Though I wonder if Nikon wouldn't be better off also leapfrogging technologies and making the major step with a FF curved sensor mirrorless offering, and new dedicated range of smaller, lighter, high performance lenses purpose designed for the high resolution sensors of the future.
Along with an eliminated mirror box and much reduced Flange Focal Distance this could offer length reductions of ~50mm or so and corresponding weight reductions, even before advanced composites construction and PF optical trains are factored into the equation.
A dedicated adapter (approximately TC size) which corrects for curvature and FFD spacing could see legacy lenses used on the new mirrorless format. An enticing prospect would be to incorporate Tele Converter magnifications (1.4x, 1.7x, and 2x) into the same adapter form factor. Simple, cheap, easy, small, light.
A similar suitably dimensioned and interfaced adapter could be used for the Nikon 1 series which should be updated with a V4 /J6 iterations.
There is no reason why Nikon couldn't use exactly the same curved sensor mirrorless FF 'body' to also house an APS-C format sensor offering as well, since essentially we get down to a very thin camera body which is AMOLED screen + room for hand and UI buttons sized in the height and width directions .... it might only be ~10mm deep not including a massive man sized full grip projecting forward at the side. The FF would have the option of a vertical grip option and corresponding increased battery capacity.
I can't see significant sources of competitive advantage for Nikon apart from this. The threats from Canon's lead in lenses, and the rapid progress of Sony/ Panasonic mirrorless offerings are too great. Not to mention ubiquitous computational Smartphone photography which threatens to swallow everything up to MFT level in several short years for most things short of ultra fast aperture, and long telephoto photography needs ...... :eek!:
I don't think a slow, historical evolution for Nikon is going to cut it .... shuffling deck chairs on the Titanic won't stop the ship from sinking ...... time for a bold move Nikon !
Chosun :gh: