Nikon FF (and DX) Mirrorless rumours/ announcements (1 Viewer)

[Chosun Juan]

Z7 II and Z6 II countdown to Oct 14 announcement

Looks like the need to bring dollars through the door outweighs getting the elephant-like gestation of the Z8 developed, born and launched.

I wonder what incremental tinkering Nikon will present us with ..... ? :cat:





Chosun :gh:

 

[Chosun Juan]

Interview: Keiji Oishi of Nikon – "It’s time to get excited"

Interesting interview with some Imaging Department Managers regarding the Z system, and the impacts of COVID.

Very tight-lipped on any high end Z8 and Z9 models, and any lightweight highest quality fast long super telephoto lenses .....

Very interesting snippets about the high end lens design the Z mount allows at the wider end.

https://m.dpreview.com/interviews/3679521489/nikon-interview-its-time-to-get-excited





Chosun :gh:

 

[Chosun Juan]

Rumoured Z9 Specs 2021

https://nikonrumors.com/2020/10/06/...kon-z9-mirrorless-camera-specifications.aspx/

According to this rumour it is likely to appear before any Z8 (for which there are crickets ?)

Rather confusingly the 20fps Z9 resolution is said to be 46MP - putting it at Canon R5 level ....

It's meant to be the Bees Knees, with object detection AF, and a blackout-free EVF.

Nothing like the Mirrorless Canon Super Telephoto Lens lineup is predicted ..... maybe a 400FL f2.8 first, in time for the delayed Olympics.






Chosun :gh:

 

[Chosun Juan]

Nikon Z7 II ...... a Z8 by any other name ?

I have found it very strange that the Z8 was (according to the rumour mill) all set to be the next development announcement, and then virtually vanished off the radar. Strange because the same sensor used in the Sony ar7 IV was all ready to go - and then COVID hit.

Nikon seemed to pivot to the mid -> entry market, rather than the planned mid -> high end market.

Now comes this 'wishlist' for the Z6 and Z7 Mark II published on DPReview, suggesting a high resolution ~60MP sensor upgrade. I'm posting this because DPR has been pretty accurate over the last year or two - often I suspect, having prior official information, but subject to NDA's.

I wonder how accurate or otherwise that high resolution Z7 II wish is ? Putting the highest resolution 9Million Dot EVF, upgraded processing and framerate, battery capacity, and improved AF tracking and UX - would make it the virtual Z8 :cat:

https://m.dpreview.com/articles/626...tm_medium=marquee&utm_campaign=traffic_source

I suppose we find out later this week .......







Chosun :gh:

 

[Chosun Juan]

Nikon Mk II Z6 & Z7 announced

Well, incremental is one way to describe them ......
Nikon has not tried to outdo the new Canon R5 (leaving it's powder dry for the true Z8 ??) , but instead repositioned to what must be the best value MILC's in their market segments. Less than $2K and $3K - bravo !

Any wishes for a Z8 by any other name was all just a big fat nothing - well played DPR, well played ..... !

The big news is 2x Expeed 6 processors.
Internet keyboard warriors get their 2 card slots, though they're different types - I would have preferred to see 2x CFexpress to minimize types.
Improvements to frame rates and AF.
No increase to the EVF resolution which I think puts them at odds with the market. It's also no great incentive for Z6 & Z7 owners to upgrade .....

Plenty of space then for a full bells and whistles market leading Z8 at some stage .....

https://m.dpreview.com/news/9554068...t-dual-processors-and-gain-a-second-card-slot







Chosun :gh:

 

[Chosun Juan]

Z8 and Z8S (Z9 /Z1 or whatever it will be called) ...... will we see them in 2021 ??

While I believe DPReview still has the jump on the inside running for announced product, when it comes to longer term crystal ball gazing, they're in the same speculating /wishful thinking boat as the rest of us.

Editor Barney Britton jots down his wishlist, and speculates that Nikon may want these out for the Olympics (currently delayed to 2021)

https://m.dpreview.com/opinion/5602...l-us-about-future-pro-nikon-mirrorless-models

I'd also like to see cutting edge EVF'S which means 9.4 Million Dots plus .....





Chosun :gh:

 

[njlarsen]

Chosun wrote

I'd also like to see cutting edge EVF'S which means 9.4 Million Dots plus .....

Are you sure that is the most important quality measure of an EVF? to my mind, it is more important to have an EVF that updates really fast (200-400 times per second) to get a truly delay-free image. Whether that display is 3, 5, 7, or 9 million dots? I am not sure that our eyes have that good a resolution at the size involved.

Niels

 

[Chosun Juan]

Chosun wrote

Are you sure that is the most important quality measure of an EVF? to my mind, it is more important to have an EVF that updates really fast (200-400 times per second) to get a truly delay-free image. Whether that display is 3, 5, 7, or 9 million dots? I am not sure that our eyes have that good a resolution at the size involved.

Niels

Well I was just being a bit brief Niels.

To my way of thinking I just take it as read that it should display it's maximum resolution at 120 times per second or better. Sorry I should have been more specific.

A lag free high resolution EVF view without blackouts, and an electronic shutter that can operate at high speed (10fps+) without rolling shutter effects remains a bit of a holy grail.

It's the case that we don't know how good this can be until we actually see it.

I don't know if you recall when this thread kicked off, that leading EVF displays were one of the core performance areas that Nikon was targeting.

Nikon really needs to step up and clearly lead in this area - that means resolution, lag times, refresh rates, and contrast, colour science, and power efficiency - all together. :t:








Chosun :gh:

 

[njlarsen]

Well I was just being a bit brief Niels.

To my way of thinking I just take it as read that it should display it's maximum resolution at 120 times per second or better. Sorry I should have been more specific.

A lag free high resolution EVF view without blackouts, and an electronic shutter that can operate at high speed (10fps+) without rolling shutter effects remains a bit of a holy grail.

It's the case that we don't know how good this can be until we actually see it.

I don't know if you recall when this thread kicked off, that leading EVF displays were one of the core performance areas that Nikon was targeting.

Nikon really needs to step up and clearly lead in this area - that means resolution, lag times, refresh rates, and contrast, colour science, and power efficiency - all together. :t:

Chosun :gh:

No problem. I had to look up the refresh rate of the m4/3 cameras, and the top range (from both brands) meet (but does not exceed) the 120 Hz standard. The full frame S1 has the same 120 Hz in a 5.7 million dots resolution.

Niels

Niels

 

[Chosun Juan]

There's been plenty of news from Nikon this year - market and profit downgrades, and then some better than forecast performances and recovery.

They continue to grind on fleshing out the mirrorless lens range, and have brought out second gen Z6 and Z7.

The rumoured Z8 is still on the way, and in F-mount land, so is the expected D880, and the D580 (or whatever it will be called). Some of these were rumoured for 2021 ? No sign of the PF 600 f5.6 either, nor even whispers .....

However the biggest news (possibly in the company's history ?) is the reported cessation of mass production at the Japanese Sendai factory ! with all that work being moved to Thailand. This is a monumental move for a Japanese company and it's employees.

The amount of work involved in this move, doesn't fill me with confidence at promptly seeing those predicted products - hopefully they're all but ready to go before the move .....

Report: After more than 70 years Nikon ends domestic camera production, planning move to Thailand

Japanese publication AERAdot has reported that Nikon is ceasing camera production at its Sendai ‘Mother’ Factory and moving operations to its Thai factories as a cost-saving measure.

m.dpreview.com

Chosun 🙆

 

[etudiant]

There's been plenty of news from Nikon this year - market and profit downgrades, and then some better than forecast performances and recovery.

They continue to grind on fleshing out the mirrorless lens range, and have brought out second gen Z6 and Z7.

The rumoured Z8 is still on the way, and in F-mount land, so is the expected D880, and the D580 (or whatever it will be called). Some of these were rumoured for 2021 ? No sign of the PF 600 f5.6 either, nor even whispers .....

However the biggest news (possibly in the company's history ?) is the reported cessation of mass production at the Japanese Sendai factory ! with all that work being moved to Thailand. This is a monumental move for a Japanese company and it's employees.

The amount of work involved in this move, doesn't fill me with confidence at promptly seeing those predicted products - hopefully they're all but ready to go before the move .....

Report: After more than 70 years Nikon ends domestic camera production, planning move to Thailand

Japanese publication AERAdot has reported that Nikon is ceasing camera production at its Sendai ‘Mother’ Factory and moving operations to its Thai factories as a cost-saving measure.

m.dpreview.com

Chosun 🙆

I'd be more optimistic about this, Nikon is sort of the technology leader for the Mitsubishi group, they will not lightly give that up for a trifling billion dollars or so.
That said, there needs to be a Plan B for Nikon, because cameras and semiconductor lithography were their mainstays afaik, but both are now hurting.
My thought is that the camera production goes to Thailand, the lithography operations go to China, Japan remains the technology hub for the time being,
while the investments shift to something else, maybe materials science.

 

[Chosun Juan]

Speculations: the upcoming Nikon Z9 sensor will be made by Tower Semiconductor (former TowerJazz) and not by Sony - Nikon Rumors

I usually do not report on speculation from the Dpreview forums, but this one is interesting and I think it is worth mentioning here – the upcoming Nikon Z9 camera sensor could be produced by Tower Semiconductor (former TowerJazz) and not by Sony. Both threads on Dpreview are very long (see here...

nikonrumors.com

Curiouser and curiouser ..... 😺

Maybe Nikon is getting fair dinkum about leading the camera world again ....

They have the platform with the Z mount, but really need to nail the gestating 400 f2.8 and 600 f4 as the clear lightweight, compact, AF speed, and quality, market leaders for folks that will stick them on this Z9 under development. They need to cater to mere mortals too with a 61MP Z8 (9.44M dot EVF please) and a Z mount PF 600 f5.6 ......

It looks like Canon just stuck permanent extenders on their EF MkIII's to do the R mount job. Having that native mirrorless mount and the new R5 puts them a step ahead of Nikon. Sony with the current lightest weight native mirrorless supertelephoto primes, and the superb a1 is even further in the lead.

Short of major major reinvestment, I can't see Nikon Lithography competing - let's hope they can design a step ahead state of the art, Tower fabbed sensor.

Such a move could make sense in getting them out from under the Sony thumb, freeing them of:-
i) inherent conflict of interest with a major competitor holding all the strategic market chips, perhaps even locked out of the very best tech for many years,
ii) supply constraints and relegation to the bottom of the sensor supply pecking order,
iii) the need to make unfavorably large quantity agreements before accessing the next gen tech.
iv) disadvantageous competitor supply mark ups.

I still think they need to pump out a D550, D850 ii, and D880/Z8 Pronto to fill the profit coffers again. (include the D780 Phase Detect on chip tech, and grab that AF toggle from the Canon 1DX MkIII - gawd how many 'problems' would that solve !)

It will be interesting to see how the Z9 compares with the Sony a1, and interesting too, to see what the Canon R3 is all about, where it fits in, and how it competes .....



Chosun 👧

 

[Chosun Juan]

Nikon 2021 Fiscal Year Financial Report.

Makes for very interesting reading .... !

Nikon released their 2021 fiscal year financial reports - Nikon Rumors

Nikon released their financial results for the 2021 fiscal year ending March 31, 2021 – here is the recap: Revenue ¥451.2B (down ¥139.8B) Imaging Products revenue decreased by ¥75.0B Operating Profit: -¥56.2B (down ¥62.9B) Nikon sales in units by product category: Summary for the year ended...

nikonrumors.com

Chosun 🙆