Nikon F6 updates

[Mackinaw]

Speaking of rumors. it's said that Nikon may be in financial difficulty....

Not a rumor, it's true. Take a look at their financials from last year. Not good.

Jim B.

 

[NortheastPhotographic]

Not a rumor, it's true. Take a look at their financials from last year. Not good.

Jim B.

Sometimes I wonder, how many cameras were they selling in 1985, 1995? I think the consumer masses are done buying cameras, but were they buying them back then? This is why I think Nikon and other camera makers should consider making film cameras again, along with their digital line up. I don't think I know anyone who isn't a 'photographer' or interested in photography who would consider buying a 'camera' at any price. Honestly most of them would buy an Instax or Polaroid camera for the kitchy aspect.

It seems like they thought people would actually want a new plastic DSLR or P&S every year forever...little did they know we'd all kill for an F7, S3 2020, or FM3a.

 

[Вormental_old]

I don't think I know anyone who isn't a 'photographer' or interested in photography who would consider buying a 'camera' at any price.

+1

I think any kind of a device made specifically for photo-taking is a niche product, digital or not. Due to computational photography embedded into every phone, "regular" people are getting better results now from their phones than they ever did with their Rebel Ti.

Meanwhile, my current models of Canon and Fuji can't even do WiFi properly... I think the traditional camera makers simply don't have the R&D culture to exist in this increasingly software-first world.

 

[Huss]

Sometimes I wonder, how many cameras were they selling in 1985, 1995? I think the consumer masses are done buying cameras, but were they buying them back then? This is why I think Nikon and other camera makers should consider making film cameras again, along with their digital line up. I don't think I know anyone who isn't a 'photographer' or interested in photography who would consider buying a 'camera' at any price. Honestly most of them would buy an Instax or Polaroid camera for the kitchy aspect.

It seems like they thought people would actually want a new plastic DSLR or P&S every year forever...little did they know we'd all kill for an F7, S3 2020, or FM3a.

What would an S3 2020 have? Built in meter? So essentially Nikon's M6?
I know what I would like in an F7 - get rid of the menus, bring back the dials from the F4, allow it to use the latest e-aperture glass, use a rechargeable battery pack like the DSLRs.

 

[Frank53]

I think the F6 is the best camera ever made. The only thing I’m missing is something in the finder to keep the horizon level. Like i.e. my d800e has, would be great. But I can live without it
Regards,
Frank

 

[NortheastPhotographic]

What would an S3 2020 have? Built in meter? So essentially Nikon's M6?
I know what I would like in an F7 - get rid of the menus, bring back the dials from the F4, allow it to use the latest e-aperture glass, use a rechargeable battery pack like the DSLRs.

Same as the S3 2000. Nothing new except that it’s new! If they wanted to do another production run of those they’d sell every single unit all over again.

I also keep saying an F6S makes sense to me. Update the AF system to the same one in the D4. Allow user focus calibrations and E lens support.

Just a bit sad to ignore one niche market to go after a dwindling and competitive mirrorless market. They could do both and get more attention for the effort.

 

[JWMster]

I forget the number of parts in a Nikon F4... but think it was in the 1,000 or so range- probably higher. The labor content would tend to make this unaffordably niche for the very riche... "the man who has everything" and uses nothing. There is a kickstarter project aimed at building a new 35mm called Reflex but they've had innumerable problems, defections, etc. and I'm not sure anything they come up with is going to top a Nikon F-whatever. Love my F4! and would love an F6 even more, but the cost of the latter....??? Not! I've been through a lot of cameras and came to the conclusion after owning and using many in this format, that value and quality of output for the money, with all apologies to Canon for you EOS lovers and fewer to Leica and Contax, I couldn't do better than Nikon with its AF glass.... which I reluctantly need these days to capture the unpredictably wiggling grandchildren. There are a LOT of wonderful 35mm cameras out there... aren't we lucky no one else wants to play with them?

 

[Huss]

I think the F6 is the best camera ever made. The only thing I’m missing is something in the finder to keep the horizon level. Like i.e. my d800e has, would be great. But I can live without it
Regards,
Frank

You could just change the focus screen to one that has a grid outline. My $20 F80 already has one. I know it's not the same as a digital horizon but it still works.

 

[Huss]

Same as the S3 2000. Nothing new except that it’s new! If they wanted to do another production run of those they’d sell every single unit all over again.

The demand for the S3 2000 actually was overstated. For a while you could buy one brand new in box etc for under retail. Even now you can buy them like that under the original retail. Nikon lost a tonne of money on the re-releases of the S2 and S3.
Putting a light meter into it would make it different, otherwise why not just get a new old stock one that is still available? For much less than a new new one would cost.

 

[BradS]

It would be interesting to see something like a re-issue of the FM3A but at this point in their corporate evolution, that seems much less likely than something like an F7.

 

[Frank53]

You could just change the focus screen to one that has a grid outline. My $20 F80 already has one. I know it's not the same as a digital horizon but it still works.

I know, did that, but as you said it’s not the same. Suppose it’s a matter of the moment those camera’s were introduced. Don’t know when Nikon started putting this functionality in dslr’s, but suppose it’s after 2004. regards,
Frank

 

[NortheastPhotographic]

The demand for the S3 2000 actually was overstated. For a while you could buy one brand new in box etc for under retail. Even now you can buy them like that under the original retail. Nikon lost a tonne of money on the re-releases of the S2 and S3.
Putting a light meter into it would make it different, otherwise why not just get a new old stock one that is still available? For much less than a new new one would cost.

2000 and 2020 are different times. You could buy a brand new F100, F5, any number of film cameras really. Digital was exciting back then! Now film is exciting, and new film releases get exciting coverage. It's ok if things are expensive, just look at Leica. They make expensive cameras and people I know who are solidly middle class own an M-A and a 50 or 35mm Summilux.

I just think the days of mass-consumerism in cameras are behind us, and we're going to revert to a time more like the 1980s or 90s than the early days of digital. All medium format cameras ever made were niche products meant to sell to a relatively small number of advanced amateurs, artists, and professionals. They still got made! I just don't see why every statement about Nikon making a new camera needs to be met with a bunch of naysaying. It's no crazier than making an 800mm lens for a handful of photographers and agencies worldwide. The people who want it and can afford it will buy it.

At minimum they could create a parts program to overhaul and keep running the best of their film cameras. If we can put a man on the moon we can put focal plane shutters back into production.

 

[Arthurwg]

When people see me using my Hasselblad I just tell them it's just like an I-phone but won't make telephone calls.

 

[NB23]

When people see me using my Hasselblad I just tell them it's just like an I-phone but won't make telephone calls.

Do they understand the word telephone, though?

 

[Arthurwg]

I can understand some Nikon lovers who would like to have this going on forever. IMO, shooting film with a robot full of highest grade electronics ... isn't really shooting film, It's more like emulating digital capture. Not sure how many grains are in a 35mm frame, perhaps still more than any sensor has pixels at this point, but shooting film with dumb presses of a shutter is just not analog shooting .. IMO of course.

This is completely silly. The way I use my F6 requires high speed exposure and focus. I have several other cameras that require slow and methodical exposure and focus, which I enjoy where appropriate, but the F6 allows me to capture images that I would never manage without it.

 

[wyofilm]

I just think the days of mass-consumerism in cameras are behind us, and we're going to revert to a time more like the 1980s or 90s than the early days of digital. All medium format cameras ever made were niche products meant to sell to a relatively small number of advanced amateurs, artists, and professionals. They still got made! I just don't see why every statement about Nikon making a new camera needs to be met with a bunch of naysaying. It's no crazier than making an 800mm lens for a handful of photographers and agencies worldwide. The people who want it and can afford it will buy it.

Camera manufactures are really in a bind. Their consumer market has evaporated. Smart phones with excellent cameras abound and the dslr/mirroless market is saturated for all but a few gear heads and professionals (who are more apt to keep equipment longer). I think that you are right, camera manufactures are going to few copy number, very specific products for the professional/serious amateur. Though I am far from a digital camera expert (all youtube!), Hassleblad and maybe Leica seem to be the more innovative. The Hasselblad 907x 50c camera is crazy compared to most offerings. In use, it seems more film than digital.

One thing that I would say is that Nikon, Cannon, Sony, etc. need to partner with or hire serious software design people. Smart phones have a real edge in this regard.

 

[Вormental_old]

This is completely silly. The way I use my F6 requires high speed exposure and focus. I have several other cameras that require slow and methodical exposure and focus, which I enjoy where appropriate, but the F6 allows me to capture images that I would never manage without it.

I wouldn't say it's silly. Despite having a roll of film in its belly F6 feels like a computer because it **is** a computer. A lot of film shooters, including myself, went back to film because we're tired of computers with their batteries, LCDs, and on/off switches. The computer-like interface ruins the photo-taking experience. There's nothing silly about it. This whole photography thing, just like anything else we pay for, is all about feelings it evokes in us. Let's not pretend there're rational decisions to be made.

If you want to be 100% non-silly and rational, I'll offer you a high-res head-mounted digital video camera, hooked to a real-time ML model, trained on "most popular 10,000 photos of all time", plucking the best frames out of your video feed, automatically cropping & replacing skies with something more fitting, correcting for all kinds of distortions and automatically posting onto your Instagram. Compared to THAT, everything we do here is "silly".

IMO the only non-digital camera Nikon should be making is FM3a. The F6 is way more silly as it combines the inferior IQ of film with inferior UX and a price tag of a computer. The worst of both worlds.

 

[MultiFormat Shooter]

This is completely silly. The way I use my F6 requires high speed exposure and focus. I have several other cameras that require slow and methodical exposure and focus, which I enjoy where appropriate, but the F6 allows me to capture images that I would never manage without it.

Agreed! If I want slow-and-deliberate, I'll use my Graflexes or Linhof. If I need accurate, high-speed focus, and instantaneous, dead-on exposure accuracy, I'll use my F6.

 

[George Mann]

everything we do here is "silly"...

...the inferior IQ of film

You seem to be on a roll lately!

 

[Bikerider]

They should build a F7. New auto focus etc. They need to roll out everything Z first.

I have an F6 - what is wrong with the AF on the current model? Why change things just for the sake of it - and make it more expensive anyway

 

[Tom Kershaw]

IMO the only non-digital camera Nikon should be making is FM3a. The F6 is way more silly as it combines the inferior IQ of film with inferior UX and a price tag of a computer. The worst of both worlds.

Comparing digital capture to film is rather apples vs oranges... and there are plenty more expensive cameras than the F6.

 

[DeletedAcct1]

The famous analog revival, isn't it?

 

[Frank53]

Agreed! If I want slow-and-deliberate, I'll use my Graflexes or Linhof. If I need accurate, high-speed focus, and instantaneous, dead-on exposure accuracy, I'll use my F6.

+1
I have a 4x5 Linhof set, Contax iiia, Rolleiflex F etc. And I use them all because I like the slow process.
But sometimes I want something else. Easy focussing (I’m 67 and my eyes are not what they were), not thinking about technical stuff, just shooting. It’s still film, I can print in the darkroom and... it’s basically the same camera as my d800e, using the same lenses and other stuff.
Regards,
Frank

 

[Huss]

The famous analog revival, isn't it?

The F6 is very digital in use. Basically a DSLR that uses film.
The analog revival is based on cameras that are far more analog and mechanical.

 

[miha]

The F6 is very digital in use. Basically a DSLR that uses film.
The analog revival is based on cameras that are far more analog and mechanical.

Say what?? So my Linhof is more analog than your F6? What does digital in use mean?