Nikon will reportedly join Canon in ending development on high-end DSLR cameras

[Paul Howell]

Only as clarification, the Mitshubishi group is a conglomerate each company is independent, not sure what it means to be be part of the group.

 

[lantau]

I was reading the article 2-3 days ago and was thinking, does this mean all their previous lenses from Nikon/canon will be replaced with a new mount/generation with no backwards compatibility? Nikon released new lenses for the Nikon Z right? nikkor z? Will their bodies be compatible with older lenses?

They do it like other mirrorless makers before them, the first of which was Olympus. New mount, lenses are probably a little smaller. And you can use an adapter for glas with the old mount.

It is about time. For digital a mirror makes as much sense as a dark cloth does for a 35mm SLR.

 

[BradS]

Nikon is the 8th or 7th largest chip maker in the world, has the second largest plant.

"largest" by what measure?
Do you have a source or any evidece supporting this claim?

 

[Paul Howell]

"largest" by what measure?
Do you have a source or any evidece supporting this claim?

I have to look for my source, of course Wikipedia I found it but it does not match other sources.

Nikon - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[BradS]

I have to look for my source, of course Wikipedia I found it but it does not match other sources.

Nikon - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I note that the linked wikipedia article states that Nikon was the eighth largest chip equipment maker in 2017 and gives a reference. That it is or was the eighth largest chip equipment maker (by some, unstated, measure...likely, revenue?) is believeable. That Nikon is the largest chip maker (by any measure) is highly suspect.

 

[Tord55]

Prices of high end gig cameras such as the 5D4 are staying steady and I expect them to move up. Many of my colleagues switched to mirrorless and then switched back to SLR.

I think they dumped SLRs a generation or two early. Mirrorless is not quite there yet.

So Pentax is doing the right thing, then?!

 

[Cholentpot]

So Pentax is doing the right thing, then?!

Never used a digital one. I think going mirrorless is the way of the future but it's not as good as mirror is from a pure photo taking experience. Mirrorless does have many advantages but until they can get it to nearly zero lag and have batteries that come close to an SLR, I'm going to stick with the SLR.

 

[nmp]

I note that the linked wikipedia article states that Nikon was the eighth largest chip equipment maker in 2017 and gives a reference. That it is or was the eighth largest chip equipment maker (by some, unstated, measure...likely, revenue?) is believeable. That Nikon is the largest chip maker (by any measure) is highly suspect.

Chip equipment is right - they make the steppers for exposing wafers that can run in millions a piece. I don't think they even make their own camera sensors, don't they use Sony's?

 

[runswithsizzers]

So Pentax is doing the right thing, then?!

I was wondering about Pentax, too. Not having any new Nikon/Canon dSLRs may be good for Pentax if they can get the diehard dSLR customers that were formerly supplied by Nikon/Canon. Or it may be, going forward, there will not be that many dSLR diehards, in which case Pentax is probably not going to survive. Unless they have been secretly developing a flagship mirrorless camera which is not on anyone's radar.

For Pentax's sake, I hope there may be enough dSLR business to support at least one manufacturer. On the other hand, Pentax has not been a high profile player for so long, the Nikon/Canon crowd may not even be aware of Pentax's existence. And once they do discover Pentax, they may not be willing to accept the Pentax cameras on a performance level(?)

 

[Sirius Glass]

Never used a digital one. I think going mirrorless is the way of the future but it's not as good as mirror is from a pure photo taking experience. Mirrorless does have many advantages but until they can get it to nearly zero lag and have batteries that come close to an SLR, I'm going to stick with the SLR.

I will stick to the mirror with AF for 35mm and manual lenses for MF.

 

[MattKing]

Mirrorless are superb for re-purposing adapted lens originally made for older film bodies. EVFs make it practical to always view at your taking aperture.

 

[Cholentpot]

Mirrorless are superb for re-purposing adapted lens originally made for older film bodies. EVFs make it practical to always view at your taking aperture.

And focus peaking. My goal is to get a newfangled full frame mirrorless at some point so I can use all my lenses on a digital body with no problem. I use Nikon and M42 on my Canon 5D but focusing is very hit or miss.

 

[jtk]

So Pentax is doing the right thing, then?!

Yes. Pentax makes cameras for demanding enthusiasts (like me). It doesn't lose sales to Nikon or Canon. Professional photographers have preferences for Nikon or Canon, depending on their specialty.

IMO the very best pros are shooting athletes. Think Sports Illustrated.

 

[jtk]

Among Pentax advantages are superb optical viewfinder (prism) and flappy mirror, which with a flip of the switch provides HDR (used increasingly by press photographers because the files reproduce superbly).

 

[Mal Paso]

There are very few Nikon Z lenses so everybody is going to be using the SLR glass for a while, maybe forever. The adapter is $150-$250, cheaper if you buy it with the camera. I handled a bunch of the new Nikons at the B&H show in Monterey last week. The Z9 is a brick, a lot of features, huge and a Lot of weight. It''s bigger than my D810. The Z7 is the same sensor in a package much smaller than SLRs. There is no curtain in front of the sensor like the Z9 so shutting off the camera for lens changes is recommended (dust). I've cleaned sensors before, doesn't scare me off and I have a good air bulb.
The viewfinder doesn't even blink anymore and you can do things impossible with a SLR like Focus Infrared.
I talked with another photographer there who had the Z7 with him. He said battery life was worse than DSLR but dealable. Same battery as my D810 which lasts insanely long in the D810.

 

[Mal Paso]

The Leica rep was quick to point out, they have had Mirrorless since the first camera. I fondled but way out of my price range.

 

[Kilgallb]

Last year I bought a Canon RP, a Pentax 35mm lens for the 645 format and tilt shift adapter.

A great adaptation for little cash and the focus peaking is a bonus.

Oh yeah, I use a focus cloth as it makes viewing the LCD display easy.

It is nice to shoot digital but work like a 4x5 view camera.