After some advance speculation yesterday on Engadget, probably a “controlled” leak on the part of Nikon, the goodies are now officially announced:

The new Nikon D7000 and a random bunch of lenses.

Let’s look at the new body, a phenomenal beauty (as far as features go):

• 16MP sensor
• 25K Max ISO
• 2 SD slots
• Full HD-Video with stereo sound recording (w/external mic), internal mono mic
• Full-time AF and manual controls for Video (finally!)
• Sealed body
• 150k cycle shutter

However (yuck):

• Video sequences are limited to 20 minutes (if SONY can build an APS-C camcorder with unlimited recording time, why are you telling us that your sensor gets all hot and bothered after just 20 minutes?)
• New rechargeable battery type
• Mono built-in microphone (any camcorder has stereo so why not this baby?)
• Native 100 ISO (instead of 200). It’s easier to slap on a ND-filter to push ISO down lower than to pump it up higher. We LIKE native ISO 200, Nikon!

Nikon D7000 body

So we’ve essentially gotten an upgraded D300s packed into a smaller body with some amateur features like scene modes for a fantastic price. The D7000 obsoletes both the D90 AND the D300s in one fell swoop, and even matches or beats the D700 in most features except in being full frame.

Holy Moly!

The model number suggests that Nikon has moved the “prosumer” range of Dxx cameras into the Dxxxx range and merged it into the entry-level bodies. So, we’ve got the following ranges of Nikon DSLRs now:

• Dx – pro (sports and fast action), currently D3, D3s, D3x
• Dxxx – full frame pro small-body no grip, currently D700
• Dxxx – DX pro small-body no grip, currently D300s
• Dxxxx – amateur, this baby D7000
• Dxxxx – entry, currently D3100
• Dxx – consumer range, now defunct, last addition: D90.

The amount of cool technology being offered to the entry-level crowd is amazing! It is fully possible to take professional-grade images in almost all situations with this body (provided you know how). It far surpasses the feature set of the pro range of just a few years ago.

HOWEVER, I think Nikon has made a mistake in choosing the model number – they should have stuck with the Dxx range and perhaps called it the D91. D90 owners wouldn’t like “stepping down” into the entry Dxxxx range. And the Dxxxx range now contains the new 14MP D3100 and this 16MP D7000. So the waters are now unnecessarily muddled up. Perhaps Nikon should have come up with new model ranges to clean up their mess.

Now that Nikon has given away all it’s pro features for a song, I’m guessing that there must be something pretty huge in store for the Dx and Dxxx series upgrade!!! I am positively drooling in anticipation of what’s coming!

So Nikon just announced the D3100.

Yawn, so who cares?

Nikon D3100 setiing the stage for things to come?

I do, even though I don’t care about the D3100 by itself. I care about the features of this camera, which no doubt will percolate upwards to the slowly due upgrade of Nikon’s Dxxx and Dxx series.

So what do I see?

• An upgrade to a 14MP sensor
• 1080p instead of 720p video
• Permanent Video AF (sorely needed feature)
• (I hope it will finally be possible use manual settings with video)
• SDXC Memory supported (Dxx), makes sense for Video
• I hope there are no more limits to video shooting time which sure is a PITA with the D90.

They left the mono sound! Yuck!!!

It’s not really THAT much goodness, so I hope there will me more goodies underneath the hood which are not apparent from the spec-sheet.

Now that Sony has their VG10 Camcorder, the uniqueness of DSLR Video is dead in the water, because you finally have a REAL camcorder with the DOF-capability of a DSLR.

The upgrade to 14MP IS a big deal, because the goodness of Nikon’s uniform 12MP DX and FX sensor resolution will be shattered, which will translate into an upgrade to a D90+, the D300+ and the D700+.

So what about the Nikon D4?

Strategically, I’ll guess they’ll omit the low-resolution (12-14MP range) sensors altogether and stick to the higher sensor-density models, bumping up their ISO-capability to current D3-levels.

I’ve been waiting for this for years and FINALLY someone’s done it!

Sony, with it’s NEX VG-10 Camcorder.
(I was hoping Nikon or Canon would, but they’ve been such slouches lately)

• APS-C Exmor CMOS Sensor.
• Interchangeable lenses.
• 1920x1080i.
• 14 MP Stills at 7 fps (wow).

Now it’s time to finally forget all those crappy DSLRs posing as video cameras.

Sony NEX VG10 Camcorder

The floodgates are open.

Both Nikon and Canon have shown their capability to build video into their DSLRs.

Granted, the implementations are far from perfect, but they’ve done it.

But: except for picture quality, they have thrown Camcorders back 15 or more years back in time, when there was hardly any image stabilization and back practically forever with lacking autofocus.

We want more. We want these faults to be fixed. We want high quality video on a video recorder which is at least as capable as conventional camcorders. And the biggie: WE WANT TO BE ABLE TO USE OUR DSLR LENSES ON THIS!

Do you realize what this means?

The death of DSLR!

If we can have perfectly capable Liveview, the use of the viewfinder will drop dramatically. And with that the neccessity of the mirror mechanism. And with that the mirror slap.

Yay, quiet high-quality photography at last?! This will revolutionize wedding photography!

Who will be first: Canon or Nikon? Thank goodness we’ve got stiff competition!

A great blog with regular interviews by Ron Dawson, recommended!

F-Stop Beyond

With the war between Canon and Nikon in full swing on all fronts: image, features and price (lucky us!), I can’t help but notice the production inefficiencies of Nikon, ultimately hurting us consumers but also Nikon. This is evident from small details.

The D300, D700 and D90 have the same 3″ display, right? That’s good.

But look at the display covers:

D90: BM-10

D300: BM-8

D700: BM-9

Say what?

Yes and they are not interchangeable, although the size difference is in the millimeters!

(the D3 has no display cover)

The D3X was just announced and I’m still wondering why Nikon chose this path.

Who needs the D3X? Commercial photographers and landscape photographers.

Hasselblad territory, although I doubt those people will stray Nikon’s way (those who wanted chose Canon a while ago).

With the Canon 5D-II with it’s 21MP just out, at ONE THIRD the price of a D3X, and the Sony A900 offering the same pixel count as the Nikon also at ONE THIRD the price, there is simply no reason for anyone to go Nikon, other than to reuse an available lens collection for supplementary commercial work.

Nada.

Bad move, Nikon. You should have plunked the sensor into a D800….