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News and commentary of interest to Nikon and Nikon F-mount users
Coolpix Announcements
August 7--Seems like I can predict Nikon's announcement days now: they pick days on which I'm on a plane. Thus, I'll be brief.
As expected, the Coolpix P6000 was announced: 13.5mp, 28-112mm ED VR lens, built-in GPS and wired LAN, plus all the usual Coolpix features. The twist? The raw format it shoots is not NEF. I wasn't quite sure to make of the pre-release information I got, which kept mentioning Windows Imaging Component, but now we know: the camera shoots NRW files, not NEF. NRW files can be converted in camera or via Windows Imaging Component products, which will include ViewNX on Windows. What Mac users are expected to do is another story (ViewNX will browse the new format, but not convert it on a Mac). This appears to be another self-inflicted wound to the foot by Nikon. While Macs have an overall market share under 10% in the general population, in the crowd that would be interested in this camera the number is actually much higher and quite significant.
Essentially, I'd regard the P6000 as not having raw support until such time as NRW support is ubiquitous. Unfortunately, due to the special Codec that is used, I doubt that such support will become ubiquitous. We'll get NRW to DNG converters long before we get any useful NRW support, but that solution just adds yet another workflow step. The decision here once again shows that Nikon simply does not understand workflow, or that they wish to force us to use workflows that serious photographers aren't interested in. Maybe Nikon hired Ashton Kutcher as a spokesman because they are really just trying to "punk" us.
Personally, I'm disappointed in Nikon's Coolpix efforts since the 8800, and the P6000 actually increases that disappointment. My advice is to look at the Ricoh GX-200 and the Panasonic LX-3 if you want a quality compact camera in the near term. Both have true raw support. Both are excellent, photographer-centric cameras. And with care using raw conversion, both produce fine results at low ISO values. Looks like I need a new Coolpix bumper sticker to add to my collection: Skip the P6000.
Meanwhile, the S line got its bi-annual does-anyone-care? refresh: S60, S560, S610, S610c, and S710 models now offer from 10 to 14.5mp, with a variety of me-too feature lists. Living up to the S is for Style nomenclature, they all have a variety of color options.
Nikon First Quarter Financials
August 6--Nikon's first quarter financials were a good news, bad news situation. The bad news? Precision Equipment (semiconductor making equipment) is having a tough time, and that division's numbers are down significantly from the same period last year. Likewise, the Instrument division is doing a bit worse than expected.
Nikon Imaging, however, just raised their first half estimates and did quite well in the first quarter. Imaging sales improved from 145.3B yen to 164.9B yen, though income dropped a bit, as previously expected. Meanwhile, Nikon has raised their DSLR unit volume estimates for the first half of the year from 1.6m units to 1.75m units. That represents a 19% increase from last year. You'll recall that at the year-end results only a quarter ago, Nikon said that DSLR sales would be basically flat this year. Lens unit estimates have been revised up a 100k, as well. And Nikon is now even projecting decent gains in Coolpix unit volume (9.3m units compared to last year's 8.6m, or an increase of 8%). Overall, Nikon's imaging division continues to put up strong numbers and forecast continued strength.
Meanwhile, more than one market analyst queried me about my CIPA figure comments, below. The worldwide CIPA numbers don't look so grim, after all. But CIPA numbers represent sales into distribution, so I was struck by how much the compact market has collapsed in Japan in the last two months. Japan is a "short" distribution market, so if there were a weakness in compact sales coming, it would most likely show up in Japan first. June's compact sales figures were especially worrying in Japan. If that were replicated worldwide in the near future, it would mean significant hurt for a lot of companies, including Nikon.
The Nikon D80 Replacement...
August 5--The D80 is now the granddad in Nikon's DSLR lineup. On a specification level, the D80 is missing a lot of check marks that the competition can now boast about in their marketing, and the fact that we're now almost exactly two years into the D80's life seems unusual given how fast the other Nikon consumer models iterated.
Well, that's about to end. The replacement for the D80 will be called the D90, as expected. Curiously, at a casual glance the only thing that most people will notice different from a D80 is the presence of a much bigger color LCD on the back. Indeed, most of the controls look pretty much the same (though the buttons are round now) and are in the same place on the D90 as they were on the D80. However, there are a few odds and ends that catch your notice on closer examination. On the back, for example, we now have Live View and Info buttons, and the OK button is in the middle of the direction pad. On the front there's a microphone grill next to the infrared receiver. On the side, the labels on the rubber doors reveal HDMI and GPS connectors in addition to the expected ones.
So what is a D90? Well, a 12mp, ~4.5 fps DSLR, basically. On paper those seem like modest boosts from the D80. In practice, they are a distinct notch forward in performance. The big news, however, is that Live View now has a twist that other DSLRs can't currently claim: it can record video (thus the microphone grill).
We also get a new lens for kitting with the D90: the 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6G DX VR. Modest in size (67mm filter size), this seems like a nice addition to the lineup and well targeted to the D80/D90 type of user. Essentially, this is a 28-150mm equivalent. Not truly superzoom, but a good compromise between size and reach. This new lens also plugs the VR hole Nikon had in the DX lens lineup (essentially no VR in the kit lenses if you wanted more than 55 but less than 200 at the long end).
Don't ask when or how much. To my knowledge, Nikon hasn't scheduled a press conference for product introduction yet, though they have a first quarter financial results meeting later this week. Since high-quality photos of production models appear to be circulating on the Internet, I'd guess that soon is the answer to the first question, and I wouldn't expect any big surprises (up or down from the original D80 list price) in cost.
Free Capture Upgrade...for Some
Aug 3--NikonUSA has announced that those that purchased a copy of Capture NX from an authorized source in the period May 1 through December 31, 2008, are entitled to receive a free update to Capture NX2. You need to to call 800-645-6689 with your license key and provide proof of purchase. (Just a note: yes, those dates are right. Apparently Nikon is anticipating what might happen if someone buys a copy of the previous version of Capture NX that is still in the retail channel.)
EVIL on the Horizon
Aug 3--Olympus and Panasonic have announced the Micro 4/3 initiative, which essentially marks the first EVIL (Electronic Viewfinder Interchangeable Lens) SLR camera specification. In traditional SLR cameras a mirror is used to deflect light to an optical viewfinder, and to exposure and autofocus sensors. The mirror mechanism has one key drawback: it increases the lens mount to sensor distance, placing a restriction on the size camera you can create. You also need space for the optical finder. An EVIL design, in theory, can be much smaller for the same sensor size, resulting in mini-DSLRs that fall somewhere between compact camera and DSLR sizes.
The drawback of an EVIL design is that it has no dedicated parts for focus and exposure, which makes for big challenges in cutting shutter lag and providing high-speed focus. In addition, you need a high quality LCD in order to get good viewfinder performance (certainly possible, but no current camera has one that's good enough, IMHO).
The thing that strikes me is that Olympus is essentially back to where they started with DSLRs: announcing a new acquisition size and lens mount and claiming that it'll allow for smaller cameras and lenses. When 4/3 was originally announced, it was going to produce smaller, lighter DSLRs due to the smaller sensor size. Nope, didn't really happen. Now, in announcing Micro 4/3, they reveal why: "oh, by the way, using mirrors in 4/3 produced cameras that are 20mm thicker at a minimum than we can now produce with Micro 4/3."
The problem for Olympus is that they haven't really changed the problem they had in the first place: they keep bringing a knife to a gun fight. How much you want to bet that we see a Micro APS initiative from one or more makers? As far as I can tell, Micro 4/3 wouldn't have any real camera size advantage over Micro APS, yet it still has the smaller photosite size issue that 4/3 has been fighting all along. Rumors of an upcoming APS Coolpix now take on a new meaning. Were Nikon to match the interchangeable lens aspect of Micro 4/3, Olympus will find themselves once again with the smaller sensor issue they've been fighting in DSLRs.
Overall, I like the EVIL idea: smaller through-the-lens cameras with interchangeable lenses that are barely bigger than compacts (and should even be smaller than some so-called bridge compacts, such as the Fujifilm S1000FD) but have much better sensors. This makes for a useful travel and carry-everywhere camera that isn't plagued by yet another super small sensor and its accompanying problems. But it seems to me that Olympus is still fighting an uphill battle. If Micro 4/3 is good, Micro APS should be better, all else equal.
Analyzing the strategic point of view, my assessment is that Olympus keeps looking for empty short-term niches that are unprotectable long-term. I just don't see how you get enough momentum and critical mass to hold any gains you make, though. The original 4/3 initiative resulted in sales that are now almost an order of magnitude lower than APS. What's to stop that from happening again? Nothing that I can see.
Pop Goes a Bubble
Aug 3--CIPA's just released Japanese market sales figures show a disconcerting bit of news: compact camera sales for the first half of the year in Japan were down 15.8% in unit volume and 23.4% in value, a too-big-too-ignore change that's going to have some big ramifications downstream. Meanwhile, DSLR sales increased 64.3% in unit volume and 35.7% in value. Thus, companies that are strong in compacts and weaker in DSLRs, such as Sony, are scrambling. Companies that are strong in DSLRs and weaker in compacts, such as Nikon, are in a slightly better position. (Canon is strong in both.)
Dobro Pozalovat
July 31--Continuing the trend of creating wholly-owned subsidiaries worldwide, Nikon announced the immediate establishment of Nikon Russia LLC. Located in Moscow, the new subsidiary joins Australia and India as recent Nikon global expansions.
Just a Reminder
The short articles on the front page of this site change as often as every couple of days, as little as once every two weeks. Right now, however, we're coming into a period where there's been rapid change. So if you're not checking the site often, be sure to check out the Archived 2008 link, below, as there may be a handful of items you missed. (Yes, I know about RSS. But won't offer that until the site redesign is done.)
Archived Front Page News and Articles
Archived 2008 byThom comments and news
Archived
2007 byThom comments and news
Archived pre-2007 byThom comments and news
Nikon announcements summary 2001-2008
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One last time, with my best Ansel hat on. D70 NEF modified by Silver Efex Pro. I wanted to see just how well Silver Efex might be able to deal with some challenging images, so here's my last example. As you might be able to tell from the original, below, there was a fire in the area that was creating an obnoxious haze. This time I had to work on the mountain and the sky separately with eight different control points. I also ended up playing with a number of tools differently in each area, which I did by using different renderings on different Photoshop layers, then masking for the area I wanted changed. After doing all that, I discovered I needed to do some linear correction to the lake line at the bottom. Oops. Workflow for complex images has to be carefully thought through. If you want a distortion change (here a -4 Sphere filter) to carry through to the all your changes, you need to apply that before you start building a layer cake in Photoshop. Again, you can 