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Nikon Is ending 70 years of camera production in Japan

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Re: Nikon Is ending 70 years of camera production in Japan

#111

Post by m463 »

robotmay wrote: post #32
hef19898 wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cameras =!= Lenses. I always found Nikon cameras more my taste than canon. But that is just taste, in terms of quality, in the sense of the pictures, I never saw a difference. Not back the day when we still developed our black and white pictures ourselves and not now with digital cameras. Lenses on the other hand a different thing altogether. There I saw defferences between the "cheaper" Sigma and the premium Nikkor…

I think camera bodies make a much larger difference these days than lenses, actually. Obviously the lens still makes a notable difference, and for certain forms, like wildlife photography, the lens requirements are inescapable. The new models out in the past few years have absolutely incredible low-light performance that completely change the lens landscape, even; you can now ditch the requirement of carrying a hefty…

> I think camera bodies make a much larger difference these days than lenses, actually.

They always have. Yet strangely you can buy an L lens and it may outlast a whole series of bodies. (if we continue to have DSLRs that is).

Re: Nikon Is ending 70 years of camera production in Japan

#112

Post by bee_rider »

meowzero wrote: post #106

I've been around photography for a while. This is sad news but not surprising. Mobile phones have gotten good enough that you don't need a DSLR anymore to take "nice pictures." All the computational photography to create fake bokeh, good low-light photos, etc. pretty much ate up all the demand for DSLR. If you look at the photos on a big monitor, you can spot the difference between a DSLR and smartphone. But on a sma…

It is pretty wild to think that, like, 20 years ago digital camera had relatively nice little screens on them and relatively good processing, while phones had those silly little green-and-black LCDs. I wonder if there's an alternate universe where people are saying "Nokia seems to be really doomed. This is sad but not surprising -- smartcamera antennas have gotten good enough that you can get reception almost anywhere that a cellphone can. If you play a smartcamera call through a high fidelity audiophile setup you can kinda tell the difference, but if you are just using the NokiaBuds that came with the thing, they are basically indistinguishable."

Re: Nikon Is ending 70 years of camera production in Japan

#113

Post by [deleted] »

mikece wrote: post #104

I recall reading years ago (after the Sendai earthquake) about the stoppage at the Nikon factory there. In the article the author mentioned that the pro and consumer camera division of Nikon was responsible for so little of their overall revenue (equipment for photolithography was the money-maker for Nikon) that board members were, at that time, advocating selling off Nikon's camera business. If that ever happens I h…

[deleted]

Re: Nikon Is ending 70 years of camera production in Japan

#114

Post by jedimastert »

meowzero wrote: post #106

I've been around photography for a while. This is sad news but not surprising. Mobile phones have gotten good enough that you don't need a DSLR anymore to take "nice pictures." All the computational photography to create fake bokeh, good low-light photos, etc. pretty much ate up all the demand for DSLR. If you look at the photos on a big monitor, you can spot the difference between a DSLR and smartphone. But on a sma…

> I'm thinking of selling my Fuji X100V

Didn't those just come out?

Oddly enough, I just picked up an X100T from eBay and I haven't been using my phone nearly as much. I don't know if the novelty will wear off or not, but I've been really enjoying it

Re: Nikon Is ending 70 years of camera production in Japan

#115

Post by m463 »

mobilemidget wrote: post #65
jpm_sd wrote: post #59

Incredible article from 2018 about Nikon's factory dedicated to lens glass. https://www.imaging-resource.com/news/2018/04/17/glass-for-g...

The nikor lenses I have, are items I own that have gone down in price the least over the years. One actually seems to have increased a little.

meanwhile the old highest-end pro bodies go for very little. (it's tempting to just get them to play)

Re: Nikon Is ending 70 years of camera production in Japan

#116

Post by meowzero »

jedimastert wrote: post #114
meowzero wrote: post #106

I've been around photography for a while. This is sad news but not surprising. Mobile phones have gotten good enough that you don't need a DSLR anymore to take "nice pictures." All the computational photography to create fake bokeh, good low-light photos, etc. pretty much ate up all the demand for DSLR. If you look at the photos on a big monitor, you can spot the difference between a DSLR and smartphone. But on a sma…

> I'm thinking of selling my Fuji X100V Didn't those just come out? Oddly enough, I just picked up an X100T from eBay and I haven't been using my phone nearly as much. I don't know if the novelty will wear off or not, but I've been really enjoying it

The X100 series is a cool camera. I had one since the first version of X100. But I found it more convenient to pull my phone out instead of carrying that camera. I do have a X-T2 if I want to take more "serious" photos.

Re: Nikon Is ending 70 years of camera production in Japan

#117

Post by dyyni »

aikinai wrote: post #79
x87678r wrote: post #72

I bought a new SLR body probably every 5 years for the last 40. My newest smartphones are so good I've given up. Yes if you want crisp incredible detail, or if its your wedding you need an SLR, but no other reason.

I’m not even close to a serious photographer nor have a trained eye, but phone cameras have such terrible dynamic range and artifacting (the impressionistic watercolor look), they’re still not even close to a real camera. Maybe in very specific conditions and never viewed zoomed in or bigger than Instagram sized, they’ll do. I sync my camera photos to my Photos library along side phone pictures and whenever I’m flipp…

Also, few phones produce good raw files which are essential for archiving. I can get better results from 15-year-old raw images shot with an EOS 30D than I get out of my flagship smartphone.

Re: Nikon Is ending 70 years of camera production in Japan

#118

Post by lorenzhs »

criley2 wrote: post #45
beagle3 wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Traditional lens manufacturing is likely in its last days (which can easily take a decade or two, but ... the end is visible). Modern lens are made with techniques perfected in semiconductor manufacturing, and use advances in material science (meta materials in particular). I don't know how close this is to mass market, but I've seen superthin flat lens, with a marginal cost of production around ~$2 in a university f…

>but I've seen superthin flat lens, with a marginal cost of production around ~$2 in a university facility, that work better than some $500 lens -- and the latter are expensive because they are hard to make the traditional way. I find this very fascinating because while I enjoy my ever-increasing smartphone camera and use it as a daily driver, I have a about 13 year old Canon DSLR (one of the first one they made now)…

I can't relate to this at all. I have a Canon EOS 450D (Rebel XSi, 2008 model year) with a few lenses that I used to love, but haven't really used for years now. Its low light performance sucks, it's almost impossible to photograph people at night. My phone does a much better job of that. Yes, the DSLR's optics run circles around any phone, but the sensor really does show its age. And since you specifically mention the autofocus, I just want to add that I find it infuriating. It's awful compared to my phone! It reliably focuses on the wrong thing and is really rather slow. At night, it barely works.

To me, the old DSLR is simply not worth the weight of lugging it around any more. It's funny how we have such different perceptions of our old DSLRs.

Re: Nikon Is ending 70 years of camera production in Japan

#119

Post by sib »

numair wrote: post #42

Nikon hasn’t really made an amazing camera since the days of the F5 (the weapon of choice for greats such as Peter Lindbergh). I really feel that Japan Inc. needs a version of that Stephen Elop “burning platform” rant.

Strongly disagree - the D850 is probably the best all-around DSLR ever made, certainly for landscape shooters.

Re: Nikon Is ending 70 years of camera production in Japan

#120

Post by perardi »

I fear for Nikon, even though I suspect they have lifelines, given Bank of Japan’s quantitative easing. They’re the least diversified of the big camera companies.

Sony has…a lot, from semiconductors to financial instruments. Canon has high-end video, scanners, and enterprise printing and copying. Nikon has photography-oriented cameras, some medical optics, and semiconductor equipment, and that’s about it. They’re just not the sprawling conglomerate that can absorb losses as easily as Sony.

Sigh. I’m a camera nerd, and I hate to see the market shrink further. I know it’s going to—cell phone cameras accomplish the actual job to be done that most people have, which is snapshots of kids and cats. And, interchangeable lens cameras are getting to the point they’re over-serving the high-end market with ever-fancier lenses and marginal sensor improvements, with no real workflow improvements.

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