Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Nikon Is ending 70 years of camera production in Japan

mirrorlessrumors.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

291–300 of 371 posts

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

#291

Post by rodgerd »

trm42 wrote: post #222
da02 wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which Panasonic pancake lens do you have that is slow & noisy? How's the image quality despite the low-end motor?

Sounds like the m43 20mm f1.7, which is known for its good IQ, pancake design but annoyingly slow AF :)

I was very disappointed when they bumped it to a version 2 and don't appear to have touched the motors or electronics. I'm very fond of the FOV from this focal length, but I have a hard time springing for a lens that will make... me... wait... so... long... for... focus... lock...

Especially when it doesn't have a nice manual focus ring à la the Olympus m43 lenses.

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

#292

Post by jodrellblank »

rodgerd wrote: post #289
andi999 wrote: post #239

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is the deal with mirrorless? (no mirror, but why does this improve optics?)

As well as the comments already made, there's another thing to consider: in a SLR or DSLR, the path used to determine whether or not you're in focus is different from the path light follows to the medium: the autofocus system has a screen that takes light from a mirror, and then adjusts the lens based off that measurement. In manual focus, you're basic it off the path the light takes to the focusing screen, via a mir…

Does it help with using cameras for video footage, or would it be no problem to hold the mirror out of the way for a long time? (I imagine it being held in some kind of tension that wouldn't like long term force on it).

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

#293

Post by matwood »

ashtonkem wrote: post #180
robotmay wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a couple of lens advancements I've seen recently that I found particularly interesting: Canon putting Fresnel elements in their lenses to reduce size/weight: https://kenrockwell.com/canon/lenses/400mm-f4-do-is-ii.htm Canon making an f/11 800mm super telephoto lens that can still autofocus thanks to the new mirrorless camera bodies: https://www.kenrockwell.com/canon/eos-r/lenses/800mm.htm I think we'll see a b…

I wonder how many photographers were put off by the cost & weight of a 800mm lens, and how many just didn't actually need a 800mm lens? The only time I can remember wanting > 200mm was back when I did sports photography.

I bought a 70-300 Nikon ED VR specifically to take pictures of the moon, and it does a pretty good job. Turns out it's useful for a lot of situations (birds and other wildlife). My vacation setup is normally iPhone + D7100 with the 70-300 attached. That can easily cover most situations w/o changing lenses around too often.

I'm planning on picking up one of the Nikon mirrorless FFs soon.

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

#294

Post by kridsdale1 »

vparikh wrote: post #290
Razengan wrote: post #206

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While an Apple Camera would be interesting to see (and why not, given that they've just entered the headphones market, at the risk of cannibalizing Beats), I think it's more likely that they'd want iPhones to remain the all-in-one digital camera kit. Maybe introduce a way to attach extra lens as MagSafe accessories some day.

Apple released one of the very first digital cameras back in the day - The Apple Quick Take ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Qu ). Somewhere deep in their R&D facility I wouldn't be surprised if they are quietly working on a full speced ILC camera system - they could just license the Nikon Z mount (which is the most advanced and future proof mount of any other vendors - Nikon's real ace in the hole) or - as peop…

Jony Ive made an Apple themed Leica camera. One of a kind in the world.

https://www.wired.com/2013/10/this-jony-ive-designed-camera-...

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

#295

Post by kridsdale1 »

ksk wrote: post #256
pier25 wrote: post #192

Apple could obliterate the pro video and DSLR market with all it has learned about sensors and image processing in the past decade. It would only need to release a pro body like Red, Black Magic, etc, supporting different mounts (Nikon F, etc) and an integrated workflow with Final Cut. It has already done that for the consumer market and part of the enthusiast market... My guess as to why Apple hasn't done it yet is…

Can you explain the contribution of Apple here? I believe they simply buy the sensor tech from Sony. Sony currently makes the the best (or close to the best) consumer grade sensors for a wide variety of markets from dinky sensors for smartphones to full-frame and medium-format sensors for professional applications. Also, I don't think Apple (as of today) has the capability to "obliterate" the pro market. Are you simp…

AFAIK Nikon is also licensing the sensors from Sony.

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

#296

Post by ip26 »

Arelius wrote: post #251
DeathRay2K wrote: post #247

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Every element the light interacts before hitting the sensor degrades the quality in some small way. But losing the mirror doesn't really improve optics significantly. It's more about reducing cost and complexity in manufacturing, moving things like autofocus into software. The benefits to the consumer are quieter shooting and a lighter body.

Yes, losing the mirror doesn’t really improve optics, however removing the mirror and related mechanism does allow one to bring the lens closer to the focal plane, which in turn affects the size of the rest of the lens elements. And makes everything smaller and lighter as you allude to.

which in turn affects the size of the rest of the lens elements.

Sort of. The diameter of the front element is predetermined, a function of the sensor size, focal length, and aperture. Mirrorless cannot escape this.

But, the shorter distance from sensor to lens does simplify the design of a good wide angle. Sadly, wide angles were never the big heavy lenses in the first place.

The whole smaller & lighter thing is not a lie but pretty oversold. Some of the RF glass is actually bigger and heavier than the equivalent EF glass.

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

#297

Post by kridsdale1 »

m463 wrote: post #115
mobilemidget wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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)

Yeah I'd love to play with my 2019 F-Mount lenses on a top-grade 90's film body.

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

#298

Post by pier25 »

ksk wrote: post #256
pier25 wrote: post #192

Apple could obliterate the pro video and DSLR market with all it has learned about sensors and image processing in the past decade. It would only need to release a pro body like Red, Black Magic, etc, supporting different mounts (Nikon F, etc) and an integrated workflow with Final Cut. It has already done that for the consumer market and part of the enthusiast market... My guess as to why Apple hasn't done it yet is…

Can you explain the contribution of Apple here? I believe they simply buy the sensor tech from Sony. Sony currently makes the the best (or close to the best) consumer grade sensors for a wide variety of markets from dinky sensors for smartphones to full-frame and medium-format sensors for professional applications. Also, I don't think Apple (as of today) has the capability to "obliterate" the pro market. Are you simp…

Apple buys the CMOS from Sony but I'd be surprised if it wasn't considering building it themselves just like the 5G modems, the ARM processors, etc.

But it goes well beyond that. Apple has been investing for decades into video editing and post production software, codecs, image processing, AI, and electronics manufacturing. Plus, it's a brand already trusted by the video and photography industry which has been using their hardware and software products for decades.

They could indeed buy other companies, but I was referring to creating new products.

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

#299

Post by joliu »

DeathRay2K wrote: post #247
andi999 wrote: post #239

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is the deal with mirrorless? (no mirror, but why does this improve optics?)

Every element the light interacts before hitting the sensor degrades the quality in some small way. But losing the mirror doesn't really improve optics significantly. It's more about reducing cost and complexity in manufacturing, moving things like autofocus into software. The benefits to the consumer are quieter shooting and a lighter body.

Doesn't a DSLR work by moving the mirror out of the way of the sensor when taking an image?

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

#300

Post by CydeWeys »

trm42 wrote: post #222
da02 wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which Panasonic pancake lens do you have that is slow & noisy? How's the image quality despite the low-end motor?

Sounds like the m43 20mm f1.7, which is known for its good IQ, pancake design but annoyingly slow AF :)

Yup that's the one. It's fine for streetscape snapshots and taking photos of people who will stay still, but the slow AF makes it hard to use for anything fast-moving or unpredictable.
Post reply on HN