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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

#301

Post by jedimastert »

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…

> supporting different mounts (Nikon F, etc)

I might not be super plugged in to how Apple does things, but I genuinely cannot see them being able to help themselves from making a proprietary mount, then being the only people licensed to sell mount adapters...

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

#302

Post by Baeocystin »

joliu wrote: post #299
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.

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

You are correct. That motion of the mirror itself is responsible for most of the noise, and some wobble of the camera as well.

It's a trade-off, though. Seeing the actual image through the lens, and not a digital representation, which is what you get with a mirrorless system, has its benefits.

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

#303

Post by jjeaff »

joliu wrote: post #299
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.

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

Yes. With mirrorless, you have the advantage of the image continuously hitting the sensor. So you see in your viewfinder more or less what the sensor is seeing. On a dslr, you are seeing a facsimile of the end result.

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

#304

Post by angst_ridden »

I shoot a lot of pictures. I have Nikon gear due to a chance decision back in the film days after my Pentax K-1000 was stolen and I replaced it with a Nikon FE. With product lock-in, I'm still a Nikon user, although both dSLR bodies I have are a decade old.

Outside of macro and wildlife photography (basically, extreme closeup and extreme telephoto), I tend to use my phone more than my dSLRs. It's smaller, more convenient, and the pictures it takes are 70-80% as good as I'd get on my heavier gear. Well, there's also an annual parade I shoot where I want to be able to control depth of field and trigger some strobes, and I use the dSLRs for that too.

I've been eying a body upgrade, but I can't really justify it. Having one crop sensor body and one full frame, I'd rather spend the money on new, fancy lenses. And the computer-designed lenses really are incredible. I have an 28-300 lens with vibration reduction that is frighteningly good for the range it covers. It has some distortion, but nothing that's not easily corrected in production. And it's very nearly as sharp as some of my pre-autofocus primes.

It seems one of the problems that Nikon (and the other manufacturers are facing) is that the quality of camera gear is just incredibly high across the board. I could spend a few grand to get a body with an extra stop or two, and a bunch more pixels. But I can hand-hold a modern vibration-compensating lens at 400mm down to somewhere around 1/100th of a second and get good results. I don't print large, so I don't need more pixels. Why spend the money?

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

#307

Post by hadlock »

andi999 wrote: post #239
cactus2093 wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you’re about 2 or 3 years too late with this comment. The switch to mirrorless is already here, Nikon and Canon have the majority of their core lens lineups out already for these platforms so it’s unlikely they’d replace them again for the next decade or longer. And yes, they are mostly better than previous generations across the board. Which is pretty cool, that something based on such a simple idea that’s b…

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

With mirrorless, you can put the back of the lens closer to the sensor (don't need to flip a mirror out of the way at high speed) which reduces the glass needed for the same effective focal length. Less length = less glass. Less glass = less mass, which means less force required for an electric autofocus motor to push around all that glass.

Modern zoom lenses have anywhere from 11 to 30 elements, in 3-11 groups, that move at different speeds relative to each other. Doing that with a tiny electric motor, precisely, for a decade is a tough task, especially when the mass of the glass starts to exceed 1kg.

With a mirrorless camera, you can reduce the mass of the lens by ~10% for a full frame camera. With an APS-C sensor, mirrorless, you can reduce the mass by 33%. With a "micro four-thirds" sensor, the mass of the lens is less than 50% of a full frame. Rough numbers. As with everything, there are pros and cons to going with smaller sensors than full frame.

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

#309

Post by bb88 »

balls187 wrote: post #218
robotmay wrote: post #11

Oof, that's not a good sign. For me, Japan is the place for the best camera and lens manufacturing. Most of the makers seem to split their manufacturing between Japan for their quality models/lenses and cheaper countries for the consumer stuff, which I think is a valid compromise. But this feels short-sighted on Nikon's part and rather like they have already failed. Perhaps instead of relocating their production they…

> I've always found Nikon to be lacking in competitive models with Canon Over at Fred Miranda and DPR, canon shooters always lament about the lack of competitiveness Canon was regarding Nikon glass.

Typically Nikon has had the best glass. And there's a collector's market for much of the nikon vintage glass out there.

I really would like to have the 13mm Rectilinear lens if only it isn't worth several tens of thousands of dollars.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikkor_13mm_f/5.6#:~:text=The%....

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

#310

Post by simbas »

jeromenerf wrote: post #132

I have never “loved” my Nikon dslr quite as much as my film camera, f3. They are just so big. Good thing with Nikon was that I could just use my old glass without adapters. Nowadays, I just use film and my phone.

Film and phone is where I am too. Film is to take picture when I have the time. The phone is to capture moments as I always have it with me.
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