If you were ever wondering what is the cost of the Nikon D800/D800E cameras to a dealer in the US, this price list will show you that the D800 costs $2,699.96 and the D800E costs $2,969.96. As usual, the markup on the accessories is much higher - aprox. 40%.

With the new Nikon pricing policy, don't expect to see any discounts on the D800/D800E/D4 cameras.

Posted by NikonRumors.com
This RSS feed is copyrighted and cannot be republished in any way without permission.
Follow [NR] on Facebook and Twitter.

• Not sure why Nikon Finland has this fake D800 picture on their front page. Somebody even photoshopped the lens...

• Nikon updated their online image sharing and storage service MyPicturetown. The new features include Facebook and Twitter integrations plus newly added design templates (source).

• White painted Nikon lenses (read more).
• Rokinon 24mm f/1.4 ED AS UMC lens (Nikon mount) is now available for pre-order. This is the same as the Samyang 24mm f/1.4 lens.
• Rare Nikkor 6mm f/5.6 220° degree fisheye lens on eBay.
• Nikon buying guide updated.
• Nikon WT-5 at the FCC.
• Updated Nikon NPS Canada membership benefits.
• Nikon G mount lens adapter for Pentax Q mirrorless cameras announced.
• Nikon Surf Photo Award 2012.
• Samuel Aranda from Spain won the World Press Photo of the Year 2011 with this image taken on a Nikon D700 and a Nikon 35mm f/2D AF lens.
• Wide angle lens comparison: APS-C vs. Nikon 1 vs. 4/3 sensor at DxOMark:

Posted by NikonRumors.com
This RSS feed is copyrighted and cannot be republished in any way without permission.
Follow [NR] on Facebook and Twitter.

Nikon USA now has the 20 pages Nikon D800 | D800E Technical Guide available for download. The guide includes samples and covers the basic camera functionality.

Posted by NikonRumors.com
This RSS feed is copyrighted and cannot be republished in any way without permission.
Follow [NR] on Facebook and Twitter.

Since I still have many readers asking me about it - those are the shipping dates for the Nikon D4 and D800/E confirmed by Nikon France in a recent Q&A sessions:

"Le D4 sera commercialisé à partir du 15 mars 2012. Le D800 à partir du 22 mars et le D800E à partir du 12 avril."

Translation: "The D4 will be sold from March 15, 2012. The D800 from March 22 and D800E from April 12."

Those dates match the previously reported estimates from Amazon, Adorama and B&H (D800 and D800E dates).

Nikon's representative also mentioned that the D700 will still be available for sale alongside the D800/E. The price of the D700 already dropped in Europe (£450 less in the UK: £1,799.95 at Amazon and Jessops). Still no word on a price drop in the US where the D700 is out of stock everywhere.

Update: of course an hour after I published this post online, Amazon got the D700 in stock - the price is the same.

The Nikkor AF-S 85mm f/1.8G lens ($499.95) that was announced with the D4 is currently shipping to dealers in the US. I expect shipping to existing pre-orders to start by the end of this week.

Nikon AF-S 85mm f/1.8G lens MTF chart and lens/construction design:

The lens comes with a lens hood and a pouch:

Posted by NikonRumors.com
This RSS feed is copyrighted and cannot be republished in any way without permission.
Follow [NR] on Facebook and Twitter.

I received an update from Amazon and now my D800 shipping date has changed to March 20, 2012 (I ordered mine few seconds after they started accepting pre-orders):

Hello,

We have received new release date information related to the order you placed on February 06, 2012 (Order# ***). The item(s) listed below will actually ship sooner than we originally expected based on the new release date:

"Nikon D800 36.3 MP CMOS FX-Format Digital SLR Camera (Body Only)"
Previous estimated arrival date: January 04, 2013 - January 08, 2013
New estimated arrival date: March 23, 2012 - March 27, 2012

Obviously the previous shipping estimate for January 2013 was a mistake.

Posted by NikonRumors.com
This RSS feed is copyrighted and cannot be republished in any way without permission.
Follow [NR] on Facebook and Twitter.

The van transporting the gear for the Dublin NPS roadshow was stolen on Saturday night near The Phoenix Park in Dublin, Ireland. The van contained Nikon equipment valued at £100,000 ($156,000) including the brand new D4 and D800 demo cameras.

Her is a list of the stolen equipment with serial numbers, please spread the word:

Source

Posted by NikonRumors.com
This RSS feed is copyrighted and cannot be republished in any way without permission.
Follow [NR] on Facebook and Twitter.

The current DX camera line according to Nikon Europe

In addition to the D4 and D800, Nikon will announce three more DSLR cameras in 2012. I believe that the new cameras will all be DX models - my vote goes for Nikon D3100, D7000 and D300s replacements.

In terms of lenses, I am confident about at least two new DX products:

• A refresh of the 16-85mm lens (it may even have a fixed f/4 aperture)
• A new 18-300mm f/3.5-5.6 lens (see patent):

Posted by NikonRumors.com
This RSS feed is copyrighted and cannot be republished in any way without permission.
Follow [NR] on Facebook and Twitter.

Today Nikon released v2.3.1 of Capture NX ($130). You must install version 2.3.0 before proceeding with version 2.3.1. The new Capture NX version has D4 support and several bugs fixed.

List of changes in Capture NX 2.3.1:

• Support for RAW images captured with the D4 has been added.
• Extra High 1 (Extra High) and Extra High 2 items have been added to the Active D-Lighting pulldown menu under Camera Settings in the Develop section of the Edit List.
• Event ID can now be displayed under File Info 2 in the File & Camera Information section of the Metadata palette for images captured by, and to which IPTC information has been added using the IPTC item in the camera’s setup menu, the D4.
• Display format for the following items in the Edit List has been modified.
• Active D-Lighting under Camera Settings in the Develop section.
• Color Moiré Reduction under Camera & Lens Corrections in the Develop section
• An issue that prevented sufficient application of vignette control enhancement for RAW (NEF) images captured with the Nikon 1 V1 and Nikon 1 J1 with A firmware Ver. 1.10 or 1.11 and B firmware Ver. 1.10 installed has been resolved.
• An issue that prevented accurate display of lens information in the Metadata palette for images captured with the Nikon 1 V1 or Nikon 1 J1 and a 1 NIKKOR lens has been resolved.
• When certain images with GPS information attached were saved in JPEG format, Capture NX 2 sometimes quit responding. This issue has been resolved.

Posted by NikonRumors.com
This RSS feed is copyrighted and cannot be republished in any way without permission.
Follow [NR] on Facebook and Twitter.

Voigtländer Color Skopar 28/2.8 SL II N lens

It seems that nobody but Thephoblographer noticed those two new F-mount lenses from Voigtländer that were announced during the CP+ show in Japan last week: Voigtländer Color Skopar 28/2.8 SL II N and Voigtländer Heliar Classic 75/1.8 SL II N (images via DCWatch):

Voigtländer thinks that it is not important to list their new products on their website, so the only details on those two new lenses can be found at Thephoblographer, Optyczne, and DCWatch.

Voigtländer also offers the following F mount lenses:

• Voigtländer 90mm f/3.5 SL II APO-Lanthar
• Voigtländer 20mm f/3.5 Color Skopar SL II
• Voigtländer 40mm f/2.0 Ultron SLII
• Voigtländer 58mm f/1.4 Nokton SLII

Posted by NikonRumors.com
This RSS feed is copyrighted and cannot be republished in any way without permission.
Follow [NR] on Facebook and Twitter.

When the Nikon SB-910 Speedlight was announced, it brought-forth the promise of fixing the Nikon SB-900's one serious flaw: Overheating issues. The SB-900 is a great flashgun, but for some photographers in the event and wedding photography genres, the SB-900 just couldn't keep up with a fast-paced shooting environment, without overheating. Enter the SB-910 Speedlight: Nikon promised the overheating issues of the SB-900 are gone in this new iteration, but is it really a thing of the past?

Hit the link to watch the video comparison of the SB-900 against its predecessor, the SB-910. Which one will overheat first at full-power?

Conclusions: The Nikon SB-910 lowers power once it reaches high operating temps. This keeps the speedlight from overheating, but slightly affects overall performance. The SB-900 shuts-down instead of lowering power once it reaches high operating temps. This renders the SB-900 useless until it cools. Using an external battery pack greatly reduces operating temps in the SB-900. The user can also disable over-heat protection in the SB-900, but at the risk of damaging the flashgun.

• Each flashgun was set on manual mode 1/1 (full-power), ISO-100, ƒ/5.6, 24mm, identical flash pattern
• Fully-charged Rayovac Platinum 2100mAh NiMH rechargeable AA batteries were used in both flashguns
• Each flashgun was triggered manually, at the same exact time
• Video was filmed on a NIkon D7000 (1080/24p)

Posted by NikonRumors.com
This RSS feed is copyrighted and cannot be republished in any way without permission.
Follow [NR] on Facebook and Twitter.

Amazon sent out an email to everyone who has a Nikon D800/E pre-order with an estimated arrival dates of January 2013. This is obviously an error in their system, probably caused by the large number of pre-orders in a short period of time. I expect the Nikon D800 to start shipping in the second half of March and the D800E in the first half of April 2012.

Update: B&H lists the D800 shipment date as March 22nd, 2012:

This is the full email sent from Amazon:

Hello,

We now have delivery date(s) for the order you placed on February 06, 2012 (Order# ***):
"Nikon D800 36.3 MP CMOS FX-Format Digital SLR Camera (Body Only)"
Estimated arrival date: January 04, 2013 - January 08, 2013

We hope to see you again soon!

Sincerely,
Customer Service Department

Posted by NikonRumors.com
This RSS feed is copyrighted and cannot be republished in any way without permission.
Follow [NR] on Facebook and Twitter.

Today Nikon released new versions of ViewNX (v2.3.0) and Wireless Transmitter Utility (1.3.0). Some of the ViewNX changes are added support for Nikon D800, D4 and 64-bit support.

Modifications made in View NX3.2.0:

• Support for the D800 and D800E has been added.
• Save and Save As… items have been added to the File menu.
• Original image files (original format, size, resolution, etc.) can now be sent as e-mail attachments from ViewNX 2 using the Email function.
• A Margins function has been added to Index Print settings in the Print dialog.
• Slideshows were sometimes not displayed properly when run with Auto-Hide Slide Controls selected for Toolbars in the slideshow Settings Dialog. This issue has been resolved. (64-bit version of ViewNX 2 only.)

Additional modifications to the Windows version:

• ViewNX 2 and the Picture Control Utility now function as native 64-bit applications under 64-bit versions of Windows 7 and Windows Vista.
• When the decimal symbol used by the OS was set to anything other than a period (.) or comma (,) from the Regional and Language Options in the operating system’s Control Panel, position information was not correctly displayed. This issue has been resolved.
• An issue that prevented editing of information in the Metadata palette for images saved to Windows shared folders has been resolved.
• An issue that prevented smooth playback of Motion Snapshot files with some systems has been resolved.

Additional modifications to the Macintosh version:

• ViewNX 2, the Picture Control Utility, and Nikon Transfer 2 now function as native 64-bit applications under Mac OS X versions 10.6 and 10.7.

Modifications made in Wireless Transmitter Utility (1.3.0):

• The name of the software has been changed from WT-4 Setup Utility to Wireless Transmitter Utility.
• The icon used by the software has been changed.
• Support for the Wireless Transmitter WT-5 has been added.
• Support for the D4 has been added.
• Camera network profiles can now be saved on the computer. In addition, network profiles (settings files) saved to the computer can be loaded to a camera using the Load settings file option.

Additional modifications to the Macintosh version

• Support for Mac OS X version 10.7 has been added.
• However, Print mode for WT-4 cannot be used.
• Support for Mac OS X version 10.4 has been eliminated.

Posted by NikonRumors.com
This RSS feed is copyrighted and cannot be republished in any way without permission.
Follow [NR] on Facebook and Twitter.

• Amazon UK is now taking pre-orders for the Nikon D800. Delivery date is listed as March 26th, 2012.
• According to Yodobashi camera (Japan) the Nikon D800 will start shipping on March 22nd, the D800E on April 12, 2012:

• Nikon D800/D800E is "Eye-Fi Connected": "When used with an Eye-Fi card, the Nikon D800 / D800E stays powered on until wireless media uploads are complete, has an onscreen icon, and offers the ability to enable/disable the Eye-Fi cards Wi-Fi via the camera menu."
• Nikon D800 100% crops by Jim Brandenburg.
• More D800 samples at various ISO: link 1, link 2.
• RSS plates for Nikon D800 now available for pre-order.

B&H is now taking pre-orders for the new Nikon WT-5A wireless transmitter that was announced with the Nikon D4 camera.

Update: WT-5A is also available on Adorama.

Here are two demo videos of the Nikon WT-5A wireless transmitter:

Posted by NikonRumors.com
This RSS feed is copyrighted and cannot be republished in any way without permission.
Follow [NR] on Facebook and Twitter.

• Tokina 12mm-24mm f/4.0 PRO DX lens price drop, now $449.

• The new Nikon Coolpix instant rebate program includes the old P300 model.

• Refurbished Nikon D3100 kit for $450.

• Remember that secret presentation in an armored truck during CES ? It was for the new Olympus OM-D E-M5 camera.
• The Sigma APO 50-150mm f/2.8 EX DC OS HSM lens should start shipping this Spring.
• Sigma is not sure whether they will produce lenses for the Nikon 1 mirrorless system (they already announced lenses for Sony NEX and m4/3).
• What goes on inside Nikon's Sendai factory by Cnet.
• Oh no he didn't: James Loader, product manager for the Nikon Coolpix line said this about the new Canon G1x camera (FYI: DxOMark ranked the G1x to have 2x better ISO performance than the Nikon V1 and 4x better than the P7100):

"The G1 X, at that price point, is a super kind of niche market, just for Canon fanboys if I'm completely honest. It's not something that I anticipated from them."

• Nikon is confident that it will regain a 50% DLSR market share in Malaysia.
• Press release: Nikon and Warner Music Group team up to rock South By Southwest (SXSW) with star-studded three-day music residency.
• From Nikon's Q3 Q&A session about their mirrorless camera:

"Q: What can you tell about the sales of the Nikon 1 series?

A: Although we received some negative feedback in connection with the size of the image sensor for Nikon 1 at the time of launch, as customers experienced the quality of the AF response time, movie recording, picture quality and body size, the Nikon 1 has been highly appreciated. As a result, the J1 model achieved top market share in the United States, from 11 countries across Europe and in China for the month of December and we believe this product will trigger steady demand in so-called mirrorless interchangeable lens camera market. We plan to continue to expand on this market by adding more attractive features and building on our product lineup in the future."

Nikon D4

• D-Town TV episode 104 is all about the Nikon D4 (also shot with a D4).
• New Nikon D4 video "Elusive Shadows" by Vincent Munier (under the news section link).
• Two Nikon D4 test videos by Johnnie Behiri:

24h in 25p-night Shot with Nikon D4 from Johnnie Behiri on Vimeo.

Nikon D4 (pre production model), first impression by Johnnie Behiri

For "24h in 25p-day" please go to: http://vimeo.com/35858338

I was lucky enough having the Nikon D4 (pre production model) for 24 hours. My original plan was to shoot a short feature with it and by doing so, check its strength and weaknesses, but the short notice confirming having the camera left me no choice but run a very “simple test” one that might not satisfy all….

I’ve divided the test to “night and day shots”. Both videos are NOT color corrected. I wanted to share with the community what I got out of the camera. (CC versions might follow). For my eyes, up to ISO 1000 the camera produces clean video images. Also, please take a look at “24h in25p”-night, 0:49min. Surprise, the “rolling shutter” effect is almost a thing of the past!

Obviously having the camera for such a short time did not allow me to master it. I truly hope some of the short comings I discovered are due to my lack of “Nikon experience”. Hopefully those are not “short comings” after all….

My decision was to shoot with 2 prime lenses. The reason was to see how useful and functional the “crop” function is. So everything you see (but the Capoeira shots) was done with the Nikon 20mm+85mm lenses.

What to like about this camera?

I liked what I saw, though hoped I could get a bit more sharper image. I would love to experiment more and get even better results if possible.

• Audio quality: It is very nice. I dare to say that the D4 is producing a cleaner sound then my Tascam DR-100.
• Needless to say that the headphone socket is a real treat…
• “Crop factor”: I can’t say enough good things about this function. Simply put, AMAZING! By the way, Nikon representative told me that the best video quality produced by that camera is on the 2.7 crop factor so this setting is a default. You are able to toggle between “full screen” and “1.5 crop factor” as a second option.

Things I would love Nikon to review and hopefully change in a firmware update if possible:

• It is unfortunate but sound levels can not be adjusted after starting recording.
• When switching the camera on in video mode, there is ALWAYS a need to press the LV button BEFORE being able to actually shoot video.
• Clear HDMI output is great but when an external EVF is connected, there is a need to see some information there. I couldn’t find a way to “overlay” the info in my Cineroid EVF for comfortable shooting.
• Also, when shooting with an External EVF connected to the camera via HDMI, I could not find a way to turn the camera LCD off. At times I am not interested that others will see what I’m shooting or just would like to save a bit more of the battery life.
• In some occasions, there is a delay after pressing the record button between the LCD screen and the external EVF. The EVF will go blank for a second or 2 before you see what you are recording.
• There is a way to assign 2 front buttons for a smooth aperture control. This is a nice feature. The problem is that the changes are so quick that I ended up pressing the button in steps so the end result is like using a “clicked” aperture ring on a manual lens. Welcome feature, wish it had a “slower response”.
• Crop factor changes: As amazing this feature is, there is no way to operate it “on the fly”. There is always a need to fiddle within the menu in order to access and change the settings. This feature should definitely be accessed easily.
• WB settings: There is no way to see the WB settings on the LCD screen only down at the battery pack compartment window.

Other notes:

• My Cineroid EVF showed 1080i signal before hitting the record button and 720p right after pressing it. So I guess clean 720p signal can be output to an external device if you are interested in recording HD ready resolution while simultaneously filming into a memory card…..
• All footage was shot in natural picture profile setting in1080/25p

Equipment used:

• Nikon D4 pre production model firmware 1.0
• Lenses- Nikkor 2omm f/2.8, 85mm f1.8, 14-24mm, 70-200mm
• Rig-O’Connor (All but the Vocas handle)
• EVF-Cineroid
• Tripod-Sachtler DV8 SB
• Camera bags- Kata DR-465i and FlyBy 76
• Light craft Fader ND

A special thanks to my trainee assistant Claudia for doing at most for helping during this long day! Also, a big thank you to professor David and his team for preforming a short Capoeira theme for us. More about their school: http://suldabahia.at/. Johnnie Behiri is a BBC freelance cameraman operating from Vienna, Austria. When not working for the BBC, Johnnie films documentaries, commercials, music videos, and testimonial/marketing videos for other broadcasters and clients.

Posted by NikonRumors.com
This RSS feed is copyrighted and cannot be republished in any way without permission.
Follow [NR] on Facebook and Twitter.

Adorama has updated their Nikon D4 listing with an estimated delivery of late March, 2012:

New item Available for pre-order, Delivery scheduled to start Late March 2012. You may place this on order now and it will be shipped on a first come first serve basis. We do not charge your card until we actually ship the item to you.

I do believe the first Nikon D4 shipment is delayed and Amazon probably did not get the memo.

Posted by NikonRumors.com
This RSS feed is copyrighted and cannot be republished in any way without permission.
Follow [NR] on Facebook and Twitter.

Some additional Nikon coverage from the 2012 CP+ show in Japan. All images and videos are copyrighted and belong to their respective owners. Click on images for larger view. Throughout the weekend I will be also uploading CP+ coverage from other manufacturers on PhotoRumors, check it out.

The first report is from Samuel Morse - expect a detailed post on the D800E on his blog in the next few days:

As for my impressions, there were a couple things I haven't heard anyone say yet about the new Nikons. Having the dedicated movie record button on top, moving the mode button closer to the flash, puts the mode button just out of reach without moving your hand. It was really surprising to me at first, but I could see probably getting used to it, and it's not a button I use with great frequency, so it's a minor quibble. Overall, the D800E felt really good in my hands, better than my D700 in some ways. The prints from the D800E were up on the wall and you could just walk right up to them and look closely, and the detail held up beautifully. My main beef with it is a marketing one. Nikon says that when the D800(E) is in its crop modes, it masks the rest of the viewfinder to tell you where your view is. This is not the case. It doesn't truly mask it with a 50 percent black like the D3 or D4 do. It just makes a box like the D700. I really wish they had added the higher-end masking.

Nikon D800E compared to the Nikon D700

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The second set of pictures is from Psycho_McCrazy who also sent me his first impressions on the Nikon D800:

D800 Hands On (My Take):

1. The AF points in the viewfinder behave similarly to the D700 (persistent Black rectangles, unlike the D3/s/x/D4's Fading red ones.)
2. The MB-D12 Battery grip has an alloy shell, properly pro-grade.
3. The D800 will demand skilled handling technique, the 36 megapixels are extremely unforgiving in terms of motion blur even at 1/100 on an 85 mm lens. (or maybe I was shaking with excitement!!!)
4. Shutter lag and VF black-out are superfast (especially compared to the D70 that I was shooting with)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

The next set of CP+ photos are from gqtuazon:

Nikon D800 on the left, D700 on the right

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Some more pictures and Nikon D4 video demos from Clark Tanaka are next.

Nikon D4 3D tracking demo:

Nikon D4 burst buffer demo:

Posted by NikonRumors.com
This RSS feed is copyrighted and cannot be republished in any way without permission.
Follow [NR] on Facebook and Twitter.

Contrary to the information I received from multiple sources few days ago about the Nikon D4 shipment delay (which was also reported by several other websites, unless they just recycle what they read here), Amazon just sent emails to certain pre-orders with a D4 estimated arrival date of February 17 and in some cases February 21st, 2012:

Hello,

We now have delivery date(s) for the order you placed on January 05, 2012 (Order# ***):

"Nikon D4 16.2 MP CMOS FX Digital SLR with Full 1080p HD Video (Body Only)"
Estimated arrival date: February 17, 2012

If you want to check on the progress of your order, take a look at this page in Your Account
...
We hope to see you again soon!

Sincerely,
Customer Service Department
...

Maybe Amazon did not get the memo. Or maybe their D4 shipment is not impacted by whatever problem caused the delay.

Amazon has not opened they Nikon D4 pre-orders since they closed them down few hours after the official announcement.

Posted by NikonRumors.com
This RSS feed is copyrighted and cannot be republished in any way without permission.
Follow [NR] on Facebook and Twitter.

Nikon released NEF Codec v1.13.0 that adds D4 support (Windows only).

Posted by NikonRumors.com
This RSS feed is copyrighted and cannot be republished in any way without permission.
Follow [NR] on Facebook and Twitter.