Nikon House- Ginza Tokyo

This year’s big trip ended up being Japan- I went to Kyoto and Tokyo. Kyoto has too many temples and Tokyo’s got cameras- or at least that’s how I saw it!

We stayed in  the fashionable Ginza district- you should think of it a lot like Japan’s version of shopping in Manhattan.

Within easy walking distance of the hotel Dai-Ichi are:

• Nikon Salon and Service Center (google maps)
• Nikon House
• Leica Boutique

I’ll get into the Nikon Salon in a different post because it actually pales in comparison to what can be found at the Nikon House (google maps).

What’s There

The most minty collectibles- I saw F3’s in near-perfect condition. They had all of the range-finders I knew about and every SLR I’m aware of (excluding whacky variants). For good measure- they’ve got Leica bodies.

But what blew me away was, I saw two of these:

Nikon House- Nikkor 58mm f/1.2 Noct

If you’re not familiar with the spectacular night photography results this lens achieves, Ken’s got a good overview, and here is a great article by Nikon about the more technical aspects of the lens’s lack of sagittal coma flare. Nikon provides a nice example of sagittal coma- compare the Noct to a non-Noct and look at how the cars’ brake lights smear into oblong blobs on the non-noct.

Hey, notice that price? That’s only $3,822 at today’s terrible exchange rate- but they’ve been going for ~$3200 the last time I checked on ebay– IF you can get one and if you’re spending that much on a 30+ year old lens, do you want to trust some random internet guy? I once saw a person offering -5- of these for sale on Ebay, all in different auctions- all the same seller, same picture, same description. I wrote him asking how he could have 5 for sale and flagged it fraudulent and it was down the next day.

If I could blow the cash, I would have bought it- I may still kick myself for not buying one- I’ll probably never see one in person again and Nikon will never make one again (it’s clear due to the dearth new FX primes that they just don’t care to offer the breadth that they once did- nobody who buys a D5000 is going to buy any… Get your 200mm f/2 now, is my advice).

Here are some more examples (click to get a much larger version):

Nikon House- Minty F1

If that minty F1 doesn’t get your heart going, cameras may just not be for you. I think I’m now kicking myself for not grabbing one of those minty black F1’s- I’ll never see another that good probably.

Nikon House- Minty F3's

Nikon House- F5's

Nikon House- D200's

Prices

If you want to know what your used D200 is going to fetch, be prepared for tears. My F5, that I paid a whole paycheck for in ‘98 dollars is now worth even less than I thought. The reality is that the prices were higher than what we can get in the US- but let’s get serious- the dollar’s weak, Tokyo real estate is crazy-expensive and how many other places have -2- 58mm f/1.2’s on hand for you to try out?

They DO take credit card and they’ll hassle you for a passport- this is because they want to have you avoid paying the 5% Japanese sales tax

Getting There

Here’s the exact spot. I highly recommend that you find a map with the Sony Building in Ginza on it- the Ginza Metro had maps with stores on it and so did the street maps and many places are referred to by the building name as opposed to addresses. Closest subway’s where either Ginza (on the Ginza Line- 1 stop from the Tokyo station), or Shimbashi (like 2 stops from the Tokyo metro).  That’s all you really need- it’s Japan, but the area is pretty small, find some map with the Sony Building on it and go there, it’s across the street.

No Photography! This is a Camera Store!

So I spent some time outside getting establishing shots and marvelling, then I go inside and get some shots of the items in the display case like the F1’s above and I hear “NO PHOTO!” Huh? “Oh, ok…” It’s a camera store that only uses clear glass- I can take shots of the inside from the outside and the entire outside storefront is one glass display case. I can’t figure this out- I guess they don’t want idiots on the internet hassling them for mint collectibles.

Nikkor 85mm f/3.5g Micro

• £499.99 / USD ?
• 52mm thread

Not a heck of a lot to mention here- it’s a DX lens, unfortunately, and it’s smallish aperture should be fine in the studio and help keep price down.

It’s not a huge surprise that they’re still cranking out cheaper DX lenses- this would imply that they don’t see going full-frame with the lower-end cameras any time soon, and the consumers, even pro-sumers aren’t likely to notice the difference. There are still a good number of people who should know better who still think that the 1.5x crop factor means their 18-200mm zoom is now really a 27-300mm zoom!

Nikon D3s Annnounced

This camera was expected to land tomorrow, but it’s dropped a day early!

Here are the specs that stand out:

• Features a redesigned 12.1 megapixel sensor that has standard ISO’s from 200 to ISO 12800 and CAN get to 102,400 (not a typo) in Hi-3 mode.
• Seven stop ISO range of 200 – 12,800
• Movies: 720p/ 24fps in motion JPEG with stereo sound using an input jack!
• Crops modes: 5:4 (30×24); 1.2x (30×20); and DX (24×16).
• New Quiet shutter release mode
• Extra Active-D lighting modes: Extra High, High, Normal and Low
• Buffer is twice the size of the D3
• Focus appears unchanged
• Same battery
• Same LCD

Here’s a very brief hands-on. Here are some sample movies- complete with low-light examples!

We’ve also got an external mic jack:

There’s also a new lens- more to come.

No D700x?

A poster at dpReview says that Nikon Austrialia has told him there will not be a D700x:

‘Just talikjng to Nikon in Sydney Australia, (I think that’s where they are, its a 1300 number..), and the technical guy said “We’ve just heard, there will be no D700x!”.

Oh well..

Can you trust this report from RandomInternetGuy(tm)? No, but I think it would be surprising for Nikon to launch a D700x when I’m sure the D3x is selling at around expectations.

Nikon S1000pj's Delayed

Engadget finds an article on the Japanese Impress site that says that the S1000pj’s have such strong demand that they are delaying the shipments from September to October:

…[Demand] significantly exceeded the expected number of orders from the original quantity, [Nikon] can not provide a sufficient number…

I wonder if that’s the actual reason though- how are they gauging interest- pre-order channel sales? It would seem to me that you’d release the initial shipment and then head into round 2- that’s what we’ve typically seen with hard to get new items in the past.

Capture NX 2.2.2 Update

No doubt, just to give me a reason to post an update, Nikon has released an update to Capture NX.

Basically, the update adds D300s and D3000 support and fixes a crash.

From the press release:

USA Here

Euro-Land Here

Nikon D5000 Recall #2

Unfortunately, there appears to be yet another snag with the D5000’s. The Euro’s appear to have gotten a batch that need an extra special repair and some of you that sent them in got it in before the enhanced procedure started to be performed.

Apparently, it’s the same issue as before though- your D5000 may not power up.

If your problems persist more than a couple days, please see you doctor.

Nikon S1000pj - Projector Camera

Nikon’s finally decided to inject some zazz into their point and shoot category. Instead of getting  another lame CoolPix from their intern’s product comparison write-up,  out of the back of the freezer, they’ve gone and done something interesting by inserting a projector into the front of the CoolPix.

This camera could be a lot of fun- something I’ve thought about periodically is getting a computer hooked up to a projector so that I could get precisely the color of light I wanted instead of using gels. I wonder if I could create “pictures” of color in PS and then put them onto this camera, then project them to get rid of gels. It’s likely not going to be a strong enough light, but might do.

Basic specs: 12.1mp, SD card, ~$650 $430 or so supposedly, available next month.

More info and a quicky demo here.

Which explains why the few pennies I normally get per day has dropped to -0-. Big brother has not asked me to take it down, let’s not start a silly rumor.

If you want the code, please mail me.

Overviews: Endaget, dpReview, etc.

Bodies

Nikon D3000

Official Nikon D3000 site

dpReview D3000 specs

dpReview D3000 quicky hands-on

Nikon D300

Official Nikon D300 site

dpReview D300s specs

dpReview D300s quicky hands-on

Lenses

New Nikkor 18-200mm

Official Nikon 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G VR II site

dpReview 18-200mm specs

New Nikkor 70-200mm with VR II

Official Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II site

dpReview 70-200mm specs

D300s: I Predicted: “Questionable”, not 1080p HD. Reality: Announced today, due November– 720p.

New Nikkor 70-200mm: Prediction- not this year. Reality: Announced today!

New 18-200mm: Prediction- “no reason not to update it”. Reality: it’s here. Admittedly, my prediction is squishy, so I’ll only claim partial credit.

D700x: Prediction – not likely. Reality- still not announced. Since every other item announced is due in November (as I predicted, for Christmas), I’m doubting it’s forthcoming this year, if ever.

Nikkor 24-135: Prediction – “Who knows, who cares.” Reality- still not announced.

Nikkor 35mm f/1.4 AF-S: Prediction – if this year, ready for Christmas. Reality- still not announced.
Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 AF-S: Prediction – Possibly, but doubtful this year. Reality- still not announced.

Nikon VL1 - 50 Megapixel Super-Rumor

We’ve seen rumors like this before, this one adds in the whole ‘modular digital nikon’ concept:

Supposed specs:

• 50 megapixel
• Integrated SSD holding 250 fullsize RAW shots, can be upgraded
• Removable sensor (back?)
• Built-in Wifi- capable of transferring files as quickly as it is to write to the SSD?
• Eye-tracking AF system
• Entirely new, super awesome-o software to handle it all.
• new line of lenses to take advantage of it, new lens mount?

Supposed Release: September 15, 2009. $10k.

I’m calling big bullshit on this. Even at rev. N wifi speeds, it’d be too slow and this just seems like a wish-list drawn up by fanatics, not like a plausible system designed by Nikon and, apparently, already functioning.

In addition- if they continue to write software like CaptureNX, then this thing will be a pain to deal with unless you’re using LightRoom or something.

Plus, again, there’s 0 reason to launch it in this economy.

Nikon D300s/D3000 Roadmap Rumor Roundup

Lots of rumor about tomorrow and future dates. I’ve been called out for not placing my bets on legitimacy, which I disagree with, but I’ll place my bets. I absolutely guarantee at least a 0% accuracy rating:

D300s: Engadget, Nikon Rumors, et al are reporting (with images) a possible Nikon D300s. Changes? Possibly an SD card and some histogram changes?

D3000: Similar reports of a Nikon D3000.

New 18-200: They sell a lot of this just ok lens- but what’d you expect in a zoom range that extreme. Amateurs love the huge range, no reason not to update it- they’ll sell a ton.

Coolpix’s with a project built-in?

The Nikon Roadmap

I’ve seen this rumor reported a bajillion places and I’m calling bullshit. The chance that the hermit camera kingdom has a corner and decided to get all “open and transparent” is about as likely as a digital Holga. Also, while some of these project may be planned, there’d be 0 reason to release them in this economy. It also has that whiff of some dork’s (like me) wishlist. What’s more, there’re lots of posts in various places stating that this started out as a foreign language gag post to a list that then was translated and lost the “joke” portion of the post.

But here it is:

2009 Nikon Roadmap (Bodies)

Nikon D3000
12.3MP, 7 AF points, ISO 200-3200 extendable to 6400, 3.5fps, Video ?

Prediction: What’s the point- these specs are way too similar to the D5000. This model may exist at some point, but I don’t see it soon.

Nikon D300s
12.3MP, 7fps, HD video (1080p .mov h.264, 24fps), CF and SD cards slots, 920,000 pixel LCD screen

Prediction: Questionable. Maybe a rev’d D300 will come out, but I’d be very surprised if it did 1080p h.264- that takes a lot of horsepower and I don’t see it happening at this price-point.

D700x
24.5MP, 5fps, HD video (1080p .mov h.264, 24fps)

Prediction: I’d bet my minty D2x that the highest cost item in the D3x body is the sensor due to its probably low yields and I get the feeling that the motivation behind this rumor is that people would love to have a smaller, cheaper D3x body. But what’s in it for Nikon? The D3x is still expensive and likely very profitable, plus if you need it, you can afford it. So- I predict unlikely.

2009 Nikon Roadmap (Lenses)

AF-S Nikkor 24 to 135 mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR: Who knows, who cares? Variable aperture lenses are not on my shopping list- I’ve had it with doorstop lenses- well, maybe they’d be fine on that digital holga…

AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II: This will happen, I doubt it’ll be this year, they’re already selling plenty of lenses and I doubt they’re going to dedicate R&D + production capacity to this. When it comes out, I’m expecting a $200-$300 increase to come with it. If it’s 2009, I’m guessing ~ Christmas release.

AF-S Nikkor 35 mm f/1.4G (FX): This will happen, I’ll be surprised if it’s this year, if it is, I’m guessing Christmas again.

AF-S Nikkor 85 mm f/1.4G (FX): A given, possibly this year, but I’m also doubtful.

2010 (Bodies)

Nikon D4
15.7MP (more sensitive and with less noise), Up to 16fps with “double exposure”, ISO 200-12800 (plus extended range), 61-point AF, 1080p video at 30fps, CLS control (although no flash is mentioned)

Prediction: Quite possibly, I doubt 16fps, and hey, if we’re doing 30fps all full HD 1080p (which I doubt), then wtf do I only get 16dfps? While I’d love to get some more focus points out toward the edge, I wonder if that’ll actually happen.

Nikon D400
13.8MP (more sensitive and with less noise), 8fps, Up to 12fps with “double exposure”, ISO 200-6400 (plus extended range), 61-point AF, 1080p video at 24fps

Prediction: I don’t see 1080p, but maybe. I wouldn’t be surprised to see this before the D4 comes out though.

Nikon D4x
30.2MP, ISO 100 – 6400, 6fps, 1080p video at 30fps

Prediction: Hey, wtf not. Doubt it’ll be 2010 though.

D5000 Service Advisory Serial Number Range

This is very early, I haven’t double-checked these by hand, but here’s what I have so far.

I’ve tested increments of 100 from: 3,015,209 to 3,515,500 and here are the results- remember that “positive” means your body DOES have the problem, “negative” means that it’s fine. Also, I haven’t bothered checking numbers except at intervals of 10. For example, 3032295 has the problem, 3032296 does not, but I won’t bother checking every single number.

3015209 – 3026100: Positive (has the defect)

3023300: Negative

3023400 – 3026200: Positive

3026300: Negative

3026400 – 3029200: Positive

3029300: Negative

3029400 – 3030000: Positive

3030100 – 3030200: Negative

3030300 – 3032200: Positive

3032300: Negative

3032400 – 3048000: Positive

3048100: Negative

3048200 – 3054100: Positive

3054200: Negative

3054300 – 3073600: Positive

3073700: Negative

3073800 – 3084200: Positive

3084300: Negative

3084400 – 3085200: Positive

3085300: Negative

3085400 – 3112300: Positive

3112400: Negative

3112500 – 3114300: Positive

3114400 – 3515500 : Negative- End of run?

D5000 Service Advisory Serial Number Ranges- Start at 3,015,209

I’ve done some poking around and the lowest serial number that appears to work is 3,015,209.

If you’ve got one that’s lower than this and it works, please mail me, I’d like to get a complete list.

I do not yet know the upper bound.

The serial number checker is available here. There does not appear to be a specific range, or at least they’re not telling us, and since no link is apparently, I presume that if it says your body is affected, it’ll give you a link to further info an provide you with the 2 day shipping label, etc.

If you’d like to talk to them about this issue: (USA) 800-645-6678, 8am to 2am (Eastern), 7-days-a-week.

A FAQ is here.

[/Update]

You hit all the right buttons on her body, you perform all the right moves, you charge her up, you even tell her the things she wants to hear, “Yeah baby, I’m gonna buy you that 200mm f/2 VR you’ve wanted for so long! I’m gonna get you so hot, your SB-900 will melt!”

But, nothing seems to consistently work. Then you realize, it’s not you, it’s not your moves, it’s her- she’s got some flaw.

Nikon has put up a service advisory on the D5000 explaining that sometimes it won’t turn on even when the battery is fully charged and it won’t turn on sometimes even when the AC adapter is plugged in.

This is not good. So here’s what you need to know:

• On July 23rd, they will have a serial # checker to let you know if your body is affected.
• The fix requires you to send in your body, they’ll start accepting bodies on July 23rd- the website (?) will have a label generator for you to use.
• Shipping both ways will be paid for by Nikon and will be 2-day shipping to minimize inconvenience

Check here for updates.

Kudos to Nikon for taking responsibility and working to make it easy on you to get fixed.

What’s interesting is that this must be a hardware issue since they’re requiring you to send it in, normally, you’d expect software. Also interesting that it’s only some serial numbers- this implies a design change (or manufacturing snafu?) which makes you wonder if they swapped a part or supplier in the middle of the run.

Nikon Spins-Off Firmware Development

Strange… Worrying… Do you know what your precious D3x without good firmware? Yeah- it’s expensive, Italian-designer industrial art.

That’s why I’m a little concerned that Nikon is making a joint venture with Fujitsu to engineer future firmware. It really makes you wonder what’s going on.

The only scenario I can think of that makes sense is:

Software development for devices like this is always a loss-center: you sell the camera, but then you have to upgrade the firmware and you don’t get any more money for it. So if you spin off that cost to a different company, then you’re basically getting the liabilities off your books and the MBA’s are probably telling them that it’ll help the horrible revenue/profit numbers that have been coming in. In addition- you can now hire yourself out, openly, as happy to make firmware for whomever wants it and try to generate some revenue from it.

There may be other reasons, but this scenario or similar ones are the only thing that fits.

The only easily accessible link to the press release is at dpReview.

Nikkor-S 5.8 cm f/1.4 vs. Nikkor AF-S 50 mm f/1.4G

This is total win- the guys at LensTip have made a detailed comparison between the OLD Nikkor-S 5.8 cm f/1.4 (58mm f/1.4) and the new Nikkor AF-S 50 mm f/1.4G as used on the D3.

What’s not surprising is that the modern lens is better. What IS surprising is that the ancient lens gets very, very close to the new lens’ performance in resolution once you’re at f/8 or above and that the old lens is a good deal better with CA.

Very fascinating article!

Nikkor 50mm AF-S f/1.4G Review

dpReview takes a look at Nikon’s Nikkor 50mm AF-S f/1.4G lens on both DX and FX format and finds it to be largely OK.

Olympus E-P1- Almost a digital rangefinder...

It’s not a digital rangefinder, it’s also not a Nikon product, but I’m betting that most people arent’t going to worry about it too much– I’m certainly not. Olympus will be getting my money.

What they been able to do is squeeze a micro 4/3’s sensor into a tiny metal camera with a pleasant retro look with interchangeable lenses.

That last bit about changing lenses is the tipping point between “Matt keeps the money in the bank” and “Matt gets to explain why there’s another camera in the house.”

This one goes to 11.

Engadget China has a hands-on review here. See everything Engadget’s got here.

dpReview has a full review here and video from London here.

In a brilliant move that Nikon’s Ashton-Kutcher-loving marketing agency could learn from, you can watch it get destroyed in a blender here. Oh yeah- the Olympus engineers have thought of everything, even making sure it blends.

You can find the full specs in the dpReview or on the Olympus site, but the main items are:

• Max resolution: 4032 x 3024
• Max Video Res: 1280×720
• Has a full-manual mode
• ISO to 6400 (if you’re crazy, (I’m betting that it’s decent until 400 or so)
• There is a raw format
• Top shutter is 1/4000
• Weighs less than a pound without lens and battery
• $799 for the body and 14-42mm zuiko zoom.
• $899.99 for the body and 17mm pancake lens
• $749.99 for the body only (that zoom must be CHEAP!)
• Buy it all here.

The only thing missing is a built-in flash (there’s an accessory, hot shoe mounted flash) and I’d love to see a range-finder like viewfinder, but the liveview should handle it alright.

There are aftermarket adapters for Nikkor lenses, and maybe more interesting, there’re adapters for Leica M-mount right now.

Ship date? Julyish through September depending on what you’re trying to get.

Nikon D5000 SLR Review

If you’re dying for more a more in-depth look at the D5000, then dpReview has a 30+ page look at it.

The best part may be on the front page where there’s a comparison matrix between the D500, D90, and D60. Most of the other info is just a rundown of the features and specs, menus, product shots, and a bunch of sample shots.

Nikon SB-600 Flash Tube Replacement

Steve saw the previous post on replacing your SB-800’s melted fresnel lens and pointed me to this link that shows you how to replace the busted flash tube on your SB-600, if you’re handy with a soldering iron.

Sadly, the only thing I can do with soldering irons is burn things and make nice round beads of solder- which I enjoy, but it’s not very productive.

Kudos to Steve, nicely done!

Take a look.

SILENTIUM EST AUREUM Nikon D90 + Lensbaby from Mike Kobal on Vimeo.

Nikon says "Sayonora" to 1000 workers

Nikon Corp is not doing too well right now- in addition to cameras, they make really expensive precision steppers that make your computer chips. Well no one has any money, no one’s buying computer equipment, no one’s upgrading their steppers.

Nikon Will Cut 1000 Workers to Save $84 Million Annually

Nikon (OTC:NINOY) said Tuesday that it will terminate 800 non-regular employees from its domestic manufacturing unit by March 2010 and another 200 from marketing and servicing departments in Japan as well as overseas. It said the cuts will likely save the company 8 billion yen, or $84 million dollars annually. Nikon is expecting an FY 2010 net loss of 17 billion yen, or $179 million. In a statement, the company said, “Nikon has decided to implement drastic measures for fixed cost reduction in every business step of production, marketing and servicing.”

Here’s a sampling of the latest headlines:

Nikon Corporation To Reorganize Japan Precision Equipment …

Nikon Corporation Expects Extraordinary Loss

Nikon Profit Falls 63%

Nikon Corporation to Apply for Delisting from OSE, SSE and FSE

I was worried about that last one- you either delist because it’s too expensive to continue paying the fees and associated costs, or because you’re not going to be able to maintain the listing requirements (stock price, volume, etc) until I saw this:

Nikon separately said it will delist its shares from the Osaka, Sapporo and Fukuoka stock exchanges due to low trading volume on these bourses.

Oh- and we’ve got yet another advertising firm. I believe this makes 2 new advertising agencies in the last year or so. And they’re still coming up with idiot ideas like:

LIVE FROM THE RED CARPET…NIKON, THE OFFICIAL CAMERA SPONSOR OF 2009 MTV MOVIE AWARDS

Nikon, the Official Camera Sponsor of the 2009 MTV Movie Awards, will reveal all the fun, stylish moments of this year’s award show from the red carpet. This includes a 30-minute televised special, “MTV Movie Awards Confidential presented by Nikon,”…

The kids are coming to want something more stylish and interesting than the blah CoolPix’s…

Replace Melted Nikon SB-800 Front Lens

Son Ton melted the front fresnel lens on his Nikon SB-800 flash.

Not being the pussy that you and I are, I mean, uh, being more manly than me and my fist full of Craftsman screwdrivers, he decided to tackle the repair himself.

Check out his site for very interesting shots of the repair in action- normally, you only get to see these parts if you destroy your SB-800, so my hat’s off to him.

Front Fresnel Repair of Nikon SB-800

Almost even more interesting is that he somehow was able to dig up the exploded parts diagram for the SB-800:

Nikon SB-800 Exploded Parts Diagram (Click to enlarge)

Kudos again to Son Ton!

Carrying case recall for Nikon AF-S VR Zoom-NIKKOR 200-400mm f/4G IF-ED (CL-L2)

Word from Nikon’s USA Product Manager David Dentry is:

Just a heads up, we’re announcing a Service Advisory on the CL-L2 case which
ships with the 200-400 lens and is available separately for other lenses.

The bottom part of the case may crack and possibly fall out… See:

http://www.nikonusa.com/cl-l2sa

Check with your local Nikon office for information on getting a replacement bag.

Apparently, a fault in the bag may cause it to come apart at the bottom and you’d really hate to see your 200-400mm f/4g to drop onto the floor!

While this case comes with the 200-400mm, it was also available separately, so if you bought one, you’d better replace it.

How do you know if your case is ok? Does it look like this? Notice the “T” on the bottom of boths variants? If it says “T”, then you’re ok, according to the official release.

You may apply for a replace here. They’ll ship you a container to send in your old one and pay the FedEx in both directions. You can also call them if you’d like to discuss the issue: 800-645-6687.

Nice to see Nikon taking quick responsibility and handling the return in an honorable fashion.

Sample Shots:Nikon 10-24mm AF-S Nikkor f/3.5-4.5G DX ED

TBower (flickr) has managed to get ahold of the lens and posted some sample shots taken with Nikon’s Nikkor 10-24mm AF-S f/3.5-4.5G DX ED and here.

CA and fringing appear to be bad as shown here. Even the central image area appears to lack detail to me- maybe his technique wasn’t so hot?

Nikon 10-24mm AF-S Nikkor f/3.5-4.5G DX ED

Ken has a funny deal- he gives reviews to Nikon items that he either hasn’t held in his hands before, or as it appears in this case, he’s taken one shot outside of an office complex with!

But if you must know what he’s got to say, then take a look.

Basically, he says it’s better than the 12-24mm.

Either I’m missing something (hey, could be)- or the 12-24mm is going to go bye-bye. They’re basically similar lenses in every way that I can see. The question is “why”- why did Nikon release two lenses that compete against each other in almost every way?

Nikon Releases Camera Control Pro 2 V2.5 Update

Nikon has released an update to Camera Control Pro 2 here (Windows), Mac here.

Changes:

Support for the D5000 has been added.

Mac OS X version 10.3.9 is no longer supported. DO NOT update to this version if you are currently running Mac OS X 10.3.9.

When a camera control settings file was loaded with the Image area: Auto DX Crop box in the Storage tab checked while shooting with a D3, D3X, or D700 camera and a DX lens, a warning message was displayed and the image area and image size could not be specified.  This issue has been resolved.

In some rare instances, Camera Control Pro 2 displayed an error and quit unexpectedly when any of RAW and/or JPEG images recorded at an image quality of NEF(RAW)+JPEG was moved from the destination folder specified in the Download Options dialog to the Trash from the Finder.  This issue has been resolved.

Nikon D5000 18-55mm Sample Shot @ 6400iso

The Japanese website dcWatch has a nice review of the D5000 and 18-55mm kit lens (translated) that includes studio and outdoor comparison shots are various ISO and noise reduction levels.

Unsurprisingly, everything looks pretty good.

It’s hard to compare the quality from their images. The D5000 comparison shots are underexposed and at slightly different magnifications, so you can’t really conclude anything from those shots.

It doesn’t really say much, but take a look at how the screen can be articulated.

Nikon D5000 Officially Announced / Shown

From the release:

NIKON’S D5000 DIGITAL SLR CAMERA EXPANDS POSSIBILITIES FOR PHOTO AND HD VIDEO CREATIVITY WITH D-MOVIE MODE, VARI-ANGLE LCD MONITOR AND 19 AUTOMATIC SCENE MODES

…Easy one-button Live View activation now features Subject Tracking autofocus (AF), which automatically locks onto a moving subject…

…Subject Tracking AF maintains focus, making the D5000 ideal for capturing fast moving children and pets. In addition to Subject Tracking AF in Live View, the D5000 features Face Priority AF, which automatically detects up to five faces in a scene and focuses on the closest subject; Wide Area AF, which offers a large AF area for optimal hand-held shooting; and Normal Area AF, which provides pinpoint accuracy when shooting with a tripod…

…The D5000’s D-Movie Mode allows users the exciting ability to record HD movie clips (1280 x 720) at a cinematic 24 frames per second with sound …

…With the broad range of automatic Scene Modes, including Sports, Portrait, Candlelight, Silhouette, Autumn Colors and more, D5000 is the perfect camera for anyone looking to make inspiring images in challenging photographic conditions…

…Price and Availability
The D5000 outfit, which includes the AF-S NIKKOR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR lens, will be available at Nikon Authorized dealers beginning in late April 2009 at an estimated selling price of $849.95.** For consumers who want to configure their D5000 system or for photographers who need an additional D-SLR body for an existing system, the D5000 will also be offered as a body only for an estimated selling price of $729.95.…

So basically another consumer-grade SLR with movie mode, NOT full-frame- the notable features seem to be the articulated (not fixed) LCD and some updates to the autofocus tracking to make it easier to use in movie mode!

Still confused about the model number though- maybe we’ll be seeing single digits for Pro bodies, triple digits for advanced amateur to pro range, and double and quadruple digits for consumers?

New Nikon Nikkor 10-24mm DX Lens!

From the release:

…the new AF-S DX-NIKKOR 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5G ED lens, giving photographers the opportunity to capture a unique perspective in a variety of shooting environments. Compact and lightweight, the new 2.4x zoom DX-NIKKOR lens offers a focal length of 10 to 24mm,(FX-format equivalent of 15-36mm) creating a picture angle ranging from 109-degrees to 61-degrees making it ideal for a variety of applications including restrictive interiors, architecture and sweeping landscapes…

…The AF-S DX-NIKKOR 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5G ED will be available at Nikon authorized dealers beginning May 2009 at an estimated selling price of $899.95…

Nikon D5000 / D500 Rumors

The void that surrounded this camera back in the PMA 2009 timeframe is starting to take form.

Engadget has found a shot from a retailer in Japan that was up then taken down.

The primary interesting item is an articulated LCD and possibly enhanced in-camera video editing. Otherwise, seems a bit like a D60 maybe. Price should be ~$600-800?

Also, you hopefully didn’t miss these (presumably?) real product shots of the camera .

I’m still pretty confused about the product name and tempted to say that D5000 may not end actually being the name, but there aren’t any signs that point to any OTHER name so….

Interestingly too- the screen is attached at the bottom of the normal LCD  place which means that it swings down instead of to the side like many movie cameras:

Nikon D5000 Leaked Shots

See the rest of DTown.

Retail inventory valued at more than $50 million will be liquidated at the stores that are being closed. Store closing sales offering substantial discounts on all inventory at those locations will begin on Saturday, April 4, and are expected to continue until everything is sold to the bare walls.

If you’d like the list of closing stores, you can get it here. California appears to be hit large, mainly in the beach towns, 2/4 locations in my area are going down, Florida looks like it’s getting hit hard, Minnesota has a high count, and Texas also has a large number going down.

As I’ve written before, I shed no tears.

New Capture NX v2.2

After a long, dry (several days at least!) spell of little news is finally broken but (wait for it)- UPDATED CaptureNX! We’re now at V2.2.

Windows Mac

What’s changed?

Enhanced processing capabilities with more advanced functions

Tokyo — Nikon Corporation is pleased to announce that from the beginning of April 2009, they will offer a free download of image-editing software Capture NX 2, Ver. 2.2 to current users of Versions 2.0 and 2.1.1. In addition to providing the features of earlier versions, which allow quick-and-easy on-image photo editing to optimize photographer workflow, this latest version includes more powerful and refined tools to greatly improve image-processing efficiency.

Newly added functions include:

• improved speed in batch processing
• Intel-approved logo permitted for Core 2 Duo/Core 2 Quad support
• NRW (COOLPIX P6000’s RAW data) support
• Vignette control function utilizing lens information
• Axial color aberration correction.

1. Improved operational efficiency with higher speeds for batch processing

With batch processing, pre-set editing information can be applied to all of the image data in a selected folder. By revising the memory control system, processing is accelerated.* Operational efficiency is greatly improved, even with large quantities of image data.

* By about 10 – 20% with Windows Vista, 50% with MacOS; varies according to operating environment and conditions.

2. Intel-approved logo permitted for Core 2 Duo/Core 2 Quad support

This software has been optimized for use with industry-leading Intel processors. As a software application based on Intel architecture, Capture NX 2 has received permission to use the Intel-approved logo.

3. NRW support

NRW, a form of RAW data taken with the COOLPIX P6000, is newly supported.

Note: NRW can be saved in NRW, JPEG or TIFF (not in NEF). Saving data in NRW is not possible from NEF/TIFF/JPEG, but only from NRW data. Also, with NRW data, functions peculiar to digital SLR cameras, such as Image Dust Off, are not supported.

4. Enhanced Distortion Control Functions

Superior-quality distortion-free images are ensured by reducing pincushion and barrel distortions. With the new version of Capture NX 2, more effective automatic control is made possible based on information of compatible lenses.

5. Axial Color Aberration Correction

This newly added function automatically detects axial color aberration and corrects it to provide pictures of higher quality. This can be applied to any image because shooting data that depends on lens information is not used in the process.

Ok- I’ll take any upgrade that makes Capture better or easier. It’s strange to me that they list the Intel logo as the number 2 bullet in all of these mentions (this announcement and others) but provide zero information on what practical application this has. NX appears to have been multi-core (on Windows anyway) aware since V2 (if I remember correctly).

What would -really- help is if they made a 64 bit version- I’m really tired of the 20 open pictures limit.

A while ago, I got tired of this limit and started to think- the NEF format is a modified TIFF, and Capture seems to use the uncompressed TIFF directly (it doesn’t operate natively on the NEF in memory). So its temporary in-memory version of your NEF is ~80 megs (as far as I’m able to discern), so 20*80 = ~1600 megabytes, throw in overhead and the memory required by NX’ code, you realize that it quickly would bump against the 2gig limit of address space for a 32bit process in Windows (I know there are exceptions, let’s not get pedantic).

So, make it into a 64bit process and soon, I can use all 12gigs on my machine and everyone’s happier. I’d even pay another $100 to upgrade.

Rumor: Next Nikon SLR is DX Format- D400? D350?sd

A great NIkon listserv posting by a reputable person who very well could know says that the next Nikon SLR will not be a full-frame body, but will be DX format. If you’re interested in the list, please mail me.

What’re the specs, when, what price? All unknown at this point.

I’m going to place a bet on an upgraded body like the D300 with something inexpensive added on maybe better flash, integrated GPS, better LCD, wifi?

PMA 2009 Dead Nikon Rumors

You don’t mind if I engage in a little childish pointing and laughing, do you?

There were lots of sites predicting lots of Nikon goodies to be announced at PMA 2009.

The biggest ones were:

• D700x
• D770
• D400
• D5000

Then we had a wad of lenses supposedly coming:

• Nikkor AF-S VR-II 200mm f1.8D
• Nikkor AF-S VR-II 300mm f2D
• Nikkor AF-S VR-II 400mm f2.5D
• Nikkor AF-S VR-II 70-200mm f2.5D

Quotes from various well-known sites:

“…potential release of the D700x next week, but I think those are just opinions of famous online personalities. I have not received a single tip for D700x and I will stay with my previous selection: D5000 + D400 (the D400 may be released after PMA, but before July 2009). At that point I will have to drop the D5000 next week release probability to 75% – so far I have received info from only one source.”

I believe that I saw a quote that put this same site saying that the D5000 was a 95% chance.

Another site with a much better reputation wrote:

It is almost a certainty that we will see new lenses from Nikon at PMA.

So why am I pointing this out other than to toot my own horn? To remind you that this site is a service to you- dedicated to trying to figure out what Nikon’s doing- that doesn’t mean repeated every stupid, idiotic rumor that I can find- that’s just pointless- just reporting on some of them

If something’s just unlikely to be true, at worst, I’ll point it out and call it unlikely, but a lot of times, I will just pass.

Nikon PMA 2009 - Wet Matches

Basically nothing, nada, zip.

A 50 years of F-mount logo and some PR blather about the 35mm DX.

Ah well. My digital F3 will have to wait, I guess.

Nikon Japan- Price-hike April 17th

Zachary on dpReview reports that the Japanese are seeing their prices raised too:

There have been lots of threads recently about Nikon price increases, and people have blamed exchange rates. Now, however, there are Nikon price increases in Japan, too. I went to my local camera store here in Kyoto today and there were signs up saying all new Nikon products would become more expensive on April 17. When I asked, they said they had been informed by Nikon this was the case.

Well this is pretty strange actually, I’m better Nikon will see even worse losses next quarter- raising prices right now is probably not a winning strategy.

Guess we’ll find out. Beyond their quarterly filings- when we start seeing pricing gimmicks like mail-in or instant rebates, you can take that as a sign that they know they’ve priced things too high and are hurting more than they expected.

Nikon Non-Bayer Sensor Patent

Anonymous points me to another article by the same guy who found the last patent.

The patent details a non-Bayer sensor which dispenses with the second green pixel in favor of one that senses between red/green or blue/green as a method of increasing dynamic range.

Filed in 2005, I can’t determine when it was accepted- but we’ve seen these things before I can’t imagine Nikon launching a major new sensor anytime soon- with the market what it is. Also the last sensor was said to be used in to the metering/whitebalance sensors, so we could be looking at a very limited-use situation again.

Thanks, Anonymous!

Nikon DTown

Not satisfied with having a bewildering number of websites, Nikon’s just added NikonDTown whose purpose appears to be to have instructional videos provided by Scott Kelby and Matt Kloskowski.

The premiere episode a bit over ten minutes long shows us:

• Setting whitebalance in liveview
• White balance control points in CaptureNX
• A pitch for the DIGPS GPS device (not the GP-1, surprisingly)
• D90- using the rear command dial to flick through your shots

Nothing hugely exciting, decently produced though.

Wonder if the software will have an english translation… otherwise, it might be hard to get the damned raw files converted the way you want- or always use jpg. But this also might mean that the menus are in Japanese…

Epson Digital Rangefinder Analog Dial

Epson has announced that they’re going to update their Leica-mount digital rangefinder!

As a piece of mechanical art, these things are Monets, I just can’t help being charmed by the wonderfully beguiling analog top-plate dials:

Epson Digital Rangefinder Analog Dial

Here’s the main site that’s got all the details in Japanese.

If, like me, you can’t afford that Leica M8, this might be just the ticket. Visit the guys at the RangeFinder forums for more info!

…Ritz Camera Centers Inc., the largest camera-store chain in the U.S., won court approval for $85 million in financing from its existing secured lenders while it reorganizes.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Mary Walrath in Wilmington, Del., authorized the so-called debtor-in-possession financing on an interim basis….

But have received $85 in financing to help it remain a going concern.

It’s really hard for me to cry for them- I first encountered them when they bought up the best mom and pop camera store in my area 10 years ago and their product range went from good to amateur. Then I moved to a different stat- where they soon bought out the best pro shop in the area and the second best pro shop.

Then I started to buy everything from B&H Photo Video.

The last time I walked into a Ritz was about a year ago to buy a D3- they had no waiting list and wouldn’t take my name, but one of the employees said that they had 2 on order for him so that he could turn around and sell them as soon as they came in.

I had a similarily unpleasant situation with RitzCamera.com.

We don’t need these guys.

Ken Makes it Up: Nikon MX Forecast

Oh good grief- devoid of any serious information, Ken speculates on the Nikon MX medium-format camera system. I’m going to report it because his pointless speculation is now almost funny:

Nikon may have done what we all want, which is use a real 54 x54mm square sensor with a resolution of 6,380 x 6,380 pixels.

This is fantastic; it’s the same size as a mounted 2-1/4″ transparency.

I would sure love my square medium-format back- I miss shooting that way with my hassie. But let’s get real- maybe some day we’ll see something like this, but I think it would surprise everyone.

Nikon D5000?

PMA is March 1st to the 5th this year and there’s only one rumor.  Nikon Rumors is reporting:

…Nikon D5000 is real – it has a swivel display that rotates in all directions; 12.3 Mpx sensor…

Well, let’s just see. Given that we aren’t hearing this from any other source, I’m taking it with a grain of salt- could be another P&S

A swivel display is really nice if you’re taking a self-portrait and while I wanted one on the D3 for live-view, I’m happy to report that the viewing angle on the LCD of the D3 and D3x are still totally usable if you hold the camera at odd angles (like over your head). So it wasn’t as important as I’d thought.

Also, does the fact that it’s number might be 5000 instead of, say, 65 make any difference? Who knows. I’m tempted to bet that if we do see an SLR like this, it won’t be a number higher than 100, but who knows.

Again, I also expect to see lower-priced, less capable cameras being released until we bottom out of the global recession, so I’m not getting my hopes up about anything very interesting being released.

Fake Nikkor 10-18mm

Wanna see some more?

Fake Nikkor 10-18mm

I’ll let the Chinese guys point out the issues here (translated).

In addition- wtf would Nikon make this lens when they just came out with the 14-24mm? If this was a fish-eye zoom or something, then maybe I could see that- but the “samples” from this lens are clearly not fish-eye.

Let’s stop wasting everyone’s time. This is a far better use of 3d modeling skills.

Did you know that the DeLorean and F3, F4, F5, F6, and the D3 were designed by the same person? Yup- an Italian designed named Giorgetto Giugiaro.

I paid homage to his design tonight (I don’t need any C&C please, I know I’m no product photographer…what should I do with the camera strap lugs though?) with my D3 and the macro flashes. The design of the F3 really thrills me, it’s really a wonderful machine.

Nikon F3 (Click to enlarge)

There are also no credible reports of an updated NIkkor 70-200mm f/2.8 with Nano-coating.

In fact, there are -no- credible reports of any new lenses in the pipeline.

Oh well- I got some decent prices and I ended up not buying everything I wanted. Well word comes today from the Strobist (you MUST read his site on flashes) that PocketWizard is introducing new, smaller models with added features.

Unfortunately, they’re Canon only for the moment, with Nikon variants to follow.

Both units have pass-through, full TTL contacts in a hot shoe format. Which means no more PC cords needed for hooking them up to speedlights.

Oh thank God! Last night, I had to both hook up the su-800 AND use the PC-Sync to get what I wanted. This would have allowed me to eliminate the use of those really flaky PC cables.

Okay, may as well start with the headline feature: They do remote TTL, and they do it well. They call it “ControlTL,” and it is technologically very different than the way the RadioPopper handles remote TTL.

The PW’s can now be configured via USB to do some interesting things:

Well, the new PWs “know things,” too. Remember how they can replicate the whole light-based wireless TTL operations by jumping the signal timing on the camera-to-flash pre-chatter? Well, what else could you do if you knew the camera was about to fire your flash?

You could tell the flash to fire a little smidge early, is what you could do. And if you could vary the timing on that signal, you could squeeze an extra stop of shutter speed out of most cameras’ sync, too.

Watch their demo:

No, there is no pricing information availabe- damn I hate it when companies announce products and no pricing.

199 for the MiniTT1, $219 for the FlexTT5

Nice!

Fake Canon Blogs Get Takedown Notice

What happens when a company has a dedicated, loyal fanbase who yearn for information and virtually none is forthcoming? Right- they go out of their way to speculate, make it up, and overblow the slightest little hints.

So it shouldn’t be surprising when pointless blogs open up and start filling in the information the companies won’t tell us.

On occasion, it’s taken too far though, and the companies object. Well one of the Canon guys took it a bit too far and has been reprimanded for by it several high-priced, humorless lawyers.

This is a shame all around- it’s up to the speculators to try and not take it too far and it’s up the companies to put enough info in the pipeline to keep everyone appraised of what’s happening. It’s become a whole different world over the last few years- it’s no longer just a few people in a local camera club gossiping and if the companies don’t like what they’re seeing, they should simply give us official information and sites that speculate and put out rumors will simply cease to be appealing.

And hey, what a good time to remind everyone that NikonWatch has no official relation to Nikon Corp or subsidiaries and has not been approved by them. The Nikon Watch logo is a parody of the official Nikon logo.

Every attempt has been made to ensure that NikonWatch is not confused with Nikon itself.

Robert Cristina, Manager of professional products, Europe and Ludovic Drean, Product Manager for lenses, Europe talked to DPreview:

…The concept was to give a 50mm equivalent lens on the DX format. A lot of people have bought the 50 1.8 because it was all that was available. It may seem rather late for the APS-C system, but we believed that entry-level users wanted a standard lens…

It’s about price, size and weight. We wanted this to be a lens for the entry-level. If we’d tried to make an FX 35mm F1.4 it might cost €1400, rather than €200… The main target is D40/D60/D90 owners. They make up 80% of our DSLR sales...

Ok, I’m waiting for the expensive FX-sized f/1.4 for ~$1,499usd.

Click the link to read the entire thing.

Nikon 35mm AF-S f/1.8G Samples

DPreview has posted some sample shots taken with the new Nikkor 35mm AF-S f/1.8G here.

35mm AF-S f/1.8G on FX

Some random Japanese guy was in his local camera ginza (I’m sure I’m using the term incorrectly) and slapped the DX lens on his FX camera to show us what it looked like.

Bjorn Reviews 35mm AF-S f/1.8G

Bjorn’s a well-respected, ridiculously techy photographer so I generally pay attention to what he says- as opposed to the other guys who “review” gear they’ve never touched, for example.

A few test shots confirm – not unexpectedly – that the Nikon wizards know their trade. Of course. The 35/1.8 does project an image circle that is bigger than the bare minimum needed for DX, but is smaller than FX. You get heavy vignetting and severe loss of sharpness outside hte DX format area. If you find the fall-offof the corners acceptable, you could just barely scrape by using the FX camera set to 5:4 format.

Note- when you visit his site- you do NOT see the images if you are not logged in. So register, login, etc.

Nikon 35mm f/1.8 AF-S DX Lens Announced

In news that will thrill 10’s of people around the globe- Nikon has announced the Nikkor 35mm f/1.8G AF-S DX.

That little “DX” addendum means that you won’t want to use in on a full-frame camera (D3, D3x, D700) unless you want to be stuck in crap crop-mode.

But, if you’ve got a D60 and the angle of view was too little for you with the 50mm, then you’ve now got a cheap way to get your 50mm perspective back.

Your first reaction is probably something like, “Wtf are they spending lens-development resources on the amateurs who buy $300 lenses when the higher-end guys have been asking for a lens like this too?”

But it does make sense, having a 50mm AF-S f/2.8G allows the DX guys to have their near-85mm equivalent and giving them a 35mm gives them a near-50mm equivalent.

Now if Nikon would stop making any new DX lenses, they would be free to concentrate on the fullframe guys.

Otoh- these lenses are relatively cheap and putting them out in a down market makes sense- since they’re probably also made in China or Thailand- the strong Yen actually makes them even more profitable.

But, Nikon would like you to take better pictures and Carson gives you some tips for looking slimmer and other stuff you don’t care about.

Japan’s Canon Inc reported an 81.5% fall in quarterly profit as a deepening recession hit demand for cameras and office equipment, and it forecast a bigger-than-expected profit decline for 2009.

Operating profit at Canon, the world’s largest digital camera maker ahead of Sony Corp and Nikon Corp, came in at ¥35.8 billion ($401.7 million) in October-December, down from ¥193.58 billion a year earlier.

…For 2009, Canon forecast an operating profit of ¥160 billion, down from ¥496.1 billion a year earlier and compared with the consensus forecast for a ¥309.8 billion profit in a poll of 16 analysts by Reuters Estimates.
…

So, the hurt is all over the place!  Canon’s definitely more diversified than Nikon though.

What’s interesting to me is that most large international companies hedge currencies so that if there’s a dramatic up or down swing, they don’t lose as much money. I wonder to what extent these companies are doing that.

Nikon Revenue Down

Unsurprisingly, fewer people and organizations have wads of cash to throw at new cameras:

Per-share revenue was down nearly 45% for the 6 months from April to December! However, revenue was down ~12 billion yen, ~$133m.

The fiscal year ends in March 09 and revenue is expected to be 10%, while profit is expected to be down 68% from the previous year.

Interestingly, revenue isn’t down terrible, but profit is tanking- presumably because the higher-end items with more profit (D3x, exotic lenses, industrial equipment that costs a fortune) aren’t being bought in the volumes they were.

Not good.

Some of us are plenty happy to let CaptureNX, Photoshop, and others worry about turning our NEF’s into something usable, but various intrepid people (who’re smart than I am) like lclevy (Dave Coffin) just can’t let a challenge like encrypted whitebalances alone.

So he’s posted a wad of info on the NEF format and its header as well as some C code for you to open up the whitebalance info.

Interesting (to me), it’s based on the TIFF format. Otoh, the TIFF format is so flexible that I shouldn’t have been surprised.

Luckily, he’s hosted it in France, so there’s no change of DMCA take-down notice being filed.

Speculation: D3xs D700x D3x

There aren’t any good rumor around, so let’s speculate!

Trends What general themes have we been seeing over the last few years:

More Megapixels: This is a no-brainer, the market demands.

Better Noise Characteristics: The market really was not demanding this, but we got it anyway with the D3, then we saw much better than expected noise characteristics in the D3x and Canon still has yet to equal Nikon’s abilities.

Thus I’m going to bet that we’ll see more effort from Canon to attempt to catch up than we’ll see Nikon get substantially better. In addition, this is much more a hardware (sensor) design issue than a software-bottlenecked area- the software is only likely to get marginally better, whether inside the camera, or on my crazy 4-core machine.

Smaller Bodies: There’s no good reason we couldn’t get the D3’s sensor in a smaller body, and voila! Since the D3x is a D3 with a different sensor (and software), we’re very likely to see a D700x or similar.

Backfilling Lenses: Nikon knows it’s missing AF-S primes. They threw the beginner SLR (D40, D60, etc) owners a bone with 50mm (those cameras couldn’t use the AF version). Now they can get us an 85mm AF-S and I’ve got money waiting for a good 35mm AF-S prime.

So what’s missing, lens-wise: Primes- 35mm, 28mm, 16mm fisheye, 85mm. Anything else?

[Update: I'd gladly slap down $2k for an AF-S Noct, preferably in the 35-45mm range.]

More Point-and-shoots: God save us from the Coolpix invasion. They’re cheap, you can’t tell one model from the next, P&S buyers are into megapixel, zoom, size, looks. Nikon is likely to crank them out.

More Special Editions: Hey, remember the horrific gold-edition D60? Want a gold-edition D90?

More Gimics: I’m going to go out on a limb here- we’re going to see movie mode slipped into some existing models, or some D*x bodies with movie mode. I can definitely see it on the D3 and D3x- let’s call them the D3s and D3xs models. Maybe with a touch-screens too.

If we’re lucky, we’ll also see upgraded bodies with WiFi slapped into them (or GPS and WiFi)- it’s too easy, it costs next to nothing, the physical is next to nothing, and the battery usage is tolerable. IMO- only Nikon trying to sell us WT-4a’s has prevented this so far.

More Smaller Stuff: I suspect we’re going to see some interesting smaller projetcs. For example- I can’t see any reason we can get a bluetooth adapter for our flashes to get RF into action without buying pocketwizards or similar add-ons. Like wifi- bluetooth is legal frequency spectrum just about everywhere on earth at this point.

Fewer high-end bodies: Why spend the R&D when the sales of the bodies aren’t going to see a quick return?

Fewer high-end lenses: Those missing primes I just mentioned? Unless they’re just about to be announced (PMA?), they’re unlikely to happen. Same reason as the high-end bodies.

Nikon Price Increases

I’m seeing various reports of prices rising from not bad to ok and from ok to ok+a little in the US.

Nothing like the Armageddon that was being talked about. But maybe I’m different- another $100 on $1,800 isn’t going to make my choke because the $1,800 already made me choke.

On the other hand- that 200mm f/2 you had your eye on is now $4599.95 from B&H! I’m pretty sure they were ~$4,000 in December. Yikes. (But you already knew- “Only pro’s buy this lense.“)

I used to think used Hassy lenses at $1,000 were expensive.

Nikon Coolpix's Announced

Nikon yesterday (11pm Eastern) announced a slew of new point and shoots and would like you to know about it:

NIKON ANNOUNCES EIGHT NEW STYLISH COOLPIX CAMERAS WITH APPROACHABLE TECHNOLOGY FOR ENJOYABLE PICTURE-TAKING

POWERFUL NEW L100 PACKS PERFORMANCE, HIGH-POWERED ZOOM AND ADVANCE FUNCTIONS INTO AN EASY TO USE CAMERA

NIKON UNVEILS S630 NEW POCKET-SIZED 7X ZOOM DIGITAL CAMERA

NIKON UNVEILS NEW S230 TOUCH SCREEN DIGITAL CAMERA

POWERFUL NEW NIKON P90 UNLEASHES CREATIVE FREEDOM WITH 24x OPTICAL WIDE ANGLE ZOOM, VARI-ANGLE LCD AND ADVANCED SHOOTING MODES

Anything of note? Nope- but having a touchscreen on the back of the camera is way better than a d-pad (that little 4-direction button thingy like on the SLR’s for focus point control) if it works as well as the iPhone’s does.

I’d expect to see touchpads on the back of the flagships for the next generation. The iPhone’s touchscreen (actually a different part from the LCD itself) is AMAZINGLY GOOD at figuring out where you actually pressed. How much better it’d be to pinch the screen and drag it around than use the command dial to zoom in!

In these times of the end-of-days of NIkonians, megapixel-wars, full-frame vs cropped-frame riots, and competing flagship bodies, it’s nice to see a place where both camps can get together and gripe show some shots:

Eric dropped me a messsage and would like me to plug the forums that he’s set up here:
www.mycanikon.com

Full warning though, I’ve let him know that NikonWatch is setting up its own forums- soon as I find the time to monkey with CSS pages and, (ugh not again), PHP.

Nikon D3 Pro Shooter's Guide

It reviews autofocus tracking, active D-lighting, auto-iso, etc, and tells you which it recommends in most cases.

If you’ve been using your D3 for a year now, it’s probably nothing new. If you just got it and want to shoot football tomorrow, it’ll definitely help.

The Nikon Asia links requires a registration, I couldn’t even find it on the Nikon global site, so here’s the link directly to the PDF.

This means that, presumably and subject to tinkering, any of the bodies supported by the SDK and having Live View functionality can also do the same thing. It’s not full resolution (it’s only what the LCD on the camera body would show), but it’s still remarkably decent.

Here’s an example:

Please see his post for another video and more details.

Nikon SDK

[Update: The D3x is NOT included, yet one presumes.]

Some time ago, I read that there actually was a public SDK for Nikon’s newer cameras. When I tried to find it, I got about as far as Leonard Nimoy did during that episode of In Search Of… Big Foot.

Well today I found an article by someone claiming to have taken movies with his D700. I presumed it was a joke and almost skipped it but it’s real.

He claimed to use the SDK and said that it was easy to get a copy. “Yeah, right,” I said and fondly remembered the intervalometer I coded up for my Canon G3 with the very easy to obtain Canon SDK.

But he was right, some time between a couple of years ago when I got my D2x and today, Nikon put up SDK.Nikon.com. All you have to do is fill out the form and you’ll get an emailed link to download SDK libraries for the D40, D60, D90, D200, D300, D3, and D80, for Win2k – Vista, Mac OSX 10.3-4.

You can also get a NEF decoding library for the D1, D1X, D1H, D2X, D2Hs, D2H, D100, D70, D70s, D50, D200, D2Xs, D80, D40, D40X, D3, D300, D60, D700, D90.

This is the LONG WAY from Nikon deciding to encrypt the white balance info on your nef’s and then not playing nice with Adobe and other companies.

As a coder, I’m really glad to hear all of this, I’ve downloaded it but haven’t cracked it open yet.

Keep in mind, if you don’t know what a compiler is, this is all basically useless to you until other people come out with software that uses the libraries.

License: It looks pretty permissive- you CAN make products that compete with Nikon and Nik, etc, which is normally the problem with this sort of thing.

Btw- when you get your link to the DL site, DOWNLOAD EVERYTHING before the session times out, otherwise, the link expires, you have to apply and get an email again!

Nikon D3x Prices Lower in CA

I don’t think I’ve mentioned this yet- last week, I walked into a pawn shop around where I work and saw the random old Canon and Nikon (FM’s mainly), huge Mamiya, and wasn’t too thrilled. Looked a little longer and saw a MINT F’ing F3! The best one I’ve yet seen in person. Looks like grandpa never used it once.

Price? $498.00. Conversation went about like this:

Matt: I’ll give you $250 right now.

Them: No.

Matt: $300.

Them: I don’t think [the owner] will go for that.

Matt: Look- how often is someone going to walk in off of the street, spot a film-body and offer you cash on the spot?

Them: …(unphased)…

Matt: On ebay, I bought one recently in similar condition for $300, you’re not going to do better than that and if you don’t want to sell it to me now, then I’d recommend you sell it on ebay, because no one else is going to walk in and want to buy it.

Them: …(unphased)…

Matt: (leaves)

I can’t quite understand the shop’s way of thinking- presumably they bought the camera with cash and it’s likely sat on the shelf for a while. They’re paying rent and utilities and labor- having inventory sitting on the shelf does nothing to generate income. Also- while their $100 (let’s pretend that’s what they bought it for) is sitting on the shelf in the form of a mint F3, they’re losing the interest they could have been earning on it. A store’s goal is to have as little inventory as practical- they only make money on product turn-over.

I mention this because Brad points out to me that in Canada, the price of the D3x is actually coming down, probably because shops figure it’s better to get a few hundred less on the D3x than nothing at all- inventory sitting around is actually costing you money:

…by last week a number of western Canadian Pro Nikon dealers have dropped the price by $250 and are now advertising the camera at $9199.00. It would seem that the D3x is NOT flying off the shelves in western Canada (an area quite well buffered from the economic malaise hitting almost everywhere else in the world). I haven’t bothered checking, but odds are this is happening right across Canada (both the slow sales and dealer discounts on the D3x).

I’ll be going back to that shop on Friday- maybe I’ll be able to convince them. Likely as not, it’ll be gone and I’ll be kicking myself for letting a near MIB F3hp get past me. Or maybe they’ll see thinks my way- $300 in hand is better than $500 in the form of a camera on the shelf.

Thanks Brad!

This turned me off- speculating and (preferably) getting rumors on Nikon equipment was the main reason I was there. So I stopped bothering and read dpReview instead.

Well we’ve just been told that they will allow a free registration and entry to their forums for a month and then you’ll have to pay $25 (or slightly less with a code) in order to access the forums from then on.

This is the death of Nikonians.

Invariably, sites do this right before they go under in an attempt to recoup costs. But when they have to resort to this, it means they’re about to die anyway because they can’t make enough money from advertisements, and the reduced ad traffic isn’t going to be covered by people paying for the memberships. Then a death-spiral until one day the site merely says they’re gone.

The only workable model yet to be devised for non-pr0n sites like this and Nikonians is: free access, advertisements and referrals bring in money. If your overhead is too high for the money coming in, then you do it because you like it or you shut down.

While their announcement doesn’t specify what their costs are, I’ve read somewhere it was $2m/year, and I can say from experience, if they were spending $2m/year running their website, they have no business being in business.

Circuit City Owes Nikon

Circuit City was a not so great (in my opinion) ‘big-box’ consumer electronics store.

A couple of years ago, they started to do poorly, got a new CEO who then laid-off their best sales people because they were getting paid too much (in his opinion). Shortly after that, they did a lot worse (surprise!) and have been near death until just recently when they’ve gone totally bust.

The last time I visited, around Christmas, I saw a D40(?) and D60 and some crappy kit lenses in barely working order in the their “camera” gulag. Unfortunately, those crappy lenses and low-end bodies and Coolpix’s will likely cost Nikon nearly $15m.

Nikon Price Increases?

Well, we’re seeing a lot of chatter about price increases in February. Specific countries like Australia apparently are getting 15-20% increases soon, the UK has also been mentioned. I haven’t seen anything solid on the US though.

But here’s the thing- the economy’s in toilet right now and it’s not going to climb out any time soon and the Yen’s on the rise. Bad economy means fewer sales, products produced with a strong Yen mean they’re pricier for every other currency, thus higher prices and fewer sales.

Nikon, rightly, expects to do sell less product and do worse than they have during the last few years, so they’ve laid off workers. Laying off workers means they’re combating selling less product. I’d expect to see more layoffs in the future.

But notice that many of their consumer-grade products and lenses are made in China and Thailand. China has a fixed currency exchange rate which keeps it artificially low and Thailand’s Baht has moved down substantially vs the Yen too. So, for the cameras at least, the strength of the Yen should have less an impact than you would expect.

This means they’re combating both a stronger yen and few sales.

So predictions: I would be a bit surprised to see significant price hikes for countries whose currency hasn’t declined a lot vs the Yen (that would exclude Australia), and I’d be just as surprised to see a world-wide increase in the price of the D3x (as I’ve seen a lot of chatter about).

The D3x is already too pricey, and unless it’s been flying off the shelves, there’s no reason I can see to make it more expensive. So I’m betting that the prices (in the US anyway) for the D3x will stay the same.

But you know what they say and predicting the future- you only do it if you want to prove yourself a fool…

Nikon D3/D700 Firmware Updates

Sorry I’m late to this one. No reports on issues with the update that I’ve seen:

D3 for Windows here

The following improvements have been made in version 2.01

- Geodetic information is now displayed in ViewNX Ver. 1.2.0 or later and Capture NX 2 Ver. 2.1.0 or later for images captured with the GPS Unit GP-1 mounted on the camera.
- Autofocus-response performance in focus mode C (Continuous-servo AF mode) with relatively dark subjects has been increased.
- When the AF-ON button is pressed, the monitor turns off and a focus point can now be selected using the multiselector.

- Photo information displayed in full-frame playback has been modified as follows:
HI-, LO- has been changed to Hi, Lo
WARM TONE has been changed to WARM FILTER
COLOR CUSTOM has been changed to COLOR BALANCE

- Manamah, displayed in the Time zone options for the World time item in the setup menu, has been changed to Manama.
- An issue that, in extremely rare cases, resulted in noticeable black dots in images captured with Long exp. NR in the shooting menu set to On has been resolved.
- When the Speedlight SB-800 was mounted on the camera with flash mode set to Distance-priority manual (GN) mode, and then the exposure meters were reactivated or the camera was turned on, the distance information displayed on the SB-800 changed.  This issue has been resolved.
- An issue that, in some rare cases, caused images captured with the following lenses to be under-exposed, has been resolved.
AF-S VR Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED
AF VR Zoom-Nikkor 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6D ED (5.0x)

I’m interested to see how the black dots issue has been resolved- I’ve seen this on every exposure >8 seconds or so that I’ve taken at night. I figured it was due to the dark-frame subtraction of HOT pixels, maybe they’re detecting the hot pixels and not quite doing an exact subtraction. The effect was noticeable enough that for any shot that I cared about, I had to do PP to fix it.

D700 for Windows here

The following improvements have been made in version 1.01

- When Custom Setting a4 Focus tracking with lock-on was set to Off in Continuous-servo AF, the lens drive moved gradually without achieving focus.  This issue has been resolved.
- When the Speedlight SB-800 was mounted on the camera with flash mode set to Distance-priority manual (GN) mode, and then the exposure meters were reactivated or the camera was turned on, the distance information displayed on the SB-800 changed.  This issue has been resolved.
- When the Multi-Power Battery Pack MB-D10 was mounted on the camera and an EN-EL3e battery inserted in the camera but no batteries inserted in the MB-D10, and SB-900 flash mode set to TTL auto flash mode, the flash mode changed to A mode when the exposure meters turned off or were reactivated, or the camera was turned off or on.  This issue has been resolved.  (This issue has also been resolved with SB-900 firmware Ver. 5.02.)
- An issue that, in extremely rare cases, resulted in noticeable black dots in images captured with Long exp. NR in the shooting menu set to On has been resolved.
- Manamah, displayed in the Time zone options for the World time item in the setup menu, has been changed to Manama.

Basically the same as the D3 except with a battery pack issue.

Nikon-When to buy

In case you didn’t know- there’s another Nikon site out there that maintains a list of where they expect the prices for various bodies and Nikkor lenses to go and when you should buy.

Let’s get this straight: in general, the longer you wait to buy something the less it’s going to cost, with few exceptions.

The main exception is whacky currency fluctuations. The current economy is doing strange things and that’s why we’re seeing Nikon prices tending upward.

The Yen has gone up ~11% vs the USD since the D3 became widely available. Nearly 17% versus the Australian dollar, not quite doubled (if I’m reading the graphs correctly) vs the British Pound, and up >20% vs the Euro.

Recent headlines regarding Yen include: “Nikkei may hover before US data, yen rise a worry” , “Japanese Yen May Strengthen On Declining Global Outlook“, and “Japanese Yen Makes Gains Against Euro, Majors Following Unexpected BOJ Rate Cut“.

Keep in mind though, that currencies fluctuate, meaning that the current runup in the Yen can also go the other way, if you’re being priced out of the market, you might as well wait if the increase is painful to you.

Secondary exceptions are mainly relegated to scarcity and the “Only pro’s can afford this”-tax. Basically, that 600mm Nano VR2 lens you had your eye on is probably not ever going to see any appreciable price reduction. Why? Because “Only Pros Buy This.” That is- businesses that need it can afford it. Amateurs like me generally won’t bother.

Nikon D3x vs Nikon D3 on Noise

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but a bit ago, PBase put up a quick comparison between the Nikon D3x noise and the D3’s noise.

Apparently, the D3 is the low-noise Emperor while the D3x does a respectable job, especially given its megapixel count.

From quickly looking at the shots from the D3x, you produce (what looks to me) like a much sharper shot at a NR setting of “Low” than you’d get without any NR. But that might just be their setup.

I don’t control the advertisers that Google feeds this site.

Some of them will be unscrupulous.

If the price is looks too good to be true – guess what? Either you will avoid that advertiser, or your momma raised a sucker.

One guy actually went around taking pictures of some of these places- guess what kind of operation you might be buying from?

From the previous post:

A Word About Advertisers- Warning.

On many sites, and even this one (because I don’t control what ads Google feeds me) you will see things like “D2xs Camera Kit- $999!!!!!”.

It’s just like your momma told you- if the price is too good to be true, then it’s not true.

If you see ridiculously low prices like this, it means that it’ll likely be imported (Nikon only warrants their stuff if you buy within your own country, with very few exceptions), they’ll not sell you the whole thing- you might get the body then they’ll tell you that it doesn’t include the battery, etc, they might REQUIRE you to spend a wad of money on crappy lenses, they will probably make you wait months before shipping anything (because you didn’t buy their lenses- you’ll eventually cancel your order), etc.

Deal with a reputable outfit only.

That’s why when I go to NYC or I need a big purchase, I deal with B&H Photo Video. While yes, I will probably join their affiliate system, I’m only recommending them because I use them and never have had any undue problems with them.

If I ever have any trouble with them, I will tell you about it. If you’ve ever had any issues with them, please leave a comment or mail me directly, I’d like to know about it.

Nikon Australia Dealer Price List

I’ve run businesses (small ones) so I do understand the costs associated with providing things for the public to buy, especially when your business is located in Manhattan, and I’m ok with paying reasonable markups. But I think it’s also reasonable to know how much I’m being taken for.

That’s why my little heart filled with a small amount of joy when Tim forwarded me a spreadsheet that he got from Nikon Australia with both the manufacturer’s recommended price and the wholesale dealer prices!

Here’s the full price list (xls) with markup added.

What’s the upshot?

* Coolpixs: You’re paying 19% margin

* Bodies: D3, D3x kits ~14%, consumer-grade bodies like D60 kit ~18%

* Still like film? That’ll cost you. That F6 you were looking at? 16%. FM10 26%!

* Lenses: almost uniformly 22% markup. Some are 18%, exotic pro stuff is 14% except the 300mm f/2.8 which is 22%.

* Flashes are basically 25%. If you lose any of those flash accesories and you’ll pay anywhere from 30 to 100+%!

* Binoculars are ~30%

* Chargers are roughly 50% in most cases

* Batteries range from 30-82% for an en-el8!

* Eyepieces (diopter adjustment, etc) at nearly uniformly 100%

* Filters- 30-60%

* Lens hoods- almost all 100%

Thanks Tim!

Which means that there may be some hiccups now and then, no need for alarm.

But you’ve got no time and a pair of:

PC-E Tilt/Shift Axis Change

And you’re all like, “Whatever, I do what I want!” Well, just 4 screws and a 90′ twist and you can conveniently do it at home– MotifNation shows you how!

In fact, it looks so easy, you might wonder why Nikon didn’t make it possible to do on the fly without removing the screws.

Some comments by people who’ve done this here. The screwdriver has been reported to be a Phillips #000 and you might want to use some less-adhesive loctite before you put the screws back if you intend to keep it that way.

It reportedly costs $126 to have Nikon perform the same process.

Canon 5D MarkII vs Nikon D700

Photography Bay has a really quick noise comparison between the Nikon D700 and the Canon 5D Mark II.

No huge surprise, the Nikon does better all around in my view, but this is clearly meant as a cheeseball comparison.

(Hat-tip to Leonardo)

Nikon 14-24mm vs Zeiss 21mm - Comparison /Review

David Clapps pixel-peeps the Zeiss 21mm ZF lens and compares it to the Nikon 14-24mm. Zeiss lenses are generally considered to be great and the 14-24mm has been considereding amazing for a zoom.

While I love my Zeiss lenses, you have to give it to the 14-24mm, it either matches or clocks the the Zeiss everywhere after f/2.8.

Nikkor 50mm f/1.4g AF-S Review

If you follow Ken at all, he’s got a review of the 50mm AF-S f/1.4g up now.

Oh and look! His kid’s growing up You’d expect a guy like Ken to take some more interesting test shots than pictures of his son… At least if he wants to maintain my interest.

The only gotchas are that this new lens has more barrel distortion than the old 50mm f/1.4 AF-D, it has a weird 58mm (not standard 52mm) filter size, and that this new lens is useless on Nikons made before about 1990.

Oh hey, wait a minute- MORE barrel distortion? That’s not cool.

I’m getting sharp, haze-free shots dead-on in-focus at f/1.4 on all of my cameras, where at f/1.4 my old 50/1.4 AF-D often had more veil, bloom or glow (what scientists call spherical aberration) in real shots.

…

This new AF-S 50 has more linear distortion than any other fixed Nikon 50mm ever made.

Ha:

Complain about kid pictures all you want, but unlike shooting Formula One racing or American hero Lance Armstrong, you don’t know where the kid is going next. Just try getting an in-focus shot without AF.

Nikon D3x Noise / Sample Shots / Review

Imaging Resources has some great test shots with the Nikon D3x here.

Lots of difference shutter / aperture combo’s, include standard color charts, etc, gray background this time instead of blue.

ISO 3200 on the D3x in these shots (for example) still looks like a “only when required’ setup and I’m sure it’s meant to be- who’s shooting a high-res camera meant for the studio at 3200? Even the landscape guys don’t need to go that high (I’m thinking).

3200 seems like ~800 on the d2x and something closer to 6400 on the D3 (I rarely shoot that high, I’m likely wrong on this guess)?

Nikon D3x Noise / Sample Shots / Review

iZyz has some still-life studio shots of a doll at all of the Nikon D3x’s ISO speeds.

No noise reduction claimed, no post.

Impressions- without NR, you won’t want to go above 200 iso if you don’t have to. Expose to the right. 3200 iso is only if you can’t get the shop any other way- but you’d be silly to use the D3x at 3200- that’s what the D3’s for.

Changes? Some minor crash fixes, some minor bug fixes, D3x support added.

Full list:

Modifications enabled with 2.1.1:

• Support for RAW images captured with the D3X has been added.
• When images containing GPS information captured with another manufacturer’s digital camera were opened, GPS information was not displayed. This issue has been resolved.
• When RAW images captured with another manufacturer’s lens and the camera’s Vignette control item in the shooting menu set to any option other than Off were opened, Capture NX 2 sometimes froze. This issue has been resolved.
• When attempting to open 1-bit monochrome TIFF (LZW) images, Capture NX 2 quit unexpectedly. This issue has been resolved.
• When attempting to open some images saved in NEF format using Nikon Capture or Capture NX v1.x, Capture NX 2 quit unexpectedly. This issue has been resolved.
• When images were opened in Capture NX 2 v2.0.0 or v2.0.1 with which optional Picture Controls were not installed, and an image Picture Control setting was modified and then a settings file saved, Picture Control settings were not accurately reflected when the settings file was applied to images later opened in Capture NX 2 v2.1.0 with which optional Picture Controls were installed. This issue has been resolved.
• When attempting to save enhancements applied to images in some system environments, the enhancements were not saved. This issue has been resolved.
• When multiple images were opened and white balance adjusted for each image using the Set Gray Point option under White Balance in the Camera Settings palette, an error message was displayed when clicking on the image after clicking the Start button. This issue has been resolved.
• When Color Noise Reduction under Noise Reduction was adjusted and the image saved in NEF format, Color Noise Reduction effects were removed when the image was again opened and the Noise Reduction check box unchecked and then checked again when logged in to a Windows user account with a user name containing 2-byte characters. This issue has been resolved.

I mention this for 2 reasons:

1) It’s a hard lens to find in stock because they only make them in batches a few times a year. Nikon does this with all their high-end glass.

2) If you like this site and want to throw a couple of bucks my way to encourage me to continue, you can click a B&H ad on this site (like at the top of the main page) and then complete the order. This way, they know if came from my site and I get a couple of bucks thrown back to me.

They also have the PC-E lenses in stock.

Why do I like B&H? If they say it’s in stock, it’s in stock. If they say it’s $XX, it’s $XX. There isn’t any funny business.

Btw- Remember that thrill you had as a kid when you got to go to ToysRUs or some similar toy store? If you’re ever in Manhattan, go to their store- you’ll get that same feeling if you’re into cameras or video or lighting, etc- they’ve got it all in stock for you to take a look at and play with.

Bob wrote me to ask if the much-loved Nikkor 80-400mm wanted its VR turned off while on a tripod. Ya know what I told him? RTFM! That was the lesson that Brad was trying to teach us yesterday.

Thankfully, Brad did read the f’ing manual (and told me, because I was too lazy to do it for him):

The 80-400 manual says, and I quote exactly:

“When the lens is mounted on a tripod, set the vibration reduction switch to OFF. Set the vibration reduction switch to ON, when using a monopod or if the lens is mounted on a tripod without the head being locked in place.”

Thanks Brad!

As I explained to Brad, and the actual reason that I put up anything on this topic is because the differences between having it on while on the tripod and turning it off were so pronounced!

Matt,

Your entry entitled “On Tripod? VR OFF! Comparison Shots is over-simplified to the point of being extremely misleading.

In short, whether or not you should turn off the VR function when mounted on a tripod varies with the lens. And, it also varies with how sturdy your tripod is and whether or not the head is tightened down. One thing that contributes to the confusion is how poorly it is expressed in the manuals (and, I have found a few typos in the VR sections of the  manuals, which compounds the problems).

Here’s the situation with the VR lenses I currently own and have tested (and when mounted  on a firm tripod with head tightened down):

1. 105 mm VR Micro: Turn VR off when on tripod (as stated in manual)

2. 200 mm f2 VR: Turn VR off when on tripod (as stated in manual – albeit in a  confusing fashion)

3. 300 mm f2.8 VR: Turn VR off when on tripod (as stated in manual)

4. 200-400 mm f4 VR: A-Ok to leave VR on when on tripod (as stated in manual) BUT ensure VR is in “Normal” mode (not active mode)

5. 600 mm f4 VR: Recommended to leave VR on when on tripod (as stated in manual) BUT  ensure VR is in “Tripod” mode – unless you are panning (as in following a bird) with a firm gimbal head (like a Wimberley).

Because of the poor performance of the 70-200 f2.8 VR on the full frame cameras, I have  recently jettisoned this lens and manual and can’t (without downloading the PDF manual) easily confirm what the manual says about this lens. But from my experience with it is that when firmly mounted on tripod you get better performance with the VR OFF.

I don’t expect (or care) if you post this info, but it would probably help a LOT of people if you amend the current info to include the point that the VR ON vs. VR OFF issue varies with the lens (and if people carefully read their manuals there would be no controversy!).

Yours in tack sharp images…

Brad
_
Brad Hill
Natural Art Images
www.naturalart.ca

No Jello- static shot:

But the Fuhrer has some good points here:

Hilter Rants on D3x

On tripod - VR OFF!

The manuals for VR lenses states that if you’ve got the lens on a tripod, you should turn VR off. I’ve read in various places that this is because of possible damage to the VR mechanism, but that’s generally regarded as BS. You’re also supposed to let the VR motors turn off before removing the lens, I doubt this too but haven’t seen anything authoritative.

But I’ve never tried test shots of a VR lens on a tripod with VR on vs off, but David Dyer-Bennet has and we’re the better for it.

Check out his ‘on vs off’ photos and it’s completely clear that the VR has to be turned off if you’re on a tripod.

Shots of fruit here.

…i think the Contrast is a lot better, wide open than the old one was.

Shots of cats with the 50mm f/1.4g AF-S are currently scarce, but I expect to  see bunches landing any day now. blech. Ugh- 2 seconds after posting this, I find a dog thread. Really- why can’t we take pictures of hot chicks with new lenses?

Comparisons between the older AF-D and the new AF-S here. Definitely better at f/1.4 provided the guy’s AF-D wasn’t a bad copy.

Since I only have the f/1.8, I wonder how they compare…