Nikon mirrorless launch expected September 21, 2011

Bruce wrote in
:

There is apparently less than three weeks to go to the announcement of
Nikon's mirrorless system. The system is based on a sensor smaller
than Micro Four Thirds (MFT).

The Nikon mirrorless system will have an effective focal length
multiplier of 2.7 compared to full frame/25mm film. The MFT sensor
has an a multiplier of 2.0.

From a sensor perspective, it's:
1. Sony NEX and Fuji
2. m4/3rds and Samsung
3. Nikon
4. Pentax

Nikon must be hoping that the small sensor will prevent the new system
doing much damage to the strong market for Nikon's entry level DSLRs.
The launch will include two camera bodies and four lenses, including a
pancake and a superzoom.


Cynical and stupid of them. If the world goes for these, they'll only
suffer. They've made mistakes before that cost them the number 1 spot.
Lets hope they don't do it again.

Bruce wrote:
wrote:
wrote in
:

There is apparently less than three weeks to go to the announcement of
Nikon's mirrorless system. The system is based on a sensor smaller
than Micro Four Thirds (MFT).

The Nikon mirrorless system will have an effective focal length
multiplier of 2.7 compared to full frame/25mm film. The MFT sensor
has an a multiplier of 2.0.

From a sensor perspective, it's:
1. Sony NEX and Fuji
2. m4/3rds and Samsung


In your opinion, perhaps. But in the marketplace, a Samsung CSC with
a 20 MP APS-C sensor ranks somewhere between a 16 MP Sony NEX-5N and a
24 MP Sony NEX-7.


3. Nikon
4. Pentax


The Pentax Q system is a joke. Coupled with the Ricoh takeover, this
system suggests that Pentax has entered terminal decline.


Nikon must be hoping that the small sensor will prevent the new system
doing much damage to the strong market for Nikon's entry level DSLRs.
The launch will include two camera bodies and four lenses, including a
pancake and a superzoom.


Cynical and stupid of them. If the world goes for these, they'll only
suffer. They've made mistakes before that cost them the number 1 spot.
Lets hope they don't do it again.


You cannot deny that a CSC with a 2.7X sensor is unlikely to do too
much damage to the strong market for Nikon's entry level DSLRs.

If it was a success, there would be no need to protect DSLR sales. I'd
guess they actually think a CSC is not worth designing for 4/3 or larger
but it's easy enough to come up with an interchangeable lens "P&S"
small-sensor model at a price that makes sense for that market.


That
would appear to the basis of Nikon's decision. Time alone will tell
whether the Nikon CSCs will be a commercial success in their own
right.

I wouldn't consider buying one, and I imagine you wouldn't either, but
we are not in Nikon's target market which is people upgrading from a
point and shoot digicam with a tiny, noisy sensor.

All we need now is for Sigma to offer lenses for the new Nikon format.
;-)

Bruce wrote:
Paul wrote:
Bruce wrote:
wrote:
Cynical and stupid of them. If the world goes for these, they'll only
suffer. They've made mistakes before that cost them the number 1 spot.
Lets hope they don't do it again.
You cannot deny that a CSC with a 2.7X sensor is unlikely to do too
much damage to the strong market for Nikon's entry level DSLRs.

If it was a success, there would be no need to protect DSLR sales.

That's a good point.

I'd guess they actually think a CSC is not worth designing for 4/3 or larger
but it's easy enough to come up with an interchangeable lens "P&S"
small-sensor model at a price that makes sense for that market.

I think Nikon would probably have made an APS-C CSC if that market
wasn't already well served by Sony and Samsung. The problem is, what
could Nikon offer that was genuinely new and different and would not
damage the profitable sales of Nikon's APS-C DSLRs?

Yeah, it's a big step and Nikon is conservative, so will want to take
their time and do it right. So this could be just a little fluff fill-in
to bide their time.

Full frame wouldn't be an option for Nikon because of high cost, so
the only way to go was smaller. A 2.7X multiplier is only slightly
smaller than Micro Four Thirds,

1/2.7 = 0.37
24 x 36 - 8 x 13 sensor
50mm - 18mm normal lens

Should make a nice compact. Can nice lenses be made for that for a
reasonable price which are significantly better than the very capable
P&S lenses though? This really does reach the point where it wouldn't be
very useful to adapt other lenses like people do with m4/3, assuming it
has a high pixel count.

hmmm...
800mm wildlife super tele - 300mm
-that's still a pretty big lens compared to what P&S super-zooms can do
with their tiny sensors.


and Nikon's sensors are likely to be
significantly better than Panasonic's,

Better than m4/3? I don't get the sense that m4/3 is all that much
better than P&S for not much less cost than an entry level DSLR and this
will be an even smaller margin but maybe there is potential for better
special purpose lenses to actually provide value, or maybe they can
actually design the lenses to be *small* so the camera is small, unlike
NEX or even m4/3. If not, it's just marketing crap.


so class-leading image quality
is a distinct possibility, all without damaging the profitability of
Nikon's APS-C DSLRs. It's a gamble, but probably one worth taking.

Meanwhile, Pentax went smaller still. Much smaller. The Q System
sensor is ridiculously small

1/2.3" - crop factor 5.62 - half the size of this Nikon rumor.


and cannot ever hope to compete on image
quality with any existing CSCs, nor with Nikon's. So Nikon has a
niche all its own, but still with the probability of matching, and
possibly beating Panasonic and Olympus for IQ.

The two remaining questions are, where will Canon and Leica position
their CSCs? Information leaked from Canon suggests a sensor around
the size of Four Thirds, or slightly smaller, with a 3:2 aspect ratio.
Leica's own statements show their intention is to fit a sensor to
their CSC that is APS-C size or larger. Full frame hasn't been ruled
out. One of its key markets is people who own Leica R System lenses
for which Leica doesn't currently offer a digital solution. This
won't be a mass market product.

Nikon should go that route :-)