Nikon announce DX digital lenses

[ckiang]

Quote: Originally posted by Jed So exactly what year are you living in now? That just puts the rest of your post into perspective really...

He's in 1956. Post-war.

Regards
CK

[Jed]

Quote: Originally posted by ckiang He's in 1956. Post-war.

Really? I'm not sure, my history of Leica needs brushing up. But certainly close enough to 1956, cause Leica is still on the technological cutting edge in his world!

[denizenx]

ok lah, dun think the d100's are getting phased out soon... the D1xh also smaller sensors right? still got old mkt, and definitely a bigger niche than the 8mm fisheye or similar weird lenses.
IFF Canon does the same thing soon then the Olydak will be a dead oily duck in the water...

[Wai]

hmm...which means those who have both Nikon film body and Digital body will probably ended up buying two sets of lenses...and also the market for DX lenses should be smaller becos majority are still using film body....which means buying and selling in second hand market won't be that easy

[Darren]

tsk tsk tsk ... Boon Hwee aka Red Dawn ... just raring to get a flame bbq session going eh eh eh ....

Quote: So when full frame SLRs take over the world, what are you doing to do with these special lenses which are nothing more than stop gap measures designed for instant gratification in the digital world?

I will be happily taking pictures with my HF-DSLR with the DX lenses, just as I was happily taking pictures with my manual focus Nikkors when the AF revolution was going on.

Quote: You can expect only a short delay before full frame SLRs become widely available and affordable. That development will make your investment in DX lenses moot, just like those IX Nikkor lenses.

Yes, we can definitely expect FF-DSLRs to drop in price and be more readily available, but correspondingly, I will also expect HF-DSLRs prices to drop. And guess where the MAJORITY of the volume and profits are going to come from -- i am willing to bet that the market for HF-DSLRs like the D30/D60, D100, S1/S2 will explode when the price point is less than US$1.5K (and we are not far from that price point today). Like you mentioned, can encounter DSLR users everywhere in Singapore today - thats because HF-DSLR pricing is in the "affordable" range. Expect that to continue and increase in fact.

Quote: Noise free images, tons of resolution, some pple are beginning to wonder if the 1Ds is now lens limited.

Today, can already get noise-free images from the current crop of HF-DSLs. As for resolution, how much is enough or how much is too much? I find 6Mpix enough even for printing to A3 size.

Quote: And here we have Nikon going back to smaller sensors. Wait, what did we learn from small sensors in consumer digicams? the more megapixels you squeeze, the noiser the image gets.

eh hello?? what do u mean "going back"? And don't compare consumer digicam fingernail-sized CCDs with the DSLRs 24x16mm CCDs/CMOSes - its like comparing a one-room HDB flat with the Istana leh .... end up confusing ppl only. And IMO, i think can still squeeze in a couple more Mpix into HF-DSLR before noise limitations occur - see the doubling of resolution from the D30 to D60 and the D1 to D1x with essentially the same imager size.

End of the day, I think that this is a positive development for Nikon-based HF-DSLR users (those users that can afford a FF-DSLR can bloody well afford the normal range of lenses anyway).

I wonder when Leica will be coming out with a DSLR ... hmmm ... oh wait, they don't even have an AF SLR or even an AF rangefinder yet ... wooo ... and their digicam, well, the less said the better ..... ok ok ignore very obvious flame-bait.

[Larry]

Quote: Originally posted by Red Dawn *dons firemen steel helmet, abestos lined hazard suit, oxygen mask, rubber boots*

hey, you do realize that makes you look like the flame-thrower wielding joker from the intro action sequence in Lethal Weapon 4.... make the rubber boots yellow and you look like the PCK from hell....

[denizenx]

Quote: Originally posted by Wai hmm...which means those who have both Nikon film body and Digital body will probably ended up buying two sets of lenses...and also the market for DX lenses should be smaller becos majority are still using film body....which means buying and selling in second hand market won't be that easy

heh why shd nikon worry about ur used mkt?
as for film + digital, the one introduced is to cover the wide angle for digi, i.e. same as full fisheye on the film...
and how bad is the vignette? if I can get a f2.0 600mm about the size of a 300 f4, I'd happily crop my film.

[xmen1977]

Quote: Originally posted by Wai hmm...which means those who have both Nikon film body and Digital body will probably ended up buying two sets of lenses...and also the market for DX lenses should be smaller becos majority are still using film body....which means buying and selling in second hand market won't be that easy

hmmm
so anyone glad to a canon user?

[YSLee]

Red Dawn, you've overlooked market realities. On the other hand, like most dpreview people, you're free to rant from your own little perspective of the world.

[Kho King]

there are two group of people (none is wrong or better than the other), one is Canon minded (moving to full frame D-SLR, maintain the full compatibility with all the current lenses ~ Red Dawn), one is Nikon minded, creating another series of lenses, specially for digital SLR = Darren...etc.

I kind of don't like what Nikon did now...another series of lenses? Can't use the lens for my current 35mm? Err...worse than the G lens announcement...

[serendipity]

Hi all. I would like to voice my humble thoughts

Can all still remember Olympus did mentioned something about a new standard in SLR, the 4/3 standard in Photokina 2002? I thought it is very close to Nikon DX lenses idea. Smaller lens image just to cover the smaller non-full size sensor and still achieveing 1x multiplying factor. So i think Nikon has a head start over the others.

And from that moment (together with the appearance of the full-frame sensor from Kodak and Canon that claims to get closer to the medium format film camera), i thought that in the future, the DSLR market might split into two cost range.

1) The more expensive full-frame sensor which uses the conventional 35mm lens system that alot of professional people had invested will continue to delight the professional photographer.

2) The less expensive smaller than full-frame sensor for the amatuer market. Where amatuer wanted SLR control but will not want to spend too much on a full-frame camera. Then there is when the cheaper (maybe?) DX lenses come into the picture.

So the conclusion i draw is:

1) Those who wanted a full-frame sensor picture quality and wanted to continue to use the conventional 35mm lens collection can wait for the full-frame DSLR's price to stablise, but don't expect it to be as cheap as the non-full-frame camera.

2) Those who don't want to spend on full-frame DSLR, can go ahead to use the DX lenses, as their are meant for you guys.

3) Nikon want both the upper and the lower market.

All mentioned is my personnal view, so don't take it to serious. OK time to dig shelther and prepare for bombardment

[Larry]

my own 2 cents worth - i'm quite interested in the 12-24mm actually, if the price is reasonable. it means i can finally use my DSLR for ultra-wide angles (which i've been hunting for sometime now). the only factor for me is that i can't use it inter-changeably with my flim SLR.

on the point of G lens, actually i don't really see the stigma behind the "G" label. it just means the lens doesn't have a aperture ring (which the older nikon models can't use), nothing else. it's nothing to do with quality of the optics, that's ED glass, optics type, even aperture size, among other things. the soon-to-be launched (i hope) 70-200 f/2.8 VR is a G lens too, but it's still highly anticipated. besides, all the new G lenses are AF-S, which is a big bonus IMHO. so people, look at the specs and results pls, not the labels. G lens doesn't necessarily mean consumer-grade lens...

[Darren]

serendipity,
you have hit the nail right on the head!

Nikon is playing the market segmentation game and giving each segment what it needs (and in so doing, making more $$).

Now all we have to do is wait and see what Nikon has to offer as their FF-DSLR (which in fact, technical and loosely speaking, they already have with the Kodak DSC-14n).

[Darren]

Larry,
Fully agree with you - the new DX lens probably will find a place in my camera bag. As for using it with film SLR, err ... the truth is my poor film SLR has been neglected ever since i started shooting digital.

But looking at it from another point of view, I know of ppl (quite a number actually) who jumped in immediately at the DSLR level with no prior accumulation of equipment so to these group of ppl, its a moot point. And a lot of buyers today are "upgrading" from consumer digicams, so again, these ppl have no prior accumulation.

Also agree with you on the G lens moniker - the 24-85G is a mighty fine lens and i have no doubt the upcoming 70-200G will be too. Undoubtedly, Nikon did a marketing boo-boo with the first few G lenses meant for the beginner/consumer market but the new G lenses are far, far better.

[YSLee]

Heh, just to add, how many of you use a Contax N camera with Zeiss medium format glass? Think it's crazy? That's what you're doing with your 35mm glass on your DSLR.

[denizenx]

so the cameras of the future is handphone sized? while the purists would be carrying stingers and mistrals?

I for one wd like canon to come out with oily duck lenses too... FF just means bigger everything.. and the d60 already has enough resolution... the cameras of old were like large -> medium -> 35mm -> APS.. just that APS failed due to pricing strategy (kinda like 3G phones)... cos the film grain is getting finer too with each new emulsion...

I also think that having a film backup body is a non-pt.. more like legacy body..

G lenses are full elec ones huh?

[Darren]

Quote: Originally posted by denizenx G lenses are full elec ones huh?

G lenses are not fully electronic - the aperture stop-down is still activated by a mechanical method using springs and levers.

[erwinx]

The (fantasy?) future:


DSLRs will have full frame 16Mp+ 35mm sensors BUT:

They will have an option to go into 1.5x DX lens compatible mode. In this mode only the cropped 1.5x image is captured and sent to memory card, thus speeding up write times and frame rates. Multi-pattern metering is also adjusted to take into account the smaller image circle.

So in the studio (or the Zoo), weddings, etc, you can use full frame CCD with your big heavy 35mm glass. In this case, the DSLR replaces the medium format camera.

But when you go out hiking, sports photography, you bring along your 500 f/2.8 DO DX IS VR USM AF-S superlight lens with camera set to '1.5x mode', since you don't really need medium format quality....

[denizenx]

Quote: Originally posted by Darren G lenses are not fully electronic - the aperture stop-down is still activated by a mechanical method using springs and levers.

but set only via the cmd dial?

[Kho King]

pardon me...if there is FF D-SLR, 1.5x factor can be done (just cropping) in photoshop later, right?