Anybody care to speculate on what Nikon USA will announce on June 15?

Another APS body?

The newly patented longer focal length macro lens with vibration reduction?

N70 Special Edition with Moose Peterson's signature on the front?

Let's have some fun with this, while we hope and pray for the best!

-- Stanley McManus (Stanshooter@yahoo.com), June 10, 1999

Answers

Okay, I'll leave this speculation/wish list thread until June 16th. Have fun, but be nice - no jabs from us Canon folks, okay?

-- Brad (bhutcheson@iname.com), June 11, 1999.

Well, it seems this thread has become a "What Nikon INTRODUCED on June 15th" thread, instead of speculation. Since it is now a little more relevant for the long term, I guess I have to leave it. Sigh.

-- Brad (bhutcheson@iname.com), June 16, 1999.

After replacing the F4 with the F5, the N90 with the F100, the N50 with the N60, Nikon finally answers my prayer and introduces the N80. Basic N70 with faster AF, DOF preview and multiple exposure capability - $499. Ahhh, finally!!! Oh, I almost forgot. They also anounce a $500 rebate on their 80-200 AF-S.

Yeah - dream on.

-- Volker Stiller (stiller@biology.utah.edu), June 10, 1999.

My guess would be a replacement for the N70 and maybe a couple of lenses. or maybe a F100 with MLU and a little metal in the back door locking mechanism instead of plastic.(Already talked with a camera store manager that had one break on a demo. $350 to replace the back door - Sheesh!!!)

-- Gary Wilson (gwilson@ffca.com), June 10, 1999.

Still haven't decided Stanley?

-- Costas Dimitropoulos (costas@udel.edu), June 10, 1999.

...100mm tilt-shift lens...

-- Eric James (eajames@u.washington.edu), June 10, 1999.

You can tell I am bored with my job because I spend so much time on websites like this. My guess would be another camera body, the N80. It will have the same basic shape as the F100 (and in case you didn't notice, the N60). The control layout will be similiar, more simplified, with control dial(s) on the right, more ergonomic. It should have DOF preview, probably built-in diopter adjustment. Lenses? Would be nice to see a 300mm f4.

-- Jim Meyer (jim_meyer@compusa.com), June 11, 1999.

Thank you to our leader for leaving this thread for a few more days. For some perverse reason I find such speculations fun and often humourous.

Another suggested new product is extension tubes that allow for matrix metering and even autofocus. Radical idea, right?

While I sort of have decided it is a tenative decision. Basically, there is a rather long time interval until I actually make the purchase and, thus, I am willing to consider any and all future changes and revise the tentative decision. The reality is that works keeps me so busy that my old manual everything gear is quite satisfactory for the foreseeable future. As the Rolling Stones once sang "Time is on my side".

-- STanley McManus (stanshooter@yahoo.com), June 11, 1999.

You guys just don't get it. It has to be something "big." Something Nikon is sure a lot of people will care about. Sorry, a fix for design faux pas like the F100 MLU and plastic back wouldn't be the sort of thing they'd even want to draw attention to. Neither would extension tubes that work. Most people wouldn't even know what an extension tube is. Same thing for the tilt-shift lens. No, I think Nikon is going to announce their reponse to Canon's IS (Image Stabilization) technology. I don't know what it will be though, maybe all F5s will come with one of those Kenyon gyro stabilizers welded to the tripod socket.

-- Pete Dickson (dickson.pn@pg.com), June 11, 1999.

Too much to hope for: a new t/s bellows, a new body below the F100 w/DOF preview, digital backs for film bodies (damn it! it must be possible!), the macro i/s, or some new LF lenses or price breaks on the same.

What I'm expecting: F3 or FM2n discontinued, replacement for the N90s and N70 lacking DOF preview, more AFS lenses (read: more lenses which cost $500 more than the old version for very limited gain).

I wish I lusted after new 35mm Nikon stuff. I don't. I find that Nikon's interesting innovations, which I'm interested in buying, were all made years ago. I really want an action finder. I really want a tilt/shift bellows. I really want the IR/UV speedlight. Two of these are discontinued! All would allow me some luxury in making certain types of photography easier (for me)!

-- John O'Connell (oconnell@siam.org), June 11, 1999.

Optimistic: Image stabilization lenses, version of F100 with MLU, N80 replacement for N70 with DOF preview and better ergonomics. A 75-150 2.8 AF lens (high in quality but light weight).

Pessimistic: A strap, similar to a lens-cap keeper, for lenses used with N70, N60. When you achieve DOF preview on N70 by pressing the lens release and turning the lens in the mount, the strap will save the lens if you go too far and drop it.

-- Hector Javkin (h.javkin@ieee.org), June 11, 1999.

Four announcements, buit no replacement for the N70, to wit:

1) Surprise! The Nikon FM3, adding aperture priority autoexposure, three metering modes, plus matrix and plain TTL flash metering to the stalwart FM2n. Still works in all-manual mode if batteries are exhausted. Say adieu to the beloved F3HP.

2) No surprise: a D version of the 300 f4 AF.

3) 2.8 megapixel digital SLR based on the Pronea, $1495

4) Nikon's image stabilisation is still vaporware until 2000.

Or, what the heck, maybe just a new line of lens caps in four wacky, zany colors with embossed characters from "Star Wars: Episode 1."

-- Jim Gifford (jgifford@ix.netcom.com), June 11, 1999.

Boy, this is a tough crowd. A lot of creativity shown here and a lot of fun! I only hope the Nikon crew is reading this as well. I would like to see a number of these suggestions although the gyro welded to the F5 is pretty far out.

Another couple of days and we will see what they have up their sleve.

Good shooting!

-- Peter Bick (Bick@iquest.net), June 11, 1999.

Given that Nikon recently has been producing a large quantity of zooms, and that the Joe. Q. Public wants a wuderzoom, I will speculate that it is a re-bagged Tamron 28-300 paper weight.

Yep, seems that Nikon has left us hard core prime guys out in the cold.

By the way, where is the 300mm, f4-D, or a some what reasonable 400mm f4 D lens?

John

-- John Purdy (jpurdy@netwurx.net), June 12, 1999.

Sorry folks I know what it is...

It's the newF101. Same as the F100, but for a limited time, it's absolutely free and will be the collector's issue of the F100.

-- Habib (poorhabib@hotmail.com), June 13, 1999.

I guess I'll chip in as well. I think it's going to be that 75-240mm f/3.5-5.6 zoom that I heard about a while ago, but hasn't been officially announced yet. If it is, I assume many people will be pissed.

-- Costas Dimitropoulos (costas@udel.edu), June 13, 1999.

I am a Canon user, but I can have fun too right. I always like new technology, regardless of who it's from. It would be nice to see Nikon get into image stabilization. But more likely, as some of you have mentioned, it will probably be a 300 f/4 AF "S". What I'd really like to see is a image stabilized macro lens, sometimes you just don't have the time to set up the tripod and macro rail and it would be nice to have a macro that's a little more handholdable...

-- Bill Meyer (william_meyer@stortek.com), June 14, 1999.

HMMM.. How about the digital f5/F100 camera they showed earlier this year but did not formally introduce?

-- Stanley Mcmanus (stanshooter@yahoo.com), June 14, 1999.

BTW, regarding this June 15 announcement, where should we look for it? On Nikon's website?

-- Jim Meyer (jim_meyer@compusa.com), June 14, 1999.

A 3 Megapixel Nikon CoolPix 1000 that will make the CoolPix 950 obsolete in even less time than the CoolPix 950 made the CoolPix 900 obsolete.

-- Mani Sitaraman (bindumani@pacific.net.sg), June 15, 1999.

Well - at least I was right that the grand announcement was about big stuff. At 7am EST today, the D1 digital SLR, 17-35f2.8 AFS, 85f2.8 Tilt/Shift Micro and SB-28DX were announced by Nikon. Sigh. I couldn't afford the 20-35/2.8, so I'm sure the 17-35AFS will be way out of my league. I don't care about a digital SLR. A flash upgrade, nah, I sometimes use an SB23 that doesn't even have a TV screen on the back.

But Tilt/Shift Micro now there's an idea. If that lens costs less than an EOS body and Canon's 90-TS I might jump on that bandwagon. The lens interests me primarily for landscape work, so I wish they'd introduced a 35-TS, but at least Nikon is reponding to the TS lenses Canon has had out there for years!

-- Pete Dickson (dickson.pn@pg.com), June 15, 1999.

Well, better than I thought it would be, but there are some minor clarifications...

Their press release copy is a little unclear, but the 85/2.8 PC sounds like a stop-down metering lens. They have some odd tagline about metering functioning only at maximum aperture.

And the D1 has a feature which is either a blessing or a curse (curse for me). Previous Nikon digital cameras had an optical element in the body which corrected the angle of view for lenses mounted to them, so your 50mm/1.4 doesn't look like a 70mm/1.4. The D1 gets sepate angle of view listings, so it appears that they've deleted that "feature." So my 28mm would be even less wide than it already is. And I'd be out looking at losing serious cash if I ever needed a wide wide with a D1.

Well, I score them 3 out of 4, and at least the AFS offering is something which I'd have never bought anyway. (Not that I have anything against AFS per se, but the $500 surcharge is ludicrous.)

-- John O'Connell (oconnell@siam.org), June 15, 1999.

John, all PC Nikkors need to be stopped down for correct metering when shifted or (finally!) tilted.

-- Geoffrey S. Kane (grendel@pgh.nauticom.net), June 15, 1999.

The most interesting thing about the new 17-35 lens is that it's close focus distance is comparable to primes (11 inches) and therefore quite a bit less that the previous 20-35 and similar lenses from other manufacturers. I hope that the 20-35's price falls below the $1000 line, even though the closer focusing of the new lens is attractive. I hope that it will also be an improvement optically to justify its hefty pricetag unlike the Canon 17-35 which has quite a bit of distortion and is worse than the old 20-35L (which rivaled primes and does not sell for cheap used btw).

The other stuff are not that interesting to me. Digital bodies have a way to go till quality becomes equal to film. However, the new D1 seems to be a very useful tool for newspaper photographers. The tilt/shift lens is probably a better alternative to the 105/2.8 Micro for nature work, but it will be much more expensive.

The truth is that rangefinders and medium/large format equipment have more possibilities for improvement that 35mm SLRs do, even if this improvement is simply transfering modern 35mm SLR technology to these cameras.

-- Costas Dimitropoulos (costas@udel.edu), June 15, 1999.

The digital body is interesting in that it assures Nikon users that their F-mount lenses will still be quite usable once the glorious digitial revolution is complete and only a few ludites are shooting film. :) Did anybody see a price for the body?

-- Stanley McManus (Stanshooter@yahoo.com), June 15, 1999.

The digital body will list for about $5,200. Expensive, but not as bad as the $10,000+ bodies of just a year ago. Interestingly, it is also a 2.7 megapixel body. That should ensure pretty decent 8x10's I think.

-- Stanley Mcmanus (stanshooter@yahoo.com), June 15, 1999.

Thanks, Geoff. I forgot to say the important part: PC Nikkors only meter after shifting with the F3 (according to Nikon). Which is something they should do something about -- otherwise I'll be fine, but all those poor F5/F100 users won't :^).

Stanley, I assume that this is the body we were discussing here in Feb. under a thread I can't locate now (of course), which was rumored to come in at around $3000. That price had/has me excited, not that I can afford it yet, but it represents a halving of the E2's price with a much bigger CCD. If the quality is sufficient for your needs, it's like an F100 + scanner + nigh-unlimited film supply.

Brad, thanks for letting us have our fun. Back to the regularly scheduled programming.

-- John O'Connell (oconnell@siam.org), June 15, 1999.

$5200 is the street rate for E2 bodies right now. Oh well.

-- John O'Connell (oconnell@siam.org), June 15, 1999.

John, the PC Nikkors aren't AI either. Probably to force you to stop down meter. They did at least provide you with a DOF preview button on the lens for all the N2000, N2020, N6000, N6006, N50, N60 & N70 users out there.

I wonder if the metering cell in the body (instead of the prism) and the pinhole mirror give the F3 this "special power". One more reason why the F3 is one heck of a macro SLR.

-- Geoffrey S. Kane (grendel@pgh.nauticom.net), June 15, 1999.

I am curious about the AF-S wide angle zoom. What is the advantage to having an AF-S or USM motor in such a lens? My gut reaction is that focusing such a lens is not that big of a deal. Rarely does one shoot fast action with such a lens so I guess I don't quite see the point. What am I missing?

-- Stanley Mcmanus (Stanshooter@yahoo.com), June 16, 1999.

Stan, I don't think the AF speed is that much of an issue. It probably has more to do with being competitive with Canon. Also, it is nice to be able to switch from AF to manual just by turning the focusing ring. One other thing: I was playing with an 80-200D and an 80-200 AFS the other day, and what impressed me the most was not the AF speed. On the F5, going from closeup to infinity took only about 1/4 second with the AFS, and about 1/2 second with the older lens. No big deal. What WAS impressive was the smmmmmooooth and quiet operation of the AFS. It is VERY nice, very seductive. I personally would love to have one, and would be willing to pay more for it (maybe not 2x the price). Also, I understand you can use the new TC E teleconverters with the new lens. Anyway, there's my 2 cents on that.

-- Jim Meyer (jim_meyer@compusa.com), June 16, 1999.

About the 17-35/2.8 AFS: Stan you're right - the gain in speed is ridiculous. But Jim has a point here: the smoothness of the AFS is very tempting to handle. At least Nikon is updating their lenses. Shame is that nowadays you have to chose between really high-end (unaffordable) lenses and low budget lenses. Good mid-class seems to disappear. ivan.

-- Ivan Verschoote (ivan.verschoote@rug.ac.be), June 17, 1999.

Yeah, Ivan!! I remember back in 1970 when I bought my first Nikon gear. Everything they made was first-rate. You could pick any lens and it was built like a tank, optically great (for those days). I guess the "Point-and-Shoot Revolution" has really polarized the photography industry. As a matter of fact, it might happen that APS will eventually take over the low end of the market, leaving 35mm to pros and serious amateurs with large budgets for equipment. The reason that could happen is that there are so many people who are too busy to read a manual, they can't even load film!!

-- Jim Meyer (jim_meyer@compusa.com), June 17, 1999.