Just for the record: this is not our source, we are just reporting the rumor.
There will be a new Nikon announcement on August 27th according to Jeff C.
"Jeff C has been a reliable source for Nikon info on here for many years. He seldom gets information wrong. Among other things he was first and more correct with information on cameras like the D3."
Here is the original post.
Via dpreview
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24 Comments
Pleeeeeeease, let this be true.
Please… where did you read the word “rangefinder”? He says nothing about a rangefinder.
Oh, and yes, he usually know waht he is talking about: I remember him talking about the D200 months before anyone could imagine such a camera could exist. He also talked about a small bag with a few small wireless flashes that you could put in a ring, with lot of accesories… He was talking about the later released R1C1 flash kit, so yes, you can trust him.
But… where is he talking about a rangefinder now?
I agree with with Manolito. The thread jeff-c is posting in is about Nikon’s new FX DSLR (usually referred to as “D3x”). The other entry you link to is just from someone without a clue hoping that the announcement will include a new rangefinder.
We already have plenty of rumors, no need to make them up… jeff-c wasn’t predicting a rangefinder. There’s just some dpreview poster dreaming of a Nikon rangefinder…
BG
Please. There is no need to make jeff-c look bad by putting words in his mouth. All he has said right now is that there will be announcements made on the 27th and nothing else.
A rangefinder would be great, but I don’t believe jeff-c has said anything about such a camera.
I’ve honestly no idea how you guys discerned that a digital rangefinder was to be announced on the 27th. Jeff-C says nothing of the sort. In fact, the only info he gives is the date: August 27. Moreover, the parent post was in reference to a new full-frame body.
Both the post title and content are misleading.
If the range finder happens, I’ll take two please.
Unfortunately its not going to happen except at a trade show like Photokina or PMA.
Nikon (and everyone for that matter) usually wait for the trade shows (actually a week or so before) to announce their bigger deal wow type gear. The rangefinder would be so HUGE in terms of press coverage it would be announced at a show most likely and available several months later.
If I were a betting man (and I am) I’d say that Canon is about to pull out their shinny new 5D MkII (or maybe 7D?) on August 26th and Nikon knows this and is planning to burst their bubble on the 27th with the D800.
The 5D replacement will probably be around 16Mp which may make some people, who believe that the number of pixels measures the quality of a camera, think that the D700 is inferior somehow. Then Nikon the next day come out with the 24Mp FX D800 and squashes the 5D replacement by being similarly priced and better featured plus higher Mp for those who care about such things (read pixel peepers and lazy nature photographers).
PLEASE: Don’t play games with jeff-c’s rep!
jeff-c did NOT even mention that it would be FX. He has said in an earlier post in another thread that was about the D90 that he once his official invitation came, he was effectively under NDS and could say nothing.
Therefore, I interpret his “magic date” post to indicate an official Nikon announcement date of something important. The ONE thing we know is coming down the pike is the D90. Therefore, it is most probably the D90 announcement.
If the D3x were to be announced, I would have expected it to be announced in conjunction with the Olympics — not the end of August. Nikon has used major sports events to showcase new flagships in the past.
You are correct in that the D90 is waiting in the wings and is very very close but at the same time Thom Hogan was hinting that we could see from Nikon 3 more D-SLR’s before the end of the year. With Canon’s rumored announcement (most likely a 5D replacement) on the 26th it would be brilliant of Nikon to fire back the next day with an appropriate competing product.
Second post talks about rangefinder. This is what we reported. Corrected already.
Did not make it up – read the second link on the post.
fixed already
I’d realy be happy if a camera manufacturer like Nikon reaylly outcom a range finder camera. But, in my opinion, there is only few chance. Maybe an expert Point and Shoot with a range finder like body (as Canon did with G7 and G9) ?
Good stuff. Thanks for updating. I know this is a rumour blog, so just about anything goes, but it’s good to keep things straight, IMO.
This is going to sound stupid, but what is a rangefinder camera good for? (I don’t know what it is, so even less how it will make people make better pictures).
It was some guy putting Jeff-C and rangefinder in one sentence. But that doesn’t mean that according to Jeff-C, there will be a digital rangefinder. The original wording of the text here on nikonrumors has been altered, so I don’t know what it said exactly, but at the time I posted the previous comment, it was suggesting Jeff-C said something he didn’t say.
A rangefinder camera is a compact camera, sometimes with interchangeable lenses, with a special viewfinder which allows for very fast and accurate manual focusing. Leica’s M series is the best-known line of rangefinder cameras (the M8 being the only digital rangefinder in the Leica line so far).
Here is the wikipedia article on it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rangefinder_camera
Nikon may well surprise us. I, too, would be most pleased. And I do think that there is a high-resolution full-frame FX body waiting in the wings. And it is certainly possible that both the N90, a high-res FX and a rangefinder (more likely, a high-end P&S based on the DX format sensor) could ALL be announced on the 27th. But all jeff-c said was that SOMETHING would be announced then — not what. As good a source as jeff-c is, we should not be putting words in his mouth.
Hopefully the M8 will have competition from Nikon when PMA 2009 rolls around next spring.
Thom Hogan has said same thing:
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1034&message=28933299
And it seems it’s already in Circuit City’s inventory, at 1,299USD with 18-105 VR kit lens:
http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/11/d90-outed-by-inventory-screen-at-1-300-asking-price/
I really doubt Nikon will introduce an OVF RF camera. In fact, neither will Oly or Panny. The way to go is to start with an APS-C compact with a good fixed lens, develop the AF and EVF systems along the way and then replace the entry level dslrs with an EVIL when AF/EVF systems get good enough. Later most dslrs will get replaced by EVILs, maybe only the very fast professional models will remain optical/mirror for much longer.
I’m not so sure about Nikon. There have been rumors of a prototype out there over the last year or so.
Nikon also has a strong interchangeable lens rangefinder lineage (unlike other companies) and Nikon is prone to doing things that other companies wouldn’t do.
I’m hopeful that the prototype makes it into manufacturing even as a limited production nostalgia unit, it would sell, Nikon knows such a thing would sell.
Fingers crossed.
It would have to be F-mount, no way Nikon would introduce a new mount. The original S series had a different mount.
Canon, Contax, many other makers had RF, only Leica and Zeiss kept it going (there’s still a Zeiss film RF being made).
Still think it’ll be an EVIL, not optical RF system, and only after testing waters with a fixed lens line, which will sure be here soon, from many brands.