Paperman said:
Well,some gap to fill between the D7000 and cheapest FX - if done away with prosumer DX body . And don't forget it's not just the body ; add another $1000-2000 for the same range FX lenses .
Killing prosumer DX will be one daring move from Nikon - the most conservative DSLR producer.
We will just hang on to our D300/s for another 2-3 years rather than go down to a simpler body or get ripped off by the FF format. I'm not sure that's what Nikon wants.
Am I smoking the wrong brand? 'Cause it sounds like you've got some serious sh...tuff over there.
Let's assume for a minute that you're right for a second that the 300 is the end of the X00's in the DX line. First off, they're not going to get rid of the prosumer DX; as has been discussed ad nauseam on other threads, there's still a robust market segment that needs/wants a pro-level DX. Second, let's extrapolate out from what seems to be going on now, based on the 3100. I know it's dangerous to speculate based on a single body, but bear with me.
The 3100 comes VERY close to being not only a d3000 replacement, but also starts to nip at the heels of the D5000. It seems reasonable that the 5100, to open the gap back up, would have specs closer to what we're used to from the D90, while the 7000 would step into what would otherwise have been the gap between the 90 and the 300s.
Sound far-fetched? Then why have specs in the 7000 that either match, or surpass, the 300s? And why release the 's' as a stop-gap versus going straight to the D400?
And a "rip-off"? How, exactly? Just because a Ferrarri is out of my price range doesn't make it a rip-off. Just makes it damned expensive. But if I need the performance that it's going to offer, why'm I going to settle for a Mustang? People who have legacy (read: old, sometimes REALLY old) lenses can use them on the 300 and above. And you know something? They probably paid top dollar for them back in the day, too. But think about the ROI on a lense you can still use five, ten, or more years later -- on what is, in many ways, an entirely different platform/technology -- and then try to tell me it's a rip-off.
Here endeth the rant. :)
