“Imagine the Nikon D4” contest entries

By [NR] admin | Published: August 8, 2011

Here are the current entries for the "Imagine the Nikon D4" contest where you can win a ThinkTankPhoto Airport Airstream roller:

You think you can do better? Send your entry by the end of this week.

Related posts:

  1. “Imagine the Nikon D4” contest winner announcment
  2. Vote for the “Imagine the Nikon D4″ contest winner
  3. Contest: Imagine the Nikon D4, win a ThinkTankPhoto Airport Airstream roller
  4. The Nikon Photo Contest 2014-2015: call for entries
  5. Nikon Photo Contest 2012-2013: call for entries
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  • nice D3-ish D4´s

    • according to similar concepts to the current D3, it seems no one wants any new design. hope japanese are such clever tat they keep excellent design work as they has done to this time.
      but i really like the 7-th concept 🙂

      • Banned

        It looks like all the concepts sent in by visitors of this website have been conceived in the following 3 steps:

        1. Open D3 pic in Photoshop
        2. Change the “3” into a “4”.
        3. Save.

        • if you look at the details, the submitted images have more than just 3->4 change

      • Honestly, it seems to me most of these concepts came from fanboys who never really used the D3* or worked with it. Never change a winning design, huh? Well the only concept I liked (except for the rear LCD) was the FM3a one. Whoever created it is an absolute genius. Where I think Nikon is wrong is that they trying to create a camera for all professionals. But why should a studio photographer want the same package as a war photographer?

        • you know that if the d3x would have been built like the 5D there would have been a mountain of complain, right ?

          • Even the 5DII is too large. Older professional/journalist cameras from Nikon kept their sizes down. Thanks to the need for massive batteries, digital cameras are massive. Leica have the right idea.

            Nikon have made excellent cameras in the past with high quality materials that weren’t much larger than a large rangefinder. DSLR’s are too obtrusive.

            35 format sans AF and a load of other functions, i.e., a camera only made to shoot photographs and made especially for people who don’t care to bother with heavy, expensive AF lenses, is my dream.

            It won’t happen though, thanks to Japanese companies obsessed by electronics. But, as a person who prefers unobtrusive designs.

            • Jan

              wait, so you want to buy a camera that is a film 35mm, or a Leica, but cannot since the only cameras that fit that bill are film 35mm, or a Leica?
              Go and buy a film 35mm, or a Leica.

            • Worminator

              i.e. an FM/FM2/FM3a with an FX sensor, or, to look at it another way, a full-fame D40 or a mini D700, take your pick.

              Sadly, it will not happen soon. Though I continue to hold out that Nikon will release a smaller FX body in the near future. (The “not-mini-but-at-least-less-of-a-lump D700”)

            • Narna

              I have an FM2. Its full frame, takes pictures and has a manual focus prime lens on the front. Apart from the meter no fancy electronics to get in the way. Its a truly sublime joy to use. Not that it gets to take many photos these days…

        • Davidb

          Amen. Loved the FM3a. I have an FE and would love the equivalent of a semi-pro, FX camera without all the bells and whistles so it’s light enough to hike with and has the outputs to allow one to use it in the studio. I couldn’t understand why Nikon chose on the D7000 to not put a direct strobe output jack — instead you have to purchase an adapter to put in the hotshoe. t don’t have want or need for video, I’d rather spend the money on materials that lighten the weight of these cameras. They’re all too damn heavy.

    • Richard

      Ha! Ha! It’s an F4.

  • ben

    I wonder if there is a real D4 was sneaked into this slide show.

  • people, please
    GET RID OF THAT STUPID RUBBER
    at least on the concepts, when Nikon dont want to leave this mistake behind.

  • I think I like the jokes more. Like the third concept (Awesomeness with more awesomeness). Two grips…that’s hilarious to me.

    I highly doubt you’ll see rotatable screen on the D4. That just seems more akin to the consumer lines. The pro bodies have no purpose in having such a screen.

    • David.Jacob

      The TERMINATOR D4 just purely rocks !!!

  • Anand

    I would like to design and submit, but what’s with the “Copyright images not to be used” term…is that still on or “admin” are you going to let us make a derivative work?

    • The bast way is to use Nikon’s official press images or create a mockup from scratch.

  • Anonymous

    I really liked the one for lefties. (Once the companies pick that up, they’ll probably start to charge extra for right-/left handed orientation)

    • Willis

      I totally here you on that one. My girlfriend sprained her right hand and had to cancel all of her shooting gigs for a month… there just isn’t a good way to shoot left handed.

  • AnoNemo

    At least let’s give some credit for those who tried …. at least we know none of them will become a final product. 🙂

    NR Admin, so you still have not heard anything? This makes me believe that we’ll only see coolpix crap.

  • ArTourter

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/nikonrumors/6021924937 this one is nice! I like the touch screen feel to it although I am not sure how usable it would be, but it looks rather clean.
    But mostly the backlit keys are a brilliant idea. I would love to see that implemented.

    • Hendog

      +1
      Come to think of it, I’m amazed camera companies aren’t using back lit function buttons. This is one simple feature I’d love to have. Looks awesome.

  • F6 design digitalised would be awesome !

    • RThomas

      I’m with you on that, but what I’d really like is a modern digital sensor in an F4-style body, with the manual controls, grip options, and interchangeable prisms. (Yes, I actually use different viewfinders for different work… on my F3 and RB67).

      But I don’t expect to see another truly modular camera from Nikon; the F5 was probably the last of those.

  • Bill Paxton

    Arggh, you people make me want to switch to Canon…

  • RMT

    I did like the 4K on pic nr. 2!

  • plug

    Great stuff! I’m hopeless at this sort of thing but some of these entries are spectacular. Whoever wins, it will be richly deserved. 🙂

  • chuck

    I personally would DIE for the digital F body

    • +1. That body was a great size, shape, and design. Need something smaller and more focused. But thanks to AF, advanced metering, video, large buffers, etc., there will be no more small bodies, ever.

      • chuck

        My F-501 autofocuses with a motor and it is still that size.
        Maybe a camera like that couldn’t live up to being D4 material but I bet there would be a way to fit at least a DX sensor into a body like that.

        • 35mm size or bust. I’m not keen on DX sized sensors. A body can be larger than the Leica M9 with a prism and SLR viewfinder and still be kept smaller than the D300/D700. Those things really draw too much attention.

      • Anonymous

        I know it’s apples to oranges, but Pentax for instance has made smaller bodies after the K10/20D ever since (with more gadgets at the same time). But who would want that flimsy pocket sized stuff anyway? And of course you need some sort of stabilization/shake reduction with that lightweight stuff.

        • It’s not the weight; old Nikon cameras were heavy. But the cameras are much much more obtrusive now: thicker bodies, big grips, lots of crazy stuff. If you’ve never handled a film camera, you will think it’s normal for ‘professional’ bodies to be large. It doesn’t have to be that way at all. I wish Nikon could design a reasonably sized, quiet camera for people who want to hike, shoot on the street, or carry a small prime and camera around our necks. But something that is a wonderful shooting machine, not a crippled, non-metering D5000 or something.

          • Carl

            Yeah, the old film cameras were smaller. The other day I grabbed my Minolta XM with the 1.2/58mm, one relict from film times that I still keep. However this cam worked on 2 small silver oxide cells. If I remember right, you could get at least 20 –30 rolls of film (36 pics each) out of them. Don’t think, that this could work with a DSLR.
            Anyway, I don’t think that it is just the camera’s size making a camera more or less obtrusive. I think that a change in perception has been taken place. While people in the 60ties to the 80ties were happy to appear in the media, this turned around. And this is not because of the cameras themselves. People want to determine what is being published or want to have money for it. Pics can easily been altered with photoshop and the like, so for a layman it’s hard to tell, what is real and what is not. Last not least press has become more aggressive (which in parts leads back to the peoples demand) However, watching others comes always right but being watched seldom. Strange, at the same time people publish the most impossible scenes of themselves in Facebook and the like. But if somebody else would publish the same pics they would take him to the court. So camera size may play a role in this perception but I believe there actually are some deeper going reasons.

    • broxibear

      Ok…I’m not sure if you’re allowed to enter more than one design, I’ve sent another to Peter since the rules don’t say you can’t so I’ll leave it to him.
      If he says you can’t then here’s a FM type D4 concept http://i.imgur.com/0yN1I.jpg

      • Narna

        Nice, very nice, that gets my vote 🙂

      • well, since I did not specifically mention one entry per person, you (and everybody) can submit two

      • ke

        I’d buy it – or at least drool over it because I can’t afford it.

  • NanDub

    How come no one like these two:

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/nikonrumors/6022481542/in/set-72157627261619225
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/nikonrumors/6022481888/in/set-72157627261619225

    The simplicity and easiness is simply hilarious!! Can’t imagine a more eye-catching camera!! 😛

    • I rather liked number 14. Do you know how hard it is to create a design like that in paint?

  • Chris

    Give me the 7th one. FM2N in digital form !

  • NRTARD

    all I want is a D3s with another Fn button and backlit keys.

  • +1 Rangefinder D4 with D3s sensor, titanium body, waterproof, with 4 pancakes lenses: 14mm 2.8, 24mm f/2 , 50mm f/1.2, 105mm f/2, can you give me that Nikon? heheheh…

    Cheers!!

    • Matt

      +1

  • andy

    The one with left and right grips is hilarious!

  • snowPic74

    hm, one look’s sneaked 😉
    the one with the four focus-Modes, i’ve not seen this on any Nikon boddies till now:
    S for single shot
    c for continues
    m for manual
    but V? for video??
    hm, i can’t see the photoshop thing on this part of the pic, the D4 is photoshoped i think, but the rest???

    hm, will see soon 😉

  • It’s things like this that makes Nikon Rumors a more fun website than canon rumors.

  • Jose

    Ok. We’re only missing the one where the D4 is a docking camera accessory for the iPhone 5… 😉

  • jerl

    Most of them are fairly generic- pretty good renders, but nothing that stands out. Of course, the double grip is an exception to that.

  • broxibear

    quesabesde have made a photoshop mock up of the Nikon mirrorless http://www.quesabesde.com/noticias/nikon-evil-rumores,1_7839

    • broxibear

      What happened to my avatar ?

    • Which mount did they use in this mockup?

      • broxibear

        Looks like a EP1 that’s been photoshopped ?

  • broxibear

    Nikon’s annual report was released a few hours ago, I haven’t had time to read through it but here it is http://www.nikon.com/about/ir/ir_library/ar/index.htm

  • Rob Ellis

    If Im honest, all Id want in the d3 replacement is:
    A more easy to reach D-pad for vertical use,
    Maybe a teeny bit bigger screen (hell the bodys easily big enough to fit one in, if they can get a 3 inch screen in the smallest of cameras, why cant they up their game in the ginormous cameras :L )
    Backlit buttons would be awesome!

    Thats about it, the d3 body is good enough and barely needs changing imo…

    Although a rangefinder like body wouldnt be half bad either 😉

    • Drew

      Rob,

      I 100% agree on the D-Pad for the vertical grip which is why I added it to my concept – http://www.flickr.com/photos/nikonrumors/6023187248/in/set-72157627261619225/

      Really, I can’t complain much about my D3. It’s been a great camera for over 3 years. I’d just like to see a few refinements (vertical D-Pad, a quick means to set and select different user presets) and some more steps forward in terms of a little more MP, better video, and larger viewfinder AF sensor coverage.

      One thing I didn’t think of was back lit keys. That might be useful, however, I also know where everything is on the camera… so I’m not sure if I’d need them or not.

  • Q

    Screen. I think the D4 will have a large screen. At least 4.5 inch amoled with touch. FullHD resolution. None of the images have that.

    • Chad

      My entry has a large touchscreen. I don’t think it will happen but it was fun to create it.

  • broxibear

    Some Chinese site has used images from the D4 competition and added their own sarcastic comments ?
    http://www.evolife.cn/html/2011/60808.html

  • Mike

    I couldn’t help but laugh when I came across the 15th image. Seriously, you morphed it with a canon body, that must have been a joke, right? Ha… good one 🙂

  • DFive

    ”
    ECS News
    AS AT 09/08/2011:
    Anticipation builds as rumours circulate about Nikon FX replacements. Announcements are expected by the end of August. Smart money is backing a re-vamp of the D700 and D3S but given Nikon’s capacity to amaze a ‘wait-and-see’ approach is probably the best policy.
    Limited stock of D700’s currently available.
    ”
    http://www.cameras.net.au/

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