I have now received tips from two different sources about a potential Nikon D3400 camera replacement coming soon. Here is the previous D3xxx refresh timeline:
- The Nikon D3400 was announced in August 2016
- The Nikon D3300 was announced in January 2014
- The Nikon D3200 was announced in April 2012
We already have a new Nikon camera registered under the code name N1718 that is expected to have the same radio part as the D3400 with only Bluetooth (no Wi-Fi).
This is where it gets interesting – one tipster suggested that the new Nikon D3500 (D3600?) will be announced around Photokina and it will have a grip similar to the D5500/D5600. Another tipster told me today that the Nikon D3400 will be replaced by a mirrorless camera with F-mount – something like the Pentax K-01 from 2012 (see pictures above). There could be several benefits for Nikon if that last rumor about a cheap mirrorless camera with F-mount is true:
- They can claim to have a DX mirrorless camera and join the mirrorless hype without much effort.
- No need to develop new lenses (the new DX AF-P lenses have stepping motors in them). A new pancake would still be nice.
- Cheaper to produce (are we actually sure that an EVF is cheaper than the floppy mirror and the pentaprism? Has anyone seen any cost comparisons?)
- Nikon could make the camera even smaller – take a look at the Pentax K-10 from 2012 compared to the Sony a6500 – one of the smaller APS-C mirrorless camera available today (via camersize.com):
And another one – Pentax K-01 vs. Fuji X-T100:
For now, I cannot confirm any of the above rumors and I am posting this more as a reference since many readers have asked me about a potential Nikon mirrorless APS-C camera. I just don’t see how Nikon can put the enormous Z-mount on a small APS-C mirrorless camera.
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