This is the email I received from a professional Canon photographer who is currently looking to switch to Nikon – I slightly edited the text to keep the privacy of everyone involved:
I’m working for GQ, Men’s Health, Stern, Geo etc. and since these switches aren’t cheap and easy (there’s quite some equipment involved in my case) I had some serious talks with Nikon reps. First, at my local shop I was given a very clear answer from a Nikon rep: no full frame body in 2010. This was definitely confirmed by Nikon *** (name of country). He also spoke of the 85 f/1.4 lens.
Yesterday I had a long talk with another Nikon NPS rep about my switch to Nikon. I was told that pro level full frame body (a.k.a. d700) is definite, however not in this fiscal year. New model is to be expected after March 2011, probably with a split up of the line in s and x. That’s all a bit vague but I trust him (he advised me to invest in a smaller number of bodies now (no/few backups) and to use the D700 bodies as backups as soon as the new stuff is out next year).
Regarding lenses: when putting together the list of lenses to be acquired with both 35 and 85 primes on it he said “there will be a 85 f/1.4 this year, wait for that but there won’t be a new 35 in the current lens refresh, go with the 35 /2. There will be a new 35 over the next few years but not now.”
I trust both sources and in particular the NPS rep who was very specific. I guess the only chance for a new full frame body this year is if Nikon Japan sent that info to the rest of the world on purpose and them surprised everyone.
I can confirm that the email was legit and it was really sent to me from that pro photographer.
The March 2011 time frame for a possible D700 replacement came up at least in two more tips from different sources.
Many Nikon authorized dealerships (mainly in Europe) are making D700 orders based on similar information from Nikon reps and if this turns out not to be true and Nikon does announce a D700 replacement in 2010, there will be a lot of unhappy dealers.
