Nikon medium format (MX) analysis

By [NR] admin | Published: October 3, 2008

Many readers think that those Nikon medium format ads are fake (even though the poll says otherwise). I would agree if it wasn’t for ad #3 and the ad #1. Each one of the remaining ads could be created based on existing Nikon product images and a good knowledge of PS, but the viewfinder in ad #3 looks real to me. Can someone think of a camera that has similar shaped viewfinder? This seems to be difficult to fake (but not impossible). Note that all of the fake PS jobs are based on existing models. I haven’t seen a fake Nikon image created from scratch.

The other problem I have is the red triangle on the handle of the first ad – the triangle looks different than any of the existing models (personal opinion, I could be wrong). The sequence here is MX, D3, D2HS, D700, D300, D200, D90, D80, D70 and F6. Did I miss a model?


Here is the lens from ad #3 done in PS by one of the readers:

Looks pretty damn close.

Here is another detailed compassion of the DX-FX-MX sensors from ad #4 done by another reader:

The next one is a PS job sent to me anonymously. The text on this one means “Old fox” – a crafty or clever person.

Thank you all for you your comments and analysis. Remember that I am in the same boat as you – I just want to know and I don’t know anything more than you do.

If you did not get enough, here is another one of the many emails I got on this topic:

If you measure the size of the wheel on the D3 image (on my screen) you get 9mm wide if you measure the size of the mirror you get 15.5 mm wide 15.5/9=1.722 size factor
You can do the same measurement with the d700 image (once again on my screen) and you get 22/13 1.69…..from these two measurements we can assume the size factor of the wheel to the mirror on these two cameras is  about 1.7 and can be used as a good measure for all Nikon cameras.
since we know that the real size of a Nikon mirror is 36mm wide we can get a real life size factor from the photos also……….36/15.5=2.322 for the D3
………36/22=1.636 for the d700
we can now use these measurement to find the actual wheel size…..2.322*13=20.898 for the d3 and 1.636*13=21.268……from this we can assume that the size of the wheel on all cameras is roughly 21mm wide
If we measure the size of the mirror from the big ad we see it is about 23mmx14mm on my screen and the size of the wheel is about 10mm.  If we then use the wheel (21mm wide) as a standard.  21/10=2.1 size factor.  We can then use this size factor to determine the real life size of the sensor.  23*2.1=48.3mm and 14*2.1=29.4mm.
Now take it with a grain of salt but from my calculation looking at the photos the sensor of the camera in the big ad would be roughly 48×30

No related posts.

This entry was posted in Other Nikon stuff and tagged . Bookmark the permalink. Post a comment or leave a trackback: Trackback URL.

  • FCC disclosure statement: this post may contain affiliate links or promotions that do not cost readers anything but help keep this website alive. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network. Thanks for your support!

  • Back to top