The Focus on Imaging 2012 show is currently ongoing in Birmingham, UK. Nikon does not allow visitors to take sample images with the new D4 and D800/D800E cameras. Only one sample of each D4 and D800 is available on the stand and there is a long line of people waiting to try them out. Here are some images from the Nikon booth sent in by readers (above images credit: Garrett Hayes, Ireland):
What can I win?
In this giveaway you can win a brand new Nikon 1 V1 custom grip by Richard Franiec (camera obviously not included). This grip is designed specifically for comfort and safety when handling heft of Nikon V1, especially when coupled with FT-1 adapter and heavy lenses. The grip does not obstruct battery/card door and preserves original location of tripod socket on center line of the lens. Once applied the grip becomes an integral part of V1. The grip is individually machined from high grade aluminum alloy, glass bead blasted then anodized for durability. It attaches to the V1 with clear transfer VHB tape known for ultimate bonding power. Custom V1 Grip (CG-V1) will be available in second part of March 2012 for $34.95 plus shipping.
How do I win?
The rules are simple: leave a comment to this blog post. That’s all. One comment per person please. Don’t forget to add your email address in the provided field (it will not be visible to the public and it will only be used to notify you in case you are the winner). I will close all comments in one week and will randomly pick the winner.
New patented lens design
Design of the current Nikon 16-85mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR
I already mentioned that Nikon will release a new 16-85mm DX lens in 2012 with a fixed f/4 aperture. A new patent (201042547) filed in Japan just became available online and shows the details of a Nikkor 16-85mm f/4 DX VR lens. Here is one of the shown examples (patents usually have several different variations/calculations of the same lens):
After the Nikon D5100 firmware was decrypted and we got the first unofficial “Star Wars” firmware update, there is now a full hardware emulator including screen visualizer for the Nikon D3100/D5100/D7000/D* cameras that uses the Fujitsu FR MIPS processor. This will enable anyone willing to write custom firmware routines and then test them without risking their hardware being turned to bricks. See this related flickr discussion and this forum post for more information.
The above video was part of the presentation during the Nikon D800 introduction in Bangkok. A short portion of it (at the 0:18 mark) was taken from the time-lapse the “The Mountain” (see the 2:10 mark) which was shot with a Canon 5D MarkII by Terje Sorgjerd. Oops. Here are some videos shot with “real” Nikon cameras.
Here is a quick specs comparison between the Nikon D800 and the new Canon EOS 5D Mark III:
This guest post was sent to me by reader and addresses some of the D800 criticisms from various websites:
Since the D800 has been introduced I have heard many individuals on podcasts and read where many blog writers were critical of Nikon for packing so many pixels on such a small sensor. The criticisms just seemed not to hold water when logically thinking about things. Also, I have heard numerous comments that lenses cannot do justice to this new sensor and that the sensor will out-resolve the lenses, therefore degrading the photograph. Again, logically it didn’t sound right. One other comment heard frequently is that focus, with this new sensor with 36mp will be so sensitive that the photographer will have to have impeccable technique or suffer out of focus photographs. Again, didn’t seem logical.
Here are some facts. I did some research and some calculations and confirmed my logic in thinking about this new chip.
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