Samyang AE 14mm f/2.8 ED AS IF UMC Aspherical lens now shipping

By [NR] admin | Published: December 28, 2010

Samyang AE 14mm f/2.8 ED AS IF UMC Aspherical lens with Nikon F mount is now shipping. The lens was initially delayed for further improvements. A full review can be found here. The US price is $512.99 with free shipping.

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Posted in Nikon Lenses| 45 Comments

The Nikon D800 book gets postponed again

By [NR] admin | Published: December 28, 2010

The Nikon D800 book listing on Amazon now has a release date of May 4th, 2011:

The previous listing was for March 9th, 2011:

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Posted in Nikon D800| 47 Comments

Weekly Nikon related news/links #90

By [NR] admin | Published: December 25, 2010

I hope everyone is enjoying the holidays. Here are the Nikon links from this week:

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Posted in Weekly Nikon News Flash| 35 Comments

Nikon patents a lens that can be zoomed manually and electronically

By [NR] admin | Published: December 23, 2010

The next interesting Nikon patent filed in Japan is for a zoom that can be controlled manually and through a zoom button on the camera body:

The idea is to use motorized zoom while video recording (for a smoother, controlled transition) and manual zoom for still photography. This patent could potentially be implemented in the upcoming Nikon mirrorless camera.

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Posted in Nikon 1, Nikon Patents| 38 Comments

Nikon D7000 firmware update 1.01 is out

By [NR] admin | Published: December 21, 2010

D7000hotpixel

Update: you may have to run the firmware update twice in order to get rid of all “bright spots”. Here are three examples: before the update, after the first update and after the second update (.mov files may take a while to load).

As previously promised, Nikon USA just published a firmware updated for the Nikon D7000. The update includes a single fix:

“Bright spots were sometimes noticeable with live view mode or movie recording of especially dark scenes or subjects. Occurrence of this issue has been reduced.”

The description says that the “bright spots” issue has been “reduced”.

If you had that problem before, I would like to hear you feedback on the new firmware.

Posted in Nikon D7000| Tagged | 176 Comments

Nikon patents interchangeable sensor for mirrorless camera

By [NR] admin | Published: December 21, 2010

Nikon filed a patent in Japan for interchangeable sensor solution in mirrorless cameras. According to the patent application, the interchangeable sensors will have different AF system, speed (fps) and pixel count in order to suite different shooting preferences:

AFRateImage qualityRemarks
Contrast AFSlowGoodAll pixels and therefore can be used for image output quality
Phase difference AF (center point, etc.)FastNormalAF phase is very small because the pixel is used, less quality degradation
Phase difference AF (sensors, etc. Cross)FastBadAF phase for a number of pixels used, interpolation is required and can lead to lower quality

Just few weeks ago Nikon filed another patent for an interchangeable sensor with more connection details:

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Posted in Nikon 1, Nikon Patents| Tagged | 45 Comments

Nikon Coolscan 9000 ED now discontinued also in the US

By [NR] admin | Published: December 21, 2010

Nikon Coolscan 9000 ED is now listed as discontinued at B&H as well. The scanner has already been listed as discontinued in Europe. I expect the prices to go up on eBay.

Posted in Other Nikon stuff| Tagged | 32 Comments