photo: Nikon USA
Update: Moose Peterson has an update on the D3s and 70-200 VRII combo.
Yesterday B&H shipped their first Nikon D3s. Also yesterday, Mosse Peterson was in New York and also got his D3s and 70-200 f/2.8 VRII lens, so I really think the first batch is already here and shipping.
The Nikon 70-200 f/2.8 VRII lens has moved to “accepting orders” status at B&H, which is a clear indication that shipping will start soon.
Dr. Evil
No, no that Dr. Evil. I am talking about EVIL camera (Electronic Viewfinder Interchangeable Lens). There has been a lot of talk lately on that topic. Other companies are not shy of releasing EVIL products left and right, the latest one being the Ricoh GXR, which has a cartridge system that packs the lens and the sensor into one interchangeable piece. After RED, this is as close as you can get to a modular camera (btw few months ago there were rumors about a Nikon modular camera). Olympus E-P2, Panasonic GF-1 and Samsung NX-10 (not yet released) seem to be the most popular EVIL models at that time. The latest rumors are that Sony and Fuji are expected to be next to release EVIL cameras. Canon is quiet. Some rumors pointed to a Canon micro format camera, but nothing substantial so far. And the we have Nikon…
Artist's view of Nikon EVIL (unknown source)
All of the Nikon EVIL camera information so far has been based on patents filed by Nikon Corporation. Filed patents don’t mean much – they may or may not materialize and a patent may not even be granted for a some applications. Many companies file patents just to protect something they may use years from now or not use at all. It is important to note that all of the EVIL related patents has been filed by Nikon in the past few months.
The first interesting thought is that the long rumored MX product line could actually mean MicroX, even though some of the previously rumored MX resolutions are too big for an EVIL camera.
I will try to recap all the information we have so far on the rumored Nikon EVIL camera:
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AF-S 70-200mm f2.8 G VR II IF-ED: November 27th
Nikon D3s: November 27th
AF-S 85mm f3.5 G Micro-Nikkor DX: December 4th
In this post I will use the patent interpretations from a NR reader who has a much better “patents reading abilities” than me:
We have another 32 mm f/1.2 lens (for the 17 mm format sensor) which will make a 80 mm equivalent (patent# 20090273851):
The same above patent refers to “employable as an interchangeable lens system”.
Patent 20090273841 is for diffractive optics, similar to Canon’s Diffractive Optics lens technology. Interestingly 20090273851 also refers to potential diffractive optics.
One thing that may be of interest is the Oct. 15th patent 20090256952 – this sounds mundane, focus detection but it’s about phase detection auto focus in the image itself, I don’t think anyone has this. The kicker is this is one of 2 dozen patents on this technology going back to early 2007 and all of them reference use in an EVIL camera:
Look at Fig. 1 in 20090256952 (above) and compare in to this description:
[0077]The liquid crystal display element 216 functions as an electronic viewfinder (EVF). A live image (through image) provided by the image sensor 212, brought up on display at the liquid crystal display element 216 by the liquid crystal display element drive circuit 215, can be observed by the photographer via the eyepiece lens 217. The memory card 219 is an image storage medium in which an image captured by the image sensor 212 is stored.
[0078]A subject image is formed on the light receiving surface of the image sensor 212 with a light flux having passed through the exchangeable lens 202. The subject image undergoes photoelectric conversion at the image sensor 212 and subsequently, image signals and focus detection signals are transmitted to the body drive control device 214.
Almost all the related patent use the same figure.
The bottom line: Nikon has been after an EVIL camera since 2006 and they’re looking for autofocus performance in this system.
Because of the increased interest in this topic, I have started two new categories: Nikon EVIL and Nikon Patents.
This one is coming from nikonistas.com (Google translation) – this is something like a Q&A session with Carlos Ormazabal, Nikon Product Manager for Spain, Andorra and Portugal (updated translation):
“User: Good afternoon, you know what I’m going to ask, but I have to ask it anyway. Should I buy a D700 or is the X, S, or D800 coming? Thank you very much.
Carlos: Of course I’m going to Answer.
You only have to look at Nikon’s timing… it is infallible. 2 years ago, they announced the D300 and D3… when the entire world expected the D3x. Later the D3x.
So, what would the logical continuation be after the D300s and the D3s came?
Well then. When? Count the months. How much later was the D700 after the D3? About 8 or 9 months after the announcement. So if you follow, you won’t have to wait until after summer 2010 approximately.
Now, this is only conjecture… with fundamentals, as Arguiñano (This, I believe, is a reference to a famous Spanish chef who has a TV show, like Bobby Flay, or someone like that. He recommends using the basic fundamentals when cooking. I saw him in something once a few years back. Anyway, I continue) directs, but still conjecture.
On the other hand, we can’t forget that the D800 has been announced in rumors for many months. It is not likely that Nikon will commit the same error as Cannon and produce a camera which ill be eaten alive by the MkIII’s 22MPs.
So, if you’re willing to wait for the baby D3S, count 6 to 8 months.”
If I am understanding this correctly: 6-8 months before the D700 replacement is introduced.
