Nikon Japan site will be down tomorrow

By [NR] admin | Published: September 2, 2008
Nikon Japan site will be down tomorrow, September 3rd from 14:00 to 16:00. Don’t know why. Could be a regular maintenance. The last time all Nikon sites world wide were down was right before they announced the Nikon D90 (they had to bring the sites down in order to update the product line).
Just to remind our readers that tomorrow is September 3rd – see this post.
Posted in Other Nikon stuff| 15 Comments

Is Nikon aiming to drop Mac support?

By [NR] admin | Published: September 2, 2008
I know that this will never happened, but I sense a definitive favoritism towards Microsoft.
Recently NR reported on Page2 about the patent exchange agreement between Microsoft and Nikon.
Remember the P6000? There was a lot of pre-release excitement about this camera, but it seems that the RAW files generated by the P6000 will be compatible only with Microsoft Windows. Read here for more details on this story (thanks for the link MR).
fyi – I am a Mac user.
Posted in Other Nikon stuff| Tagged | 37 Comments

Nikon D3 Firmware v. 2.00 now available?

By [NR] admin | Published: September 1, 2008

Just go to http://support.nikontech.com and make a search for digital DSLR and D3. The release date is Sept 2 (today) – wasn’t this version released few months ago? Did they add/change something?

Modifications enabled with upgrade of A and B firmware to v.2.00

  •  Images captured with “Rotate tall”, in the playback menu, set to”On”, are not automatically rotated for display immediately aftercapture (image review).
  • The following changes and additions have been made to “f4: AssignFUNC.Button > FUNC. Button + dials” ; “f5: Assign preview button> Preview + command dials”, and “f6: Assign AE-L / AF-L button >AE-L / AF-L + command dials” menus in Custom Settings:
    • The “Choose image area” option has been separated into two options,”Choose image area (FX / DX / 5:4)” and “Choose image area (FX / DX)”
    • A new “Shooting menu bank” option has been added.
  • When “Choose image area (FX / DX / 5:4)” or “Choose image area(FX/DX)” is selected and the function button (Fn) is pressed, the imagearea setting is displayed in the top control panel, in the shootinginformation display, and at the bottom of the viewfinder.
  • A “Copyright information” item has been added to the setup menu.When “Copyright information” is enabled, the copyright symbol ( © ) isshown in the shooting info display.
  • “Recent settings” can now be displayed in place of “My Menu”.
  • The virtual horizon can now be displayed with shooting in LiveView mode.
  • The “Vignette control” setting can now be confimed in shooting information.
  • The “Vignette control” item in the shooting menu now supports all types of G- and D-type lenses, except DX and PC lenses.
  • The “Vignette control” compensation value has been optimized for shooting with “Active D-Lighting”  the shooting menu.
  • Electronic analog exposure displays are now shown in the controlpanel and shooting info display while the exposure compensation settingis being applied.
  • The degree of the “High ISO NR” setting can now be confirmed in theshooting info display while the “High ISO NR” setting item, in theshooting menu, is being applied.
  • Design of the FX-format icon in the “Choose image area” setting has been modified.
  • Ankara, Riyadh, Kuwait, and Manamah have been added to the “Time zone” options for the “World Time” item in the setup menu.
  • When a GPS device is used and no heading information is available,–.–° is now displayed for the “Position > Heading” option in the”GPS” item in the setup menu.
  • When shooting in LiveView mode using Camera Control Pro 2 (ver.2.2.0) or later with a PC-E lens, the aperture setting can now beadjusted from the computer.
  • Autofocus performance has been improved.
  • Auto White Balance performance has been improved.
  • An issue that, in some rare circumstances, caused the batteryindicator to blink, regardless of actual battery charge, has beenresolved.
  • Errors in the German help displays have been corrected.

Posted in Nikon D3x| 8 Comments

Samsung rumors materialized: plans for new ‘hybrid’ digital camera system

By [NR] admin | Published: September 1, 2008
Samsung announces plans for new ‘hybrid’ digital camera system
Posted in Other Nikon stuff| 1 Comment

Otoji spy shot (updated)

By [NR] admin | Published: August 31, 2008
I got this image as a follow up to this story which was based on the “Big” post. This is suppose to be a cell phone spy shot related to Otoji, but I do not know yet what does it say:
Comments, translations, interpretations are welcome. This could be HUGE! I can’t wait to hear what you have to say.
Translation:
M1 Development Plan
device MX format
device FX format
device DX format
right page (not related to camera)
about Frugality
how to save money
how to save Food expenses
how many time go to store
etc.

– the word otooji means “parent’s younger brother; uncle”

Posted in Nikon D3x| Tagged , | 85 Comments

Gone Baby Gone again – this time is the AF 85mm f/1.4D IF

By [NR] admin | Published: August 31, 2008

Remember this post? The D80 disappeared from some Nikon web sites three days before the D90 was announced.

Well, I have some news for you (thank you I.) – AF 85mm f/1.4D IF is gone in Australia:
 

 

it’s even listed as “out of production, discontinued or no longer available in your country” – here is the link:
 

 

In case Nikon makes any changes, here is the screenshot:
 

There was also a “typo” in a magazine ad few weeks ago for the exact same lens.
Just to remind our fans that this blog is a collaborative effort from readers around the world – I am just putting the pieces together (and sometimes have some rumors on my own). I get a lot of thank you emails, but the biggest  “thank you” should go to our readers that keep an eye on every step Nikon makes. This post is a good example of what I am trying to say. Thanks!
Posted in Nikon Lenses| Tagged | 29 Comments

September 3rd again (updated)

By [NR] admin | Published: August 30, 2008
Update: there was a press conference in France on Sept. 3rd, but there were no new products announced.
We reported this rumor back in July and I* am still getting more emails about a possible Nikon announcement on September 3rd – few comments under different posts also suggest the same:
“I can tell you for sure, there will be an announcement on September the 3rd. I swear, but can’t tell you more… NDA. Something big.”
Those messages are NOT from our regular/reliable sources. The good part is that we just have to wait 3 more days to find out. Again, we do not feel confident about this date – this, however may change in the next 2 days. Stay tuned!
* – I decided to start using “I” instead of “we”, since the number of people behind NR seems to be a concern to some readers.

Update: Nikon is NOT on the list of exhibitors at this year IFA (Consumer Electronics Unlimited) show which is currently ongoing in Berlin (Aug 27 – Sept 3). This would be also a weird place to announce any PRO Nikon equipment (CONSUMER show). It’s just the date (Sept. 3rd) that is bothering me.

Posted in Nikon D3x| Tagged | 15 Comments