After the initial delay, the new Nikon ES-2 film digitizing adapter set for the D850 DSLR camera was supposed to start shipping on March 30, 2018. A reader from the Nikon D850 Facebook group recently contacted Nikon and there is still no release date available:
Update – the Nikon ES-2 is already shipping in Japan and is currently available for sale on eBay.
Today Imaging Resource published a detailed report from their visit to Nikon’s Hikari glass factory – a lot of interesting information and pictures. Here are the related videos:
Nikon 600mm f/5.6 lens patent
This year Nikon will introduce a new Nikkor 600mm f/5.6 PF lens. This information is coming from a very reliable source. I do not know the exact announcement date, but I will not be surprised if we hear about the new lens in the June-August timeframe.
Back in February this year I reported about a new patent for a 600mm f/5.6 full frame Phase Fresnel (PF) lens. In the patent, the lens was described as 33cm long. For comparison, the Nikkor 600mm f/4E FL ED VR lens is 43cm long, while the Nikkor 300mm f/4E PF ED VR lens is 14cm long.
The new 600mm f/5.6 PF lens is also expected to be significantly lighter and cheaper compared to the current 600mm f/4 version that weights 134oz/3,8kg. Here is the lens design of the Nikkor 600mm f/4E FL ED VR lens ($12,296.95):
Here is a breakdown of the cameras used by photojournalists in the 2018 World Press Photo contest (Nikon D5 and D810 at the top two spots, the photo of the year is taken with a Nikon D4s):
→ The Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM Contemporary lens with free USB dock is now on sale for $789 ($300 off). There is also a combo set with the 1.4x teleconverter.
→ The Sigma 100-400mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM Contemporary lens is now $699 ($100 off) and comes with free Sigma UV filter and Sigma USB dock.
→ Skylum released the new Luminar Jupiter 2018 – the first major Luminar update (download a free trial here). Use coupon code NIKONRUMORS for an extra $10 off. For purchases made by the end of April, you will also get additional bonuses.
→ MindShift released a new BackLight 18L photo backpack.
→ Meyer Optik announced a new Trioplan 50 f/2.9 Classic lens for Nikon F-mount.
A few days ago Dpreview published an article about their recent interviews with the different camera manufacturers at the CP+ show in Japan. Dpreview did not interview Nikon, but they had an interesting comment suggesting that the Nikon 1 system is not dead:
Nikon has a new patent (2018-60041) for a zoom eyepiece for EVF. The full title is “Eyepiece Optical system, optical instrument and manufacturing method of eyepiece optical system“. Here is one set of specifications described in the patent:
The Latest Pentax Rumors