Sigma 85mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art lens for Nikon F-mount now in stock

By [NR] admin | Published: November 9, 2016

sigma-85mm-f1-4-dg-hsm-art
The new Sigma 85mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art lens for Nikon F-mount is now shipping and is currently in stock at B&H.

Via Sigma Blog

Posted in Nikon Lenses| Tagged , | 14 Comments

This is the new Nikon D5600 DSLR camera

By [NR] admin | Published: November 9, 2016

nikon-d5600-leak
The official announcement of the Nikon D5600 should be near because the first picture and pricing of the new camera already leaked online. As I already reported, I expect the D5600 to be announced this week (most likely tonight). The main improvements from the current D5500 model will be SnapBridge and better dynamic range (still no 4k video). Here is the D5600 Japanese pricing (tax included):

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Posted in Nikon D5600| 100 Comments

Nikon financial results: profit and income are up, sales are down

By [NR] admin | Published: November 8, 2016
nikon-stock-price

Nikon stock price is up (3 months graph)

Nikon released their financial results for the first half of the year ending on September 30, 2016:

  • Profits are up 54%
  • Operating income is up 23.8%
  • Sales are down
  • Nikon also “decided to conduct a fundamental company-wide restructuring in order to enhance its ability to generate profit and create value“

Quote:

“Nikon Corp. reported that its net income attributable to owners of the parent for the first half of the year ended September 30, 2016 was 17.74 billion Japanese yen, up 53.5 percent from last year’s 11.56 billion yen. Earnings per share for the half-year period were 44.65 yen, higher than 29.08 yen last year.” (Nasdaq).

Thom Hogan posted a nice graph showing Canon versus Nikon in terms of unit volume for 2016 (the same scale is used in both charts):

canon-versus-nikon-in-terms-of-unit-volume-for-2016
Quote:

“Just a reminder: Nikon is still a profitable company, and according to the numbers, healthily so. They’re not going out of business. But as I predicted, they’re getting smaller.”

Here are some unit sales numbers for the first nine months of 2016 collected and calculated by Thom:

Canon: 3.895m
Nikon: 2.2m
Other: 1.97m (Sony, Fuji, Olympus, Panasonic and Pentax)

Some additional slides from Nikon’s presentation (can be found here):

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Posted in Other Nikon stuff| Tagged | 81 Comments

Nikon D500 firmware update version 1.11 released

By [NR] admin | Published: November 8, 2016

Nikon-D500-DSLR-camera-inside-guts
Nikon released new firmware update version 1.11 for the D500 DSLR camera with two changes/fixes:

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Posted in Nikon D500| Tagged | 42 Comments

Nikon to “re-assign” 1,550 employees in Japan, total headcount will be reduced by 1,000 *UPDATED*

By [NR] admin | Published: November 8, 2016

notice-of-restructuring
An update on the Nikon layoffs fiasco: as part of their financial statements, Nikon released a “Notice of Restructuring” which describes “re-assigning 1000 employees to reduce fixed cost” in the Lithography division. For the Imaging Business Unit, an additional 350 domestic employees that will be “rationalized” and “re-assigned”.

Update: Nikon will actually “re-assign” a total 1,550 employees (including 200 people at their headquarters), but the total headcount will be reduced by 1,000 by March 31, 2017, just what Nikkei reported yesterday.

Posted in Other Nikon stuff| Tagged | 45 Comments

Oops… Nikon denies any layoffs

By [NR] admin | Published: November 7, 2016

nikon-logo
Update: Nikon to “re-assign” 1,550 employees in Japan, total headcount will be reduced by 1,000

In unprecedented move, Nikon issued a statement that they have not made any decisions on cutting 1,000 jobs in Japan – a story reported by Nikkei just few hours ago. Here is the full text:

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Nikon to cut 1,000 jobs in Japan, or 10% of its domestic workforce

By [NR] admin | Published: November 7, 2016

Nikon-logo
Update #1: Nikon issued a statement denying any layoffs.

Update #2: Nikon to “re-assign” 1,550 employees in Japan, total headcount will be reduced by 1,000

This just in from Nikkei – “Nikon to cut 1,000 jobs in Japan“:

Nikon plans to eliminate about 1,000 jobs in Japan, or 10% of its domestic workforce, as the company shifts resources away from once core businesses to medical devices and other growth areas.

The cuts over the next two to three years will mostly affect Nikon’s money-losing semiconductor equipment operations and its shrinking digital camera business.

Nikon is seen missing its forecast of a 64% jump in net profit to 30 billion yen ($287 million) for the fiscal year ending in March. Its net profit has fallen from a peak of 75.4 billion yen in fiscal 2007 to 18.2 billion yen last year.

From Reuters – “Nikon drops sales forecast as high-end camera market stalls“:

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Posted in Other Nikon stuff| Tagged , | 132 Comments