New rumor wave is starting: Nikon D5500

By [NR] admin | Published: December 16, 2010

D5500

Nikon D5000 is already discontinued and a replacement is expected. The D3000 was released in July of 2009 (three months after the D5000) and it was already replaced in August of 2010. All that means that the Nikon D5000 should be updated any time now. The rumor is that the D5000 will be replaced by the D5500. Here are the D5500 basic specs:

  • Same metering and AF modules as the D3100
  • No AF motor.
  • 1080 HD video with manual controls
  • 16MP sensor
  • Large detachable screen, that can be kept attached like a fixed screen or detached and connected to the camera via a cable, or mounted on the hot shoe.
  • Some interesting alternative accessories for the detachable screen may be offered, namely an EVF for video shooting. Remember the Nikon Media Port? It was already demoed with the Nikon D90. Nikon has also filed numerous patents about various wearable displays (headset).
  • Similar to D3100 in shape, just a bit larger.

[NR] rating: 40% just because I want to hear those specs from few more places.

Posted in Nikon D5100| 133 Comments

Nikon AF-S 200mm f/2G ED VRII lens review

By [NR] admin | Published: December 15, 2010


I am continuing with the tradition to have a brief hands-on for every new Nikon lens. Next in line is the Nikon AF-S 200mm f/2G ED VRII lens which I got for few days from Borrowlenses. The lens was announced on September 15th, 2010 and is an update (VRII) of the previous version.

Size, controls and ergonomics

This lens is massive – it has almost the same length as the 70-200 f/2.8 VRII but twice the diameter and weight:

Nikkor 200 f/2 VRII compared to 70-200 f/2.8 VRII

Nikkor 200 f/2 VRII compared to 70-200 f/2.8 VRII

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Posted in Nikon Lenses, [NR] Reviews| Tagged , | 101 Comments

Guest post: Nikkor 19mm f/2.8 Macro lens review (part 2)

By [NR] admin | Published: December 15, 2010

This is just a continuation of the previous guest post with some setup and real life pictures. More photographs taken with the Nikkor 19mm f/2.8 Macro lens can be found on fabriziobelardetti.com under the “Macro” section.

Equipment used:

  • Nikon D3s
  • Nikon PK 11-12-13
  • Nikon PB 6
  • Nikon PB 6E
  • 3 Nikon PB 6D
  • Nikon RMS-39 adapter
  • Nikon 39. F-mount adapter
  • Nikon AR 10
  • Nikon MC 26
  • various Bowens lights

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Posted in Nikon Lenses, [NR] Reviews| Tagged | 57 Comments

Guest post: Nikkor 19mm f/2.8 Macro lens review

By [NR] admin | Published: December 14, 2010

Today’s guest post is from Fabrizio Belardetti (www.fabriziobelardetti.com) who will review the rare Nikkor 19mm f/2.8 Macro lens (you can click on all images for larger view):

Macro-Nikkors comprises four lenses made for the Nikon Multiphot: 19mm, 35mm, 60mm, 120mm. Each lens is optimised for a restricted range of magnifications and together they cover the entire range from 1:1 up to 40:1. The optics are designed to yield top results wide-open and stopping down only serves to increase depth of field (and diffraction effects). Within their specified magnification range the lenses will cover up to 4×5″ format with ease.

The 19 mm Nikkor comes in RMS microscope screw mount and you will need an adapters to convert RMS to Leica thread and then to Nikon mount. The 19 mm f/2.8 Macro-Nikkor has working optimum at 20x and should be used indoor only, as the focusing distance is about 20mm. It is designed to be mounted on a bellow, and it’s range is from 15x to 40x at the maximum extension.

Macro-Nikkors are hard to find today and really expensive (my gem cost me over 1500 €). This lens was made in Japan almost 40 years ago. I usually mount this on a PB-6 with PB 6E, sometimes with PK rings too!

Here is the lens with the original case and Nikon RMS to Leica and Leica to F mount adapters:

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Posted in Nikon Lenses, [NR] Reviews| Tagged | 47 Comments

Nikon Coolpix P7000 firmware update v1.1

By [NR] admin | Published: December 14, 2010

The new firmware update v1.1 for Nikon Coolpix P7000 is now available: Mac | Windows.

What’s fixed:

  • Total image recording times for NRW (RAW) files have been reduced.  This includes image recording times for NRW+JPEG file recording options

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Posted in Other Nikon stuff| Tagged , | 37 Comments

New Nikon patent: Nikkor 100-400mm f/4-5.6G VR ED lens

By [NR] admin | Published: December 13, 2010

Nikon filed a patent application in Japan for a AF-S 100-400mm f/4-5.6G VR ED lens. Here is the lens design:

Rumors about this lens have been floating for a while. At one point it was expected that this lens will be the replacement of the current Nikkor 80-400mm, but later Nikon filed two different designs for new 80-400 f/4.5-5.6 lens (see here and here).

An updated version of 80-400mm or a new 100-400mm are high on my list of expected lenses for 2011.

Details after the break:

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Posted in Nikon Lenses, Nikon Patents| Tagged | 62 Comments

Weekly Nikon related news/links #88

By [NR] admin | Published: December 12, 2010
  • The Nikon rebates are extended till January 1st, 2011. B&H changed their website and now you can use multiple lens rebates with the purchase of one qualifying body.

  • In its latest review, PDNonline mentioned that Nikon D7000+MB-D11 battery grip can reach 7fps:

“Still shooting speed is virtually the same—the D7000 can shoot 6fps while the D300s fires at 7fps—and if you add the MB-D11 battery grip ($260) to the D7000 it’s exactly the same.”

“If you add a battery grip ($250) to the Nikon D7000 you can shoot 7 frames per second, making this camera well suited for a range of assignments.”

Nikon never publicly acknowledged that the D7000 has an increased fps when used with external battery grip.

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Posted in Weekly Nikon News Flash| 69 Comments

Five new products for Nikon DLSRs

By [NR] admin | Published: December 9, 2010

→ The previously rumored Tamron 18-270mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD lens with Nikon mount got released today: extremely small with a price tag of $649. See the full details over at photorumors.

→ RRS released a L-plate for Nikon D7000:

A new L-plate for Nikon P7000 is also now available.

→ Blueslr released a Bluetooth dongle that will allow remote trigger of Nikon DSLR via an iPhone, iPod or iPad. The basic app is free and can provide you control over the focus, shutter speed and release timer. The dongle will cost you $149. The solution works with 11 Nikon models up to 300 feet. GPS coordinates from the iPhone can be embedded to the picture. Android and Blackberry versions are under development.

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Posted in Other Nikon stuff| 36 Comments

Nikon SB-700 and Nikkor 35mm f/1.4G now shipping in the US

By [NR] admin | Published: December 9, 2010

BorrowLenses and few NR readers informed me that Nikkor 35mm f/1.4 lens is finally shipping in the US:

Nikon SB-700 flash is also shipping in the US and here is the proof (unboxing video):

Posted in Nikon Flashes, Nikon Lenses| 47 Comments

This was it for 2010

By [NR] admin | Published: December 9, 2010

A year ago today, Nikon announced the 300mm f/2.8 VRII lens. In the past, there was never a new product announcement past this date (in 2008, the Nikon D3x was introduced on November 30th, 2008). I think Nikon is done for this year – it is too late now to bring out anything new right before the holidays. CES 2011 (January 6-9th, 2011) is the next potential date to unveil a consumer product (maybe the Nikon mirrorless camera) – Nikon has only reserved meeting rooms at the show and will not have a real booth. The Coolpix line of cameras are usually refreshed in February.

Here are all Nikon products announced in 2010:

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Posted in Nikon 1| 103 Comments