Poll: What Nikon FX do you want ? (Thom Hogan)

If only there was a way to communicate with Thom Hogan directly, I would ask for one small change in his survey; (add question) If price was no object; which Nikon DSLR do you lust for?
 
Solarflare said:

I liked the way he wrote: " Nikon generally tends to do this type of survey just prior to launching something where they’re still trying to figure out how many of this product they will sell (and thus how many they need to produce, and how fast they have to produce them, which can shift introduction dates). The next launch window is typically August, so the timing of this survey supports trying to figure out launch quantities of something. What that something is, is of course the $64,000 question. "

Based on Hogan's article, I think it might be a mistake to deduce that the poll was about an FX format camera. But no big deal...what they release is what they will release. His article has his OWN survey on what Nikon owners might like to replace their primary camera. I took the survey.
 
I suggested I'd like a M600 as a replacement and a D500 for a supplement and the D750 as the camera I'd buy today.
 
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I myself checked on box for the fictitious D500...a half-height, 24MP FX body...I like 24MP FX, but I am tired of the big, integral-grip body camera that I have it in. There are times when I'd like to have a body that does not have a built-in grip and battery compartment with a monster battery in it. For me, 24MP is enough. But I want the better viewfinder and the Nikon "pro-style" build quality and control layout and design ethos of the D300-type or D700-type cameras.

I also checked the Df-2, a retro-style Nikon FX camera as one option.

I kind of think that the D400 is the camera Nikon will reveal this summer, a high-speed, DX-format camera to counter the Canon 7D Mark II. I think this because Nikon's D750 was the answer to the wedding/people shooter's Canon 5D Mark III--all the features of the 5D-III, PLUS built-in popup flash with wireless triggering and wireless multi-flash control, for $1,000 less than the 5D-III premiered at three years ago. So, I see Nikon's next big intro camera as a Canon 7D mark II alternative camera, because, well, they already have the entry-level and high-end markets well in hand. But who knows...Nikon has made some very,very unexpected moves in the past--like the way the D700 follow-up was the D800--a RADICALLY-improved and MUCH higher-resolution camera for their "ultimate prosumer" model.

Nikon and Canon are following a strategy in which the flagship Canon and Nikon have fewer megapixels than the other lines, the prosumer/high-end amateur bodies have been like they have been for literally decades now: in many ways BETTER shooters than the flagship bodies F,F2,F3,F4. The Nikon FE-2 was in most respects, a better shooter than the F3 was,and had better technology: TTL up to 1/250 second, lighter motor option, smaller, cheaper. The N8008s was in most ways, a better shooter than the F4 was. The N8008 and N8008s were soooo much sleeker than that turd F4 was.

One never can tell what Nikon will do. Will there be a D850, a 50-MP follow-on to the D810? Will there be a D5x, a 54-MP flagship with high-speed shooting and a killed DX pixel density? Will a D400 with 15 FPS and a 50-frame NEF buffer hit the shores? will Nikon drop a mirrorless, F-mount bomb?
 
Nikon's product development mirrors its present marketing: ill-informed by being tone-deaf to what its customers want.

Hogan's "Toyota, Lexus, Scion" piece from a few days ago shows how the two interact.

Just compare the DOA Df with the Fuji X-T1. Remember the now-laughable Df teaser ads?
 
I never got the e-mail, but I'm on Nikon Canada. Oddly, I can't even log into my Nikon account without going through a specific link. If I try logging in through Nikon Canada's website directly, it says my account doesn't exist.

I did Thom Hogan's survey: Had a D5200, have a D750 now, but the poll didn't seem to take budget into account much. I wouldn't mind buying a new FX DSLR more often (every 1-2 years) if they were say... in the $400-$1000 price range. Selling the old camera and buying a new one each year wouldn't be a huge hassle. But holy crap, the poll feels like "Hey, 12 months is up, what's your next camera going to be???"

I want my D750 to last me at least 4 years (but I don't want it breaking down on me for longer than that!).

My next camera? I want mirrorless with built-in image stabilization, 1/8000 shutter, native 50 ISO, touchscreen, better menu system, and improved noise performance across the board. Plus everything the D750 has to offer, and more stuff that I haven't thought of. Hopefully that is even more affordable in 4-6 years from now... but I don't even really care, so long as my D750 doesn't break down on me.
 
It's simply incredible that Nikon has maintained its #2 overall position in the camera market since the early 1990's without the sheer genius of Thom Hogan and his Einstein-level marketing acumen and his prophetic, visionary, Steve Jobs-like record of envisioning and building insanely great products. Oh, wait.,..he has not done any of that...but he DID help a company design a very early,early digital point and shoot back in the 1990's. And he was an editor at a backpacker's magazine too.

It's amazing that a company with millions of established users all over the world just keeps making things that are more or less simply new version of the things that so many people find work so well.
 
It's amazing that a company with millions of established users all over the world just keeps making things that are more or less simply new version of the things that so many people find work so well.

But don't seem to be buying in quite the volume they once did, with consequent effects on Nikon financials. That's what matters to shareholders of any camera maker.
 
It's amazing that a company with millions of established users all over the world just keeps making things that are more or less simply new version of the things that so many people find work so well.

But don't seem to be buying in quite the volume they once did, with consequent effects on Nikon financials. That's what matters to shareholders of any camera maker.

Nikon is still making enough money to put out new cameras and lenses every year, so I guess they arent doing TOO bad.
im still pretty sure they are not going to go out of business anytime soon.
pretty much every business has been affected by the economy over the last few years, especially companies that make mostly luxury products.
 
It's amazing that a company with millions of established users all over the world just keeps making things that are more or less simply new version of the things that so many people find work so well.

But don't seem to be buying in quite the volume they once did, with consequent effects on Nikon financials. That's what matters to shareholders of any camera maker.

We were in the midst of a lengthy "camera bubble"...just as we were at one time in the midst of a huge "tech bubble", and then a housing bubble. The camera business has long been cyclical. Markets develop, and buying is hot and heavy, and then as more and more people satisfy their wants and needs, sales slow. The fallacy Thom Hogan continually pushes is that his ideas have the power to motivate millions upon millions of buyers. Since you constantly link here to Hogan's articles, the ones about how badly Nikon is doing financially, I do hope I don't hurt your feelings when I laugh at your longstanding pattern of continually throwing sh** at the wall from close range, and seeing how far you can splatter it.

Newsflash: Unit sales volumes for camera makers have declined from a HUGELY INFLATED, artificial "bubble peak" level that was established several years ago now. Oh, wait...this is factual information that everybody ought to know...
 
Actually I wouldnt be too surprised if Nikon went bankrupt, sooner or later. The issue is simply that they have nothing to migrate a crisis. Thats what killed Pentax and yes, that might kill Nikon. Sooner or later.

I dont think there is a camera "bubble". The DSLR market right now is simply saturated. Why ? Because there is still a general crisis going on and people dont have money.

Well, they are getting into other fields. Lets hope that this will stabilize the company in the long term.
 
It's amazing that a company with millions of established users all over the world just keeps making things that are more or less simply new version of the things that so many people find work so well.

But don't seem to be buying in quite the volume they once did, with consequent effects on Nikon financials. That's what matters to shareholders of any camera maker.

We were in the midst of a lengthy "camera bubble"...just as we were at one time in the midst of a huge "tech bubble", and then a housing bubble. The camera business has long been cyclical. Markets develop, and buying is hot and heavy, and then as more and more people satisfy their wants and needs, sales slow. The fallacy Thom Hogan continually pushes is that his ideas have the power to motivate millions upon millions of buyers. Since you constantly link here to Hogan's articles, the ones about how badly Nikon is doing financially, I do hope I don't hurt your feelings when I laugh at your longstanding pattern of continually throwing sh** at the wall from close range, and seeing how far you can splatter it.

Newsflash: Unit sales volumes for camera makers have declined from a HUGELY INFLATED, artificial "bubble peak" level that was established several years ago now. Oh, wait...this is factual information that everybody ought to know...

Seems plain by now that basic numeracy and rudimentary skill at reading visual display of quantitative data aren't "you." Trends aren't cycles. Hogan hate-on aside, you just don't appear capable of seeing a trend based on those data(CIPA, Nikon quarterly). Magical thinking and denial change nothing. I'll post what I please, thanks. Don't agree? Sorry.
 
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what I find interesting, is that Hogan has recently (well, maybe for a while now) been on this blogging rampage against Adobe and Nikon, and yet....his "gear" page is stocked FULL of Nikon gear (always the newest stuff) and his "software" recommendations page puts Photoshop and Lightroom at the top of most of the categories.

so whats the deal Thom? not practicing what you preach? Soooo unhappy with Nikon but you cant stop suckling from that failing and soon to be doomed companies teet?
why haven't you moved to a more successful company Thom? A company that listens to its consumers and builds the cameras they want and doesn't hemorrhage money every quarter. Why are you still clinging to a failing companies equipment?

For all of his claims that Nikons business practices dont make any sense, its really Thoms business practices that dont make any sense IF Thom is to be believed. But he shoots Nikon. (amongst other things of course)
"oh, Nikon isnt making cameras with the features people want....Nikon is running the company into the ground...Nikon doesnt listen to its consumers... but im going to keep buying the newest Nikon equipment anyway"

Who could possibly take Thom seriously when he is such a hypocrite?
If he really, really believed his own rants, and it wasn't just a massive blog click farming money grab, he would have switched his primary gear to Canon years ago.

well, thats how I feel about it anyway.
 

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