Nikonrumors: Nikon patent for lens for mirrorless APS-C Camera

Solarflare · Jul 5, 2012

Nikon 18-55mm f/4-5.6 lens patent for a mirrorless APS-C camera | Nikon Rumors

I kind of hope this means Nikon plans on stopping IMHO the rather embarrasing One cameras. Those are a great option if you want a compact system camera thats built like a safe. If you want to get a good camera for your money, not so much.

I definitely appreciate a camera thats built like a safe. But it should be a camera thats worth being built like a safe. Not an inferior one.

An APS-C sized EVIL camera with a full featured Nikon-made adapter for Nikon F lenses, would be extremely much more powerful than Nikon One. Nikon could even offer multiple versions of the adapter - a simple version that only works well for AF-S and doesnt autofocus etc on anything else, and a powerful version for the pros that comes with full compability to everything, even old AI lenses.

I think APS-C is the right size for mirrorless digital system cameras for the near future. Its small enough so one can produce cheap lenses for them, while full frame lenses tend to get really large and heavy and expensive, and medium format lenses even more so.

Personally I think the close Nikon ally Fuji is the best guide when it comes to future mirrorless cameras. Cameras like the X100 and X-Pro1 are the stuff one can contemplate on getting instead of a DSLR. Still needs some more speed on them, though.

jake337 · Jul 5, 2012

I'll still wait for an affordable, bare bones, 35mm digital in the Olympus Pen/OMD size. I won't be worried about the size of the lens as the largest I would mount would be 135mm to 180mm.

But oh man what fun would a Pen with a 35mm sensor,100% EVF coverage, great ISO performance, and a 50mm f1.2 or faster mounted be.

rochardhughes · Oct 17, 2013

Well i think its a new invention by Nikon so it deserves to get patented. Now even if some other company tries to do the same they will infringe the laws.

TheLost · Oct 17, 2013

I really like the Nikon 1 cameras... Nikon just does a poor job telling people why they should like it too. (Fact: Nikon holds the #2 spot for mirrorless sales in the US). Once the AW1 drops in price its going in my bag as my travel camera.

I doubt we'll ever see Nikon make a DX based mirrorless system.. and if we do it will probably be too late.

Solarflare · Oct 18, 2013

Uh-hu.

The Nikon 1 sensor is that small that it even has visible noise at base ISO. And thats not said by me, since I never bothered testing them myself - thats said by Nikon 1 fanbois like Steve Huff, who otherwise praises this system into the sky. IMHO thats a very poor performance for a system camera.

Nikon recently admitted their Nikon 1 System is their biggest problem and that they just dont sell. Before that, they sold their cameras to extremely aggressive prices. Even more recently, they announced a waterproof, shockproof, freezeproof special Nikon 1 camera (with corresponding special lenses). So I dunno where this system is going, really. Maybe they will keep it, but I think they are thinking hard of making another, more serious mirrorless camera.

And either way, for a small sensor system cameras, there is already micro 4/3, dammit !!! The most recent iterations of micro 4/3 camera bodies is pretty awesome. That Panasonic GX7 had me thinking very strongly. If I had not already invested in Nikon F so much, I might have considered the GX7 instead. It seems to have great ergonomics and it has a lot of interesting features. And the lens lineup is great and a lot better than what Nikon put up for their system - more choices.

And at that sensor size, the cost for the sensor itself is already next to nothing - in fact even APS-C sensors are still quite cheap now, its only full frame sensors that are really expensive, and even larger sensors get truely pricey (because you cant produce them in one piece).

Thus the ONLY reason for Nikon to start ANOTHER mount instead of producing for micro 4/3 is that they want to make their customers more dependent on them. I already have that with the Nikon F mount, I dont need another version of that.

cgw · Oct 18, 2013

TheLost said:
I really like the Nikon 1 cameras... Nikon just does a poor job telling people why they should like it too. (Fact: Nikon holds the #2 spot for mirrorless sales in the US). Once the AW1 drops in price its going in my bag as my travel camera.

I doubt we'll ever see Nikon make a DX based mirrorless system.. and if we do it will probably be too late.

Funny but friends behind the counters of several photo stores in Toronto say the Nikon 1 cameras aren't being bought by the BestBuy crowd as often as they are by experienced amateurs and pros for travel/informal/personal use when a DSLR is too big/heavy/obtrusive. Same goes for the gorgeous little Fuji X-E1. Nikon's marketing on the 1 system is embarrassing, all the more so for using the vacant Ashton Kutcher to pitch it. Fail!

Image quality isn't as awful as many who've never shot the camera(see above)keep insisting. Like Canon, Nikon has yet to prove any interest in mirrorless APS-C--or bigger. Sony just pulled the curtain back a bit further on the future with its new toys this week, no?