Would you buy a mirrorless APS-C Nikon camera?

[Bebulamar]

I feel like Nikon is too afraid of cannibalizing it's DSLRs to put out a mirrorless cam that can compete.

the Df because it's an inferior copy of what Fuji is doing (that costs more),

Nikon didn't copy Fuji on the Df. The Df uses F mount lenses and it's a DSLR. The Df is for people who want a DSLR and not mirrorless and use existing F mount lenses not buying all new lenses. If Nikon were to make a DX of FX mirrorless that uses F mount lenses it would not be as small as either the Fuji or Sony because the F mount flange distance alone is 46.5 mm. Without the mirror the empty space must be there to use the F mount lenses.

 

[fjrabon]

I feel like Nikon is too afraid of cannibalizing it's DSLRs to put out a mirrorless cam that can compete.

the Df because it's an inferior copy of what Fuji is doing (that costs more),

Nikon didn't copy Fuji on the Df. The Df uses F mount lenses and it's a DSLR. The Df is for people who want a DSLR and not mirrorless and use existing F mount lenses not buying all new lenses. If Nikon were to make a DX of FX mirrorless that uses F mount lenses it would not be as small as either the Fuji or Sony because the F mount flange distance alone is 46.5 mm. Without the mirror the empty space must be there to use the F mount lenses.

Sure, but you're kidding yourself if you think the decision to come out with a retro styled full dial controlled camera wasn't based on fuji's success with the concept.

 

[Gary A.]

Yes, if it delivered the images I sought easier and with more consistency than with other cameras. I was shooting with an LA Times photog the other day. He had a 1D (I know this is a Nikon forum), and I showed him my Fuji's (I know this is a Nikon forum) ... he smiled and said that mirrorless was the future.

For three decades I shot professionally with Nikon. I used my Nikons every working day. I loved my Nikons. (There were times I even slept with with my Nikons.) But Nikon isn't infallible. Back in the late 1990's early 2000's Nikon made a conscience decision that film was better than digital and that pros would never use digital. Canon jumped into digital with both feet and soon Canon pretty much replaced Nikon in a field which Nikon had owned for decades, photojournalism. So if Nikon is capable of making such a big blunder as not seeing the future of digital ... they are fully capable of not seeing the future of mirrorless.

 

[fjrabon]

Yes, if it delivered the images I sought easier and with more consistency than with other cameras. I was shooting with an LA Times photog the other day. He had a 1D (I know this is a Nikon forum), and I showed him my Fuji's (I know this is a Nikon forum) ... he smiled and said that mirrorless was the future.

For three decades I shot professionally with Nikon. I used my Nikons every working day. I loved my Nikons. (There were times I even slept with with my Nikons.) But Nikon isn't infallible. Back in the late 1990's early 2000's Nikon made a conscience decision that film was better than digital and that pros would never use digital. Canon jumped into digital with both feet and soon Canon pretty much replaced Nikon in a field which Nikon had owned for decades, photojournalism. So if Nikon is capable of making such a big blunder as not seeing the future of digital ... they are fully capable of not seeing the future of mirrorless.

yeah, pretty much my sentiment. I want nothing more than for Nikon to really nail the transition to mirrorless (we do all agree that this is where we are, that we are transitioning to mirrorless within the next decade in the same way that we transitioned to digital in the 90s, right?). At heart I'm a Nikon guy. My first real camera was a Nikon and I've been invested in F Mount ever since. The things they get right, they really get right. The things they get wrong... well... they go sideways in a hurry.

I've wanted to love three things from Nikon in the past several years: the Df, the 1 series and the Coolpix A. Respectively they were a wildly overpriced disaster of a camera, a joke of a system and a decent point and shoot that just hit the Market overpriced by roughly $800 given its flaws. Each time they've stepped out of the comfort zone of the traditional (as in 2000s era) DSLR design, they've really flopped recently. Each time I get my hopes up when they try out something new, and each time I'm disappointed and left thinking "well, at least the D7200, D810 and D4S are the best at what they do."

 

[Gary A.]

Traditionally, Nikon was never an innovate, blaze-a-trail-for-others-to-follow type of camera maker. They took what was working for others and made it better. But with the fast pace of digital/electronics, that market approach doesn't work.

 

[Microbois]

Would I buy a mirrorless camera from Nikon? Possibly, but not in the near future though, even if Nikon had APS-C and FF mirrorless cameras to sell today.

Nikon would be my first pick through all the brands assuming their new line of mirrorless cameras would be comptible with the lenses I currently use on my D610, and if they had FF mirrorless cameras. That being said, I'm not in the market to replace my D610 anytime soon as I bought it one year ago, and I don't need all the bells and whistles mirrorless cameras offer today. Not that they are not cool or useful features, but just because I don't need them. I still see cameras as "tools", and in this respect, I think we pay too much attention to the gear when our focus should be on the images we try to make.

Eventually my D610 will need to be replaced, hopefully in 10+ years, and I'll review my options, which will be most likely mirrorless then. At the moment, if I had 800$ burning my pocket, I would purchase a Sony a6000 for those moment I don't carry my D610 with me.

 

[astroNikon]

Nikon sits currently at #2 in the camera business overall, right behind Canon. NEITHER company needs to make anything they do not want or wish to make, at this point in time; doing so would possibly only justify their competition and their efforts.

Nikon has a successful F-mount business...if they made a mirrorless camera system that used F-mount optics, I might be interested in it. If it were to be introduced and required all-new lenses, with an all-new mount, I would have little to no interest in it unless it had extraordinary capabilities. It's tough when dealing with hypothetical questions to envision all the possible wrinkles, but let's say Nikon WERE to make a mirrorless camera that was smallish, compact, light, and priced at $699 for a body that looked "sort of like" a Leica, or a Fuji X-series, but used F-mount lenses...

A compact body APS-C mirrorless...THAT would open up a vast option of ready-made lens options...but might hurt sales of current cameras and current and future lenses. Imagine a small,light, soap-bar style, with rounded ends, like a Leica III-series, paired with oh, a 50/1.8 D, a 24-2.8 D or the light 35/1.8 or the older 35/2 D, and the 85/2 Ai-S....OMG...

Did Derrel just have a camorgasm ??

I would like to see a smaller & lighter camera for certain situations, and a mirrorless would be great especially if the FPS and Focusing was up to par. And if it took F mount lenses that would be key too. But I'm in no hurry to buy a new camera body.

 

[cgw]

Nikon is treading water. Its recent financials tell the tale. The company is not in the habit of listening to its customers. The D600 debacle convinced many that the company's isolation from the problem stemmed from indifference. Their reluctance to innovate with an F-mount MILC seems another index of Nikon's stagnation. Know too many Fuji X shooters who dropped Nikon and never looked back.

Nikon Fiscal 2015 Results byThom Thom Hogan

 

[Derrel]

Nikon is treading water. Its recent financials tell the tale. The company is not in the habit of listening to its customers. The D600 debacle convinced many that the company's isolation from the problem stemmed from indifference. Their reluctance to innovate with an F-mount MILC seems another index of Nikon's stagnation. Know too many Fuji X shooters who dropped Nikon and never looked back.

Nikon Fiscal 2015 Results byThom Thom Hogan

cgw...Camera Guy & Writer?
Are you Thom Hogan? A Canon shill? We've had several people here on TPF wonder, in writing and aloud, just who the heck you are, and why you constantly refer to Thom Hogan, link to his blog articles, and discuss Nikon financials with always a pessimistic or negative slant, over and over.

You've never become a real "member" of this forum, but seem to be little more than an instigator, and link-propagator... saying you're in Canada...I dunno... almost every chance you get, you mention Nikon and pair them with financial doom... I reallllllllllly wonder who the heck you are, cgw. And why you are here...

In your other thread posts from the past 24 hours, you've referred to "Thom Hogan's review of the latter," (the latter being the Nikon D7200, which he has NOT yet actually reviewed), and whined, yet again, about the price of the D7200, and tried to downplay its imaging quality and feature set...

Again...I keep wondering who you are, cgw, and why you are here on TPF... constantly sowing FUD, fear, uncertainty, doubt. It's almost like you are a payed shill for another camera company. You have referred to "friends" in the camera retail business. Over and over.

 

[Derrel]

A quick Google search, results from ONLY the first page, on the string "Nikon financials + cgw" yields multiple instances of lil ole cgw, all over the web's top photography sites, pretty much yakking the same call of fear, uncertainty,and doubt...SO, you can see why I ask if cgw is a shill for some other camera company...

Nikon financials cgw - Google Search


Why, here cgw is at TPF!!!
Nikon Financials: 2nd Quarter | Photography Forum - The Photo Forum
www.thephotoforum.com/.../nikon-financials-2nd-quarter.372911/‎
Worth a look: Nikon 2nd Quarter Financials | byThom | Thom Hogan. ... Discussion in 'Nikon Cameras' started by cgw, Nov 11, 2014. Nov 11, 2014 #1 ...

here cgw pops up on the Nikon Rumours web site!
Nikon cuts their annual profit forecast | Nikon Rumors
nikonrumors.com/2013/.../nikon-cuts-their-anual-profit-forecast.aspx/‎
Feb 6, 2013 ... Today Nikon released their third quarter financial results and financial estimation ... The new Nikkor AF-S 800mm f/5.6E FL ED VR lens » ..... cgw. Malarkey. If DX is dying, so is Nikon–one of many issues troubling Hogan that ...

Here cgw pops up on the Fuji-X users forum
Fuji X System vs the Nikon Df - Page 5 - X-E1 and X-E2 Forum ...
Portal - Fuji X Forumnikon.../page-5‎
If youre not sensing problems at Nikon, check their recent financials. Those along ... Edited by cgw, 11 November 2013 - 03:12 PM. Back to top ...

here cgw is on The Online Photographer blog:
The Online Photographer: All the Nikon Hate
theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the.../all-the-nikon-hate.html‎
Mar 7, 2013 ... cgw: "Not all criticism of Nikon amounts to splenetic rants. Their recent financials point to problems shared with other older Japanese tech ...

Two solid years spent on the web, predicting financial doom for Nikon...from some guy who never really does seem to want to step up and become an actual "contributor" here....just a bullhorn sounding dire warnings about one company, all across the entire web...

 

[Bebulamar]

Not like the transitioning from film to digital. When the majority of people stopped using film, film companies stopped (well almost) making film and thus the few film users have no film to use. If 99.99% of the world use mirrorless camera and my DSLR doesn't break and I can still buy battery for it then I will still be using it.

 

[fjrabon]

Not like the transitioning from film to digital. When the majority of people stopped using film, film companies stopped (well almost) making film and thus the few film users have no film to use. If 99.99% of the world use mirrorless camera and my DSLR doesn't break and I can still buy battery for it then I will still be using it.

well, I can order film on amazon and it's here in two days with free shipping. Great brands too, Fuji Provia, Kodak TMax, etc.

Some ***types*** of film went away, but the statement that "the few film users have no film to use" is not even remotely factually accurate.

 

[Gary A.]

Kodachrome

 

[raventepes]

The problem with mirrorless design is that when you take the body of say the mirrorless body itself, it's basically a shrunken camera, even compared to something like the D3000 series, which is the point. Miniature, so to speak. The lenses themselves should be scaled down as well.

When I think "Mirrorless", I think portability. While it would be great to get an APS-C and even full frame options for mirrorless from Nikon, keeping the F-Mount is just a terrible idea. Do you really want a heavy 70-200 f/2.8 in front of a body that weighs next to nothing? There is no balance or counter balance there. Even lighter lenses like the 70-300 VR II would be VERY front heavy. Of course, that's only going with long lenses, but the point is still there.

If Nikon were to come up with mirrorless FX and DX, sure, I'd bite as long as everything I would expect from it is still there and in a properly scaled down fashion. But if it were F-mount, I'd just stay away from it. Even on something like Olympus' OM-D line, which isn't much bigger than some of my film cameras, if at all, traditional DSLR lenses would just seem and feel too bulky to me.

 

[Braineack]

I dont care about physical size--i care about the actual technology and innovation that you get with a mirrorless.

in body stabilization so you could "VR" Ai-S lenses, greater burst speeds, live composite, sensor shifting, etc.

there's no real innovation coming from the Canon or Nikon DSLR lineup.