D3400

WestEndFoto

The new D3400 is out. Surprised this did not get caught on the main blog. See:

http://en.nikon.ca/nikon-products/product/dslr-cameras/d3400.html

starralazn

its there. he posted it on fb, but somehow it doesn't show up immediately after he posts it for a little while

Pistnbroke

Sod the D3400 where is me D850.....

NSXTypeR

I wish the D3400 came out when I first started, I had to make do with 3 AF points on the D40. Boy that was miserable.

I hope the D7200 gets updated with the D500's features, like better AF and faster frame rate and still keep the dual SD card slots.

Pistnbroke

From a Tom Hogan point of view Nikon have got this right....continuous transfer of 2MP images to your smartphone ..always ON ..and the advertising is showing it in use with a smartphone ..and it looks smaller than the phone..

retread

NSXTypeR said:

I hope the D7200 gets updated with the D500's features, like better AF and faster frame rate and still keep the dual SD card slots.

Lets put two SD UHS II slots or two XQD slots in a D7200 replacement. I wish my D500 had two of the same cards. Fewer cards to manage is a good thing.
The D7200 is good camera add the D500 focus system would be awesome.

MegapixelSchnitzel

Pistnbroke said:

Sod the D3400 where is me D850.....

Photokina is about a month away. I have my fingers crossed...

DaveyJ

The D3400 is also coming with two 70-300 DX zoom lens.......one option is $329 without VR, second is $399 with VR...both have the same stepping motor, so are designed as much as anything for the D3400 and the D5500........this is bad for the more sophisticated user in that the D500 and the D7200 users were not regarded as relevant? Snapbridge and connectivity ruled this intro.....not image quality. The 70-300 DX Nikkor better match the present lens or beat it or Nikon made a Risky Business move.......in my opinion as a very regular 70-300 user.
This looks like a 55-300 type venture so focus speed was judged secondary to weight and price, and image quality. Trying to run too many trains on the same track!

WestEndFoto

I think it was a good business move by Nikon. IQ is not Nikon's problem at this price point. Apple and android are. Nikon is not going to sell more of these cameras by upgrading IQ as that is already light years ahead. But if they don't get their cameras connected to the internet, they will become irrelevant to a huge user base.

CaMeRaQuEsT

Here's Fuji teaching Nikon, again, how to properly do a digital camera:

http://www.fujifilm.com/products/digital_cameras/x/fujifilm_x_a3/

It's cheaper than the D3400, they didn't take any feature away from the previous iteration to pay for a real upgrade (going from 16 to 24 Mpix), and its design is highly optimized for selfie taking, a very high priority for their intended customers. It still has a sensor cleaner for crying out loud!

DaveyJ

The two lens kit unfortunately includes the non VR version lens for $999. I have contacted Nikon to see if the option of getting the VR lens was available for say $70 more....answer.....no!

NSXTypeR

DaveyJ said:

The two lens kit unfortunately includes the non VR version lens for $999. I have contacted Nikon to see if the option of getting the VR lens was available for say $70 more....answer.....no!

Is there at least an option to buy the D3400 body only? I would assume that would negate any lens discount they could possibly give you.

Nikon at it again, screwing around with pricing. The average soccer mom isn't going to understand why their photos are blurry, this is cost cutting at its worst.

Pistnbroke

We got the D3400 listed as body only at all major stores in UK and with the 18-55 P as a kit.
I still say "sod the 3400 where is me 54 MP D 850 ?"

MegapixelSchnitzel

Nikon hears you, Pistnbroke. They will grant your wish. They will not grant mine, however. In fact, when they talk about my dream of a D5X there is a lot of laughing and bad Japanese jokes being cracked in their planning department.

DaveyJ

Well it is out to look at! The two lens kit has the 18-55 kit collapsible lens and the 70-300 new Nikkor with the stepping motor and NO VR. It is priced at about $800 MSRP at every dealer I have contacted, $200 OFF! Too bad the VR version, released at the same time wasn't also available for $70 more! I know most Nikon Rumors folks go for complicated more pro cameras, but this new entry level camera has interesting potential for SOME uses. Street, field, etc. The Snap Bridge connectivity is the big deal.....also....no Sensor Cleaner on board!
It is also lighter....smaller, and yes Virginia, it does have the SAME little bitty, teeny, focus points. So people like Ken Rockwell, me, and maybe YOU, might wonder if the D3300 isn't a better deal, but then the two lens kit is not available for the D3300, except with the 55-200 which I have tested and think is a born again loser lens (a way less than perfect lens) without much going for it.....not that sharp, not that much range, and just simply a lens I would NEVER buy!

DaveyJ

This D3400 may sell well! Let's see what a real pro reviewer like Thom Hogan thinks?

NSXTypeR

Thom Hogan doesn't really review the lowest DSLRs, I think he copied and pasted a few of the reviews for the D3000 series of cameras.

I think I would rather prefer a version of the D3400 with a non-collapsable 18-55 with VR. Don't kid anyone here, having a collapsable lens isn't going to make or break your day, a DSLR isn't small by any means, a half an inch here or there is not going to be the determining factor in purchasing the D3400.

Losing the VR will, and in the least experienced photo enthusiasts, they're going to blame the equipment when they get subpar results on an $800 piece of equipment. Bad moves here I think.

DaveyJ

I totally agree with NSXTypeR about the collapsible lens.....
I use the former one exclusively! Also agree on the VR versus non-VR!
I did carefully review the Thom Hogan statements about the D3400 in which he said he WILL NOT review the D3400. What I do mean is that his will still make some very accurate assessments of the camera.

As to a DSLR not being small......I used to own several 8x10 cameras. Now I avoid the D5s and although I will never discard my F5, the interest in personally owning FX Nikons ended with my D700. I admire the D810, but in the work we do....especially my own field work, lighter, less expensive is better for me now, and my budget is far less than when I was a scientist. Now I work on our farming operations and although big cameras take better photos most of the serious stuff I do is D500 or D7200 taken, but as soon as the hazards get worse, it is D3300 or D3200 or Go Pro.

Why the interest in D3400? I don't like mirrorless cameras.....I have owned many, don't like point and shoots, have owned many, and cell phones do not work at all where I live due to Mountains blocking signals, and also have not seen compelling cell phone photos.

Pistnbroke

One switch/button is enough to get a camera to work ..don't need any extend lens buttons and I note you cannot access the menus unless the lens is out....less is more.

NSXTypeR

DaveyJ said:

I totally agree with NSXTypeR about the collapsible lens.....
I use the former one exclusively! Also agree on the VR versus non-VR!
I did carefully review the Thom Hogan statements about the D3400 in which he said he WILL NOT review the D3400. What I do mean is that his will still make some very accurate assessments of the camera.

As to a DSLR not being small......I used to own several 8x10 cameras. Now I avoid the D5s and although I will never discard my F5, the interest in personally owning FX Nikons ended with my D700. I admire the D810, but in the work we do....especially my own field work, lighter, less expensive is better for me now, and my budget is far less than when I was a scientist. Now I work on our farming operations and although big cameras take better photos most of the serious stuff I do is D500 or D7200 taken, but as soon as the hazards get worse, it is D3300 or D3200 or Go Pro.

Why the interest in D3400? I don't like mirrorless cameras.....I have owned many, don't like point and shoots, have owned many, and cell phones do not work at all where I live due to Mountains blocking signals, and also have not seen compelling cell phone photos.

Wow, shooting with 8x11 cameras, you know large cameras then! I understand how you feel about a D3400, I started digital photography seriously with the first camera in the lineup, a D40 with the 18-135 kit lens. That was a nice piece of kit, but the AF kind of sucked. That being said, I bought it March 2008 and used it up through January 2013, upon which I bought my D7000.

I wish Nikon would pay more attention to low end cameras and lenses, the 18-55 is nice, but I'm used to instant AF override, so that's not a really nice feature of the lens. Besides, it's their bread and butter, why are they neglecting their biggest market?

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I think the biggest problem for me and mirrorless cameras is that you need to give up battery life, which I assume is a concern for you too. With my style of shooting, I used to get around 1,000 to 1,200 shots on the D40, and conservatively on my D7000 I think I can easily get 1,500 shots on a charge. I'm not a heavy user, and I perhaps charge my camera every 4 or so months? That's pretty awesome, for battery life to pretty much be a non issue.

DaveyJ

I use the D3200 enough on job sites documenting our work that I carry two batteries, and find I have to charge every four days approx. The D500 is toughest on batteries. The D7200 I still regard is the single easiest to use and has the most user friendly features. The D3400 simply I now believe took a distinct curve towards to new user and did so at the expense of reality. A Apple iPhone 7 or even an iPhone 6 has a more MP image than the Snap Bridge 2MP always on send from your camera? Thom Hogan's is Nikon Swimming in the wrong direction essay pretty much paints an accurate picture. The DL Nikons failed to appear........the 360 Nikon is bucking very heavy competition from Go Pro.....our company owns 17 Go Pros that are at least Go Pro 3s. The D500 was an amazing camera. If Nikon had a clue where to go.....it seems a way better D3400 was in order, without all the reduced features, and NO 4K video on this one? The new 70-300 DX zoom VR at $400 needs to be put in a Kit!

My large and medium format era was heavy in investment, paid off, and I miss most is the Fugitive 617 and the four lens panels. I have a letter from Fuji Japan telling me why the G617 was by nature wide angle (105mm) then after seeing my work with Roll film backs on long lens they came out with the 180 and the 300! Nikon never answers letters! But they sure did note the encouragement of four years of campaigning for a newer version of the 16-85.... The 16-80 is my single favorite Nikon lens.

But of all the recent lens,Nikon has come out with two I rate best....the 200-500 Nikkor, and the new 70-300 VR Nikkor with the stepping motor and smaller than the current 70-300 ( of which I own four!) HOWEVER I have not used that lens.......

NXSTypeR is one of the Nikon Rumors pros that like me relies on smaller, packed with power, cameras....I think Nikon missed the boat here....although some of the D3300 features dropped were not working that well, others like quick panorama were in my mind, wonderful, but someone had decided not enough interest in that feature! There MUST come a day when Cameras get smaller and still have power. Either that or cell phones will totally take over. At the Apple iPhone 7 launch it was said....that this did NOT replace the DSLR....but it implied I believe that that was the direction they wanted to go. Personally I think a viewfinder is absolutely essential...so,the DSLR is my idea of necessary.....not just nice to have but essential. My 8X10 days of being under a focus cloth, upside down and backwards images on the screen....and I,was very fast to set up....and specialized I doing action photos, like horse jumping and motorcycles doing 120 ft jumps.....MuyBridge was doing that years before and in fact his bank of big cameras in action sequence was the Father of Motion Pictures???

But the small entry level Nikon DSLR is to me....the most essential Nikon sales offering!
If a field of interest has no new entrants, it will die out! Basic economic law! The Nikon D3400 or soon, D3500 need to real rather than detuned.

WestEndFoto

I do think that Nikon has to figure out how to get Snapbridge right if it aspires to be a camera manufacturer for all. They may decide that prosumer and pro is their market and give up the consumer market, but eventually someone who understands the consumer market will launch professional and eat their lunch.

I would also like to point out that an iPhone will never replace a DSLR, especially a full-frame DSLR but even a DX, for those who truly understand that resolution (and therefore IQ) is constrained by the format size. If you want to exploit the resolution of a 75 megapixel sensor, you will need FX or bigger (and that would be one hell of a sharp FX lens). I laughed when I read that IPhone has a 12 megapixel image. More likely 3, maybe 6 and 6 to 9 megapixels of mush.

However, the danger to Nikon is that a company like Apple, that truly gets the user experience, will buy a company like Fuji after it has fleshed out both its regular lens line and the new medium format lens line and revamp it before Nikon can react. Say hello to Blackberry and my 50 grand of gear will start to depreciate really quickly. That is a danger to me.

So while I don't worry about "the user experience and the ability to instantly upload photos to social media" because I have no interest in that, I worry that the company that produces the gear that I want will succumb when a nimbler competitor enters the market.

DaveyJ

Personally I do NOT want to share photos that way at all! The D3400 being a "mule" for that drug trade is for me no draw at all! My interest was small, light, packed with power, not trying to push my images on Facebook for all the world to see, and all that! So Although if it helps market share and helps keep Nikon making good cameras, OK. Having owned and being VERY impressed with Fuji in the past.......I would be open in the future to switching to a Fuji camera for my DSLR use. So Nikon swimming in the wrong direction is exactly what happened here......seen first and hardest with the D3400! And the failure to produce the DL Nikon cameras!

NSXTypeR

DaveyJ said:

I use the D3200 enough on job sites documenting our work that I carry two batteries, and find I have to charge every four days approx. The D500 is toughest on batteries. The D7200 I still regard is the single easiest to use and has the most user friendly features. The D3400 simply I now believe took a distinct curve towards to new user and did so at the expense of reality. A Apple iPhone 7 or even an iPhone 6 has a more MP image than the Snap Bridge 2MP always on send from your camera? Thom Hogan's is Nikon Swimming in the wrong direction essay pretty much paints an accurate picture. The DL Nikons failed to appear........the 360 Nikon is bucking very heavy competition from Go Pro.....our company owns 17 Go Pros that are at least Go Pro 3s. The D500 was an amazing camera. If Nikon had a clue where to go.....it seems a way better D3400 was in order, without all the reduced features, and NO 4K video on this one? The new 70-300 DX zoom VR at $400 needs to be put in a Kit!

NXSTypeR is one of the Nikon Rumors pros that like me relies on smaller, packed with power, cameras....I think Nikon missed the boat here....although some of the D3300 features dropped were not working that well, others like quick panorama were in my mind, wonderful, but someone had decided not enough interest in that feature! There MUST come a day when Cameras get smaller and still have power. Either that or cell phones will totally take over. At the Apple iPhone 7 launch it was said....that this did NOT replace the DSLR....but it implied I believe that that was the direction they wanted to go. Personally I think a viewfinder is absolutely essential...so,the DSLR is my idea of necessary.....not just nice to have but essential. My 8X10 days of being under a focus cloth, upside down and backwards images on the screen....and I,was very fast to set up....and specialized I doing action photos, like horse jumping and motorcycles doing 120 ft jumps.....MuyBridge was doing that years before and in fact his bank of big cameras in action sequence was the Father of Motion Pictures???

Thanks DaveyJ, I don't really consider myself a pro as I don't make a living off of photography, but I appreciate the complement nonetheless.

Wow, Snapbridge is a disapointment then! I didn't know it gets downsized to 2 mp. I guess that's fine for posting to Facebook, but I prefer larger files for Flickr. I wonder if anyone has tried the NFC pairing with the D7200, does that just go through Snapbridge too?

To your point about using phones, I sometimes get lazy with downloading photos off of my DSLR. Like what you were saying, Mr. Thom Hogan is right, the workflow out of DSLRs hasn't gotten any easier or more efficient, it's practically been the same since the beginning of DSLRs. There are times I find it easier just to shoot with my phone camera out of laziness and convenience. Occasionally I'll take a photo with my DSLR but I won't share it for months just because I'm too lazy to dump it out of my camera. I think that's the primary reason for the downfall of large cameras.

heartyfisher

The auto transfer in snapbridge via bluetooth is 2mp. You can transfer manually in whatever size you want.

NFC in D7200 I have done.. its just to get the connection. Actual transfer is still via wifi. NFC cant transfer nothing :-) well a few bytes .. enough to validate the device ID.

DaveyJ

Flicker can still be done on a larger size like JPEG using a few more steps. When I look back at my large and medium format era...which was expensive beyond belief.....the convenience and control of DSLR is amazing. I do think though that NEW ENTRANTS are the only proof that a area of development or interest can survive long term, and I do feel that the D3400s and D3500s need to be improving not devolving into fewer features with no significant advances. Snapbridge and Conectivity is what the D3400 is about, but it was curiously late in arriving, and pre orders were somewhat light.