Nikon 100th Anniversary

donaldejose

perhaps a new sensor technology? www.youtube.com/watch?v=BL7Xh1S58vs

Pistnbroke

If you follow the fat man he is talking RGBW sensor invented by Kodak in 2007 and now expected in the 2017 Nikons 4x the iso or if you prefer 1600 iso noise at 6400.

donaldejose

If that RGBW technology just improves high ISO 2x sometime in 2017 it is worth waiting for and not purchasing a Nikon now. I have seen no discussion about what RGBW sensor technology does at low ISO. Perhaps it can improve base ISO?

heartyfisher

I looked at the panchromatic sensor years ago.. I think we had some discusssion on it here on the forum.. (maybe the old one?) I seem to remember being very excited regarding this tech ! If indeed it is that tech finally being realised then thats would be great !

However... it may or may not be that tech being shown in the "leaked samples" ..
why ?
- the light sensitivity increase is only on the luminescence channel. Ie colour sensitivity would be just as bad as it is now .. maybe thats why the samples are mostly colourless.
- One of the things I noticed that was stated by the original poster(leaker) was that the images are not as sharp as he would like. That could be an effect of the pancromatic sensor. especially the configuration specified by Kodak. In that configuration, if I remember correctly, it had half the pixels being panchromatic. In which case the resolution would be halved compared to "bayer" however I would have hoped that any actual implementation would realise that all you need was 1/4 or 1/5 the number of pixels to be panchromatic(white). but who knows, I am not developing it :-)
- The major advantage of the Kodak idea was that it would be relatively very simple to implement. ie add a pancromatic cell every other cell and use the Bayer Matrix for de-mosaic processing. and adding the luminacence channel to the "de-mosiced" data.

So yes it could be true.. but that Kodak patent is not the only one that aims to improve sensitivity. There are better ones. including several by Nikon. and an interesting new one by Panasonic that looks very very promising. It may be this panasonic sensor that is being tested by Nikon. The system proposed by the panasonic patent has a micro prism in front of the pixel sensors that splits the light wavelenths and redirects it to a neighbouring pixel.. ie one pixel will get the white+the neighbour's red. another will get white plus the neighbour's blue and the "SharerPixel" will only get green. so 100% of the light is used !!! currently the bayer system loses about 70% of the light.(maybe more since there are 2 greens)

So .. lets see how it goes .. exciting times ahead either way ...

heartyfisher

@donaldejose .. re low ISO capability of the panchromatic sensor...

OMG !! it is here that it really shines .. (if you can stomach the lower resolution) what you get is 2 more stops of DR !! so yes better base ISO.

or if nikon marketing is sneaky smart, maybe increase the resolution.. say a 70MP sensor (good for marketing, but performs like a 35 - 50mp sensor in resolution) however you gain DR and High ISO capability.

donaldejose

heartyfisher: I am sure a lot of people would purchase a body with two stops increased high ISO, two stops increased dynamic range at base ISO and a 70mp sensor which has 36mp resolution, however that would be achieved. Sounds like an impossible dream. It would create a benchmark befitting a 100th year anniversary.

heartyfisher

that's not what I said. heh... but "70mp" and 1stop improved base iso Dr may be possible. but you may lose 1 stop colour depth at high iso. though you would gain 1 stop of high iso. all this relative to a d810. this is with the Kodak panchromatic scheme. however.. the Panasonic scheme.. is a whole different ballgame. looks to me to be a straight up 2+ stops gain(at least in the red and blue channels). ie d810 with a 2 stop boost... not good for low iso shooters...since you won't be able to go lower than iso 250-300. but I guess they could "boost/extend" down...

NSXTypeR

Right on time, Nikon has a 100th Anniversary video.

PeachBlack

Hahahaha... I called it: nostalgia for the past but looking to the future, and that was exactly the tag line at the end of the clip. Of course they SAID they were looking towards the future, but they provided absolutely no glimpses into what this might entail. We shall see, or not.

MegapixelSchnitzel

With the new rumors appearing in the blog from Japan, perhaps its time to unlock the Df thread...

PeachBlack

If it really is a D750 in a retro body, and if they don't charge a $1000+ premium for it, I'd buy one.

Ironheart

If you take the video literally, it seems like the "retro" they are going for is a rangefinder. This would imply a mirrorless offering, perhaps a DX, but could also be FX. FX mirrorless with retro rangefinder controls and styling, with modern performance and an S-mount with an F-mount adapter? Or an option for a native F-mount. Hmmmm....

WestEndFoto

A Df2 DSLR with the innards of a D750 and two cards would be perfect for me.

donaldejose

I vote for an FX mirrorless body with a spacer to allow the use of legacy F mount lenses and some new lenses designed for a shorter flange to sensor distance (since there is no mirror). This new body can simulate a rangefinder since there is no OVF and it will use an EVF. Forget the Df2, just start fresh with a very good mirrorless body. It is ok if it has dials, etc. Just make it as easily functional as a pro-bodied DSLR body (meaning lots of direct action buttons. Forget the retro bar of soap square corner form and get that shutter button and hand grip in the same positions they are on a D5 or D810. Egronomics have advanced since the days of the Nikon F. Make it seamless to move between this new mirrorless body and a D5 or D810. The new line of lenses can start with a 24-85 variable aperture zoom, a 24-70 f2.8 (or f4) zoom, a 70-200 f2.8 (or f4) zoom, a good 50mm or 58mm f1.4 prime, a good 85mm f1.4 prime and a good 35mm f1.4 prime. Nikon doesn't need a new macro lens because anyone shooting macro can just use the existing macro lens with a spacer. Only the commonly used zooms and primes will need to be produced in a shorter flange to sensor distance because those will be the ones a shooter would likely want to have in a camera bag for quick changing on the fly. AF points should cover the entire frame. It should include Nikon's radio CLS and an improved form of snapbridge. I would not be adverse to Nikon producing two or three versions with different sensors. There could be a 12 to 20 mp version optimized for high ISO low light image quality (like the D5) and a 36 to 50 mp sensor optimized for low ISO increased dynamic range (like the replacement for the D810).

Pistnbroke

I hope Nikon got Rockwells approval for this video with all its references to light. After all it was Rockwell who asked god to make light so he could take photographs and because Rockwell asked God made light.

Rx4Photo

OK, from now on I'm pronouncing it "Nee • khan" !!

Sports

Pistnbroke said:

I hope Nikon got Rockwells approval for this video.

If they don't bother to get Rockwell's approval, Nikon should at least make a donation for his growing familiy.

Pistnbroke

Thats why we have not had any new cameras ..All new cameras have to go to Rockwell for approval . If they are excellent he permits them to be called Nikon. When not so good , Canon and all the others get a Sony sticker.