New Mini Retro Camera..

Pistnbroke

Well I hope the photos are wrong ..looks like a Fugi...why do I want a shutter speed dial? Exposure adjust ? Whats the computer inside for ? All those dials to get knocked ,Will kook terrible with them all taped up !! Good luck Nikon with that one.

snakebunk

Maybe it has a little sturdy button that disables all other buttons, except the shutter. Possibly called the tape button.

Pistnbroke

I would buy that .....!!!

PB_PM

It's supposed to be a retro camera, so retro dials and stuff are a given, what are you expecting? I looks basically like the Df, without the grip, which looks like just about every manual film camera from the late 1970-1980's. Fuji just took that look and ran with it for many of the modern digital cameras, so it's hardly copying Fuji. If this camera is anything like the Df, it has dial settings for full auto stuff too.

Pistnbroke

Well I dont do dials so I would not buy it . takes me back to the 70's We have computers to take care of all that calculation stuff. I guess it will have auto iso and A mode somewhere in the menu.

MrFotoFool

People can buy whatever they want and if there is a market for this then good for Nikon for figuring it out. Personally I wouldn't be caught dead with it, but if other people enjoy it then what do I care? I am curious to see if they actually will sell many units of this. Does anyone know how well the Df sold?

PB_PM

Given that this is supposed to be an entry level APS-C camera (odd spot for a niche camera), I doubt it will do very well. Guess they are hoping to grab onto the nostalgia that Fuji has, but frankly Nikon missed the boat with the Df, so why this would be any different is beyond me.

mhedges

The impression I got is that Df did not sell that well. There's an interview out there with someone at Nikon (possibly the designer?) being asked about a possible refresh and the response was that the sales didn't warrant it.

I'm not the biggest fan of this either but just because it is retro styled doesn't mean it will be all that much like the Df. Df was a premium priced product that had objectively better models on sale for less money for most of it's production life. It appears this won't be the "budget" APS-C Z camera I was kind of expecting but it doesn't seem like it will be all that overpriced.

WestEndFoto

Let’s see what we get before we start judging.

Capt_Spaulding

It's funny. When the digital revolution was getting under way, I was a firm skeptic. I NEEDED my dials, match needle meters and manual aperture rings. Not to mention a thumb operated frame advance. What I really wanted was a way to convert one of my Minolta SR-Ts with some sort of digital back.

Now, I have virtually no interest in the current "manualized" digital devices.

PB_PM

WestEndFoto said:

Let’s see what we get before we start judging.

Likely a Z50 in a different box. I don't get the point.

WestEndFoto

PB_PM said:

WestEndFoto said:

Let’s see what we get before we start judging.

Likely a Z50 in a different box. I don't get the point.

Everyone is guessing and nobody knows anything. Though the guesses may be somewhat educated.

I don't see the point on wasting energy guessing and passing judgement. Why don't we get somebody, Charlie say, it imagine something and we can all critique that.

And if we get a Z50 in a different box and it sells well, kudos to Nikon.

Pistnbroke

Well the discussion is keeping the forum alive as it been a bit dead lately. I am surprised so may people agree with me about the dials etc. Hope they got it right but putting the effort into the Z30 would I think have produced more profit.

snakebunk

Nikon should focus 100% on making the best cameras. I think it is hard enough without spending time on gimmick dials. This needs to sell extremely well to make it a good idea.

photobunny

Looks like it has a tilty flippy screen. But regardless, Nikon needs a R5 and R3 competitor out now to go with all that pro glass.

PB_PM

This is likely a B or even more likely the C team project, doubt it’s taking anything away from the Z9 project. Question is, why bother? Just update the Z50 if there is a better sensor available, and if not put effort into doing so. This thing isn’t going to be a Z D500, it is far more likely to be as much of a odd step child as the Df, using odd mixes of available parts from canceled DSLR and mirrorless projects. If the pictures are real, I suspect that is the case.

mhedges

I really hope those pictures are either fake or of some early prototype. It looks pretty kludged together to me. Doesn't have the refined look that I expect from Nikon.

photobunny

PB_PM said:

This is likely a B or even more likely the C team project, doubt it’s taking anything away from the Z9 project. Question is, why bother? Just update the Z50 if there is a better sensor available, and if not put effort into doing so. This thing isn’t going to be a Z D500, it is far more likely to be as much of a odd step child as the Df, using odd mixes of available parts from canceled DSLR and mirrorless projects. If the pictures are real, I suspect that is the case.

It's not so much that resources are being diverted, it is more the impression it gives. Pro's are practically begging for the 100-400, 400, and 600, and the bodies. Other pro's already have a trinity of lenses, a 50 1.2, and a 105 macro... but we don't have the killer bodies to rival the R5 and R3 out yet. People are asking for a D500 replacement too, where's the stacked sensor Z90 to go with the Z9? But nah, let's release a vanity project now instead of in a couple years when the system is mature.

manhattanboy

PB_PM said:

This is likely a B or even more likely the C team project, doubt it’s taking anything away from the Z9 project. Question is, why bother? Just update the Z50 if there is a better sensor available, and if not put effort into doing so. This thing isn’t going to be a Z D500, it is far more likely to be as much of a odd step child as the Df, using odd mixes of available parts from canceled DSLR and mirrorless projects. If the pictures are real, I suspect that is the case.

I think you are spot on. Probably Nikon had a commitment for more D500 sensors and the Z50 was not selling enough to use them up. This camera to me is marketing's way to try to offload those sensors.

Hopefully they got the vlogging on this camera perfected, as this retro style crop camera seems like it would be targeted at casual young vloggers. Anyone older I would suspect would be shooting full frame by now since prices are low, or they would be happy to continue with a DSLR and not having to adapt lenses for a mirrorless camera.

PB_PM

photobunny said:

It's not so much that resources are being diverted, it is more the impression it gives. Pro's are practically begging for the 100-400, 400, and 600, and the bodies. Other pro's already have a trinity of lenses, a 50 1.2, and a 105 macro... but we don't have the killer bodies to rival the R5 and R3 out yet. People are asking for a D500 replacement too, where's the stacked sensor Z90 to go with the Z9? But nah, let's release a vanity project now instead of in a couple years when the system is mature.

Lens designers aren’t working on camera bodies, totally different specialties. Anyone who thinks designing another camera body is slowing down lens designs has no clue how products like this are developed.

WestEndFoto

Let us all remember that Nikon's profits are made at the entry to lower prosumer level. As killer as the Z9 will be and as enthusiastic as I am about buying one (and a Z8), I know that if Nikon does not have a compelling product line from, say, D5 down, then there will be no Z9iii.

photobunny

PB_PM said:

photobunny said:

It's not so much that resources are being diverted, it is more the impression it gives. Pro's are practically begging for the 100-400, 400, and 600, and the bodies. Other pro's already have a trinity of lenses, a 50 1.2, and a 105 macro... but we don't have the killer bodies to rival the R5 and R3 out yet. People are asking for a D500 replacement too, where's the stacked sensor Z90 to go with the Z9? But nah, let's release a vanity project now instead of in a couple years when the system is mature.

Lens designers aren’t working on camera bodies, totally different specialties. Anyone who thinks designing another camera body is slowing down lens designs has no clue how products like this are developed.

Again this isn't about actual resources been diverted. It is about the impression this gives buyers and the media.

PB_PM

Nikon publicly announced Z9 development, and the lenses on the roadmap, this retro camera shouldn’t be confusing anyone about what the best camera and lens developers at Nikon are working on.

Pistnbroke

We are not confused I think all that is being said its not for the type of person who frequents this site. My daughter would buy it because she has more money than sense. .

MrFotoFool

Pistnbroke said:

...My daughter would buy it because she has more money than sense. .

Pistnbroke

worth looking at angry photographer today on the RetZ..he reckons it will be an old D3500 inside a new case ...no complaints about speed or focus cus its retro.Cheap and quick to make to prove Nikon is still in business.