RIP
Posted on 01/12/2006 9:22:00 AM PST by Jack Black
Reshaping Nikon's Film Camera Assortment
As the film camera market shrinks and the popularity of compact digital cameras increases, demand for products that offer advanced features and extra value is growing rapidly. Additionally, the demand for high performance digital SLR cameras is also steadily increasing as customers shift from film SLRs or upgrade from compact digital cameras.
With film cameras accounting for an ever smaller percentage of Nikon's total sales volume, the company has decided to concentrate its vast resources toward those business categories that continue to demonstrate the strongest growth. Consequently, as Nikon focuses more on the digital camera business, the company must adopt appropriate measures to ensure its continued success.
With that, the Nikon film camera lineup will be reshaped, allowing more of Nikon's planning, engineering and manufacturing resources to be focused on the digital products that now drive our thriving industry. The measures that Nikon will adopt include discontinuing production of all large format Nikkor lenses and enlarging lenses, as well as several of our film camera bodies, manual focus Nikkor interchangeable lenses and related accessories. Sales of these products will cease as supplies are depleted.
Importantly, Nikon's film camera business will continue with our flagship model F6(TM) and with the FM10(TM), allowing the Nikon brand to continue serving the two strongest segments of the 35mm film camera market. Both professionals and dedicated amateurs who continue to view film as their preferred format along with students in need of an economical camera to learn the fundamentals of photography will have ideal Nikon products from which to choose. Additionally, Nikon will continue to produce the manual focus 85mm f/2.8D PC Micro-Nikkor(R).
With the interests of its customers in mind, Nikon will offer continued post-sale service for products whose production has ceased for a period of 10 (ten) years from Nikon Inc.'s last date of sale.
This shift in business strategy and in the utilization of resources will allow Nikon to further its storied history and reputation as a leader in the ever-growing digital market and continue to offer groundbreaking new products and technology for photographers of all skill levels.
SOURCE Nikon
The best Nikon cameras (the original F, the F3, the F5, the FM2 and many others) were real works of art.
Nikon joins Olympus, Kyocera/Yashica/Contax, and Kodak which have completely stopped making film cameras.
End of an era.
BTTT
I checked ebay recently and there are still people buying old FGs, like the one I still have.
It really is. When digital first came out I thought that at least professionals and serious amateurs would continue using film. To my surprise, and Kodak's dismay, that era is nearing it's end.
I hope they work on finding all the bugs in their digital line up. I just sent my D70 in for the BGLOD service repair! And I am lucky that my batteries did not burn up too!
LOL, they'll soon stop building digital cameras too (cuz they'll lose it to Canon).
RIP
Well, I still love my N50 and recently bought a D50 so that I can share lenses. In my humble opinion both have their place but then again I am an old person and still see value in 35mm slides. *g
True, Canon's Digital-elphs are a beautiful thing and well worth recommending.
I worked the convention last Feb for Nikon. The D70 is a work of art!
That dates me !
Zuben owns the classic FM-1, originally purchased in 1976. Still operates terrifically, although the original leather case is sure showing its age (like the owner, I guess).
I also still have my Minolta SRT-201 for that among other reasons...
Depending on what professionals are doing with their images, film is still an excellent medium. Some estimate that the megapixel equivalent of medium-format film is somewhere between 20 and 60 megapixels. Until high-end digital backs become cheaper and more mainstream, those who need high resolution will have to stick to film and film scanners.
I love my Nikon D70s =)
The D70 is a great camera, we use it for motorpsorts photograpgy, and it's been perfect. Film is great, but just not as practical anymore. Digital seems to lack a bit of the depth of color you get in a well developed film picture, though.
Geez, I was thinking of buying a D70.
On my Alaska cruise, I talked with a pro wildife photographer, who was using D100s because of the larger lenses. His carry everywhere camera was a 8800, only complaint was slow on processing.
I also have a 950 and a coolpix 2500, which is my put in pocket carry everywhere.
PMA? See you there next month! Nikon had a pretty impressive booth, but Canon's booth absolutely knocked my socks off! I think the D50 and D70 are both fine cameras, but we went with the Rebel XT since we already had five other Canon lenses. A friend has the D70, and I must say, I'm quite inpressed.
Acutally I think amatures will stick with film longer, and artists. PJs love digital. The workflow is so much better. Wedding photogs love digital.
These days, a Lieca M6 TTL is my weapon of choice; however, I'll be delving into the digi world in the next year or so (I like the Pentax waterproof compact digitals).
Kodachrome
They give us those nice bright colors
They give us the greens of summers
Makes you think all the world’s a sunny day, oh yeah
I got a nikon camera
I love to take a photograph
So mama don’t take my kodachrome away
And sitting in front of a computer screen is not as therapeutic as a few hours in a photo dark room. (sigh)
My "F2" is going to keep clicking 'til she croaks. The wifey uses the digital. I may break down and buy digital, after the changes settle a bit. This new model every few months is not a sign of stability, it's just 'feature marketing'.
Yeah. I hate this. Film does some things better than digital ever will. I'm a fan of even black and white, and have a really nice darkroom tucked away.
Perhaps in the future we'll see limited edition botique runs of Nikon SLRs as they have done with their older rangefinder camera. This baby cost about $2500 when it was released last year. It is a very beautiful and faithful reproduction of the circa 1957 Nikon SP. Available only in Japan.
Blow up from a picture similar as below.
It was a rare 3 cub sighting near Haines, AK.
Last year I hung up my F2; thousands of rolls of film went through that thing.
Next, I'll retire my 503 Hassie.
PMA Indeed! I worked for Nikon International. Japan, Denmark, Netherlands etc. I'm hoping to attend. Waiting on the 'orders'.
The quality of Nikon and Cannon are unsurpassed. What will they come up with next?! See you there?
My buddy is a professional photographer and he went Digital years ago. He uses a Canon 12 megapixel which is already several years old. He paid $thousands for it!
He could take the memory, put it in the computer, enhance the photos in minutes and have it to the Newspaper Editor in short order. It made making deadlines easier and the photoshop enhancements were x% greater than darkroom tricks.
Although I am NOT the camera buff, I still say there are times when a good shutter speed will beat digital anytime. The still photos that take time may be won by digital, but high speed isn't on the market yet. Soon I'm sure.
Film still has better dynamic range that digital (although working with the RAW images helps). Desaturated colour is not the same as panchromatic B&W. You can run a roll of Tri-X or T-MAX through a film camera; your digital camera has an inherently colour focal plane.
Plus it only takes minutes instead of hours.
Can you save me a trip to eBay and tell me if the prices are any good on this camera?
what are your recs...thanx
Nikon PING
Don't forget Polaroid, one of the first victims of digital technology.
I run a Contax S2 (all mechanical, titanium body) with Zeiss primes. My subjects are outdoors, and it's not uncommon to find me trackside when it's -30F outside, waiting for the right lighting conditions and a train to photograph. The S2 is probably the most rugged and reliable SLR ever made, so I know that when I push the little button I'll get an image.
For my environment, digicams don't work. But because of the rapid disappearance of decent E6 labs, I won't have much choice soon but to buy a bunch of Y/C to EOS adapters and a Canon digibody. Heck, they're even torpedoing monochrome film...
My 105/2.5 is probably my favorite Nikon lens and one of my all time favorite lenses. However I would still rate the Zeiss 100/2.0 as a much better lens. And the Zeiss 50/1.4 I like much better than the Nikon equiv, having owned and used both extensively for many years.
We also see digital as superior to the other.
I don't. But clearly most of the world is with you on this.
There are digital Nikon's out there where you can do the same if not better job than with traditional film.
Transparencies? Black and White portraits? Ultra fast 3200 film? Top of the line Fuji color?
The new Zeiss rangefinder lenses look nice, and I like the camera body too (though it would be cool if they built a mechanical one).
Wonder if Zeiss will rethink their rumored release of Nikon mount lenses now? Or perhaps they will build a manual focus body and have the whole "curmudgeon" SLR market to themselves. (Leica still has the R I guess?).
I guess I better get to hoarding slide film. There is nothing better for capturing color.
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