Another most telling afull-frame dug out by Nikon Rumors, and forgive me if the recent full-frame focus on THEME is beginning to bore you. But a press release by Nikon Germany suggests the world’s number two camera maker is to focus on the full-frame FX format. Nikon says its “current” full-frame portfolio consists of the D610, D800 plus D800E and the D4. This emphasis on “current” kind of implies something’s in the making. Or why would Nikon tell us don’t take different sensor formats for granted? By “putting FX in the spotlight,” as Nikon goes on, the camera maker responds to the “demands of an ever broader public.”
Call it a strange press release, but this makes perfect sense in the light of current developments when everyone seems to be trying to move upscale. Let’s recall Nikon president Makoto Kimura who this July said, “We want to create a product that will change the concept of cameras.”
That’s not FX. That could be a product completely unrelated to current cameras as we know them. But to respond to the needs and demands of the established photography market Nikon has to cater for them in a way that’s similarly forward-looking.
Quod erat demonstrandum, you’ll say.
To take a case in point: enjoy the stellar images the new Sony A7s are able to churn out. Check out Dyxum forum or Sony for samples.
That’s the future of serious photography. I myself love to shoot small cameras with small sensors and smaller glass and lighter weight. But it’s always a tradeoff. These samples are like a symphony for the eyes.
Nikon’s upcoming retro full-frame camera is all about going back to the roots and basics of photography. Nikon wants to make serious photography a pure, unspoiled experience again. See this “Pure Photography” teaser:
The German press release dated October 22, 2013, lists “advantages of the full-frame format” and adds, “Nikon therefore commits itself to continuously develop the imaging market. We achieve this through further product innovation.”
Talk digital FM2 — or rather digital F3, as some suggest (search Nikon FM2 and F3 on eBay).
Nikon couldn’t be clearer about where it sees the future of cameras and photography. On the one hand more and more powerful small imaging devices, such as smartphones, will replace conventional cameras with smaller sensors. On the other hand there’s the market of quality photography.
One could go on speculating whether Nikon tries to move DX upwards and CX downwards.
Clear seems this: the future of serious photography is full-frame.
Expect more FX coming from Nikon.
Don’t want to bore you any further with full-frame revolution and so forth. But remember, you read it first on THEME.
(If you have some spare time, check out Nikon’s new full-frame visuals…)