Railfan Technology > Nikon News--Emphasis Shift to Mirrorless

https://petapixel.com/2021/01/19/nikon-to-focus-on-mirrorless-as-it-anticipates-historic-720m-loss/?fbclid=IwAR2AFvTYR6_iXOzap66QeRs7QPLYVprugkOT9PJj5NZ2j8FPr0af9f-UuDU

Neil



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/21/21 08:05 by SOUCF25.

Kodak, Minolta, Olympus....

I guess it's handy to blame the pandemic. Must have stopped their engineers from going to work and designing new cameras competitive with the rest of the market.

Putting their emphasis on their latest mirrorless system (nobody remembers the Nikon 1 system, evidently), where a pedestrian "nifty fifty" goes for $600 is hardly "poised for recovery." More like corporate suicide. 

Canon is expected to do the same - shift from developing SLRs (can we just drop the d already? Nobody is making film SLRs anymore now that Nikon dropped the F6) to mirrorless, as well. Similar strategy, opposite results.

I guess I've bought my last Nikon.

Arved Grass
Fleming Island, FL

My fifteen-year-old Nikon D50 has been gathering dust serving as a paperweight and doorstop since I got my Samsung Galaxy Note 4 five years ago.

It is mistifying to me why anyone doing action phtotography would use a mirrorless camera.     You cannot properly frame and time results with the shutter delay and dark viewfinder, or a viewfinder showing what was there when you started the shoot.   Never mind the battery consumption which is just what you need when out hiking all day.   And, never mind a viewfinder not bright enough in bright sun.     Just so you know I am an ex pro photographer and am 67 years old and photographing trains since 1963 when my first pic was of the CNW Twin Cities 400 racing through a small town in WI.    I current use a Canon 7D II.     And hand tested and selected for a good specimen lenses all focus calibrated to the camera.

ATSFSuperCap Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It is mistifying to me why anyone doing action
> phtotography would use a mirrorless camera.   
>  You cannot properly frame and time results with
> the shutter delay and dark viewfinder, or a
> viewfinder showing what was there when you started
> the shoot.   Never mind the battery consumption
> which is just what you need when out hiking all
> day.   And, never mind a viewfinder not bright
> enough in bright sun.     Just so you know I am
> an ex pro photographer and am 67 years old and
> photographing trains since 1963 when my first pic
> was of the CNW Twin Cities 400 racing through a
> small town in WI.    I current use a Canon 7D
> II.     And hand tested and selected for a good
> specimen lenses all focus calibrated to the
> camera.

===========

As a 63 year old amateur, I can't justify going to the Z series.  The majority of my Nikon glass will not be fully functional with the FTZ adapter either.  I'll continue to make KEH happy with used DSLR purchases.

Neil 

ATSFSuperCap Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It is mistifying to me why anyone doing action
> phtotography would use a mirrorless camera.   
>  You cannot properly frame and time results with
> the shutter delay and dark viewfinder, or a
> viewfinder showing what was there when you started
> the shoot.   Never mind the battery consumption
> which is just what you need when out hiking all
> day.   And, never mind a viewfinder not bright
> enough in bright sun.     Just so you know I am
> an ex pro photographer and am 67 years old and
> photographing trains since 1963 when my first pic
> was of the CNW Twin Cities 400 racing through a
> small town in WI.    I current use a Canon 7D
> II.     And hand tested and selected for a good
> specimen lenses all focus calibrated to the
> camera.

I think it's very obvious. Burst rates are much higher and the cameras are lighter and more compact. There's your answer. If you get a good one there is no shutter delay and the slr-style viewfinder is perfectly usable. 

In 10 years I'd be surprised if dslrs are even still available in any meaningful way.

I might have thought the same a few years ago, having shot APS-C and now full frame Nikon DSLRs. I think it's telling that the AP switched their photographers to Sony mirrorless cameras, however. I'll be curious to see how well Sony, Canon, and Nikon mirrorless cameras are represented among the pros at the 2020(2021!?) Olympics if they happen this year.

I started concurrently using a m4/3 setup back in 2011 for a high IQ small/light backpacking camera. I now have several Panasonic and Olympus bodies and lenses that I use for travel or when I need a compact and light setup. These are also my video cameras.

The Olympus OM-D EM1 Mark II I have is a highly competent camera. The sensor tech is showing it's age and doesn't fully compete with my FF Nikon in terms of dynamic range and image quality, but I can get publishable, sell-able images with that camera that do well when printed on my 13"x19" printer. I actually enjoy using that camera more than my Nikon DSLR. It has a wide focus coverage area using on-sensor phase detection that negates having to focus and recompose. Though it's not quite high-end DSLR level yet, focus tracking on mirrorless has improved substantially. Face and eye detection focus is there. Built in image stabilization is fantastic, especially for travel photography in indoor venues where tripods are prohibited. Frame rates for action shooting are through the roof. I have a ton of information that I can superimpose on the viewfinder that isn't available in a DSLR...leveling, focus peaking, zebra-stripes, quick menus, etc., all without removing my eye from the viewfinder. I shot a series of hummingbirds in flight hand-held using the Olympus OM-D EM1 Mark II with an Oly 40-150 f/2.8 and a Panasonic G-85 with a Panasonic 200 f/2.8 during a Costa Rica trip. I never would have pulled this off with my DSLR.

My dilemma at this point is deciding if I'll go with the Nikon Z system or switch to Sony. I like the Nikon ergonomics and image quality, and I would welcome using F-mount lenses with the FTZ. If I'm going to invest in a new system, however, I want to feel confident it will be around for a while. Given what happened with Olympus, I'm a little more hesitant to keep putting eggs in the Nikon basket. I use a 1" sensor Sony RX100 mk 3 for ultralight backpacking and feel that the derogatory comments Sony receives about their UI / menus is warranted, so I don't know how much I'd like going to the Sony E mount as a FF alternative to Nikon.

Meanwhile, little of the gear I have is holding me back, so I keep shooting with what I've got.

Sean

ATSFSuperCap Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It is mistifying to me why anyone doing action
> phtotography would use a mirrorless camera.   
>  You cannot properly frame and time results with
> the shutter delay and dark viewfinder, or a
> viewfinder showing what was there when you started
> the shoot.   Never mind the battery consumption
> which is just what you need when out hiking all
> day.   And, never mind a viewfinder not bright
> enough in bright sun.     Just so you know I am
> an ex pro photographer and am 67 years old and
> photographing trains since 1963 when my first pic
> was of the CNW Twin Cities 400 racing through a
> small town in WI.    I current use a Canon 7D
> II.     And hand tested and selected for a good
> specimen lenses all focus calibrated to the
> camera.

I've been shooting with mirrorless for quite sometime, and just find this statement flat out wrong.  
If using a quality mirrorless system, you can certainly frame and compose a moving railroad subject
with little to no difficulty.  I've been shooting with Fujifilm mirrorless for a number of years, and before 
that with Sony mirrorless.  Airshows, no problem, CSX and NS main line freight at 40-50 MPH, no
issues at all, Amtrak on the NEC at 100MPH+, piece of cake, shots in the dark of night with Alien Bees,
my mirrorless nails em almost every time.  What I'll agree with is that we all have our personal preferences, 
and feel that we can never change, that's fine, but your absolute reasons given just aren't correct.  They
just aren't.

John R
ATSFSuperCap Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It is mistifying to me why anyone doing action
> phtotography would use a mirrorless camera.   
>  You cannot properly frame and time results with
> the shutter delay and dark viewfinder, or a
> viewfinder showing what was there when you started
> the shoot.   Never mind the battery consumption
> which is just what you need when out hiking all
> day.   And, never mind a viewfinder not bright
> enough in bright sun.     Just so you know I am
> an ex pro photographer and am 67 years old and
> photographing trains since 1963 when my first pic
> was of the CNW Twin Cities 400 racing through a
> small town in WI.    I current use a Canon 7D
> II.     And hand tested and selected for a good
> specimen lenses all focus calibrated to the
> camera.

ATSFSuperCap Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It is mistifying to me why anyone doing action
> phtotography would use a mirrorless camera.   
>  You cannot properly frame and time results with
> the shutter delay and dark viewfinder, or a
> viewfinder showing what was there when you started
> the shoot.   

The delay is probably less than that required to move the mirror out of the way before initiating the exposure on a (d)SLR. I have no problem whatsoever with my Fujifilm X-E2s or X-H1 photographiing fast moving objects. Race cars move much faster than frieght trains.

Arved Grass
Fleming Island, FL

Happily in the last two years I've bought all new Nikons, replaced all my glass, and at 58 at least one should last me until I die.  Lucky break for me.

Bill Miller
Galt, ON

Me, too. 

I purchased a new D500 about this time last year. For a few months it worked OK but the photos were nothing spectacular. Then, in June, it stopped focusing on infinity. I thought it was a lens problem at first but it was the case with all of my Nikon lenses.

Sent it back to factory for repair. It came back still not focusing on infinity plus about every second or third photo was grossly overexposed. The factory had it four weeks.
Sent it to the factory for a second time. As far as I could tell, they didn't do anything but clean it as it still had both problems. I begged them to take it outdoors and shoot photos of the sky or other distant objects but the exaluation sheet said they did the standard in-house tests (only). The second time they had the camera nearly two months.

Told Nikon I wanted a new camera (which their warranty states they will do if they cannot repair it). They wanted me to send the camera in a third time for "evaluation." They said it could take "up to two months." 

So, I went back to Olympus a couple of months ago and am thrilled with the results. Much better photos than I ever got (even when it was working properly) with the D500. 

Nikon isn't the company they used to be. 


Arved Wrote:
> I guess I've bought my last Nikon.

Yeah, it's funny (yet downright scary) some of us to be of the age to think in those terms.  I bought a D850 a year ago and with my age being 64 I had the same thoughts.  This year makes 50 years of photographing trains for me.
======================================================================================================  

CCMF Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Happily in the last two years I've bought all new
> Nikons, replaced all my glass, and at 58 at least
> one should last me until I die.  Lucky break for
> me.