Rumors of new Nikon DSLRs

mmitb said:
If the coolpix P100 is any indication the next batch of Nikon DSLRs should have 1080p, High Frame Rate recording and h.264 format.
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I wanted to see just what we might have in store so I just scoured the official Nikon web site documentation:

The Coolpix 100 with CMOS sensor
does 1080p h.264
@ 14 Mbps bitrate
and shoots video for 29 minutes at a time

http://www.nikonusa.com/Find-Your-Nikon/Product/Digital-Camera/26212/COOLPIX-P100.html

Woo-hoo, 29 minutes! Nikon needs to quit dragging their feet and bring us features from their $399 MSRP camera. Give us a decent modern codec and boost that bit rate for your cameras which cost an order of magnitude more, and those of us with Nikon glass may have a lot to cheer about soon.

I love my HPX170 but shallow DOF is calling my name from the shadows.

C'mon Nikon, my trigger finger's gettin' mighty itchy lookin' at that 7D....
 
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yeah give us a modern distribution codec instead of this stupid industry standard intermediate codec. :-) a higher bitrate is necessary though, around 50 mbit is probably the sweet spot for mjpeg, but saying h.264 is a better codec means we've given up and accepted that prosumer cameras will never have over 20 mbit or so, since that's the only case when h.264 wins.
 
mattsand said:
yeah give us a modern distribution codec instead of this stupid industry standard intermediate codec. :-) a higher bitrate is necessary though, around 50 mbit is probably the sweet spot for mjpeg, but saying h.264 is a better codec means we've given up and accepted that prosumer cameras will never have over 20 mbit or so, since that's the only case when h.264 wins.
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Hopefully Nikon will try to leapfrog Canon by offering a more robust codec for editing than what's available in other DSLR's. But I have a feeling we'll be stuck with h.264 in prosumer DSLRs for a while.
 
I really like the MJPEG codec used on the D90/D3S. It's really easy add grain and masks to fix it.

And all the shadow areas of the image don't go all macro squaged blocky unlike my Canon 550D (I'm not sure if it's the h.264 or Canon processing though??).

So bloody annoying, because I like to have alot of darkness in my image. All my Canon 550D footage looks really digitally messy. Even at ISO 100/200. So it means one has to light everything, set the ISO to 400/800, and then make it darker and crush the shadows in post.
 
Biggest issue for me is Jello. Everything else can be worked around. I can even live with the skew on pans, but when you want an extreme closeup and the talent just bobs their head slightly the shot is unusable. Squash and stretch only looks cool in animation, sorry!
 
http://nikonrumors.com/2010/04/15/r..._campaign=Feed:+NikonRumors+(NikonRumors.com)

This is the latest info I got: 3 new Nikon DSLR cameras are in the pipeline. One of them will be an entry level model (probably D4000).
The second camera will have:

  • 39 AF points

  • it will be 16 MP with 6400 ISO + HI2 position

  • 24 fps 1920/1080 video

  • it will have an optional (new) MB-D11 grip
Update: another option could be: the entry level camera is the Nikon D90 replacement (I know the D90 is not really entry level), the 16MP camera is the D300s replacement and the third camera is the Nikon D700 replacement. I was not directly told that the entry level will be the D4000.
 
modernPrimitive said:
Biggest issue for me is Jello. Everything else can be worked around. I can even live with the skew on pans, but when you want an extreme closeup and the talent just bobs their head slightly the shot is unusable...
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Very much agreed. Just about every interchangeable lens camera can achieve astonishing image quality, so if they can introduce a new shutter approach or some other processing to remedy the rolling shutter artifacts then it'll get real serious. In conjunction with a raw video format with an option to output to a variety of intermediate formats it would be a beast of a camera.
 
Boombaye said:
http://nikonrumors.com/2010/04/15/r..._campaign=Feed:+NikonRumors+(NikonRumors.com)

This is the latest info I got: 3 new Nikon DSLR cameras are in the pipeline. One of them will be an entry level model (probably D4000).
The second camera will have:

  • 39 AF points

  • it will be 16 MP with 6400 ISO + HI2 position

  • 24 fps 1920/1080 video

  • it will have an optional (new) MB-D11 grip
Update: another option could be: the entry level camera is the Nikon D90 replacement (I know the D90 is not really entry level), the 16MP camera is the D300s replacement and the third camera is the Nikon D700 replacement. I was not directly told that the entry level will be the D4000.
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a 39 AF point/16MP cam is not likely to be the successor to the D300/D300s... More likely a D90 replacement. One of the key advantages of the D300/s series is the 51 AF points, and superb 3D tracking... The market for the D300/s level is dwindling with everyone and their mother wanting to go full frame anymore, and shoot video as well. My guess would be the D300s will remain, the D700 will be replaced, as will the D90, and the third DSLR will be some random entry model.

The only reason i bought a D300 when they came out was 8FPS and 51 point AF as well as 3D tracking, because i shoot a lot of action shots. I have yet to use Live View other than showing friends what it is. I HATE live view mode due to its terrible contrast detect AF.

If Nikon replaced the D300/s series with a cam that had less AF sensors, it would be a step backwards IMO.

Frankly my ideal DSLRs would be a 10MP DX (crop sensor) with 1080P and full manual control, 30P/24P, and a 12MP FX (full frame sensor) with 1080P and full manual control 30P/24P, both with 8FPS max on stills, and a functional 3D tracking system when shooting video.

Most people dont need anything beyond 6MP; and most 'professionals' dont either; give me a lower pixel density and therefore less noise, and i would be MUCH happier. 20+ MP on even a full frame sensor is getting to the point of diminishing returns; if you NEED such big pictures, and you SELL such big pictures, chances are you should be shooting with a medium format digital back; not a DSLR.
 
Frankly my ideal DSLRs would be a 10MP DX (crop sensor) with 1080P and full manual control, 30P/24P, and a 12MP FX (full frame sensor) with 1080P and full manual control 30P/24P, both with 8FPS max on stills, and a functional 3D tracking system when shooting video.

Most people dont need anything beyond 6MP; and most 'professionals' dont either; give me a lower pixel density and therefore less noise, and i would be MUCH happier. 20+ MP on even a full frame sensor is getting to the point of diminishing returns;
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I agree with everything said here, and I'll add that a DX sensor would be more than welcomed by me for video since shallow DOF is nice, but you've got to have a fighting chance to focus on the fly and FF sensors can make that next to impossible.

If Nikon finally does get the whole video thing right I sure hope they decide to give us the video quality we've been wanting with option of purchasing either a FF or a DX cam based on our needs/preferences and not forcing me into a FF cam if I don't want one.

In a perfect world they would give us the ability to use DX lenses on a FF camera while retaining full range of the lens while keeping 1080 capability. I guess what I'm thinking of here is how you can use DX lenses on a D3s and it auto detects them, drops the resolution down to 6MP (or so) and allows you to use the normal range of the lens. If they could do this for the video mode as well that would be wonderful for those of us who already own decent DX glass. Surely you can get 1080 lines out of a DX crop on a FF sensor. That way you can have FF for stills (crazy shallow DOF), and DX for video (easier focus pulls) all in one body. I'm sure that's highly unlikely, but a boy can dream.
 
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Well, it all depends on how much effort they put into the video mode. Sure you could do a crop mode, RED does that with its 3K and 2K modes, and even the old DVX did that with letterbox mode. The trick is whether you would get 1080p or not after cropping. It could drop down to 720p for DX video, would that be a good compromise? Maybe. It certainly would make sense on a marketing standpoint as you would be faced with the choice of choosing 1080p Full Frame or 1080p DX but not both in the same camera. I'd be up for that approach only if the DX version were at a decent price (ie. Canon Rebel T2i price versus 5D Mark II price) that way I could afford to have both if I really wanted to.

Now, this is all hypothetical, who knows what Nikon will do next. But I do know that unless they add instant HDR capabilities or double the ISO capabilities they currently have, there is no way in heck that they can get away with a high end 10mp camera in this market when the competition is offering 18mp for pennies. To compete, Nikon has to do 12mp or more, there is no backing down, again unless they offer some highly unique features to make up for it.

At this point, megapixels do matter to me for 3D modeling purposes, the higher the resolution of my textures the better. If Nikon made a Full Frame camera at least in the 18mp range, I'd be all for it, if they could match or beat the 5D Mark II's 21mp, all the better. Video is important though, I know it'll be 1080p at this point because it would be suicide to do otherwise. If they could do higher bitrate MJPEG, I'd be fine as the Nikon D90 footage I have worked with wasn't all that bad as people made it out to be, especially with how hard I could push it in the color correction process. All the better would be uncompressed 1080p through HDMI but we can only hope on that front.

Either way, I too wish they would just announce the cameras already. I've been itching for a 5D Mark II for a while but I've got too many Nikon lenses to not give Nikon a chance. If these rumored cameras don't deliver then Nikon would have just thrown my money at the Nikon to Canon lens converter companies.
 
Jack_Felis said:
Either way, I too wish they would just announce the cameras already. I've been itching for a 5D Mark II for a while but I've got too many Nikon lenses to not give Nikon a chance. If these rumored cameras don't deliver then Nikon would have just thrown my money at the Nikon to Canon lens converter companies.
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Me too. I really don't want to switch back to Canon. The ergonomics and performance of Nikon is significantly better for me for photography, and there is also the lenses.

I have almost gotten the 5d for work a couple of times, but have held off in hopes of a new Nikon, preferably full frame. I have a slew of jobs on the horizon and will have to make a decision soon. C'mon Nikon! An announcement would suffice. :)
 
Reeally do hope for a Nikon equivalent of a Canon 5D in terms of video. I want to utilise my AI-S lenses and want to remain with Nikon.

Announcement, chamon!
 
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