More and more it looks to be that the 3 cameras stated by Nikon to be released in 2012 were the D800/D800E, the D600 (full-frame entry level) and the D5200. It appears that they are leaving the DX (crop sensor) playing field wide open to Canon. So far there has been no semi-professional DX body released or any rumor of a D400 (a replacement to the D300s) floating in the ether.
What does that mean for professional/high-end amateurs with no expected D300/300s replacement in sight? For some it may mean a costly DX lens dump (for those who have been shooting with DX lenses such as the AF-S 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5 and going to a fixed aperture f/4 lens or expending lots of money and going to the storied 14-24mm f/2.8 and 24-70mm f/2.8; and saving for a full-frame D4.
As of right now it appears as though Nikon is not planning any more releases this year and from the looks of it, DX is being relegated to the entry level playing field. Hopefully I'm proven wrong and that it doesn't mean that Nikon is finished with DX in a professional sense. But it feels as though there has been a push by Nikon to guide the high-end amateurs and professionals into full-frame as a standard. I guess you could say I'm a stubborn hold-out but whether a full-frame upgrade right now is necessary, we'll just have to wait and see.
You forgot the D4 and D3200 in the list of Nikon cameras released in 2012. 5 new DSLRs in one year is above average for Nikon. 2012 was the year of FX, 2013 could very well be the year of DX.
ReplyDeleteAs for the D300s replacement, that could come early next year, maybe even January. Canon is rumored to be releasing the 7D MKIII in that time frame, so it makes sense that Nikon would release the D400 around the same time.
Not sure how Nikon left the crop frame field open to Canon, who only released the T4i. The T4i is just a recycled T3i, which was a recycled T2i with the same tired 18MP Canon sensor that is over three years old now. Meanwhile Nikon put new, higher performance, sensors in the D3200 and D5200.
Thanks for the reminder on the D4 and the D3200. What I did find was that the D4 was supposed to be press-released for the public in the last quarter of 2011. Unfortunately, due to unknown circumstances, presumeably the 2011 earthquake in Japan, there was some delay in the release of the D4 due to production runs being curtailed while the factories got back up to speed.
ReplyDeleteAs for 2013 being the year of DX. One can only hope so, but from what it looks like, Nikon still appears to be making a significant push for FX. I hope my view is proven wrong though. It would be nice to have a D400 with at least 16-18MP.