The FX/Pro-DX Conundrum

The more time that elapses between July 30, 2009 and now; the more I feel that Nikon perhaps is considering the Pro-DX market dead. And that is unfortunate because Canon will swoop in quickly to fill the void left behind as Canon is continuing to pump out their 5D full-frame bodies out with regularity every few years. I'm not a Canon shooter nor will I ever become one. But I am extremely resentful of being forced to upgrade to a professional grade body when a Pro-DX body would do just as well and be considerably less than what it would cost to convert to an FX pro-body with the specs needed.

Having found a niche in sports (think hockey) photography from wildlife (though professional wildlife photography is still my main goal), I find that my requirements require high-ISO to boost the shutterspeed to handheld (1/250th and faster) from shooting in dimly lit arenas and fast moving hockey players. It also requires a fast f/2.8 14-24mm lens to capture the action in the corners which also requires another fast body to utilize the lens to its full potential.

So my gear when fully realized will be the Nikon D4s (FX) with 70-200mm f/2.8 VRII and my long-in-the-tooth Nikon D300s (pro-DX) armed with the 14-24mm f/2.8. Ideally a 300mm f/2.8 would be useful for getting close-in shots of hockey player's faces, but that's another $6,000 lens that I don't need to expend money on at the moment.

Do I like have to acquire a new camera body? Not when I have no choice in the matter. Hockey is shot in dark, dimly lit arenas and that starts pushing the specs of the camera to the edges of the performance envelope. I'd rather have a margin of safety with regards to consistency of photos than have to deal with a camera that's shooting at the very edges of what it was meant to do. Certainly the D810 if pushed will do what's necessary, but if I have to upgrade to something that I have to push to do the job I want it to do, then why don't I just spend the extra $3900.00 and go all the way up to a professional body?

...AND because of the lack of continuation of designing, manufacturing and releasing Nikon pro-DX bodies THAT is exactly what Nikon is forcing us to do.