So long, DSLRs?

[SuperMatt]

Nikon to stop making SLR cameras and focus on mirrorless models

Smartphones push Japan maker to drop once-coveted single-lens reflex models

asia.nikkei.com

Nikon will not make them anymore… only mirrorless.

Canon is expected to follow suit soon.

 

[mollyc]

This isn't news. People are making it to be a really big deal, but it's been widely known for awhile now.

Also, Nikon actually refuted the story, but their language wasn't overly strong and reading between the lines, you can tell that Nikon is actually dropping them, but it technically isn't official yet.

 

[Apple fanboy]

This isn't news. People are making it to be a really big deal, but it's been widely known for awhile now.

Also, Nikon actually refuted the story, but their language wasn't overly strong and reading between the lines, you can tell that Nikon is actually dropping them, but it technically isn't official yet.

Won’t be official whilst they still have some f-mount stock. It’s certainly widely known.
Personally I’ll stick with my D750 for a few more years yet. It’s capable of taking better photos than it does in my hands.

 

[Eric]

They're all going that way, just like ICE vehicles will eventually as well. Progress.

Side note, I still love my Canon 6D (original) and use it quite a bit, besides being producing great quality images there's just something about a shutter slap and the feel of a DSLR that I'll always have a soft spot for.

 

[Citysnaps]

It was just a matter of time for sensor, display, and AF technology to mature and come together. SLRs have had a good run - for roughly 70 years, gaining popularity in the 1950s.

 

[Clix Pix]

The way I interpreted this news was that Nikon will not be moving forward with developing and manufacturing new models of any SLRs and DSLRs, but that at least for the time being they will still keep some of their current lines of bodies and (maybe? F-mount lenses) still available, and may or may not run one or two through the factory process another time or two before retooling everything to continue moving on into the mirrorless future. However, yes, for the most part items now are only going to be available as long as inventory lasts. As time goes on, though, vendors will find that they aren't receiving any more of a particular body or lens and eventually it will quietly become permanently "out of stock."

Nikon's main focus from now on, unsurprisingly, will be on the development and manufacturing of current and new mirrorless bodies and lenses. This makes sense, of course -- the only problem is that they still have a lot of catching-up to do, as both Canon and Nikon came a little late to the mirrorless scene.

 

[bunnspecial]

Not a big surprise given the advances in mirrorless and how much Nikon has actually put into building a comprehensive system in, what is it, 4 years or so now since the first Z cameras started shipping?

My DSLRs will continue to work, and I am not exactly one to shift camera technologies until second hand stuff is plentiful and affordable enough that I can actually build a good system with it. I didn't really get serious about digital until I bought my D800(then an old camera anyway) in 2017...

I've been talking about buying a D850 for about a year now. Part of my holdup has been just having other spending priorities, but part of it has been supply. I wouldn't normally buy new, but used is in short supply and prices are often not as far off from new as one would traditionally expect. New has been in short enough supply that it would have been difficult to buy that way if I'd wanted, but I also suspect that's why the used market has stayed strong.

Whatever the case, I'll get my D850 sooner or later(as @mollyc as encouraged me to do given some other events in my life ) and I expect it will continue to serve me well until I'm ready to go mirrorless. There's no reason why my D800 and D810 won't continue to work just as they always have, too. Batteries fortunately aren't a concern for any of these cameras as the current revision of the EN-EL15 still works fine in the D800. I'm sure CF will eventually be problematic, although even with my intense dislike of SD cards I can always use them rather than sticking with CF. I'm pretty sure the D850 got a firmware update to use CFExpress, and I expect that one to be safe and around for a while.

 

[mollyc]

new gear is always exciting, @bunnspecial whether it's new new gear, or old new gear. I think you will be amazed by the D850, although I never used one, but I believe it's a substantial upgrade from the D800s. You will soon want the better AF system on the D850.

 

[Clix Pix]

I think I can guess the "recent events" and a reason for "soon want[ing] the better AF system on the D850".... I've seen a lot of enthusiastic reports about the D850 and it is apparently considered one of Nikon's best DSLRs. Go for it!

 

[bunnspecial]

Well, posting that this morning inspired me to do a bit of legwork(or phone work).

One of the shops I use to deal with a lot in Kentucky apparently has 5 of them in their used cabinet. They are a little bit higher than current KEH prices, but not enough for me to stress out about(about $50 higher on the low end, actually a bit less on the high end). Unfortunately, my preferred shop said he hasn't seen one in 3 years, so I can't buy from Chuck this time as much as I want to.

Of the sales people I use to know at the store that actually had them, one had retired, one left, and the other two weren't working today. I'm going to call back tomorrow when someone I know there is working as I've dealt with both enough that I'd trust them to select the best of their in stock ones for me(not necessarily the highest priced). The guy who use to do all the used pricing is one of the ones who retired, so I'd rather just run it buy someone I know and get an opinion. We're talking $100 or so spread between their lowest and highest priced cameras, so it's not the end of the world.

 

[Pumbaa]

I got myself a (pre-owned, barely used) D850 earlier this year to replace my late overly hydrated D610, despite having planned to get with the times and switch to a mirrorless camera. Very happy with it so far.

 

[bunnspecial]

Dang it you all are such a terrible influence.

Called back and it seems as though the guy who I was told was retired is actually still there(1 day a week). He was the one who answered the phone.

He talked me through shutter counts and condition, knocked the price down $75 on their best one(50K count, some wear on the bottom but nothing crazy) and next thing I knew I was forking over a credit card for $1950...

As much as I would have liked to make it "one stop shopping" they are pretty seriously overpriced on media like a lot of real camera stores so I'll grab a CFExpress or two at Best Buy. I guess I should research it, though, as I seem to recall that there were some "gotchas" in the FW that enabled CFExpress support, so maybe at the end of the day I end up buying XQDs...

 

[r.harris1]

The way I interpreted this news was that Nikon will not be moving forward with developing and manufacturing new models of any SLRs and DSLRs, but that at least for the time being they will still keep some of their current lines of bodies and (maybe? F-mount lenses) still available, and may or may not run one or two through the factory process another time or two before retooling everything to continue moving on into the mirrorless future. However, yes, for the most part items now are only going to be available as long as inventory lasts. As time goes on, though, vendors will find that they aren't receiving any more of a particular body or lens and eventually it will quietly become permanently "out of stock."

Nikon's main focus from now on, unsurprisingly, will be on the development and manufacturing of current and new mirrorless bodies and lenses. This makes sense, of course -- the only problem is that they still have a lot of catching-up to do, as both Canon and Nikon came a little late to the mirrorless scene.

Besides a shrinking list of a handful of lenses, I’m personally not seeing, from a tech stack perspective, a lot of places Canon and Nikon need to do a lot of catching up. They’ve knocked it out of the park over the past year. Right now, it’s great to be a mirrorless owner regardless of major manufacturer. Just choose the one you like and you’re off to the races. Where are you seeing the need to catch up specifically?

 

[mollyc]

i honestly hear more about the canon r system right now than anything else.

 

[r.harris1]

i honestly hear more about the canon r system right now than anything else.

Yes, the Rs are hot right now and there’s a lot of buzz.

 

[Clix Pix]

Yes, Canon has always been very popular and now they seem to be on a roll with their "R" mirrorless line.

 

[Eric]

I get all of the advantages of mirrorless and have pretty much adapted to it but the one thing I really miss is the optical viewfinder, got really used to understanding all my manual settings and knowing what to expect as far as exposure, etc. and you could always peak.

I know it's progress with all the advances but there was something to be said about learning all the relationships between shutter speed and aperture, you no longer need that as you can simply turn dials aimlessly until it looks the way you want it, at least for the casual photographer. I'm always surprised when I host meetups and see people with $5K worth of gear in their hands without knowing the first thing about how any of it works, it's the main reason I am moving to workshops instead.

 

[mollyc]

I'm with Ray on this....I'm not sure that anyone is catching up anymore. Would love to know who is (still?) behind now.

 

[mollyc]

I get all of the advantages of mirrorless and have pretty much adapted to it but the one thing I really miss is the optical viewfinder, got really used to understanding all my manual settings and knowing what to expect as far as exposure, etc. and you could always peak.

I know it's progress with all the advances but there was something to be said about learning all the relationships between shutter speed and aperture, you no longer need that as you can simply turn dials aimlessly until it looks the way you want it, at least for the casual photographer. I'm always surprised when I host meetups and see people with $5K worth of gear in their hands without knowing the first thing about how any of it works, it's the main reason I am moving to workshops instead.

A lot of people spend money on stuff they don't need or know how to use...but if you can genuinely afford it, then have fun with it.

 

[Eric]

A lot of people spend money on stuff they don't need or know how to use...but if you can genuinely afford it, then have fun with it.

Right, or actually learn how to use it.