Nikon Watch

[Update: Summary: Looks like the Sendai plant is expanding production 3-4. In the comments Jeff says “I think what the article means is that Sendai wishes to increase output from 140,000 to 500,000.” Which is definitely a healthy increase.

Does anyone read Japanese and want to translate?

]

According to this article in Kahoku Online Network, the Nikon Sendai plant has increased capacity by several times!

Nikon SLR camera’s only assembly plant in Sendai Nikon (Natori, Miyagi Prefecture City), digital single-lens reflex cameras to meet the rapid market growth this year to 3-4 times the capacity enhancement, and sales High-double. ??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? Strong sales of high-end digital SLR cameras flagship model, “D3″ while maintaining production, to introduce several new models to correspond. ?????????????????????? Production department employees also increase the sources said about 300 people.

?????????????????????????????????????????????????????? Digital SLR market in the world this year, shipments increased more than 20 percent year-on-year, 900 million more than expected in the industry. ???????????????????????????????????????????? This according to Sendai Nikon has an annual production capacity totaling about 140,000 units from 500,000 units to increase much.

So maybe this weekends reports that the Sendai plant was getting ready for putting out two new bodies is correct?

Can anyone vouch for Kohaku news?

A guy who, it’s said, has been dead-on in the past says:

Sendai Nikon Preparation 2 new models.

1 is D3x 24Mpixel FX camera 6000$

2 is D10? FX camera 3.0LCD 3000$

2 camera arrive in this year.

Also Nikon Thailand Preparation D80 Successor(1000$) and more.

I can see #1 happening and a cheaper FX body would be lovely too, and I’d full expect that it will happen. Will they arrive this year? I have my doubts, but who knows?

Hey- remember when you had to mail your camera back to the manufacturer in order to get its software upgraded?

Yeah those days sucked, so thankfully, we can now just install new firmware every time someone pulls an “oopsie”- which is the technical term that Software Engineers use to describe situations like the recent problems involving corrupted images in high-speed burst mode using 14-bits.

Thankfully, Nikon was really responsive and offered a quick patch.

I haven’t been able to play with it yet, but no one seems to have seen corrupted images yet (it’s been out close to 24hours now).

–

Also- I’ve read (but not double-checked) that the “D3x” strings are no longer in there! Hmmmm

Yes, it’s a joke, but I like the pictures at the end.

Remember the Seque? It was going to change the world! They’ll have to redesign cities!

There was such buzz that even though we had no idea what it was, what it would cost, or when it would be ready for delivery, Amazon started a pre-order waiting list!

The D3x or the D4 or D3fx or D3xs or whatever they end up calling it is starting to sound a lot like the Seque to me- no idea what it’ll cost, what it’ll be, or when, but at least 1 vendor is starting to take pre-orders according to this guy.

Given that it’s not even announced yet, previous predictions were saying that ‘09 was likely the year it would be available, and there’re so many scammer camera stores, I can’t recommend doing this.

Thom says he’s being told that new lenses and a new body are on their way:

The Buzz
Apr 19–Current rumors out of Japan have Nikon introducing the D90, D3x, plus lenses, in the second week of June. I’m tightening my D90 (or whatever they decide to call it) prediction date to between May 12th and June 16th.

Others are betting on new AF-S updates to the 50mm and 85mm.
That sure would be nice, I’d love an AF-S 50mm f/1.4 VR (aspherical, please). I’d also love a modern Noct, but I’m not getting my hopes up.

Roll it back, boys, it corrupts images, kudos to JayPike for spotting this.

It’s always sad when you have to do this, but it happens to the best of projects.

Let’s point out that you probably should never update your firmware early (give it a couple weeks at least), and always keep the older firmware versions on your drive in case you need to rollback- I presume this is possible on the D3, but I’ve never had to try…

Termination of D3 Digital-SLR Camera Firmware Ver. 1.10 Download

On April 15, 2008, an announcement was made on the Nikon website that the Ver. 1.10 firmware update for the D3 digital-SLR camera was available for download. However, it has been confirmed that when the following settings are applied with the updated firmware, image data may, in some rare cases, be corrupted. Therefore, we have terminated the firmware update download. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this issue may have caused.

• Release mode: Continuous high speed (CH), or Continuous low speed (CL) with Custom Setting d2 set to 9 fps
• Image area: FX format (36×24) or 5:4 (30×24)
• Image quality: NEF (RAW) or NEF (RAW) + JPEG fine/normal/basic
• NEF (RAW) recording>NEF (RAW) bit depth: 14-bit

  *The issue related to NEF (RAW) recording>NEF (RAW) bit depth may occur regardless of the option selected for NEF (RAW) recording>Type (Lossless compressed, Compressed, or Uncompressed).

If you have downloaded the D3 Ver. 1.10 firmware update but have not yet updated the camera’s firmware, please do NOT perform the update. If you have already updated the D3 firmware, please do not shoot with the combination of settings indicated above. This issue does not occur with other combinations of camera settings (for example, when NEF (RAW) bit depth is set to 12-bit, or when shooting in continuous low speed (CL) release mode with Custom Setting d2 set to 8 fps or lower.)

The download version of the revised firmware update is expected to be available in late April. For more information regarding this matter, please contact Nikon Customer Support.

Again, we sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this issue may have caused. We hope that you will continue to choose Nikon for your photography needs.

There’s a little noise going around that using the new firmware in highspeed bursts is yielding some images that are corrupt.

From the images, it looks like parts of one image are being overlayed on the next image (geeks: makes me think ’stray pointer’/buffer issue…) but from what I can see, there’re only 2 reports of this so far so I’m not giving it full credence yet. It could just as easily be a problem with individuals’ memory cards.

In any case, I don’t shoot in full burst except to impress friends, scare children, and get me closer to paying for a new shutter.

Here’re some examples from another guy on a Nikon list.

(File this under pure speculation on my part)

I like film, I really do. That’s why I love my F5 and my (used) F3 and my Hasselblad and others.

It wasn’t even until the D2x that I even considered digital good enough for shots that I really cared about.

But let’s face it- it’s curtains for the Nikon film bodies. IIRC (and I could be imagining things), Nikon has even said that there won’t be any more film bodies.

That’s why I’m betting that sooner (maybe not the next one…) than later, we’ll see digital models using the F* convention- maybe the F7.

I’m definitely going out on a limb here but I doubt (and I hope) that the F series won’t be discontinued, but will live on in digital when Nikon finally claims one of their digital bodies to be worthy of the F series designation and heritage.

[Update: this kind of thing is always funny to me, it either means they slipped (unlikely, but possible) or they don’t know #ifdef (again unlikely) or they put it there intentionally (unlikely).]

I started this site a while ago out of 3 frustrations. The first was that the Nikonians site is (seemingly) filled with and moderated by people who frowned upon rumors, 2nd: Nikon’s lack of openness leaving only rumors to fill the void, 3: me being told on Nikonians that even suggesting running the Strings command against CaptureNX or the firmware was a violation of copyright.

The first issue, I’ve solved with this site, the second issue I can’t solve, the third issue is pure bullshit from the start.

So while I was sitting around on my lazy ass getting a few pennies a day from attempting to ferret out any rumors I could find, Alex and Randall and others (no doubt) ran string and opened the firmware and found (as Alex reported in the comments):

Found in the D3’s v1.1 firmware, B-file, starting at offset 3?614?640:

6048×4032 24.4 M
4544×3024 13.7 M
3024×2016 6.1 M
5056×4032 20.4 M
3792×3024 11.5 M
2528×2016 5.1 M
3968×2640 10.5 M
2976×1976 5.9 M
1984×1320 2.6 M
D3X

and from Randall:

If you take a look at D3 firmware (part B bin) you will notice something rather intersting, there are reveral references to a 24.4M D3x, for example:

“› Ñ †!Å ÿ Ÿ ? ˆ 6048×4032Ñ 24.4 M 4544×3024Ñ 13.7 M 3024×2016Ñ
6.1 M 5056×4032Ñ 20.4 M 3792×3024Ñ 11.5 M 2528×2016Ñ 5.1 M 3968×2640Ñ
10.5 M 2976×1976Ñ 5.9 M 1984×1320Ñ 2.6 M ñ ó Ÿ Ñ!? É Ä

Ò!É”ˆ¬·¬Á ? Å ? ? ö ¿!? ö D3X Ÿ ¨ î

NEF(RAW) É JPEG ?¬?¬Å NCD3X Å OK 2 - 3 4864×3240 4864×3648
4560×3648 ±¬´!î “

So- presuming those values are legit and just waiting for a camera (which is questionable- they could also have been testing values or similar, or red herrings)- we’re looking at a 24-ish MP body called the D3x (?) and who knows what else- it looks like the d3x (if it actually ends up being called that) will have a bunch of different shot modes, or maybe we’ll see an FX / FF body like the d300x (d300fx ?).

I’d also love to see the names go back to the F* convention. Maybe the D4 will be called the F7!

Vignette Control
“Vignetting” is a drop in brightness at the edges of a photograph. Its  effects vary from lens to lens and are most noticeable at maximum  aperture. A [Vignette control] option has been added to the shooting  menu to reduce vignetting for type G and D lenses (excluding DX, PC, AF  14 mm f/2.8D ED, AF Fisheye 16 mm f/2.8D, AF 20–35 mm f/2.8D, and AF  24–85 mm f/2.8–4D lenses). Choose from [High], [Normal] (the default  setting), [Low], and [Off ].

Vignette Control

Depending on the scene, shooting conditions, and type of lens, TIFF and JPEG images may exhibit unevenness or variations in peripheral brightness, while Custom Picture Controls and Nikon Picture Controls that have been modifi ed from default settings may not produce the desired eff ect. Take test shots and view the results in the monitor. Vignette control does not apply to multiple exposures, DX-format images, or images created with [Image overlay]. The eff ects of vignette control can not be previewed in live view and are not visible when NEF (RAW) images are viewed in third-party software. Use ViewNX or Capture NX to view NEF (RAW) images created with vignette control.

The nikon site’s search isn’t so hot…  you can find it all here.

Apparently, there’s new software all around today. So far it’s in Europe, Asia. Has not yet hit US as far as I can tell. No reports of problems from people who’ve updated.

Modifications enabled with upgrade of A and B firmware from Ver. 1.00
to Ver. 1.10:

* A Vignette control item has been added to the shooting menu.
For information regarding supported lenses, see the supplemental manual.

* A Focus point brightness item has been added to the a6: Focus
point illumination setting in the Autofocus category of Custom Settings.

* The Highlights playback display option has been moved from
Display mode > Basic photo info > Highlights in the playback menu to
Display mode > Detailed photo info > Highlights.

* When shutter speed and/or aperture are locked with shooting in
live view mode, using the “L” (command lock) button, an “L” icon is
now displayed in the camera monitor.

* The size and color of “Demo” displayed in the monitor with
playback, when No memory card in the Custom Settings is set to Enable
release, have been modified.

* The range of settings available for ISO sensitivity settings >
ISO sensitivity auto control > Minimum shutter speed in the shooting
menu has been increased from 1/250 to 1/4000

* When a compatible Speedlight or Wireless Speedlight Commander
is used, the AF assist illuminator now lights regardless of the focal
length.

* When shooting in hand-held live view mode and the frame is
magnified prior to autofocusing, operation has been modified so that
display returns to the magnified display rather than full-frame display.

* In some rare cases, the image area visible through the
viewfinder and the image area actually recorded differed when Image
area > Choose image area in the shooting menu was set to DX format
(24×16). This issue has been resolved.

* In some rare cases, white balance was not accurately calculated
for images captured at a shutter speed of around 1/4s in P and A
exposure modes. This issue has been resolved.

* When attempting to crop images at an aspect ratio of 4 : 3
using the Trim option in the retouch menu, the cropped image did not
have an accurate 4 : 3 aspect ratio. This issue has been resolved.

I’ve been awfully skeptical of the “Nano Crystal Coating” on the new lenses. Trademarked phrases like that slapped onto products just remind me of how stupid I think most marketing people are.

But, a week or so ago, I ran across this Nikon interview with an engineer who brought nano-coating to us.

The most interesting bit is the shot of coated glass next to uncoated glass- there’s an obviously huge difference. The problem, is though, that they who uncoated glass next to nano-coated glass and don’t show glass coated with the previous, non-nano coating.

So there’s a very large difference between coated and uncoated, but we don’t know how much a difference there is between nano and regular coatings. Because of this, I can’t totally shake the feeling that the marketeers are trying to something over on us.

I also can’t, for the life of me, see why I have to dig around to find articles like this.

If you’ve got a little 17 year old girl in you, then get set to put your panties in a bunch because Ashton Aston Kutcher (star of stupid MTV shows) has signed onto an advertising campaign for Nikon.

Yes, THAT is likely to get me to spend my money on the uninspired, me-too point-and-shoots.

Ashton Aston Kutcher- waytf better than, oh say, the way Nikon tries to sell the Euros:

The first rule of hack marketing-droids: put a sexy girl next to anything that isn’t otherwise worth looking at.

Nikkor.com is up (and accessible).

Seems that it was kind of strange- normally when a large company registers a domain- they immediately point it somewhere, like, oh…, maybe their main page?

When I saw the first post that pointed it out, I assumed it was a link-farm and not an official page until I checked the Whois info.

Then it sat around for a few days up, then down, then slashdot’d by cameras geeks like, um, me- I guess.

So what’s up there? Pros I’ve never heard of talking about their jobs and Nikon. I couldn’t find anything terribly exciting though.

I’d be much more interested in seeing amazing shots that we can take with Nikon and learning more about the technology.
(Man, I have GOT to shrink that logo!)

According to Nikon’s site, Nikon is launching a Nikkor.com site to review the 75th anniversary of the brand. It was supposed to open in March but got pushed, so I’m betting this isn’t April Fool’s.

Various dpReviewers are reporting that it’s up, it’s down, and when it’s up, it’s slow and serving up pro’s talking about Nikon.

Hopefully there’ll be something cool on it!

Nikon started a blog last month, I didn’t see it reported anywhere…

Damn, if they actually become more open, I may have to remove the “?” in my logo and slap a “!” in there!

Well, if Thom says it, it might be true… but I doubt it.

…Nikon DOES have a Nikkor announcement scheduled for the end of this month.

So I’m starting to see stories/posts on various sites making huge claims for primes and bodies. Here’s a typical one linked to from the comments:

Nikon is hard at work on new prime lenses. During 2008 Nikon will have 3 FF cameras on the market: the fulllframe D3, the upcoming fullframe Nikon D300x and the 24 megapixel fullframe flagship Nikon D3x.

To complement these cameras Nikon will be launching 3 new fast prime lenses this year:

* Nikon 35 1.4
* Nikon 50 1.4
* Nikon 85 1.4

Rumor has it we may also be seeing a Nikkor 24 1.4

The other one I’d seen at dpReview said that an intern had leaked press release ahead of time and it said that there were several new primes being released, etc.

I immediately wrote these off as morons putting out early April Fool’s pranks. Generally- it’s always a hoax if there’s too much information (”leaked by an intern”?) or it’s too nice like the one above– “3 FF cameras” right, and I’ve slept with Gwyneth Paltrow, yeah, that’s the ticket…