Saturday, July 22, 2006

Nikon's new beast has 10.2MP?Great but is it really news?

With the recent release of the fabulous Nikon D200, somehow it didn't hit me as much of a surprise when Nikon came up with another camera with 10.2MP (the surprise would have been if they went down. Eight megapixels don't sound that impressive no more and 10 is a more marked difference from 6). This focus on the megapixel count of the new beast in the hatch just doesn't sound to me that it will generate any crushing soundwaves marketing wise (they've been there, done that and we know it's all very good), as the only other details released is "more power, more control, more excitement,more versatile...." and that's it(unless it's a 10.2MP FM10 Digital :-D ....nothing wrong with that and I'll tell you more on another posting even if it sounds strange). The only thing that causes some excitment in this heating up to the big day is that it is very likely an upgrade to the Nikon D70 (also, a way to tell Sony that "Nikon rules the roost", as Sony just released their Minolta A mount based 10.2MP mid-range DSLR, Sony Alpha100, that fared well in reviews). You can't blame them for doing that,as a matter of fact the Sony may attract a big portion of the market with existing Minolta users feeling out in the cold with the demise of Minolta and with the use of Zeiss glass on the lenses for the Alpha System. Given the reviews it is a possibility.

What I would have loved to hear from Nikon, apart from 10.2 Megapixels, perhaps ISO50-6400, 4fps....just something to set a new standard on the mid-range DSLR (if this is gonna be a D70 upgrade). We know already megapixel counts are gonna keep going up and up and up, but something to set a standard, to break the mold would be nice to hear, just like when Minolta anounced their Anti-Shake built-in to the body of a DSLR( I am not suggesting that Nikon does the same as that would mean marketing suicide since they have a range of lenses with built in stabilization. It is just an example of something that broke the mold at that time, something that set a standard now being copied by others, for the greater good of all of us). But I guess that's just me. I just like to hear about something new, something different.

In any case, we can expect a piece of Nikon excellence, it's just that their timing looks blatantly like a hit out at Sony's Alpha 100. But hey, that's the business world and after all if you don't sell more cameras than everybody else, there won't be any future updates, accessories and ultimately, cameras. Just look at Sigma with their SD10. Their users have had to wait way too long, longer than everybody else. It is coming in the end, but Sigma didn't have much of a support base, even though in my opinion the Foveon sensor employed is perhaps the best damn thing out there (after a few fixes in the next camera(s) it undoutebly will be ), but since they didn't sell enough cameras there were doubts about if there was ever gonna be a next Sigma (because this also affects how much you can afford in Research&Development et al as a company).Actually, personally, if there is something I am surely looking forward to is the next Sigma SDxx, since their sensor is a real innovation,being the only sensor that captures 100% red,100% green and 100% blue at every single pixel location, unlike all other sensors. This means you get both a sharper image and more accurate colour reproduction in your photos. But it was not all pink. The camera and the sensor overall needed some work. Still in my opinion, it is a very good camera for the Fine Artist in you(basically due to slow continuous shooting and below average high ISO performance, even though I have seen some good reasonably clean shots at high ISO with this camera, but the general consensus is that it is below average at higher ISOs), but don't let it's limitations limit what you do with it. There is good action work out there done with this camera.

Back onto the Nikon, I'm counting the days to see what beast is gonna hatch from these eggs.


Until next time,



Luis

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