Nikon readies entry-level DSLR with articulating display for April 14th launch? (updated with spyshots!)
By Thomas Ricker 
posted April 6th 2009 12:26PM
posted April 6th 2009 12:26PM
Word on the prismatic, hinged mirror streets of camera-land suggest that NIkon is preparing to launch "new products" for Spring. Rightful speculation made after a press invite was purportedly sent to a variety of photog publications announcing an April 14th launch event. Expectations vary widely as to what will be announced including a new entry-level D60-followup with 720p video on up to a D400 with 16 megapixel Sony CMOS. We even have the dubious photo above showing a Nikon with articulating display taken by a jockey riding a humor forum who claims to have been traveling "somewhere in Eastern Europe and stumbled across a commercial shoot for Nikon." Sure, that's believable. Fortunately, we're just over a week away from knowing for sure.
Update: Well, well, what's this... we just received a big batch of spy shots that look authentic enough and clearly show what looks like a low-end Nikon with articulating display.
Update 2: We just received a few more pictures as well as the detailed backstory to this Nikon with swiveling display (a first for Nikon). Seems Kevin, a film student, was smitten by the Arriflex235 435 motion picture camera used to film the commercial in Dubrovnik, Croatia yesterday. It wasn't until later, when he was reviewing the pics from the day, that he realized "that the subject of the commercial was the yet to be announced Nikon 500(0?)." Looks like a legit and incredibly fortunate find to us.
[Thanks, Kevin]
Update: Well, well, what's this... we just received a big batch of spy shots that look authentic enough and clearly show what looks like a low-end Nikon with articulating display.
Update 2: We just received a few more pictures as well as the detailed backstory to this Nikon with swiveling display (a first for Nikon). Seems Kevin, a film student, was smitten by the Arriflex
[Thanks, Kevin]
Read -- Articulating display spy shot
Read -- April 14th press event
Screw Nikon. GO CANON!!!!!
Yea, cause Canon is giving you 20fps HD video, winners........
I own a 5d Mark II, and I love Canon, but they need to get their heads out of their asses.
They are practically driving 5D2 owners in droves to buy Nikon lenses. If Nikon releases a camera that can match the 5D's resolution
First shameless self-promotion on engadget:
I just shot this over the weekend at the Cherry Blossom Festival with the Mark II:
http://vimeo.com/4014026
It was a lot of fun to shoot, but a pain in the ace to get exposure settings right. You have to untwist the lens or do some other crazy trick to keep settings consistent.
No.
@ Sisyphus
D3x ... 24MP ... Beats the 5dmkII
Although Use the Expo Comp Button, works well.
I like every other 5DmkII owner wants 24,25, 30p 1080 and those along with a 60p 720p (2x slow downs would be nice) and manual settings.
Main problem - smooth change in aperture, still cameras dont have this apart from the 14-140 (or something) lens you get with the G1HD thing, it has stepless aperture blades.
I'm as open minded as anyone, but this looks a lot like someone using live view with some kind of screen shade (like some variant of this: http://www.teamworkphoto.com/images/delkin/Untitled1.jpg). I know it's shown protruding from the bottom of the camera, but he could be in the process of clipping it on. Or perhaps it's just a funny design with lots of flaps. Either way, he's standing in bright sunlight with the sun behind him - if he's shooting with the camera above him (as he is in one of the spy shots) he'd have the light on the screen. A shade would be very handy.
What do you think?
j_g_puff: Neither the D40 nor D60 have live view, so that theory kind of falls through. But that definitely is an articulating display.
On the plus side, I can't wait for the price of the D60 to drop, going to make an excellent birthday gift for my girlfriend.
I own a canon XS and prefer canon but to say screw Nikon is moronic. Competition is good and they both make great cameras.
I think canon made a mistake by not making the 500D (T1i) a flip out screen but who knows the Nikon probably is not nearly as high resolution screen as the canon 500D in which case i would prefer the higher resolution LCD on the canon 500D over the Nikon flip out feature.
Ah yes. The latest spy shots make it very clear that it's a flip-down screen and not just a shade. I really thought I was onto something there :(
"If Nikon releases a camera that can match the 5D's resolution..."
Way to go, me.
I meant to say, If Nikon releases a camera that can match the 5D's resolution, and offers even the slightest bit more manual control than Canon's, they will leap ahead.
Hopefully the competition will benefit all of us.
Megapixels aren't everything, but the Nikon does have the D3x is has more megapixels then anything Canon produces; even the the 1DsIII.
That's not really the point, I'm a former-5D owner, the biggest issue Canon needs to deal with is intentionally gimping their own cameras. The 9-point AF on the 5D/5DII camera is junk, spot meter isn't even not connected to the outer AF points, and AF at low light being incredibly inaccurate if you're not on the center point. Worse, the 5DII uses the same ancient 9-point AF in the original 5D, while the even the Rebels and 50D uses updated versions, not to mention the fact that Nikon offers 51-point in their cameras for half the price. Now we see the Rebel 500D gimped to only 20fps for full-HD, even when it uses the same Digic chip as the 5DII, while neither of them offers a 24/25p options.
The reason the 500D only has 20fps is because or the readout from the sensor, its only 2 channels as opposed to 4 like on the 50D and 5DmkII. Half the datarate from sensor to buffer.
I agree though, the 1D series are so responsive, even just simple things like menus, shutter lag although not REALLY noticeable that much, they just feel much more polished.
1DsMkIV baby, maybe by the time it comes out i'll have done enough weddings to get one =D
I think Nikon has been weak in the entry-level price point these days. The D40 is a great value, but it's pretty old and the Canon XS is pretty cheap now. Everything else in the Nikon lineup seems pretty solid.
It HAS TO BE an entry level DSLR... I really want to buy a Nikon, but Canon has the better deal with the XS. What should be on the new entry level camera?
-More autofocus points (3 is not enough for the D60 and D40!)
-Live view w/ Articulating display (which appears to be likely)
-More megapixels (needs 12 to be competitive)
-Better picture quality (Nikon seems to be lagging behind Canon)
Do all this, and make it $600 or less, and you can count me in!
The difference between 10 and 12MP is marginal at best. Though including the new CMOS sensor would give it better high ISO.
I would love if this drove the price down on the D60 to the sub 500 range out the door.
No, silly. More megapixels is NOT the correct answer.
Given the same sensor, more megapixels = more noise and poorer low light performance. Any time you're above 6 MP or so, that tradeoff is NOT worth making.
@ticohans
I would agree 6MP should be the limit when it comes to compacts. dSLRs, with their much larger sensors, have a bit more wiggle room. Especially with the new CMOS sensors.
Built-in GPS would be nice but aside from that I'm rather at a loss to say anything else that would really improve the current crop of cameras, aside from anything that improves overall image quality. Certainly I am not bothered about movie recording facilities.
I'm looking for a replacement for my D200 that has been very good to me. Would love some new features... 1080p video would be great if they could get it to auto-focus when zooming and the ability to use SDHC media would be a huge plus. I have a bunch of CF cards, but i'd get rid of them all if i could use SDHC. Hopefully they will also release an update to the 18-200VR lens as well :)
and hopefully they haven't messed with the bracketing settings... I like the way the D200 does bracketing way more than how my D90 does it.
You do know that Compact Flash offers higher speeds and greater capacities compared to SDHC?
>> "You do know that Compact Flash offers higher speeds and greater capacities compared to SDHC?"
I know people who use SD to CompactFlash adapters in their D300s so they can use SD cards that plug directly into their laptops. Their laptops have SD card readers built-in. They don't have to use an external card reader just for CompactFlash.
Yes... CF cards are faster than SD cards... but ease of use is important to some people too. If you need to fill up a 32GB CF card in one shoot, then this solution isn't for you... but 8GB SD cards are enough for a lot of people.
@Michael
I use an external FW800 adapter - sometimes dumping your shoot quickly is high value - depending on your field.
Michael you bring up another advantage of CF. It's flexible! When desired you can adapt different formats to the same slot.
The point is that you have a lot of options with CF. Not so with a camera that can only take SD.
woohoo!
can't wait can't wait!
First the new Canon Rebel T1i, now a new Nikon.
OMG! I don't know what to buy! 8))))) Can't wait for the release!
I think I like the Panny GH1, but need to wait for the price to come down or it's not worth it.
I'm having the same problem....I wish one was just exponentially better
Actually most DSLRs sold these days have a MIRROR not a prism. Pentaprisms being expensive to produce and heavy (though nicer to use).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentamirror
By numbers sold perhaps. Pentamirrors are a staple of the entry levels. Most higher end models use prisms.
Yep, that's what I said. Canon introduced the pentamirror with the 300D.
Thats what YOU said!
Look at the top view of the camera, at the mode wheel. There's a option for what looks like 'scene', which I've never seen before on a camera...some new gimmick / awesome tool from nikon maybe?
If it has video, as a photog who uses Fuji's S5 pro, but does the odd bit of video work, I may well be considering this as a second body, even if there's no AF on video.
Great
LOL! Spy vs Spy! this guy caught on camera is probably also spying on someone :P
not everyone with a 'big camera', contrary to worryingly popular belief, is a spying pedophile...
not everyone spying, contrary to worryingly popular belief, is a paedophile
from the first pic it looked like Brendan Fraiser on the set of Return of the Mummy 4
hold on -- these pictures compose of shots from many angles... so there must be at least 3 people taking spy shots of this camera at the same time at 3 locations... wow. poor guy who was just testing the camera for nikon.
look at the pictures, you can see there is a swivel display on the camera. look at the angle of how the guy is taking pictures, he's always looking at it at an angle - swivel display. in some of the shots, you can see a swivel display.
SWIVEL DISPLAY!
Big red circle ain't enough to draw your attention?
Articulating display? Sheesh. Half the fun of photography was getting down on the ground or up in the air to get the shot you wanted. With this new feature, I'm going to be expecting higher resolution upskirts and "myspace" angles than ever before.
Granted, this camera isn't going to be marketed at me though. :) The gymnastics involved with "traditional" photography helps keep me limber and in somewhat decent shape.
I'll keep my D300, F5, and FE's.
Your coolness overwhelms me.
Eh, I am merely whelmed by it.
Okay, so it's not a cake.
Are those 4 movie modes on the dial up top that are bracketed off separately?
No, that's the MASP (Manual, Aperture, Shutter, Program).
It reminds me a lot of the Pentax K2000D / Km. The single dial on the right, with no dedicated top 'Status' LCD.
Nikon's entry level DSLRs have had the dial placement and lack of top status LCD for years now.
Great, so people with D90's are going to be stuck with non-swiveling screens. Thanks Nikon.