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
Currently feeling your pain. Damn you Nikon.
And this is why you never buy the latest greatest DSLR as soon as they come out. I just picked up a new D200 last week for $650. Two years ago I would have had to of paid $1600+. I'll keep adding to my lens collection and then in a few years I'll pick up a D700 after the price plummets on it once Nikon announces a D800.
Who IS that guy, the Grey Lensman?
snazzy digs
The SLR (single lens reflex) was invented to eliminate the parallax error of the older viewfinder by providing the same view in the viewfinder that was actually going to be shown to the film.
Now that just about all cameras are digital, the parallax problem is no longer an issue, because the scene is just electronically sampled and shown on a small LCD with exactly the composition as will be stored in memory.
It would appear to me that the digital SLR is the solution for which there is no known problem. Could somebody tell me why you would want to pay extra money for the funny hump on the top of the camera and extra vibration caused by a mirror flipping up and down?
--
www.chl-tx.com (Thank you, BHO, for the fantastic stimulus you have given *my* business)
If you are happy with an EVF, this is on the money and why cameras like the G1 have come into existence.
If you are like me and want an optical finder, then digital doesn't change matters any.
Not to mention the presence of a mechanical shutter life, which is also a hindrance when you know your camera can be busted in a few months if you're pro enough to take thousands of shots per week.
Currently Digital SLRs are preferred for their fast response times and larger, more resolving sensors as well as the ability to interchange lenses. The only thing actually holding back the image quality of the compact digital and slr-like digital cameras is the puny sensors they use, besides the compromised fixed lenses with frivolous zoom ranges.
Digital SLRs naturally evolved from SLRs because SLRs in the 35mm times were considered professional, so the Digital SLR makers rolled on that market of familiarity. Nowadays Digital SLRs range from beginner to advanced to semi-professional to professional.
Once completely electronic shutters evolve to become quick enough, the expensive and clunky DSLR will be preferred only by the most demanding users or professionals wanting the interchangeability of quality lenses.
I'm personally holding out for companies to realize the ingenuity of the likes of the Sigma DP1/DP2 and build on that idea to make a high-quality compact with a great prime lens and large, highly resolving sensor.
I own a Nikon D200.
Optical View Finder, better auto focus, handling, more stable and balanced with long focal length lenses.
And even with EVFs, you are still going to get the "funny humps" on the tops of cameras, unless you are suggesting that every camera should just use a live view screen on the back. That's where we get into the stability issue...two hands on a camera with it against your face (even with all that vibration from the mirror, which there really isn't that much, and if you're that concerned about vibration, that's why there is mirror lock up on cameras) is way more stable than holding something out at arms length and squinting to see an LCD in bright sunlight. There's also the issue of tracking moving objects. I've taken pictures with compact digital cameras and SLRs, I find tracking fast action much easier with an SLR, not to mention there is no lag in an optical viewfinder.
I will agree that eventually, DSLRs will be a thing of the past (but that is the case for pretty much everything, including us). The thing is that for a lot of users the Electronic Viewfinders are not at the resolving power to be equal to let alone superior to an optical viewfinder. In theory, since a EVF is 'seeing' what the sensor is seeing, it should be showing you a more realistic representation of what your image will look like, for example it should be showing you whether the image is exposed correctly. I use cameras regularly that are DSLR and have EVFs, and they both are useful in different situations and currently an EVF is not comparable to and optical viewfinder.
The problem is that most EVFs have currently a lot of technical limitations and it is taking a while to overcome them. The resolution on them is still quite low, at low light levels they start getting really noisy, their refresh rate is not fast enough so if you start panning the image gets jerky, etc.
We have a couple of new panasonic units with EVF and while they are great little cameras, the EVF is not comparable to the optical ones of the nikon DSLRs we use. However things are improving quickly and in a few years EVFs could be at the level that (at least for consumer cameras) they become an acceptable replacement.
For example Olympus and Panasonic have a new standard for cameras with interchangeable lenses using EVFs -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micro_Four_Thirds_System and some of the cameras that are coming out sound quite promising -- in fact I know I will be buying one of these soon, but it will likely not replace my DSLR (but more replace my point and shoot camera). Why? Even these cameras, which have EVFs that are probably some of the best to appear in consumer cameras (for example having 1.4 million pixels versus a couple of hundred thousand) are still not comparable to an Optical Viewfinder.
For example, the review on DPreview ( http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/panasonicdmcg1/ ), which is very excited about this camera technology, states...
"While the user interface is equally well suited to photographers coming from SLRs and former compact users, the viewfinder is more of a double-edged affair. It's significantly larger than the optical viewfinders of other cropped sensor cameras and has a higher resolution than any other electronic viewfinder on a digital camera we've seen before. In good light it is therefore a very good substitute for an optical viewfinder but things become more difficult in dim conditions. In very low light the viewfinder image gets so noisy, jerky and dark that it's almost impossible to use. Of course the electronic viewfinder does have some benefits, allowing the G1 to display considerably more information than any optical finder ever could, and to preview the effects of exposure settings, white balance and other parameters, and to magnify the preview for more precise manual focusing."
IMO there is a better dynamic range in the viewfinder than the LCD - which are still limited in resolution and colors.
If you are shooting in RAW, you will get a better idea of what you will end up with. also, forgoing the LCD, will alot you a better battery life.
The mirror isn't just for the viewfinder. It also supplies light to the phase detection autofocus. Without it you have to resort to contrast detection, which doesn't work very well on dSLRs.
That dude's got huge feet!
Well then, I guess he's not making up for anything with the size of his lens.
but he's hooooot!
that looks like he is in croatia
Yes.. I recognize the street... It looks like Dubrovnik main street, Stradun...
I kept looking at it and thinking it was one of those pictures of the bean in Chicago, but the ground isn't right.
Thats funny that you said that, cause I was just thinking the same thing.....that floor is pretty recognizable
The guy in the spy photos is dressed as though he wanted to be caught.
I knew he was too good looking to be a real photographer.
What the dorknut is that guy wearing?
Good collection of photos.
Louisville Kentucky court reporter
I smell viral ad bs.
Amen. The guy's too good-looking, too well-dressed (or oddly dressed, depending on how you want to look at it), and the angle/quality of the shots say "spy movie" way more than "spy shot".
damnit, guess I'm a few days late... Im on my way to Dubrovnik tomorrow (Have a house there).. too bad I missed the photo shoot!
Is that dude wearing a scarf-belt?
He is wearing a leather belt.
The scarf is just decoration.
This camera gives you gay.
I like that guy's jacket.
Do Want!
Yes, can anyone tell who makes that jacket? also want!
Amen. So nice
Will my old Canon A1 lenses work with a digital camera?
i dig the dude's digs
Legit? As legit as viral nonsense marketing can get, film student my ass, I hope engadget gets paid for this, else they are being the biggest fools.
i'd rather have the SR3 than the 435, but i could settle.
oh we're talking about the nikon no the arri? sorry.
Just in case anybody hasn't mentioned this. This camera is definitely in the entry-level catagory (below the d90). This is obvious due to the lack of a scroll wheel on the front side of the grip. This has always been a key difference between the low- and mid-range Nikon dSLR. Also, you can clearly see the different scene modes (macro, night, landscape, etc.) which aren't present on the high-end models.
The D90 has scene modes. But then it's mode dial is on the left, with a passive LCD mounted on the right.
Is it gay that I noticed how well dressed that guy is before I noticed the camera? I've never seen a photographer dressed like the next gen Indian Jones.
Nikon had a camera with a swivel display, it was just before engadget was around
Nikon has made several swivel screen/body cameras. But none of them were dSLRs.
Hey.. I'm a Canon shooter and even I know the statement you made of "Sony sensor" is all wrong :/, Nikon has been designing their own CMOS sensors and they "rent" Sony's facilities to produce the sensors... that's why DXOmark's data gives different ratings for their Raw photo analysis between the A700, D300, A900 and D3X cameras... Come on buddies you are supposed to be a source of information.........
Fran
damn it!
i was hoping for D400 (so that D300 goes down in price) instead of D40/60 successor
You gotta be joking somehow, D3x and D700 offering no video what so ever costing equal and much more than 5DII. T1i just wipe the floor with D90 and and whatever is coming. Even with 1080p 20fps on T1i still beat the 4mins on D90, that really convince me to swap in less than a week. I dont recall Canon guys were complaining about the lenses either, since nikon lenses cost an arm and a leg for the equivalent lens in other brands. However, if you have problem with the video exposure you gotta start reading those manuals and use the exposure meter correctly to get the right metering. Video feature is a BONUS to DSLR not a dedicated feature. If they didnt throw one in we wouldnt be complaining. So lets be grateful they gave all of us something to play with when we are bore. IF you were looking for a dedicated HD video system, try a 1080p video camera perhaps. It might do you more justice than any DSLR with HD Video. =D
Or is it just a Flipbac attached to the camera? www.flipbac.com
Forget the camera, I want that dudes jacket and boots.
As for the 500D, its 30fps 720p guys, 20fps 1080p
And we dont want 24, 25, 30p options, we want "varicam" options (which can probably be had through a firmware hack), ie: 1-30 fps, or 1-50 or 1-60 etc, and less than one - just use a shutter cable, lock it down and set exposure time to the frame rate you want (or use a timer cord).
My D70 still makes great pix. I drool over these new cameras but can't justify the upgrade.
I wish Minox would create a tiny, shirt pocket camera along the lines of their fabulous tiny 35mm cameras back in the eighties. I guess cell phone cameras will get to that level and portability won't be an issue any more...
Geez people, why not choose Pentax? If you are worried about glass, sell what you have and use it to buy the superior lenses from Pentax.
Wow! think twice of D90 now..D5000 is more convenient dslr..for me entry level..who want to appreciate d quality of d image n video clips recording..I wonder when this camera will be in store in msia n what d price??