[md01]

Wooo Hooo! Finally, the specs for Nkon D2X have leaked to our part of the globe. If anybody interested you can find pictures and specs here. Looks impressive, but will most likely cost an arm and a leg. I can't wait for official announcement and release date.

I want it!

 

[The Quality Guru]

I was hoping for a full-frame sensor rather than the 1.5x APS-sized one, but the D2x does look very promising, despite it's high price. The D70 is likely to be the camera best suited for my purposes; I don't need the D2x's 12MP, although I wouldn't mind having its better AF and viewfinder.

 

[KR...]

Yet another cool camera I will never have

 

[flecom]

i will stick with my Canon 1D thanks

 

[grinch]

saw this, very exciting. it's not really exciting in the "ooh i can't wait to own one" sort of way, but more in the "i can't wait till the less expensive D200 version makes its way to the market."

fuji announced the s3 pro this week as well, which seems to be very similar in specs. also, mmmm, nikkor 300mm f/2.8 vr. hot.

i want this camera to touch me in my no-no place:
http://www.dpreview.com/news/0409/04091605nikond2x.asp

 

[KYTGuy]

Do they offer 0% financing over 72 months, and will they take my Olympus Pen F in trade?

 

[md01]

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Quality Guru I was hoping for a full-frame sensor rather than the 1.5x APS-sized one, but the D2x does look very promising, despite it's high price. The D70 is likely to be the camera best suited for my purposes; I don't need the D2x's 12MP, although I wouldn't mind having its better AF and viewfinder.

People are saying in the range of $5000 to 6500. I haven't heard anything concrete. I hope it's closer to $5000 rather than $6500.

 

[The Quality Guru]

Quote:

Originally Posted by md01 People are saying in the range of $5000 to 6500. I haven't heard anything concrete. I hope it's closer to $5000 rather than $6500.

$5000 for the D2x would give the Canon 1Ds a run for its money (which sells at about $8k). However, the Canon 1Ds still has the advantage in that it's full frame and has no focal length multiplication factor (the D2x and D2h have a 1.5x multipler). Nevertheless, this is really exciting for Nikon. I was getting worried when they released the D2h and it had only 4MP (even though the number of megapixels is hardly the only judge of image quality).

Quote:

Originally Posted by grinch i can't wait till the less expensive D200 version makes its way to the market."

If there were such a camera, then I would buy it over the D70 in a heartbeat. But for some reason Nikon decided to come out with a new professional film body, the Nikon F6, instead of putting R&D towards a D200. Although some magazines do still prefer 35mm over digital, there are very few pros that shoot much 35mm film anymore (medium format film is another story) - so the release of Nikon's F6 is a bit bamboozling.

 

[md01]

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Quality Guru $5000 for the D2x would give the Canon 1Ds a run for its money (which sells at about $8k). However, the Canon 1Ds still has the advantage in that it's full frame and has no focal length multiplication factor (the D2x and D2h have a 1.5x multipler). Nevertheless, this is really exciting for Nikon. I was getting worried when they released the D2h and it had only 4MP (even though the number of megapixels is hardly the only judge of image quality). If there were such a camera, then I would buy it over the D70 in a heartbeat. But for some reason Nikon decided to come out with a new professional film body, the Nikon F6, instead of putting R&D towards a D200. Although some magazines do still prefer 35mm over digital, there are very few pros that shoot much 35mm film anymore (medium format film is another story) - so the release of Nikon's F6 is a bit bamboozling.

I came across a list price of 600,000 Yen, which is $5472.51 US. List price will most likelyl adjust once the camera makes its way into the US market.

At dpreview, people are playing with an idea of digital back for F6. While it sounds intriguing (both analog and digital in one package) these rumors are less than certain. F6 does have really good specs. Similar to the F5, but in the F100 package. If offered at an attractive price, it could replace both cameras.

 

[stuartr]

Cool...did you guys see that they came out with an F6 as well? I would like to meet the chap who has maxed out the features on the F5 though! That said, I really like how they tuned the whole thing to minimize vibrations and sound emission. I can't wait to hear how loud it is. I am sure it will still be loud, but if they can make it as loud as something like a Hexar RF or one of the copal shuttered rangefinders, that would be an astonishing achievement. Imagine a pro SLR that you could actually use for unobtrusive photography...that would be incredible.

 

[The Quality Guru]

Stuart, I recently talked to a Nikon rep and pro that has already handled and used the F6, and he says that while it is indeed the most silent SLR he has heard to date, it is still not as quiet as the cloth shutter Leica M series rangefinders.

To be honest though, I would take a Leica M6 (or any other TTL-metered M body) over another 35mm film body anyday. If I needed the features of a pro-level SLR like the F6 or the F5, I would just use digital, because the higher FPS rates and nature of fast-paced AF SLR shooting would cause me to waste film like crazy (and w/ developing costs, etc. it's expensive). So that's why my SLR rig is soon to become a digital one! With Leica rangefinders, it's much harder to waste enough film because of the manual film advance, so it's still very practical to use film there. Otherwise, I think the digital option is simply more practical these days (unless you're talking about medium or large format).

 

[stuartr]

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Quality Guru Stuart, I recently talked to a Nikon rep and pro that has already handled and used the F6, and he says that while it is indeed the most silent SLR he has heard to date, it is still not as quiet as the cloth shutter Leica M series rangefinders. To be honest though, I would take a Leica M6 (or any other TTL-metered M body) over another 35mm film body anyday. If I needed the features of a pro-level SLR like the F6 or the F5, I would just use digital, because the higher FPS rates and nature of fast-paced AF SLR shooting would cause me to waste film like crazy (and w/ developing costs, etc. it's expensive). So that's why my SLR rig is soon to become a digital one! With Leica rangefinders, it's much harder to waste enough film because of the manual film advance, so it's still very practical to use film there. Otherwise, I think the digital option is simply more practical these days (unless you're talking about medium or large format).

Yeah, that makes sense to me. At the moment I use a Leica MP and a Hexar RF for rangefinders. I feel I can really deal with almost anything I need in this setup. If I need macro, super high speed or a really precise portrait lens, I started photography with my father's Canon FD setup, which includes an 85 f/1.2 and a 50mm f/1.2. Finally, if I need extraordinarily fine detail, I use a Mamiya 7II rangefinder. I am very lucky to be able to afford all this stuff, though most of it was either given to me or bought used. Since I have a good scanner, I don't think I will go digital until one of the following things happens: 1. A digital Leica M with 10+ MP and a full frame sensor in a classically styled body. 2. The films I like stop being produced. My only big fear is Ilford's troubles at the moment.

In any case, if I did not start with such a great FD system, I would probably have a Nikon SLR system, though I like Canon's full frame and AF system better, but I find myself using my Leica setup 90% of the time. The quality, size and unobtrusiveness of the Leica are just completely unsurpassed.