# Rumors flying in on the Nikon FF mirrorless



## ahsanford (Aug 14, 2018)

Two bigger scoops just surfaced at NR.

First, a firm one -- more trademarking:

https://nikonrumors.com/2018/08/13/...n-just-registered-the-nikonos-trademark.aspx/​​NIKONOS = Nikon Operating System... or actually the platform's brand name?​
Second, just a rumor but a detailed one:

https://nikonrumors.com/2018/08/13/...-58mm-f-0-95-lens-to-be-announced-later.aspx/​​A platform built-around high end primes?! The f/0.95 prime we've been hearing about is real?! That is the opposite of small if true.​
- A


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## fullstop (Aug 14, 2018)

the 0.95 lenses are just a psyhological band aid for Nikon/ians for not having f/1.2 or faster lenses for such a long time. not important to 99.9% of digital imaging gear users. simply bragging rights. marketing cr*p.

first paragraph: "will focus on high end primes" ...

next bullet point: expecting 50/1.8 plus 24 or 28 or 35 f/1.8 prime and 24-70 f/4 zoom as starting lineup ...

i call those "moderate aperture" lenses. all of these could be made in very compact size as well. although Nikon seems to go for "chunky" with z6 and z7, sort of "poor man's Leica SL system". it will be priced too high for what it is. and next stop maybe a nice 299 fire sale. 

overall quite funny.


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## fullstop (Aug 14, 2018)

Nikonos ... cannot imagine Nikon to use it generally for their mirrorfree lineup. that brand name (still) holds good value for underwater imaging gear. quite surprising that they apparently let it expire in 2008 and even more surprising that none of the "brand name vultures" has snatched it.


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## edoorn (Aug 14, 2018)

those 1.8 primes make perfect sense; good IQ and still light to carry in the field. 

I'm not sure chunky is the best way to describe them; I have a feeling the ergonomics of these camera's will be superior vs every other mirrorless camera we've ever seen. Not sure if these 0.95 lenses will go very well; they will be expensive for sure and for the majority of photographers not the most used ones. For portraits with a certain look yes, I could see them being interesting.

If Nikon does something, they usually do it right. Remember the D850, which maybe the perfect dslr?


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## fullstop (Aug 14, 2018)

edoorn said:


> those 1.8 primes make perfect sense; good IQ and still light to carry in the field.
> ..
> If Nikon does something, they usually do it right. Remember the D850, which maybe the perfect dslr?




I am all in favor of compact, light, decent IQ, "moderately fast", affordable primes for FF mirrorfree system. 

Nikon D850 - yes. But remember the excellent teasers followed by sub-par Nikon Df?


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## edoorn (Aug 14, 2018)

yeah the DF wasn't that much of a succes. I sincerely hope they learned from that and will release a kick ass mirrorless system! Would be good for everyone.


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## neuroanatomist (Aug 14, 2018)

Maybe Nikon could re-up the Df tag line: Photography is purer without the mirror.


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## fullstop (Aug 14, 2018)

If image on Nikon Rumors is legitimate, I am surprised there are not 2 separate buttons for AF-ON Button [BBF] and AE-Lock!? Is this just part of the marketing-nerfing differentiation for lower-end model (Z6) or on both Z6 and Z7? 

Quite different UI setup compared to Nikon DSLRs. And why "Play" and "Delete" Buttons on right side, but "Drive speed" on left side? Looks to be optimized for "Shoot / Chimp / F-word / Delete"  

https://nikonrumors.com/2018/08/13/...-58mm-f-0-95-lens-to-be-announced-later.aspx/


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## fullstop (Aug 14, 2018)

neuroanatomist said:


> Maybe Nikon could re-up the Df tag line: Photography is purer without the mirror.



no ... "*mirrorless grabs light faster*"  but wait, that is copyrighted by Bloomberg and/or Sony!


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## fullstop (Aug 14, 2018)

further observation: is rear display articulated or not? Looks like "not" to me? Or "only half-ass, useless in portrait mode tilty, not fully"?


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## BillB (Aug 14, 2018)

fullstop said:


> further observation: is rear display articulated or not? Looks like "not" to me? Or "only half-ass, useless in portrait mode tilty, not fully"?


I think I've seen other pictures with the screen swung out from the camera body 180 degrees.


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## fullstop (Aug 14, 2018)

good! I just saw that this image might be of a mock-up only, not out of Nikon teaser.


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## Sporgon (Aug 14, 2018)

ahsanford said:


> Two bigger scoops just surfaced at NR.
> 
> First, a firm one -- more trademarking:
> 
> ...



?

The Nikonos name has been used by Nikon since the early '60s for their Nikonos under water camera.


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## fullstop (Aug 14, 2018)

Sporgon said:


> ?
> The Nikonos name has been used by Nikon since the early '60s for their Nikonos under water camera.



yes, but they abandoned the system in 2001. Trademark apparently expired back in 2008. So now Nikon apparently has re-registered the trademark. And who knows, they might bring future mirrorfree new Nikonos underwater cameras.


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## Sporgon (Aug 14, 2018)

fullstop said:


> yes, but they abandoned the system in 2001. Trademark apparently expired back in 2008. So now Nikon apparently has re-registered the trademark. And who knows, they might bring future mirrorfree new Nikonos underwater cameras.



I thought the Nikonos always was mirrorless ;-)


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## fullstop (Aug 14, 2018)

Sporgon said:


> I thought the Nikonos always was mirrorless ;-)



mostly yes. But there was also the Nikonos RS, first SLR for underwater use without additional housing. There were even some digital versions [DSLR] of it.  
https://nikonrumors.com/2010/05/05/...ng-with-nikon-underwater-digital-camera.aspx/


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## Aglet (Aug 14, 2018)

The control layout of this looks quite workable .. except the PLAY and AE/F-lock+AF/MF control choice is a bit off IMO>
Swapping the function of those 2 buttons would suffice to improve operability. AF/MF lever could would be OK in same location with the PLAY button.
Joystick would be good if 9-way function so straight press returns to center or preset AF point.
D-pad lockout (?) looks good. Other control locations are probably OK.
Looking forward to how it feels in my hand and the lightness in my step after my wallet is relieved of its burden. 



fullstop said:


> If image on Nikon Rumors is legitimate, I am surprised there are not 2 separate buttons for AF-ON Button [BBF] and AE-Lock!? Is this just part of the marketing-nerfing differentiation for lower-end model (Z6) or on both Z6 and Z7?
> 
> Quite different UI setup compared to Nikon DSLRs. And why "Play" and "Delete" Buttons on right side, but "Drive speed" on left side? Looks to be optimized for "Shoot / Chimp / F-word / Delete"
> 
> https://nikonrumors.com/2018/08/13/...-58mm-f-0-95-lens-to-be-announced-later.aspx/


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## fullstop (Aug 14, 2018)

DPad is one of the things I consider very subpar in Nikon's UI. Big, lockable horizontal axis rear thumbwheel with 4 click positions is king.


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## Hector1970 (Aug 14, 2018)

I hope Nikon bring out a great camera.
The better it is the better the Canon camera will be.
The D850 is a great camera and shows Nikon can still produce great cameras.
As a company I'd say they need a successful mirrorless camera.


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## ahsanford (Aug 15, 2018)

fullstop said:


> good! I just saw that this image might be of a mock-up only, not out of Nikon teaser.



I believe these are mockups -- see the comments below (not this NR story but other recent NR stories) and it's clear NR readers are posting mockups in the comments that in some cases appear to get picked up by the editors and put right into the main story. In fairness, they seem to do this as 'supporting flavor' for a new rumor and generally h/t the person in the comments section who offered it.

So I treat the shots shown in many cases as simply the work of overzealous fans, which is fine by me.

- A


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## fullstop (Aug 15, 2018)

yes. realized it likely is a mockup.

going a bit OT now, but just out of curiosity i looked at Nikon D850 control layout. There is an AF-ON button (for BBF), but none for AE-Lock as opposed to D500 and D5 which do have both buttons (AF-ON and AE-L) - as I would have expected.





Nikon D850 rear view as per Nikon website.



> keep in mind that the D850 no longer has a dedicated AE-L / AF-L button, so if you need to lock exposure, you will need to assign another button such as the joystick to do that


https://photographylife.com/

why would Nikon do this - especially on a full-sized DSLR body with more than enough space for control points? really weird.

considering this, the mockup mirrorless image (Z6/Z7) may be not far from the truth.


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## stevelee (Aug 16, 2018)

Water is reflective, so it could substitute for the mirror.


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## Aglet (Aug 16, 2018)

fullstop said:


> yes. realized it likely is a mockup.
> 
> ..why would Nikon do this - especially on a full-sized DSLR body with more than enough space for control points? really weird.



Actually, I like the D850 getting superfluous buttons away from that thumb control area. Only 1 button there is really needed.
AF-on/lock or AE-lock or you can program it to do both or either with the half press of shutter button being the complement.
Many of my other bodies have 2+ buttons back there and I find it's not a benefit. For any type of shooting I do the programmable single button with programmable SR half-press function is ideal.

A smart man once said something like, "Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler"


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## fullstop (Aug 16, 2018)

AF-ON and AE-Lock are 2 separate functions, i prefer having them on 2 buttons. in a situation when i need one or the other or both functions i would hate having to menu dive and re-program a single button every time. 

bad enough, when there is only 1 shared button on tiny entry level gear, but inacceptable to me on higher end, big body cameras. 

but ofc YMMV. will be interesting to soon see control layout on Nikon mirrorfree cameras.


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## neuroanatomist (Aug 16, 2018)

Aglet said:


> Actually, I like the D850 getting superfluous buttons away from that thumb control area. Only 1 button there is really needed.


I quite like the ability to press AF-ON for one-shot back button AF, and press * for AI Servo back button AF.


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