Comments on: PMA 2008 – Nikon “Shows” Digital Rangefinder?

By: Deep Bokeh

Deep Bokeh — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 03:41:34 +0000

I came across some information that makes me think this is possible, but still not very likely. In 2000 and 2005, Nikon made limited-production copies of two of their old rangefinder cameras, the S3 and SP. Note, these were new, very faithful, copies of the old design. I know there are professional photographers who prefer rangefinders, but these particular cameras were no doubt made for the weird, nearly-fetishistic collectible market that cares more about minute cosmetic details than actual performance.

http://www.cameraquest.com/nrfblsp2005.htm

But building a digital rangefinder is something all together different. You can’t just retool and stamp out a few thousand copies from old drawings. It actually has to perform quite well. That, of course, will mean a lot of engineering and a lot of money for a low-quantity item.

By: matt

matt — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 00:05:17 +0000

Yeah- the Leica market ain’t too big relative to the sorts of quantities that Nikon appears to want to be shipping. We’re seeing like 10k/month of D3’s when they finally get up to speed.

“Nikon is raising production of its new D3 and D300 DSLR cameras by between 16-25 percent, to 10,000 and 70,000 monthly units respectively”

10k units over 2-3 years of lifetime for a model (and that’s stretching it) is -1- month of D3 production (again, when they get up to speed).

By: migtex

migtex — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 23:43:52 +0000

Are you sayin that a market like the Leica market is not big enough?
Well is big for Leica!
BTW today any market that sell’s 10k camera at 2000 usd each is a enough market. Special because you keep clients on your turf (DRF, DSLR).

By: Deep Bokeh

Deep Bokeh — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 17:41:06 +0000

Let’s see if this works… I tried commenting last week, but nothing went through.

A similar rumor popped up at dpreview just before the D300/D3 introduction, claiming Nikon would announce an ultra expensive S-mount rangefinder. “Ultra expensive” as in more than a Leica.

As I recall, the rumor was wrong about many of the D3 details, I would be very surprised if this portion were true. You never know, but it sounds like wishful thinking.