Nikon D90 Rumors
I’m starting to see D90 rumors flying (thanks to everyone who sent them in). Don’t know if they’re really D900 rumors or if there’ll be a D90 and a D900- but I’m thinking that would just confuse things for now.
In any case, from Thom (if you believe it):
Technically, Nikon has been a bit behind on that. In the consumer market, sensor cleaning and ubiquitous VR (via the sensor) and live view all got established by competitors well before Nikon did it. That’s going to shift a bit with the D90, I think, but the D60 is an example of Nikon NOT doing the above. And in the higher lineup, of course Canon beat Nikon to the punch with FX, affordable FX, pixel counts, and high ISO capabilities. It’s only in this current design cycle that we see Nikon now trying to do what you suggest.
In-body VR would be great– if it worked well. I remember way old Sony digicams that would do VR by cropping your sensor and then as you moved the camera, they’d just use a part of the chip that had been cropped until you had moved it-so basically selectively using part of the chip.
Also- Gizmodo and other sites are reporting a possible Sept 3rd Nikon conference, to maybe announce something new like the D90 or maybe D3x… who knows?
August 1st, 2008 at 05:25
I seem to remember a Nikon article stating that in-camera VR was not as effective as lens VR. Of course, it could have been said because they make more profit on selling VR versions of their lenses (how cynical of me!)
Actually, just found it:
Q:”Nikon’s VR function is always incorporated in lenses. Why is that?”
A:”When comparing in-lens and in-camera styles, the biggest difference is whether or not you can check VR effectiveness through the viewfinder. Generally, in-camera VR systems don’t allow photographers to see how vibration will be compensated for through the viewfinder, while the in-lens feature that Nikon uses today does.”
Original two-page article here:
http://imaging.nikon.com/products/imaging/technology/scene/16/index.htm
August 3rd, 2008 at 03:27
The comment on DPReview (yes, it’s by Thom) on DPReview was a reply to someone who said, “Delivering the ground-breaking technology product a year earlier is the right choice for your company as well as your customers.” Thom quoted that phrase in agreement.
The list of things you’re quoting (sensor cleaning, in-camera VR) is Thom’s list of things that Nikon _didn’t_ get to before its competitors. The change that Thom refers to with the D90 is that it _will_ include Nikon firsts, in contrast to the D60, meaning that he’s not talking about sensor based VR or sensor cleaning – the items you’ve included in bold type. Look for new stuff – Nikon firsts. Maybe in-body GPS in a DSLR, maybe a couple of other surprises. Sensor cleaning is a given – it already exists in an advanced form in the D60.
August 4th, 2008 at 11:41
Actually, Nikon’s reason for putting the VR in the lens is that you can place the VR correction at the point where the image is the smallest, which is in the lens. This gives better and faster correction since the correction doesn’t have to move as much. At least that is how it was explained to me.